07:57 BST

  Instead of today starting with sunny spells, it started rather dull, and there has been some rain, as evidenced by the ground being wet. Although a few months ago it would be considered mild, or even warm, at this time of the year 17° C (as I write this) feels chilly. It looks like it is going to be a very miserable day. There may be no sign of the sun until 5pm, and I have my doubts about that. With luck it should stay dry for the rest of the day. After this chilly start the temperature may reach 25° C by 6pm...maybe. The latest revision to the forecast does now show rain for 9am. Tomorrow may be a far better day. There could be sunny spells all day long, and after another cool (17° C) start the temperature may quickly rise to 27° C.

   I think yesterday could be described as a good day despite a few negative aspects. It was a day when I got some exercise, washed some clothes, and finally took delivery of my first order from Aliexpress - the protective cover for my Honor 200 Smart.

  One of the things about yesterday morning was that at least 2, maybe 3 hours after getting up I had my first poo. It did seem to be reasonable sized, but I was left with a feeling that there would be more to come. As usual, after I finished writing yesterday's piece I had my usual lie down and read for a while. After that I intended to have a shower, but before that I wanted to check to see if there was any information about my expected parcel delivery.

  Before I could do that check I felt like maybe there was some sort of movement, and maybe I might do a second poo of the day. I did, and it was a very large amount. It seemed like either I had eaten for three the day before, which I am sure I didn't, or I had not gone as much as I should in the previous few days. I think that was actually the case. I felt much better for it, and I was feeling good to go for a walk as soon as I had had my shower and checked for updates about my parcel.


  I didn't have set route in mind when I started walking, although I had a few ideas of extending it once I got as far as Ladywell. I opted for the shorter of several options because I seemed to be getting hints that I needed to go to the toilet, for another poo. I didn't think there could have been anything left in me, but it seems my bottom knew otherwise.

  It was not a mad dash home - partly because it was not an urgent feeling, but mostly because I was walking near my fastest for a long walk. 2.1mph is a bit faster than I was managing a week or two ago, although on at least one occasion I did manage 2.2mph.


   My walking route was slightly extended past Ladywell Station rather than my recent there and back route. I was curious to see a particular road - Malyons Terrace. It was a road I had seen a very old picture of, but just could not place it, and even wondered if it still existed. I does still exist !
  Malyons Terrace is a very short and very narrow road.  At first glance it looks like the sort of new road built at the same time as a new housing estate built on a tiny pocket of land, but I think it may easily date back to over 100 years old. Where there are new looking houses there were some garages according to one account I read. The older houses on the right, about halfway down the road I think are original.
  My walk looped around the other side of the railway, and went through a rather bland park which I think remains unnamed. It is one one side of Slagrove Place. From there I cut through a couple of alleys to come out near what I believe is now a specialised college, but used to be a workhouse and laundry. In front of that there is what is now an extension of Ladywell Fields. It was once fenced off as part of the grounds of the workhouse.

  It has some odd looking mounds that seem like they may have once been burial pits, possibly dating back to the back death. One such mound made a great foreground for the picture of some very weird, almost sinister looking trees. I have no idea what sort of trees they are. They may be some sort of evergreen. I didn't have time to get a close up look at them. It is possible they are slowly being killed by ivy, or maybe they are just weird.
  There is a sort of part paved track/road that leads to the college, and passes the front of The Ladywell Centre - a non secure mental health centre which is part of Lewisham Hospital - at least I think it is. One both sides of the paved bit of road are some newly planted (Winter 2022/2023, which seems recent in the life of a tree) crab apple trees. I think there are 6 or 7 of them, and they are all loaded with tiny little, marble sized crab apples. They are too hard and sour to be eaten raw, but I think they can be cooked and eaten, or maybe fermented and drunk.

  As I walked to the curly wurly footbridge over the railway the idea that I might need the toilet for a poo seemed to be getting more imperative. It might have been foolhardy to not rush too much, but it was quite safe (than goodness). I spent a few moments of the top of the bridge getting my breath back, and taking some pictures of a passing train. Over on the other side of the bridge I spent a few minutes trying to get a picture of a butterfly. It kept teasing me by seeming to settle, but flying off again as soon as I got my camera pointed at it.

  When walking from home to the Curly Whirly footbridge (it has circular ascending ramps one either side to make it accessible for bikes, prams and wheelchairs) I can usually walk fairly fast non stop, but I can't seem to manage that in the homeward direction. I needed one short stop to get my breath back before I got home. Once home I stripped off my outdoor clothes before going to the toilet.

  It seems I didn't need to poo then, but I did have a pee. Before I put on my indoor clothes I got on the scales. My weight was low, but lower than any time in the last few years. It was actually exactly the same as my weight on the the morning of my birthday, last Sunday, before my "celebrations ruined everything. I next checked my blood glucose, just using the Contour meter. It said it was 9.9mmol/l - higher than it had been in the morning, and I definitely could not have any lunch.

  I did have a couple of light weight nibbles - just 3 or 4 of the notably low sugar flatbreads I had bought on Sunday morning. Having something to nibble made selecting and editing the pictures I have used a bit easier. Maybe it also helped to very slightly relax me as I waited to find out when my parcel/packet would be delivered. At 14:43 I was notified my packet would be delivered between 14:30 and 16:30 - or in other words 13 minutes after the earliest possible time.

  The delivery actually took place at 15:38. In the run up to that time I became increasingly uncomfortable when that earlier desire to go to a poo restarted, and restarted in a more aggressive way. It got to the point where I dared not wait any longer, and had to go to the toilet. I was just half way through a medium sized, and medium softness deposit when my packet was delivered !

  The packet was just a strong plastic envelope around the protective case for my new phone. As such it went through the letterbox with plenty of room to spare, and the courier didn't even bother to ring the doorbell. I was going to show a picture of the protective case, but I couldn't think of a camera angle that would show much - it is just a soft plastic shell that clips over the back and sides of the phone. It makes the phone less slippery to handle, and should protect it from smaller drops that might otherwise crack the display.

  I had one more thing to do after I had had a bit of lie down, and almost had a snooze. It was to get back to the washing I had left soaking, but time seemed to be running away from me. It was almost time to cook my dinner (or heat it in the microwave), and the allow it 20 minutes to cool down before eating while watching The BBC 6 O'clock news. That dinner was 10 days passed it's use by date, but seemed OK. It was a calorie controlled ready meal of chicken in mushroom sauce with new potatoes and green beans. Despite it's age it seemed OK, although maybe the green beans might have tasted very slightly odd.

  Star Trek: Voyager was a semi interesting episode. It was about recover a 300 year old space probe that had landed on an alien planet. I could not recall ever seeing it before, but after about 10 minutes it all came flooding back, but I watched it anyway. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was not a good episode, and I left it showing while I went and finished the laundry I had left in soak in the morning.

  I started doing that laundry with some reluctance because I seemed to feel a bit stiff. I thought I would do a couple of rinses, and then get back to it. In fact it seemed easier going than expected, but then I had to stop just before the fabric conditioner stage because I needed to pee. After a 10 of 15 minute break I got back to it. I was going to hang it up to dry indoors, and so I had to give everything - two t-shirts and about 7 pairs of underpants - an extra strong hand wringing out so it didn't drip after hanging it up. I left it all dry aided by my desk fan blowing at it during the night.

  I finished in time to see the climax of the Deep Space Nine episode, if you can call a load of semi boring old tosh a climax. After that I watched an edition of Have I Got news For You on Dave. That finished at 10pm and I went straight to bed. I was going to read for a bit, but I think I only managed a single page before it felt like time to put the book down, turn out the light, and rather quickly fall asleep.

  I didn't seem to wake as frequently as usual to have a pee, and when I did I seemed to pee less than usual. It suggested my blood glucose might be quite low, but that was no the case. One thing about last night was that it got fairly cool in the night. I kept the window shut, and that kept the warmth in. It was around 4am when I woke up feeling rather cool. My bedroom thermometer said it was almost still my comfortable sleeping temperature. After I while In treated myself of half an hour of the fan heater on low. I woke up to it feeling a bit too warm !

  That lack of peeing in the night (or so it seemed) did have one immediate effect, or maybe lack of effect. When I weighed myself I found I had lost 400gm, which is good, but I expected more after so much pooing, eating so little, and the 1.6 mile walk.  Oh well, at least the trend is still in a downward direction. If I am careful I may be able to show the doctor a picture of an almost record low weight when I see him tomorrow morning.

  All my hopes of a good blood glucose reading were dashed when I did the first check using the Contour meter. It read 8.8mmol/l. That is acceptable, but I was hoping for better. The GlucoRX meter was actually a little bit better with a reading of 8.7mmol/l. As expected, the Sinocare meter had it's own ideas about it, and showed a reading of 9.0mmol/l. That gets colour coded pink in my spreadsheet, and although not a lot higher than the other two, the pink makes it stand out as semi high. real high would get colour coded red, and even higher still would be brown.

  I think I got to sleep early enough, but I did get up before 6am this morning. Maybe it is that, or maybe it is just the cool, very dull, and damp morning that seems to have sucked all the energy out of me this morning. Once I have finished writing this I will have my usual lie down, and if I feel myself drifting off into a snooze I will do nothing to fight it. I might even encourage it.

  Later on I will have a shower, and I think I will have a shave and wash my hair. It will save doing the latter two when I get up tomorrow. My time will be at a premium because I have to be at the surgery at 9.30am. I doubt I will be able to write much before I have to go out, but I will finish it when I get back - assuming the doctor doesn't want to send me off for urgent tests or something equally irritating.

  Later on this morning, or maybe early afternoon, may see the day brightening up a bit, and definitely warmer (but probably muggy). I may have to grit my teeth to get me started, but I feel I ought to do more exercise today. I am think I might try and do another 3 mile walk, but using a route where it is easy to cut the walk short and head for home if it feels like the best idea.