07:07 BST

  Yesterday was gloriously sunny, and at 17° C it felt warm.

  

  The best that can be said about today's weather is that this morning has started modestly mild at 11° C. The first bad thing is that 12° C is the best we can hope for today, and the other bad thing is that we are unlikely to see any sign of the sun today. There is a 20% chance of rain later today, and so maybe the garden may get watered - and that is probably the most optimistic thing that can be said about today's weather. The only respite tomorrow may bring is that the temperature may reach 16° C, and maybe that there could be a little less grey cloud, but even if the cloud is not grey, it will still seal us in, and keep the sun out.

  I achieved three things yesterday. The first was to hand wash a couple of t-shirts and some underwear, and get it all on the washing line to dry in the sunshine. It may have been that there was a little less afternoon sunshine here than there was in Rochester where I spent the afternoon, because it didn't seem my washing was 100% bone dry when I brought it is just after 6pm. It was very close to it though.

  Going to Rochester was actually my third achievement. The second was having a couple of productive visits to the toilet so I felt comfortable to travel - and be away from any decent toilets for the whole afternoon. As I mentioned yesterday morning, I was intending to see The Flame Pilots, but I also hoped to catch another band or two.

  I left home to catch an earlier train than originally intended. There are basically two trains per hour from Bromley South to Rochester - one is a fast one, and the other slow. I think there may also be a train that is sort of in between. I wanted the fastest, and headed for the station to buy my tickets, and get the 13:40 train. My ticket was £7.55 return from Swanley - which is free to get to using my Freedom Pass. The train didn't actually stop at Swanley, but that doesn't matter. I also used my Senior Railcard for 1/3rd off the full price.

   I've been through Rochester many times, but only once in the past did I ever get off the train there, and that would have been the old station which is a little further down the line than the new station. The fast train goes direct from Bromley South, without stopping at any other stations. It is a reasonable 23 minute journey. When I got to Rochester I had my first chance to see the new station. It is another rather ugly "glass box" station. I can't see it lasting as long at the station building it replaced, but on the plus side the toilets are pretty good - something I found on my way home when I needed a pee.
  As well as the view of the station, just look at that glorious blue sky. It was from here that my adventure really started ! The things I had seen posted about the "Songwriters Den" music stage said it was also called the Star Hill stage, and another said it was on Star Hill. So I walked to Star Hill, and walked up it....up and up, and up, and up - it's a long steep hill, and very taxing. I think I had to stop three times for 10 or 20 seconds at a time for a very brief rest.
  Somehow this picture of looking back down the hill doesn't quite convey what it was like to walk up it ! This was probably about three quarters of the way up the hill. I got to the very top, and then some more (because I wasn't sure where exactly Star Hill ended. All the way up I was looking for any sign that there could be a stage set up, maybe in a pub garden or forecourt. I asked a local if he had any suggestions.

  He said that there was a pub down some steps off the main road, and it was probably about where I took the above picture, although on the far side of the road. I started walking down the hill until I came to the steps, and found The Rising Sun pub. I went in for a cold half pint of lager, and asked the bar maid if she had any suggestions of where the stage might be. She didn't, and so when I finished my lager, and went outside, I phoned Mark who was supposed to be playing there at 4pm. He didn't know exactly where it was, but that it was somewhere along the High Street that was back at the bottom of the hill. I have to say that walking down the hill was a lot easier than going up !
  When I reached the bottom of the hill it became obvious where the stage was - I could hear the band. They weren't very loud, and not that easy to hear over the roar of the traffic, but if my timing hadn't been such that they were still setting up, I feel sure I would have heard them because they were only a few shops away from the road junction at the bottom of the hill. Oh well, all's well that ends well. The band on when I got there was Spyplane - who I wanted to see, but I originally thought were on much earlier in the afternoon. The silly thing is that while they are all excellent musicians, I don't really enjoy what they play.
  The main band I wanted to see was The Flame Pilots featuring Mark who once upon a time was Jodie's boyfriend, and is now just a friend, and who I have got to know over the years. I guess they and Spyplane appreciate my photography. As far as I can see on their social media pages, most pictures of them are taken on mobile phones, and in less than ideal light...and so rather blurred and murky. I try to do better than that, and even though I rarely see them, because they are both Kent coast based bands, I earned a hug from Sherrie, lead singer of Spyplane, and a free CD EP from Fiouse, lead singer of Flame Pilots.

  After Spyplane had finished, and before The Flame Pilots started, I went for a long walk from one end of the High Street to the other, and back again. I was trying to find a chemist, or anywhere that might sell some nail clippers. While Spyplane were on I videoed one song using my Nikon Camera with an external microphone. That microphone has a "dead kitten" fluffy windshield, and in trying to get that on the microphone I managed to bend and tear a fingernail. It wasn't that bad, but I didn't want to risk snagging it later.

  From one end to the other of the High Street there was just one chemist - and it was closed ! It seemed quite a long walk, and was made to seem longer by all the obstructions along the way. There were dancing sweeps, assorted morris dancers, and some people doing what might have been pagan rites ! On top of that were the hoards who were watching this various stuff. It all added to the tally of how much I walked yesterday. I would be surprised if the total was any less than 3 miles - maybe including things like the walk to and from Catford station.

  I was too tired last night to do anything but quickly select a few pictures to illustrate my day on this page. One thing did become apparent as I flipped through the snaps I had taken. It was only 4pm when the Flame Pilots started, and it was still bright and sunny (and warm) but the sun was low enough in the sky to only illuminate the bottom of the stage - which had no stage lights. It meant that the Flame Pilots shoes were over exposed, and the faces under exposed. It is not something I am used to, and I think that I have ended up with less usable pictures than I hoped for.

  It must have been a little over halfway through the Flame Pilots set when my sciatica started to play up, and the only cure is to start walking. I said my goodbyes to Jodie and Alan (who were also there), and gave a quick wave to the band, before walking to the station. My timing was part influenced by the trains. I had checked on my phone, and seen there was a semi-fast train at 17:10 that only called at two stations before Bromley South station (where I would change for a train back to Catford).

  I made sure I got to the station in plenty of time because I hoped to use a toilet for a pee - if they had any. They did, and they seemed clean, bright and well equipped. I didn't know it, but there could have been further delays because when I got to the station I found "Revenue Protection", supported by Transport Police, were surrounding the ticket barriers, and two people were being questioned about ticketless travel. I had a valid ticket, and just breezed through.

  I think with it's two stops along the way, the train I caught took about 30 minutes to get to Bromley South, but maybe it was just nice to sit down after being on my feet for hours, and the ride didn't seem too long. At Bromley South I Faced a 20 minute wait for a train to Catford station. In the past I have sometime opted to get a bus rather than wait that long, but the bus is a pretty tedious journey, and I think it was quicker to wait for the train, and it was a far more comfortable journey.

  There was a particular reason why I wanted to go to Catford station, and not to a bus stop, and it was because I wanted to pop into the Sainsbury's Local shop by the station. I had in mind that I wanted some of their rather good ready made salads. I also wanted to see if they had the new truffle flavoured Marmite that I heard was being stocked my Sainsbury's first. Sadly they didn't, but I did buy a few other things including some new, limited edition, weird flavoured Diet Coke (which I have yet to try) and some haddock fish cakes.

  Very soon after getting home I tucked into one salad, and it went down a treat. I was going to keep the second salad I bought for today, but I used it as the base for the haddock fish cakes I had bought. It was far from horrible, but it was a mistake because the salad was better on it's own, and the fish cakes would have been better with a simpler accompaniment. While the fish cakes were cooking I brought in my washing. As mentioned above, it didn't seem bone dry, but it was dry enough to wear if needed (which it wasn't).

  I was going to watch what I thought was a brand new edition of QI on BBC2, and indeed I did start to watch it until I realised it was a repeat, and that it only seemed a little while since I had seen it as a repeat on Dave. I soon switched off, and that was when I finally started to go through some of the photos I had taken, and did the necessary for the few I have shown here. At that point I was feeling very weary, and like the previous night (I think) I was in bed shortly before 9pm, and after a short attempt at reading I turned out the light, turned over, and was soon asleep.

  On the whole, I think I probably had a good night's sleep. It must have been after around four hours sleep that I woke up thinking it was time to get up. At first I wondered why it was still dark, but then I noticed it was 1am or thereabouts. I had a quick pee, and was soon asleep again. One oddity is that I can't seem to recall having any dreams at all, although I am sure I had some - probably nightmares about walking up the bloody hill in Rochester !

  I'm sure I woke up at least twice more for a pee before I woke up at just gone 6am. It was light, abut I thought I deserved more sleep. I stretched out in bed to get myself more comfortable, and I instantly got cramp. I had to leap out of bed to put weight on my legs to kill those cramps. Of course the chances of getting back to sleep after that seemed to be close to zero. I can't say I was very enthusiastic about getting up. I didn't feel all that good. All the walking and standing around yesterday had left it's legacy on assorted bits of my legs, and maybe hips too.

  If there was any good news it is that I have started the month with a decent blood glucose reading. It was just 8.1mmol/l, and if it could stay that low for every day this month it would be a new record low average, but I can't see that happening when I look at the predicted weather for the next week or two. It may get warmer, maybe even 19° C, but we seem to be more liable to see rain than sunshine.

  I suppose the main effort today is to go through all the photos I took yesterday to select the best for editing. It could take some time because as well as the band photos, I also did some train spotting, and I have some photos to add to my huge spreadsheet of photos of every train I have photographed over the years. If I get sucked into do more to that spreadsheet it could take up the whole day, but I think I am probably having a beer session with Jodie this afternoon. I will have to confirm that later so I can get the dining room table cleared, and the glasses washed and polished.