The latest revision to the weather forecast shows fog for 9am. That is just one minute away as I type this with sunshine pouring through the window, and the air looking crystal clear. It also shows 10am as the last hour featuring some sunny spells. After that it is all doom and gloom....well, mainly just gloom, although there is a 10% chance of rain at almost any time. The chances are that it will stay dry, and snow free. It is certainly not frost free at the moment. My most pessimistic, but also more isolated outside temperature sensors was showing -4.6° C - just very slightly more negative than the forecast -4° C shown in the forecast for 8am. By 3pm today's temperature should rise to a bloody chilly 4° C. Thick cloud should keep tomorrow above zero at the ends of the day, but it could rise to 5° C in the afternoon. No rain/snow/sleet is expected, but the thick dark clouds shown make it seem that it will be gloomy in the extreme.
 
   Yesterday's attempt to keep this daily diary a bit shorter seemed to almost work. I couldn't get it down to the, sometimes, just a few lines I used to write her almost 20 years ago, but it was less bloated than more recent stuff. I am going to attempt to keep today's writing fairly short, but it will be tricky because a few things did happen yesterday.

  One of the first things to happen was a phone call from Jodie. She sounded awful, and confirmed that she had snot pouring out the usual orifices. She would seem to have come down with the common cold, and of course she wisely decided to stay in, keep warm, and forego our usual Sunday afternoon beer tastings session. That left a large opening in my day to do something.
  The actual first thing to happen of note was my attention being called to a fracas in the back garden. The two pictured cats had seemed to have met head to head while crossing the sheds in opposite directions. Some very serious cat swear words were uttered, but it seems there was no violence. After a few minutes of following cat etiquette the two passed each other and went their own ways.

  It wasn't all that long after that Jodie phoned that I went out. In fact her call came through as I was halfway through drying myself after a shower. Once I was fully dressed I went to Tesco to get some shopping. It was very cold outside, but the sun was nice and bright. The walk to and from Tesco confirmed my decision that just going out for a walk would be too unpleasant in the cold to enjoy it.
  It was not at the top of my shopping list, and indeed it was not on my shopping list at all, by while in Tesco I felt the urge to seek out some nice strong beers to drink in the afternoon. I actually bought 8 bottles. Six of them were Belgium beers, and 4 of those were Abbey style beers. The two in the picture were the only two I drank yesterday. I was not impressed by the Shepherd Neame "1698", and I am not sure why I thought it would be significantly better than most of Shepherd Neame beers - most of which, maybe with the exception of Spitfire, I don't care for. The Abbot Reserve was, as hoped, rather nice !

  I found two slightly reduced price items in Tesco, and I ended up eating both of them yesterday - but only one at a time. I had a slightly large lunch of the last two salad pots I had bought from the little supermarket on Catford Bridge, and that was followed by some "spicy coated" chicken strips that had barely 15% knocked off the price for being on the sell by date. I have to say they were fairly tasty, although I doubt I would even pay full price for them (and I am not sure I would even buy more at the slightly reduced price).

  After lunch I had a quiet afternoon. I mostly read a book, or some news and stuff on the internet. Just after 3pm I started to drink the two bottles in the photo above. At 5pm I think I had finished the beers. I could have opened any of the other 6 bottles I had bought, but for some reason I didn't fancy any more beer. Later on I did have a few Irish whiskeys to keep the cold out.

  To help the time pass I tried checking the TV electronic programme guide, and found there was some entertainment on later, but for the next couple of hours I amused myself watching more episodes of Futurama. Sometime before 6pm I finished making and cooking my dinner. It was a sort of chicken stew made with a couple of ready cooked roast chicken breasts. They were the other item found with a rather stingy amount of money knocked off because they were on their sell by date.

  I didn't eat them as roast chicken breasts. Instead I tore them into small chunks, and stewed them with some pak choi and a few other bits and pieces - including a few sliced small potatoes. It was not as delicious as I hoped it might be, but it was pretty good. I followed it with a couple of small oranges. I had hoped to buy some nice big juicy oranges, but the price asked for those was a lot more than from the little supermarket on Catford Bridge. The ones I bought from Tesco were about 2/3rds the size, but they were nice, and the only oranges with Clubcard discount. That discount made them a lot cheaper.

  At 8pm Dave were showing an episode of QI, and that was followed by an episode of Have I Got News For You. It was while watching those that I had my couple of large Irish whiskeys. Have I Got News For You finished at 10pm, and I went straight to bed. I probably read for over half an hour, and finally got to sleep around 11pm - although I have to admit I am guessing the time.

  Once I got to sleep I had a sleep a lot like the night before - overall rather good. I couldn't help but notice that it was getting colder and colder in the bathroom when I went for a pee every 2 or 3 hours. At about 5am I turned the heater up to full power, and went back to bed. It may only have been a minute or two before I was asleep again. Like the last few mornings I woke up shortly after 6am, and decided to get a bit more sleep, I slightly diverged from yesterday's version of this. It was probably about 7am when I woke up feeling rather warm under the duvet. I kicked the duvet off, and fell asleep again. Half an hour later I woke up almost shivering !

  There were a few things I was worried about yesterday. One was the Abbot Reserve beer. It did seem to be fairly full and malty. I assumed it had a high sugar content, and that might have been why I didn't feel like any more beer after it. I was also worried about eating two sweet and juicy oranges late in the evening. It seems I had nothing to fear after all. This morning my blood glucose was down to just 7.8mmol/l - a lot lower than yesterday, and not far off my imaginary target.

  I haven't dared weigh myself this morning, but it may not have been two bad if I had waited for after my second visit to the toilet. It was a most productive visit - particularly after being partly constipated yesterday. I expect there is still more to come. Fortunately I have no plans to go out today. That is partly based on the forecast saying it will soon be gloomy outside - although with the sun shining, and most of the sky looking blue, it doesn't seem like it will be gloomy for a while yet.

   There is also the famous reason of "expecting a delivery from Amazon" for not going out today. It will probably be a small package that might possibly fit through my letter box, but I'd rather not take a chance on it. Tomorrow, but possible the day after, which would be very awkward, I shall be expecting another delivery. It will be another 12 pack of Hot Caribbean pepper sauce, and it will be delivered by DPD. They usually come in the morning, and hopefully it will come before Wednesday lunchtime when I hope to be in the pub with Angela.