It feels quite fresh this morning. There was some evidence of the rain in the early hours, but apart from a very small puddle on top of the garden wheelie bin, it had all evaporated when I went out to feed the birds a little earlier. Today is still going to be warm enough, 23° C, to wear shorts, but it seems there will be no sign of  the sun. I'm sure an earlier forecast, from a day or two ago, said there could be showers today, but the latest revision to the forecast only gives a 10% chance of rain for most of the day. Tomorrow may not see any sunshine until 6pm, and at just 21° C it will be feeling a bit fresh (hopefully)

  I can't say that yesterday was a productive day, but it was a very pleasant day. The only notable thing I did in the morning was to have the full shave, shampoo, and shower trio so that I felt clean and presentable for the highlight of the day - a drink with Angela at lunchtime. That meant a walk through the park, and I left in plenty of time to walk almost to the Ladywell Road end of the park, and to get in half a pint of Guinness before Angela arrived.
  As I walked through the park the sky behind me was rather dull, and that made the picture above a bit flat looking. To the north there were some large patches of blue sky. In what should have been complete contrast was the brown grass, but it doesn't seem to stand out in my photo. It was interesting to note that the grass was still very green where it is shaded by the trees on the right.
  Another picture that doesn't look very dramatic. The trees left this view a bit dull, and my camera was struggle to capture this picture of a blackbird on the railings with what seems to be a worm in it's beak.
  I'm taking a guess that this paddling pool was used as a raft in a more accessible bit of the river, and maybe it escaped. It is now an eyesore stuck just before the weir by the bridge to Lewisham Hospital. The moorhen, and her chicks seem to like it. I wonder if anyone will rescue it, or if will eventually find it's way to the sea as more plastic waste floating in it.
  I'm not sure what these are. They resemble thistle flowers, but there are dense clumps of them on some sort of shrub.
  Another large piece of abandoned plastic - a fully inflated lilo well above the water line by the river. I don't think we have had enough wind to blow it there, and so it must have been placed there by someone - maybe after they had finished using it, but I'm sure that if it were dried and deflated it would be good for several summers at least.

  In my eagerness to get there I arrived at the pub nearly 20 minutes early, and I was halfway through my first pint of Guinness before I got a text message to the message I had sent earlier. That message confirmed Angela was on her way, and I got in another half pint of Guinness, plus Angela's vodka and Diet Coke. It was so nice to see Angela after a fortnight, but in some ways it all felt a bit muted.

  Angela had little to say that wasn't about her holiday. She had been camping, under canvas, somewhere in Bridport Dorset with lover boy. They spent a fair time on Chesil Beach - which is an interesting feature I would like to see and explore, but with no personal transport that seems unlikely. It was actually just gone 2pm when we left the pub, and I walked Angela back to her office. We parted with a light hug - it was probably too warm for anything more.

  Maybe it was the extra half pint of Guinness, but I had desire to get home quickly for a wee, although it wasn't so urgent that I couldn't prepare a bit of lunch before having that wee. There were a few things I could have had for lunch, and one option was nothing at all. I think I only felt hungry because I had been thinking about what I could have for lunch, and in the end I had what I was thinking about - a hot bowl of instant noodles.

  I quite enjoyed those noodles, but they did leave me feeling sleepy. After eating them I laid on my bed, and started reading. I don't think I managed more than two pages before I put the book down, and fell asleep. I don't know when that was, but I would be surprised if it was any later than 3pm. I know it was about 4.15pm when I woke up. Until then I had thought I had slept well the night before, but maybe I hadn't. I thought I slept fairly well last night, but I can't stop yawning as I write about it !

  It wasn't until much later in the night before my bedroom seemed to start cooling down. It was nearly 30° C in there until at least 9pm, and only dropped a single degree by then - or maybe even later than 9pm. I didn't feel inclined to do anything at all for the rest of the afternoon and evening except prepare a simple salad of ham, cheese and lettuce for dinner. As I was eating I was wondering why I needed both cheese and ham, but maybe without both it would seem too light a dinner.

  I was going to watch QI last until I saw in the TV listings that Johnny Vegas was one of the panelists. I really don't like him, and decided for an early night. I was on my bed slightly before 9pm, and I may have read for half an hour before I went to sleep. I had both the small and big fans on so I couldn't have felt that warm, but I think I was still warm enough to make me very drowsy. For the first 4 or even 5 hours sleep I was barely aware of the passing time, and if I recall correctly, which might be unlikely, I didn't even get up for a pee in all that time - which is sort of interesting.

  In the last 3 hours of sleep I did start to feel a bit cool, and turned off the big fan. I still kept the small fan on that was blowing across my face. My last bit of sleep, which might have been an hour, I slept with no fans on at all. The first time I have managed that in a week or more. It certainly felt fresh this morning, although I notice it is warming up already. Since getting up at around 6am I have fed the birds, and drunk about a pint and a half of chilled water. I think it is time to check my blood glucose.........

  I am happy to say that this morning my blood glucose it a fairly typical 8.6mmol/l. The difficulty now is trying to keep it that low. Two things should be happening today could be stacking the odds against me. This morning I will be shopping in Tesco, and so subject to certain temptations, and then this after Jodie should be over for a beer tasting session. I might easily lose will power after too much booze !