I thought I had better check on new revisions before commenting on the forecast in the screenshot above, and it was worth it. There have been sunny spells since sunrise, but the latest "sunny spells" doesn't seem to be stopping. This is in accord with the latest revision to the forecast. It says full sunshine until 3pm, and sunny spells until 7pm and sunset. The temperature may hit 15° C for a while today, and that could feel very nice in the sunshine. Incidentally, the BBC forecast has shuffled the sunshine and sunny spells, and they are a bit random, but still lasting until sunset. Tomorrow the temperature may only rise to 14° C, which is still fairly good, and if it isn't sunny there will be a sunny spell every hour until sunset.
 
  I seemed to have a pleasant day yesterday, but only two things happened of any note. Maybe the most momentous was the christening of my new slow cooker. The other was a beer drinking session with Michael (Jodie was attending a gig somewhere and couldn't come).

  I hardly did anything yesterday morning except select the beers from the delivery in the morning that I was going to put into the fridge to chill for the afternoon. The other think was to take another quick look at the instructions for my new slow cooker. As instructed (and also quite obvious) I washed it before it's first use. I then put three skinless, and boneless chicken thighs in it along with water, stock cubes and the last of the small jar of smoked chipotle past.

  I then turned the heat up to high, and left it. A couple of hours later it was obviously hot, but not boiling point, and the chicken was definitely not cooked. That worried me a bit, but after another hour I noted it was actually boiling, and by then the chicken was probably cooked enough to safely eat, but I had more ingredients to add. They were some sliced small potatoes, a few sticks of tenderstem broccoli, and half a bag of shredded cabbage and leek.

  I think another hour passed, and by then the potatoes and cabbage were cooked enough, but I wasn't ready to eat. I had drinking to do, and so I turned the control on it to low, and left it for most of the afternoon. In the meantime Michael had arrived, and we started going through the beers I had had delivered. They were supposed to be beers from Mexico, but two of them were brewed in the UK, and of those two I think one was invented here, and has probably never been heard of in Mexico.

  We made the beers last for almost two and a half hours, and then Michael had to go home to watch Star Trek ! I wanted to do the same, and to eat my dinner. I can't quite remember when I turned the slow cooker off, and when I actually ate my first meal from it, but I had turned it off in time for it cool off enough to me still hot, but not scalding when I ate it.

  I am not sure what my verdict is on the slow cooker. It didn't seem to be easier or better than using the microwave, but it did have one good plus point. The ceramic bowl is sufficiently deep that even if it did manage to get hot enough for vigorously boiling it would not overflow. That is one problem when using my one casserole dish in the microwave. Cleaning and drying out the inside of the microwave is a tedious but necessary job.

  Yesterday I didn't have to wash the slow cooker because I used the leftover stock/gravy for the next meal. I had actually precooked the rest of the chicken thighs from the pack in the microwave. I tipped them into the slow cooker, and gave it an hour on high to hopefully get it hot enough to deter any bacteria. If I write this from the toilet tomorrow you'll know what happened.

  I watched my usual compliment of TV programmes last night, and that included another edition of Have I Got News For You. That finished at 10pm, and by then I was too tired to read more than a couple of pages of the book I am currently reading. That book is "The Mammoth Book Of Classic SciFi". The stories, which are of novella length, are all from the 1930s.

  The first story in the book is by H.P. Lovecraft, and I gave up on that after a dozen pages. He was such a turgid write spending ages trying to set a sort of scary background to the story, but the core of the story, if the last book of his I read is any indication, is only about 3 pages long, and reads more like comedy because it was so contrived. I guess some people used to like it, but I don't.

  The next story in the book is a lot less Gothic, and adds some real (or real possible) science, and the few pages I have read so far seem OK. As I said, I only read a few pages last night before I fell asleep. Last night seemed another good night - at least compared to many. I can't really think of anything negative about it, although it would be nice if it was like whan I was a lot younger and I could sleep 8 hours non stop.

  I suspect one or more of the beers I drank yesterday had a little bit of sugar in it. My stew included some potatoes, and they can be very variable, or unpredictable. Some days they seem safe, and other days not so much. Despite that my my blood glucose had still dropped from it's close to the red line reading of 9.7mmol/l to a sort of near average 8.6mmol/l. That means I don't have to worry too much about what I eat today provided it is from a selection of known OK stuff.

  One problem with eating today is that my day may be different to usual. My intention, unless some thing stops me, and that something could be mental as much as physical, is to go to a gig. Caz And Steve, singer and guitarist from Hell On Tap, are playing a short (8 to 10pm) gig at The Honour Oak pub, The pub is almost within walking distance of home, and indeed I have walked there in the past - the long way around !
  I took the picture of The Honor Oak Pub (evidently spelled without a "U" according to the pub sign) on a 4.2 mile walk that took in much of The Linear Park, and Blythe Hill Fields, on 31st July 2020. It was a very hilly walk, and it was a steaming hot day. I think it was over 30° C, and by the time I reached the top of Blythe Hill I was a soggy mess, but I enjoyed the walk. Tonight I'll be carrying a heavy camera and stuff, and I may opt to get a bus rather than walk.

  There is one other thing I hope I can get in the right mood to do today, and that is to have another go at the dripping hot tap in the kitchen. It is getting so bad now that a little worse and it will be a trickle instead of a drip. If only it had been a conventional tap, and I actually wanted, instead of the crappy mixer tap that Lee foisted on me, it would be an easy job, and I would have done it ages ago. At least if I try it again today I have a good adjustable spanner ready and waiting, plus a ring spanner that might fit it - I had neither to hand on my last attempt.  Once I get the mechanism out I just hope it uses a replaceable tap washer, and I have one of the right size !