The forecast for today started off accurate enough to match reality - almost. I reckon it was -5° C in my garden this morning. The forecast says -4° C. To avoid splitting hairs, let's just say it was/is, and will remain, bloody cold. Even non stop sunshine from sunrise to sunset won't be able to lift the temperature above 1° C. By tomorrow morning the temperature may only fall to -2° C, but in the middle of tomorrow it may only rise to 0° C. Tomorrow may see sunshine from midday to sunset.

   Yesterday was partly an exciting day. It was the first day I went out further than just to the local shops since coming down to what I will claim to be Covid even though was not that different to other winter colds since time immemorial. Going out was both a trial and a joy.

  I was hoping/assuming I would see Angela, and so I had to have a shave, shampoo and shower. As much as I needed those, specially after not washing the day before, I was not looking forward to stand naked and shivering in my icy cold bathroom. Maybe it was another confirmation that I was just about over my recent illness because I didn't find it all that unpleasantly cold in the end.

  When it became time to set forth I was determined to take a camera to record what was left of the snow in the park. It was a bit cumbersome, and a pocket camera would have done the job just as well, if not better in some cases, I opted to take my Canon EOS 300D DSLR camera for a walk. I like to make a point of using some of my lesser used cameras now and then. Unfortunately I over estimated how bright the snow would be, and quite a few pictures seemed under exposed, on the other hand, I found I couldn't brighten them too much without bleaching out the detail in the snow.
  This is the so called "Ladywell Arena", or running track as it was once known as.  I don't think the sun was out when I took this snap, and it all looks very dull, but if I brightened it up the snow just looked like it was painted on with no fine detail/texture visible. I guess it probably doesn't look any duller than it was to the naked eye.
  My original intention was to take a shot of the deserted kiddies playground, but then I heard a familiar noise. Yesterday (and the day before) was a rail strike day, and no passenger trains were running, but I managed to get a photo of the track cleaning train on it's way to Ladywell station (and beyond). I not that today there is a very poor rail service from Catford Bridge, and it is blamed on "weather conditions", but the track cleaning train had left the rails perfectly clean yesterday, and although I didn't hear it, it usually does a late afternoon/early evening run as well. It could have gone out very early this morning, and so the excuse of "weather conditions" is sounding a bit lame.
  I often take a snap of this viewpoint. It is looking towards Ladywell Road, and it shows some blue sky, and a lot of grass visible in the snow. Some of the reason why the snow looks so thin here is that it is in the clear to get some sunshine when it is out. Another reason is visible in this picture, but a slight close up shows it better....
 ....Some of the kids, and maybe mum and dad too, have had fun rolling ever growing balls of snow around. Here are two of them, and I can just about see at least one more in the distance. I must admit I am surprised they didn't grow a bit bigger because there is still plenty of loose snow around.

  One of the problems when walking through the park, was just how cold it was. I should have worn gloves, but left them off, and at home so I could operate my camera. By the time I got to the pub my fingers were feeling really painful. It took a few minutes before I had enough sensation in them to get my wallet out of my pocket so I could pay for the drinks. It was very quiet when I got to the pub. There were just two ladies who I often see in there, and who work in the hospital.

  It was about 10 minutes before Angela turned up. For a while I didn't get to say much to Angela because Asia, the barmaid, was telling us about the escapades in the pub last Friday night. Apparently there was almost an fight started between two woman, and there was also some dancing by someone who I know by sight, and who is normally very quiet and sober - but apparently not always on a Friday night !

  Once the story died down I was able to talk to Angela, and give her my Xmas presents (there will probably be another next Wednesday). They were very simple, and very cheap presents, but Angela seemed delighted with them (I told her she could open them there and then if she wanted). One present was a pack of Tesco giant tealights, and the other was one of each of the two styles of candle lighters that Poundstretcher stock.

  On rare occasions Angela's one hour lunch break can seem to last a lot longer than usual, and yesterday was one of those occasions. There is no reason why that should be, but it was enjoyable. However, and hour can never last for ever, and it was soon time to walk Angela back to work. I was quite surprised how slippery some of the pavement on the main road was. I would have thought it might be gritted - particularly near the hospital - but it wasn't. It looked like the hospital staff had kept the pavements clear outside the hospital and of course inside it.

  After a nice warm hug outside Angela's office I made my way home through the side roads. They had not been gritted, but seemed much clearer than the main road for some reason. I think I managed to keep up a good pace getting home. I was trying to get home as fast as possible before my fingers went numb again. Maybe it was the Guinness in my blood, but my fingers felt fine. My chest was a different matter. I had my warm coat on, and the outside of my chest seemed to keep warm, but I was sucking in lungfuls of icy air and as I huffed and puffed my way home as fast as I could sustain.

  I probably was not going all that fast, but I was certainly breathing deep. I was only just under halfway home when I could feel an icy pain in my chest. I assumed it was probably some sort of heart problem, and so it seemed best to speed up a little more so I wouldn't have to die in the road. Once I got home, and started breathing what seemed like warm air, even if it was just 12° C in the dining room, and less in the kitchen, that pain faded away quite quickly.

  I warmed myself up with two cans of chunky beef and vegetable soup, and I am glad I did because I had left the heater off in my bedroom while I was out, and it was so cold in there - probably around 17° C, but still a lot less than my minimum comfort level which I usually quote as 22° C. It seemed to take a long time to get there with the fan heater on full, and even longer until it was actually feeling warm.

  I was feeling quite tired after the Guinness, the walk, and then the hot soup, but before I allowed myself to rest I transferred the pictures I had taken to my PC. I must admit I was mildly annoyed to see they looked a bit flat, but I guess when the sun wasn't shining it did look very flat outdoors. After dealing with the photos my bedroom had warmed up just enough to have a lie down, and try for a quick snooze. I can't seem to recall if I did snooze or not.

  If I did snooze, it wasn't for long. It was almost 4pm, and almost dark outside. It was time for my afternoon pills, and it felt time for a snack, and to start getting my dinner ready. My snack was cheese on Marmite on rice cakes. I discovered a new trick yesterday. My kitchen is freezing cold, and the Marmite was almost solid in it's jar. Just 30 to 40 seconds in the microwave was enough to warm the opened jar to make scooping out, and spreading the Marmite really easy.

  It is rare that I watch the first offering of Star Trek (the New Generation) on the Pick channel at 4pm, but yesterday I did. That was followed by Star Trek: Enterprise, and in turn that was followed by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. During the commercial breaks I prepared and cooked my dinner. It was rather different to that intended, but my intended diner, another simple stew, would have ideally been started before I went to the pub. Last nights dinner was grilled beefburgers and "heat in the sachet" rice with diced peppers. It was nice, but not that nice. It was filling enough.

  As bed time approached I considered how I felt. I noted that despite my relapse the day before, I mostly felt OK yesterday, but only mostly. Whether it was the icy air I was sucking into my lungs, or just a mild remaining condition from my cold, my throat still didn't feel quite right, and I was ever so slightly wheezy. I wondered how easy it would be to sleep like that. It turned out to be as easy as the night before, that, on reflection was probably normal - laying there thinking I couldn't sleep, and then a few minutes later fast asleep - the only clue that I had been sleeping was the clock moving on by several hours.

  It is possible I slept even better last night than I did the night before. I don't remember dreaming as much last night, and that must mean something. The only dream I can remember any patchy details from was one about coming into possession of a heap of old ex-police walkie talkies. They had a limited life with the police because they were not very good. It was was for the same reason than piles of them appeared on the surplus/radio amateur market. I have no idea how I came to have about 100 pairs of the things, and it seemed I had no idea what to do with them.

  This morning, after allowing 15 minutes to get used the real world, I conclude I don't feel that bad, although that does not mean I feel that good either. I thought of one good thing while I was sitting on the toilet. Since I stopped taking the Clopidogrel blood thinning tablets my right elbow hasn't given me any pain for ages. It is one of those cases where you don't notice an absence of pain until you stop and think about it. I think the trigger for thinking about it was when I realised that during my walk through the park, and my walk home from the pub, I didn't get a single twinge from my ankles or knees. It seems possible that once the weather warms up, it might be possible to get back into training for some long distance walking next year.

  Another indicator of my improved health is that this morning I had my lowest blood glucose reading this morning. It was still only 8.5mmol/l, but it is the lowest this month, and that was after eating stuff that I was dubious about - particularly the rice which I ate yesterday evening. Of course if that chest pain I had when walking home was heart trouble, and not just the cold, then I may have another challenge coming up.

  Today I may, if I have time, go and get a bit of shopping - particularly bird feed. I've completely run out of bird feed on some of the coldest mornings, and I feel rather guilty about it. This afternoon should be a beer tasting session with Jodie, and maybe Michael will join us too.