It is sunny as I write this, but soon the sunshine will change to sunny spells, and according to the latest revision to the forecast the last of them will be between 11am and midday. From 2pm the clouds will thicken enough to appear dark, but it should stay dry. This morning the temperature was just 0° C, but it will slowly rise until by 6pm it may have reached a high of 6° C. Much of tomorrow will be 6° C, but it will be a very grey day with a negligible 10% of rain.

    Half of yesterday was good, and the other half was not so good. It was the morning and early afternoon that was good, but from then on things went downhill. Maybe they picked up again later in the evening. Let me explain.

  My morning started off as usual with writing yesterday's blog, and then taking a rest for half an hour or so to let my wrist (repetitive strain injury from typing and mousing), and my eyes recover. Then I went for the full morning ablutions - shave, shampoo (and conditioner) and shower. I felt wonderfully refreshed and clean after that, and I was ready to go out into the big wide world - but not straight away. It was a little too early at that point.

  I can't quite rememeber if I had to amuse myself for 30 minutes or an hour before it was time to go out. I put on my orange coloured coat - the thickest, warmest coat I possess, and which also has a hood if it starts raining, or just the help keep my ears warm in strong winds. I did worry that strong sunshine could actually heat me up inside the coat, but it was only just warm enough inside it - which surprised me.

  I did my usual route of going to Ladywell by train so I could pick up copies of The Metro, and take pictures of all trains I saw (front and back). I didn't manage to snap any trains I had not had previous photos of. That was probably just as well because with the sun so low in the sky there was a lot of sun flares across the front of most of the trains, and the pictures would not really be usable unless in desperation.
  I think I only took a couple of pictures as I walked through the park from the station to the pub. This was the better of the two shots. It shows pine cones in a pine tree (or some evergreen tree). The main significance is that I wonder why they seem to remain intact when surrounded by loads of hungry squirrels. Maybe these are the wrong type, or taste nasty, or perhaps there are better nuts and stuff.

  I had a most satisfying drink in The Jolly Farmers. There was the right combination of people in there to ensure a steady banter going back and forth. One amusing bit was when a man brought in his new vaping kit, and a few people were trying to help him set it up. One man was more more familiar with the kit, and he had his own vaper and refill for it. It had Ayse, my favourite barmaid, highly amused when they were talking about "exchanging fluids" !

  There was so much going on, and only from a total of about 6 or 7 customers at best, that I had trouble concentrating on my crosswords. I managed all the quick crossword because that doesn't need much concentration, but I don't think I solved a single cryptic clue. I ended up staying for three pints of Guinness because I was enjoying myself so much. I felt tempted to stay for a fourth pint, but I managed to exercise some discipline. I am glad I did.

  Once I was out in the sunshine, but very cold air, the magic started to wane, and I was back into ennui of normal life. I considered walking home, but after not getting any pictures of trains that were good enough to use, if indeed I had had need of them, I opted to get the train home. Fortunately I only had a 9 minute wait for a train back to Catford Bridge, and before that there was a train in the opposite direction that I found I had already had a picture of.
  It was difficult to feel mildly depressed under such a wonderful blue sky, but I managed it. I think my reasoning was that it was pointless unless it was warm. I must admit I am really yearning for a return to days when I can go out in just a t-shirt and shorts. I guess I am getting obsessed with it now, and that contributes to the depression. This picture is looking north to where my train back to Catford Bridge would be entering the platform, in the distance, in a few minutes.

  Back at Catford Bridge I waited long enough to get a picture of the back of the train I had travelled on. Once again it was of a train I already had a decent picture of. At the last, and more complete count up, there are only 18 trains I have not got pictures of, and that includes three different types, class 376, class 465, and class 466. Most of them are class 465, and I am unsure about quite a few of them. Some may have been converted, and renumbered, and some could be in long term storage. Hopefully in warmer weather I will be travelling further afield to see different types of trains.

  When I got back home it was cold and gloomy beyond the front door where the sun doesn't shine, although the dining room was almost warm because I had left a halogen heater on while I was out. The Guinness had made me feel hungry, and what I should have done was to have some hot soup, but I opted for rice crackers and spreadable cheese. It was sort of instant gratification.

  While I ate my bedroom was slowly warming up. It was probably an hour or so later when I had eaten, and checked the photos of trains I had taken against my spreadsheet listing my train photographs. Another side effect of the booze was a sleepy feeling, and I eventually laid down on my bed, and after a while I dozed off. I might have snoozed for almost a full hour because it was just getting dark when I woke up.
  It was a good time to wake up to see a glorious red sunset. It should have heralded good weather for today, but as the latest revision to the forecast still shows, this afternoon will be very dull, grey and gloomy. On the other hand, the sunny spells are now shown to last an extra hour until midday. Maybe they might last even longer when the time comes.

  A very mild hangover combined with the sun going down to leave me still mildly depressed. The worst aspect of it was that I didn't fancy spending some time in the cold kitchen preparing my dinner, but I did fancy a tasty takeaway. I thought I would give the Indian restaurant who have their own independent website and payment system, who I used a week ago, another go. Last time I seemed to get away with it not causing too much of a disturbance to my blood glucose level.

  Like last time I ordered enough for two dinners, and that was enough to trigger a 10% discount. It meant that each very generous amount of each dinner cost just £12. That falls nicely in the no mans land between cheap and expensive. This time I may have ordered a bit too much, but mainly because today may not be a good day to eat some of the food for lunch. Last night I went over the top, or at least that is how it felt.

  As well as a chicken madras, and about 2/3rds of a portion of rice, I also had a very large side dish of chilli potatoes. The trouble was the madras and rice only seemed to fill me up to 95%. Eating the free poppadoms should have easily filled me up to 100%, but I made the mistake of eating the chilli potatoes first. They were very nice, but I felt semi painfully stuffed at the end - a condition I very rarely experience.

  I think after watching an assortment of TV until 9pm I decided to go to bed, and read more of my current book ("Roving Mars" by Steven Squyres). It continues to be a fascinating read even if the chapter I was reading last night dealt with a lot of political infighting, and not technical stuff. By 10pm I was definitely ready for sleep, or so I hoped. My guts still felt sore after that curry, and I wondered if I would be able to get to sleep.

  In the end, I don't think it took long to get to sleep, and I slept soundly until about 1.30am when I woke up feeling hot. I think the spices, and almost whole green chillies,in my dinner were working their "magic" on me, and I woke up just intime before I broke into a heavy sweat, and soaked the pillow again. At that point I turned the heater up full so I could sleep with bits of my sticking out to help to not overheat. Although having said that, as the temperature outside was close to going negative, even the heater on full was struggling to keep my bedroom feeling comfortable warm - at least while in my bed clothes (just a pair of underpants).

  On the whole I ended up sleeping quite well, and even felt OK to get up earlier than lately, and almost more like when days are longer. I was out of bed by about 6.15am. After the discomfort I felt last night I expected some siesmic tremours when I went to the toilet, but it was underwhelming in the extreme ! I didn't bother/dare weigh myself after that poor show.  Maybe when I have part 2 of my hot curry takeaway tonight it might have a more dramatic effect tomorrow morning.

  One thing last nights dinner did, and I think a lot of the blame falls on the chilli potatoes, was to raise my blood glucose readings to above OK, but fortunately below disaster area.  There was quite a tight spread of readings this morning with the lowest being 9.0mmol/l, and the highest was 9.3mmol/l. All were safely below the red line at 10.0mmol/l, but they were definitely not good readings. the worst thing is that tomorrow may see similar or worse readings.

  The main thing on the menu today is beer ! I doubt I will do anything, apart from having a shower, and some sort of lunch, until about mid afternoon when Jodie will be over to go through some more beers with, or without me (I am not keen on her now preferred sour and cloudy beers). It will be interesting if Michael joins us. His wife is having some health issues, and may want to stay with her. I don't even know if he will do his usual shopping trip, in his car, and grab me some bottles of Diet Coke. If not I have enough to last until my next shopping trip - possibly to Aldi, and maybe on Friday or Saturday morning.