08:45 BST

  Today could be a lot like yesterday, but today there is a 15% chance of rain at 1pm, and just 9% at 2pm. The maximum temperature will be 20° C again. With a bright sunny, albeit rather cool start, it has the feeling of being a nice day. Tomorrow could be very wet, and although it may be the usual BBC fantasies, there are some thunderstorms predicted in the afternoon. The maximum temperature could be just 17° C.

  I am finding it quite difficult to remember much about yesterday. This could be because very little actually happened. However a few important things did happen, and I can describe them....I think. One very important thing was that I washed my hair and had a shower !

  I didn't write much yesterday, according to a word count using Libre Office Writer, but it did seem to take a long time to write everything. There must have been a reason for that, but I have no idea what that was. After I finished writing I had my usual lie down, and read half a dozen pages from my book. I may, or may not, have had a little snooze, but soon I was ready to wash my hair and have a shower. That felt really good after not washing for a couple of days - and all because the bathtub had two big and heavy buckets of laundry in it.

  Once I was clean and fragrant I was free to go out, and I finally got to go shopping in Savers and Poundstretcher. I topped up my vitamins, shower gel, and shampoo and conditioner in Savers. In Poundstretcher I bought more cheap and cheerful instant noodles, and other foods, plus two 1.25 litre bottles of Diet Coke. It is handy being able to buy them from Poundstretcher, but without actually checking, I feel that they are quite expensive compared to Aldi or Tesco, but at least they seem to taste perfect. One of my fears was that they would be so old, and had been stored so badly that they tasted flat and tainted. They taste perfect !

  Once I was home from the shops it felt time for lunch. I decided that yesterday I would not have any ice cream, but would have something with just as much, and maybe more sugar in it. It was a whole "New York style" cheesecake. The day before yesterday I had a lot of ice cream, and yet my blood glucose results yesterday morning were extremely good. I had hoped that Cheesecake would be as safe as ice cream seems to be, but apparently not ! I have a totally unfounded idea that the "sodium alginate" actually reduces sugar uptake.

  Having read the article I linked to....maybe it is not an unfounded idea. To quote from part of the article "Sodium alginate is a non-digestible carbohydrate and the FDA intends to propose it in the list of dietary fibers. It has the benefits of lowering blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol levels and other health effects." Maybe I should not feel so much guilt about eating ice cream despite it's high sugar content. It seems that the Sodium Alginate actually stops the absorption of the sugar, and maybe even other sugars in my diet.

  After my lunch I had a lie down, and read for a while, and I am pretty sure I had a snooze too. Once I was ready for "action" again I got on my PC to check and order a few things from Amazon. One thing I wanted was more Chromium supplement tablets because they do seem useful in reducing my blood glucose levels. It may not be a lot, but it all helps. I wanted a key chain for Michael in the hope we don't go through the pantomime of him looking everywhere for his keys before he goes home. It was going to be a birthday or Xmas present, but I'll give it to him this coming Thursday if it as arrived by then.

  There should be a few more items delivered on Thursday if Amazon's prediction is right. It should include a new pair of khaki shorts. I apparently bought the same ones some years ago, but I can't seem to find them now. They could be in the bottom of a storage box. The significant things is that the illustration definitely shows belt loops. That should make them safe for outdoor use with a belt added to keep them up. I shall look forward to wearing them next summer.

  It was after I had made the order, and got the confirmation, plus the estimate of delivery on Thursday, that I had an idea. I went back on to Amazon, and checked to see what they offered as small sewing machines. I was quite surprised at the range offered. Quite a few were odd looking hand held devices that looked to have limited applications. Many others were like small versions of traditional sewing machines, and possibly battery operated.

  I did not order one, but I am thinking that a small sewing machine could make the job of stitching on belt loops to my new shorts without them, a lot easier. There seems quite a selection, some obviously almost clones of others, and the prices seem quite reasonable, between £30 and £60. I am seriously thinking of investing in one of these machines in the near future. It could be useful for many sewing tasks that I either do by hand or not at all if the job looks too difficult, or tedious to do by hand.

  At 6pm I watched the BBC TV news, and had my dinner. After stuffing myself with the big cheesecake I knew I had better try and restrict what I had for dinner. I opted for more rice crackers with cheese and pickled onions, and I also used up some left over pâté with more rice crackers. It seemed to work OK, although my blood glucose was not nice and low this morning.

  After dinner I watched more TV, and that included two Star Trek episodes followed by Have I Got News For You. The latter finished quite late again, and I think it was gone 10pm (possibly 11pm) when I went to bed. I felt too tired to read, and soon enough I was sleeping, but not that well. Once again I woke up some time after midnight, maybe even after 1am, feeling not exactly cold, but definitely cool, and seeming to get cooler.

  It seemed quite warm in my bedroom, and I didn't turn the heater on at first. After waking up feeling cool I did turn it on, but the thermostat seemed to be set very low. I went for a pee, came back to my bed, got on my bed, and at that point the thermostat turned the heater off. It still felt a bit cool, and so I turned the thermostat to higher. Maybe a little too high because it did feel a bit too warm when I got up.

  I'll skip over the one dream I can remember having. It seemed quite boring, and I can't find anything to say about it. When I got up I needed to pee, and I thought I needed to poo. Afterwards I weighed myself, and it seemed I had not lost, or gained anything. I then started counting out my drugs and vitamins for the day, and after doing that I felt that I now needed a poo. I went to the toilet, and I had a medium sized poo, and even did a little pee. When I weighed myself again I found I was 200gm lighter than yesterday. It was not much, but it was something, and so it was good.

  My blood glucose readings were good enough, but nothing to write home about !  The Contour meter and the GlucoFix meter bother read 8.3mmol/l. That is below my old target of 8.5mmol/l, and so good, although my new target (set by myself) is 7.5mmol/l, and so not quite good. The GlucoRX meter read 8.6mmol/l. That is still OK by my book, although the diabetic nurse would say it is far too high (although the Hospital's diabetic nurse says he is not worried by any reading under 10.0mmol/l).

  My blood pressure this morning is very good - and without any effort t0 get there. It was 116/46 on the first and only reading. Although the article about Sodium Alginate said it also seems to reduce blood pressure, it does not seem to be making much difference that I can see. Early yesterday evening I accidently conducted an interesting experiment. I was about to do my early evening/after dinner blood pressure reading. I started it and as soon as I relaxed I realised I was not exactly busting for a pee, but one would be desirable. Before and after having a pee my systolic pressure went down from something like 138 mmHg, which apparently is sort of normal, to 126 mmHg, which is a better normal !

  Today I think I do want to go for a short, or maybe longer if it feels good, walk with my camera. On the other hand, I also would like to do a bit of laundry. I may do the laundry and still go out, but if I do go out I am unlikely to finish the laundry, and tomorrow morning I will definitely be wanting to wash, and possibly wash my hair as well, before going for my Wednesday lunchtime in The Jolly Farmers - possibly in the middle of a thunderstorm, and so washing my hair might be a waste of time.