In theory we just have to wait until gone 11am for this dull (and possibly wet) morning to brighten up, and the first sunny spells from 1pm (according to the latest revision). If today is anything like yesterday the sunny spells could start even earlier. Sadly it seems that 13° C is the best we can expect today, and that for only a few hours. Incidently, The BBC forecast shows sunny spells from as early as 11am. Tomorrow is currently forecast to be a very dull day with the temperature only rising to 12° C.

    All the sunshine or sunny spells automatically made yesterday a nice, pleasant day, although I did nothing to make use of the sunshine - apart from letting it warm my front, south facing, rooms. It could have been useful to go to Tesco again yesterday, but I never got around to it.

   One thing I did do was to do the complete shave, shampoo and shower routine. It made me feel nice and fresh. I probably should have changed the blade in my razor because my cheeks feel a bit rough already. Maybe it is just the signs of spring bringing on a growth spurt, or maybe even an extra boost of testosterone.

  I nearly put some clothes in to soak in detergent after my shower, but this time I was sensible, and knew that it was unlikely I would find the time and inclination to complete the wash before starting on some beers. There would also have been the small problem of drying it all. In reality I could probably dried it on the washing line for the first time since the onset of last autumn, but it would have been easier to dry it all inside, and using the fan heater in the dining room. That would not have been a good idea when using the dining room for drinking.

  One thing I did do before Jodie arrived for out beer tasting session, was to do a bit of washing up, and to prepare my dinner ready for later in the early evening. It was quite a big heap of mostly green salad, and the chicken I had cooked for a salad the previous day, but didn't use. One other tiny, weeny, little job I did could be called gardening, but it wasn't really.
  I suspect it came up earlier than it should, but I saw this single red tulip in my garden. The stem was so soft it was bending over with the petals almost touching the mud. I decided it might be more useful to cut it off and bring it inside. You can't see it from this angle, but it is a bit moth eaten around the other side. This morning it still seem to be as healthy as it was yesterday, and just maybe even a bit better.
  Also spotted in the garden was this one single flower in on of the hanging baskets. It looks like there are quite a few shoots that could produce flowers soon. The funny thing is that I had written off this basket as being basically dead, but there are quite a few things growing in it. I also noticed a lot of long slender leaves growing near where the tulip was. I think they are from a clump of bulbs I planted a few years ago, and are now growing well.

  Jodie arrived on time yesterday, and initially was keen to get drinking - but only after she spent ages playing with her food to construct a two part lunch or dinner from two lots of leftovers. One was a soup, and the other was something or another. She took but from the something or other, and put them in the soup, and then added some cheese and a few other bits to the something or other. Both had to be microwaved, but eventually she opened a can of beer.

  I must confess I had opened a 9% tine of Kestrel lager before Jodie arrived, and so I didn't go thirsty waiting for her.  We had a mixture of beers - some good, and one almost undrinkable. One of them, a strawberry chocolate sour, was in a curious area of it's own. It had a really nice taste, but it was so tart that it caused my cheeks to collapse/crinkle, and I was salivating so much it was diluting the beer.

  Jodie left a bit later than usual.....actually, it was only a few minutes later when I come to think about it. As usual she was getting the train to Clock House station, and only allowed herself 10 minutes to get there - which should have been more than ample with rushing, and with it being dark there were no sun basking cats to distract her. Once she left I tucked into my salad.

  My salad was very nice, but I think I made too much of it. One problem of buy for just one is that most things come in a quantity enough for two, or three, or more. For things like ready to eat salad leaves there is a strong temptation to use half a bag - which can be quite a lot for one. I just piled stuff on until the bowl was almost full. Shoving the last mouthfuls down was hard work, but at least I was pretty sure that it was all very low sugar.

  I did a lot of channel surfing to find a few things to watch on TV last night. I gave up around 8pm, and went to bed to read for a while. I ended up finishing the book after almost an hour of reading, and as far as I can remember I fell asleep quite quickly. Apart from about 40 minutes of insomnia just after 4am, I seemed to sleep well. It was not dreamless sleep, but I cannot remember sufficient details to describe any dreams. I did wake up to pee 3 or 4 times before I finally got up just after 6am.

  This morning was the second morning I didn't take a Turmeric, Ginger, and Black Pepper pill. It seemed too early for the hoped for effect to take place, and it was probably more just coincidence, but this morning passing a very large poo was just about painless. My theory, which will take another week or two if it is to be proved, is that those Turmeric, Ginger and Black Pepper pills were causing very hard stools. Time will tell.

  This morning I got an interesting spread of blood glucose readings. All were good, but two better than the other. The highest reading was a little bit high, but nothing drastic. It was from the Contour meter, and it read 8.6mmol/l. The GlucoRX meter gave a nice low reading of 7.6mmol/l - almost on my imaginary target of 7.5mmol/l. The Sino Care tended to agree that my blood glucose was pretty good with a reading of 8.1mmol/l.

  With my blood glucose being lower this morning I felt no shame in enjoying two portions of instant noodles for my breakfast. One was one of Tesco's cheap, and quite nasty, own brand of instant noodles - BBQ flavour. I didn't really enjoy it, and I think I'll avoid buying these cheap Tesco instant noodles in favour of many better flavours, and quite a few of them not much more expensive.

  I don't know what I am doing today, although in the fanciful belief that today could end up as a pleasant day, I might try and get myself out for a bit of fresh air. If only it were going to be a few degrees warmer, maybe something in the region of 15° C, it would definitely feel good to go out with no coat, and bare arms to soak up a bit of UV for vitamin D production, and to get a bit of colour to my face and arms. It does seem a bit brighter now, but I can still see a lot of very grey, threatening clouds. Oh well, I'll report back tomorrow if I got out, or....and it might be a good thing.....I did a bit of proper gardening !