It seems certain that late afternoon, and into the evening there will be copious amounts of rain, and also maybe some high winds. It will probably rain at random times from the morning to mid afternoon, but each revision of the forecasts swaps things around. The latest revision shows just two dry hours - midday and 2pm, but all other hours as wet, or very wet. Today's temperature should eventually end up at 16° C, the afternoon may be no higher than 14° C. A very miserable day if forecast ! Of course as I write these words we are almost having a sunny spell ! Tomorrow could see the temperature a few degrees higher, but it too may be a rainy day, but apart from it possibly being heavy at 6am, the rest of the rain could be light rain.

   It was definitely not an exciting day yesterday, but I think I could almost describe as just a tiny bit less than a good day. Definitely not a bad day though. I can only lay claim to doing one thing of note, and that was to hand wash three t-shirts and two pairs of underpants.

  One good thing about yesterday was that after giving in the previous day, I needed little convincing that it was much more comfortable to put the heater on. I used it sparingly, and took care to only get my bedroom, the only room I heated, not too warm - just warm enough to be comfortable. As a result I had very few aches from my chest, and in my wildest dreams, I believe that maybe I have cured that inflamed scar tissue - until next time !

  It seemed a long wait before the first of the promised sunny spells yesterday. Maybe the wait was worth it because there seemed to be more sunny spells than forecast, and at times I could describe it as "sunny", or sunny spells lasting a full hour or more. The sunshine didn't seem to be strong enough to get my bedroom hot, but it was good enough to leave the heater off until early evening, and it did feel good as I laid on my bed reading and snoozing with the sunlight on parts of my body.

  Apart from the laundry I mentioned further up the page, I guess I had a very lazy day yesterday. Fortunately, because I was feeling warm and comfortable, I was not tempted to each too much during the day. Somehow I can't seem to remember having any lunch, but I am sure I must have had something. It may have been a handful of micro chip sticks and some slices of cheese. I do remember having that, but I'm not sure if that was lunch or snack.......

..... It has just come to me. I did have some lunch. It was a can of Aldi's own brand "chunky" beef and vegetable soup. I haven't had that for a long time, and it seemed quite delicious. It is also has quite a low sugar content compared to many soups, but still four times as much as Tesco cream of chicken soup. The soup, plus the micro chip sticks with cheese, kept me going well enough for a slightly later than usual dinner.

  I waited until almost 7pm (instead of recently more usually 6pm) before I had dinner. It was a chicken with mushrooms and bean sprout stew. With a bit of chilli sauce in it to give it a bit of a kick, it was rather nice. I've always thought that mushrooms and bean sprouts to be very low in calories, and I made the assumption they have a very low sugar content, but I wonder if mushrooms are not that innocent when it comes to sugar content.

  After dinner, and my usual ration of TV entertainment, I felt ready for bed, but it was not until I had been reading in bed for some time that I turned the light out. Evidently I might have been ready for bed, but not ready for sleep. I think it might have been gone 10pm when I fell asleep. Like the previous night, I had turned the heater off an hour or more before going to bed, and initially it didn't seem that warm under my duvet. In the middle of the night it seemed a bit too warm, and I partly pushed the duvet aside, but not for long before I quickly pulled it back over me.

  I am not sure if I slept well last night. I don't recall any long periods of insomnia, but I did have a few short periods of insomnia, and they were definitely my own fault. Before going to bed I decided to weigh myself. It was a stupid time to do it, but it was interesting. The scales said I was 700gm above my "official" weight, but that was with a belly full of dinner, and after drinking quite a few glasses of Diet Coke (and a couple with vodka in them).

  Every time I woke up for a pee (or thinking that maybe I needed a pee) I weighed myself before getting back in bed. I can't recall any time when I peed a lot, but every time I lost about 200gm. An hour before getting up I turned the heater on full blast (although I think the switch is failing and it was probably only half power). It felt almost comfortable when I got up. The first thing was to go into the freezing toilet where I had a pee, and passed only a small to moderate sized "stool".

  The first thing I did when I got back to my warm bedroom was to check my blood glucose reading. Initially I got three very different reading, but one of them I took again, and that made things slightly more even. The first reading my new meter gave was a very high 9.2mmol/l. That was a lot higher than the other meters, and I tried again with a new test strip. The reading was now 8.8mmol/l - a bit high, but unremarkable. At least it was a lot closer to my oldest meter that said a fairly good 8.4mmol/l. Now the odd one out was the older meter which read a very good 7.3mmol/l. I suspect the real amount was about 8.5mmol/l, and that is remarkably average !

  Once I had done my blood glucose readings I got on the scales to see how much I weighed, and what I would be telling the nurse if I was seeing her this morning, instead of Friday morning. I would have provided a picture as evidence (although I am sure she would force me on the scales at the surgery. This morning I was 700gm less than my "official" weight. If I had done a a really big poo, like yesterday, it could have been even lower. I expect I will be pooing again soon, but it is pointless weighing myself after eating breakfast, and drinking a glass of Diet Coke.

  The good thing about all this is that if I can somehow continue what I am doing I should be OK when I see the nurse on Friday, but a few things stand in the way of it ! Today is pub day. I face the possibility of getting wet going there or coming home again, and even if I stay dry it will still be cold. Couple that with two or more pints of Guinness, and I could have a raging hunger when I get home again. Tomorrow is beer drinking day with Michael and Jodie. That too could give me a raging hunger !