09:04 BST
  Yesterday was forecast to feature strong sunshine all day. but I am sure I can remember quite a few dull hours. Even if there was full sunshine it was not a very warm day. The morning was particularly chilly. Even the afternoon, when the temperature peaked at 17° C did not feel that warm, although the sunshine coming through my south facing bedroom windows, did warm the room up enough that I had to open the window and let some of the heat out.
  The temperature today is very similar to yesterday, but today not a single ray of sunshine is forecast. I did very briefly step outside the back door to put some food out to the fluffy - this being one of his  3 or 4 or 5 homes ! I didn't have a short on, and it did not seem that chilly, but it was nice to get back indoors again. This afternoon the temperature will only reach 16° C, and that is only a degree less than yesterday when there was supposed to be strong sunshine (but may not have been), and today is looking like it will be dull....or possibly worse, although the only chance of rain might be at 8pm when there is a 17% chance of rain. All other hours are forecast to have 0% chance of rain. Tomorrow should also be completely dry, but sunny spells will return for the whole day, and the temperature could peak at 17 ° C.

    Yesterday was another  rather a good day - mostly. Maybe the morning was a bit rushed in places, and some of the rush was being delayed by another long, and 90% pointless call from my "friend" Lee, but I wrote about that yesterday. There was no actual rush, in so much that I didn't have to get to an appointment, but I did want to get to the pharmacy before midday. That was mostly because I wanted to go to Aldi afterwards, and it can be slightly quieter in there around midday/lunch time.
 
  I was at the pharmacy to pick up my prescription sent through to the pharmacy by the Diabetes nurse the day before. I could not collect it the same day because one item was not in stock, and had to be ordered. For a moment it almost seemed that they were still missing one item, possibly the same item, but then the assistant remembered where she had hidden it :-)

  The prescription was dominated by the big, 4 litre "Sharps box" for disposing of the hypodermic needles I use (or will very soon use) to inject the Mounjaro into my stomach. The needles are only about 1cm long, and are also used for insulin injections. As yet I have not tried an injection, but that should change today.

  Yesterday after noon was a boozy afternoon, and also involved getting a bit carried away with eating. I thought it best to give these injections a fair chance but doing the first one on a day when I could control my eating a bit better - probably. Of course the whole thing with Mounjaro (or Tirzepatide to give it's correct name) is that it acts on the body in such a way that you feel much fuller after even a small meal. As a by-product it is also supposed to reduce blood glucose levels). That can be it's worst side effect - reducing blood glucose too low, and causing symptoms that always sound to me like being very drunk. I always check my blood glucose every morning, and I don't anticipate any trouble in that respect.

  Although I know it is not complicated, but until it is done once, setting up the multidose (6 of them) injection pen looks a bit complicated - purely because of unfamiliarity - and that is the real, or additional reason I didn't take my first dose yesterday. There is a very good pictorial guide in the box the pen comes in, and I am sure it will be obvious once I try it - probably today after I have had a shower, and the injection site - on my belly, an inch or two, left of right, of the belly button, is clean and not contaminated with sweat and bacteria.

  After the pharmacy I went around the corner to Aldi. I tried to limit what I bought in there to stuff that was at least slightly safe for me, but there were several exceptions. Two exceptions were a couple of tubs of ice cream. One was a mint chocolate ice cream, and it after some strong beers it was irrestistable. The other was a Dubai style chocolate ice cream with pistachio paste. That one I know to be slightly safe (I think it has a lot of Sodium Alginate in it). Other bad-ish stuff was some wraps with differently spiced chicken and stuff in them.

  Lugging my shopping, including the stuff from the pharmacy, and 4 two litre bottles of Diet Coke in my rucksack, was mildly knackering. I suppose in one respect it was not so bad. The walk to the pharmacy was a bit worse because my legs, and my knees felt very stiff until I had done enough walking to free up the stiff joints. Nevertheless I was still rather happy to get home again, and to unpack and put away my shopping. The stuff from the pharmacy went up to my bedroom so I could read the info with at my leisure.

  What I should have done next was to do the washing up that had been accumulating in the sink for a couple of days, and to wipe of some spilled stuff on the work top by the microwave. Once again I put food first, and went and stuffed myself with the wraps I had just bought in Aldi. Even without the aide of diet modifying drugs, I already knew that I was eating too much. I needed a lie down after that lunch, but then again it is now part of my routine to have a snooze after lunch.

  After my snooze, which I don't think was very long, I started to read the instructions for the Mounjaro injector pen. I seemed to remembered most of what the nurse demonstrated for me, and I almost got to the point of actually trying my first injection when my doorbell rung. It was Jodie arriving to start drinking some my new beers. I sent a message to Michael to say we were starting, and a bit later he replied with his typical "I'll be there if I can".

  As usual, he was at my door 20 or 30 minutes later. Before Michael arrived we were joined by Fluffy Cat. He was in a slightly odd mood. It may have been because I put the wrong sort of food down (it may have been turkey instead of chicken in jelly). He did eventually eat it all, but not before he found he couldn't eat my hand. He had jumped up on Michael's chair, and I was sitting opposite and started stroking him.

  I think I may have had the smell of some chicken and cheese kabano on my hands. Suddenly the cat grabbed my hand in both his great big paws (with sharp claws) and tried to sink his teeth into my hand. I had to very carefully get my hand back without getting more than a couple scratches. I think he was very serious about eating my hand. I've have cats in the past that have done similar but in a playful manner - no sharp claws, and doing little more than gumming my hand, but fluffy cat had reverted back to his ancestors in the African jungles (or whatever).

  After a while the cat jumped up on the spare chair and with maybe one ear still alert, fell asleep. It seems the opposite of what you might expect. The cat seems to feel safer with lots of people around. We had a fairly good drink. Some the new beers I had bought ranged between "OK" and good. Only one was perhaps OK-minus. By the time we had had our fill, and Jodie and Michael left, the cat seemed fast asleep.

  I had precooked some "Frikkadelen" (German pork, spices and onion things like burger). I just needed to reheat it while making a slice of toast on top of the Frikkadelen in the mini oven. The toast, and make some grated cheese might have reduced the chance of any heartburn when I was in bed, but I also had something else to ward off heartburn. It was one of the ice creams I had bought.

  It was the mint chocolate ice cream, and it in my (slightly) inebriated state it seemed to be the most delicious thing ever. It got even more delicious as it started to melt a bit. I had intended to eat no more than a quarter of the tub, but once I started I just could not stop. I had nightmares that my blood glucose would be through the roof, and another 5 stories high when I checked it this morning.

  While all the eating was taking place I was watching TV, and also occasionally watching the cat on one of my CCTV cameras. I had left the back window open enough for the cat to escape, and I think once he realised he would get no more attention, he had a big stretch, and went out.  I went downstairs and closed the window, and turned the lights out downstairs. Now I could go to bed a bit later without worrying about the cat and open window.

  I watched some more TV, and then I went to bed. I had difficulty sleeping because my guts didn't feel so good. At first I thought I just needed a big pee, but I only had a little one. I probably did doze off once or twice, but I think it was around 1am when still feeling uncomfortable, I went to the toilet and had a rather soft poo. it was probably about 80% of the way towards diarrhoea. I have no idea what cause that unless it was psychosomatic. It is one of the possible side effects of the drug I have yet to start yet - and maybe not starting was a good idea in view of that stomach upset.

  After that I seemed comfortable enough to sleep, but I would not have been surprised if I had woken up, needing to go again a few hours later. Fortunately that didn't happen. I think I did get up for at least one pee during the night. When I got up at about 5am I knew it was too early, but I definitely needed the toilet before I could go back to bed. It included the tail end of the diarrhoea, and a fairly big pee. Before going back to bed I weighed myself, and it seemed I had put on a little bit.

 Weight gain after scoffing the whole tub of mint chocolate ice cream would have come as no surprise. What was surprising was that after another big pee, and  another poo, shortly before I had breakfast, I weighed myself again and found I had actually lost 300gm.

  Sadly my blood glucose was not good. Two readings were OK-ish, but one was definitely bad. It was the usually kind GlucoFix meter, and it read a terrible 9.4mmol/l. It's not over the red line (10.0mmol/l), but very undesirable - high enough to start causing some problems. The GlucoRX meter 8.6mmol/l, and while above my target, I regard any reading starting with an "8" to be very common. The Contour meter read even worse, but still by the skin of it's teeth OK. It read 8/9mmol/l.

  There are only two things on the calendar for today, and one has already happened. It was only on Wednesday that I ordered some Welsh cheeses. It all started when I wondered how easy it might be to get some Welsh Y-Fenni cheese - a cheese with mustard seeds and ale in it. They used to sell it in Tesco, but ran out as much as 10 years ago. I did get some from the "International Cheese Shop", but I remember it as being incredibly expensive from there (in Liverpool Street station).

  I found it was easily available from the Welsh Cheese Company via their web site. Apart from having to allow a few scripts, it was straight forward enough, and they had other interesting cheeses as well. I ordered two 180gm, wax covered portions of Y-Fenni, plus some "Red Mist", a cheese with chillies in it, a cheese with mustard leeks in it, and also a cheese with seaweed in it. With deliver it all came to £35.87 and so a bit of a luxury, but not terrible.

  This morning it was delivered while I was writing a few paragraphs ago. The door bell rang and I rush downstairs. The driver was driving off as I opened the door, but at least he had taken a picture to show it had been left completely unguarded on my front door stop. I have already tasted a little chunk of the Y-Fenni, and like the bit I bought from the international cheese shop, it didn't taste nearly as wonderful as that bought from Tesco. There may be a reason for it.

  The reason that Tesco stopped selling it was that the dairy where they make Y-Fenni burnt down. It took a few years before they could resume production. I wonder if the recipe has been changed, or maybe the head cheese-maker has been replaced, and only the original knew the exact recipe. It is still nice, but maybe not nice enough to pay a premium for. I hope the other three cheese types I bought will make up for it. The cheese with seaweed in it may be good or bad, but it had to be tried sooner or later. The Red Mist may be no more exciting than the cheddar with chillies that is quite common now. I am anticipating that the cheese with mustard leeks in it may be exciting.

  The other thing on the calendar today is really only a possibility. I am only about 15% sure I want to go to The Jolly Farmers tonight. I'm told it is really a great night, but I really don't know anyone well enough who is likely to be there to be able to pass the time chatting. I feel I will be very much on my own for most of the time. I think the most likely thing is that I might go for just a single pint of Guinness to see what it is like, and then go home again. I may not even bother to go at all.

  I still have a lot of washing up to do, and that now includes all the beer and sample glasses from yesterday afternoon. I doubt I have any excuses for leaving it again. I'll have a shower in case I do go out this evening, and when I've had that I may well have my first of 6, one a week, Mounjaro injections. Mostly I can foresee today being a very lazy day.