Like yesterday, this morning has started with better than sunny spells - full sunshine (although it might just be a very long sunny spell). There are many patches of blue sky, and the sunny spells could last longer than the forecast predicts. It is possible we may see light showers at midday and 1pm. The afternoon temperature may reach 15° C, and while slightly disappointing, is a couple of degrees better than yesterday. The rest of the afternoon may be dry, but the latest update now shows light rain for most of the afternoon, and the Met Office forecast also agrees with that. Tomorrow may start with some sunny spells, but the afternoon may see drizzle. At 6pm the clouds may break up to let some sunshine in, and the last hours of daylight could see full sunshine. Tomorrow afternoon could see 17 and 18° C.   Yesterday was one of those fairly rare days when I had a complete change of plan for the day. I just hope I made the right decision. The original plan was probably going to be a disappointment, but the new plan allowed me to do one semi important thing, and it ended up as a satisfactory, if not actually good day.

  I went through the motions of getting ready to go out yesterday morning. I washed my hair and had a shower. As I did that we lost the early morning sunny spells, and it seemed to get quite dull. It even looked like it might rain. That was one small reason why I changed my plans.

   I had intended to go to The Jolly Farmers in the hope of seeing Ayse, but the chances were that she would not be there again. I hope I don't later find out that she was there. I was very close to going out to head that way, when I had a change of mind. I had wanted to get some shopping from Aldi, and I decided I might as well do that instead.

  It was definitely a bit dull as I walked to Aldi, but the walk didn't seem too bad. in fact I think I should describe it as "normal", and was even better considering I was wearing my Addidas "court shoes", which had started off feeling entirely useless for walking, but doing lots of short walks, like to Tesco or Aldi, they seem to be getting more comfortable. I am still not sure I would trust them for a long walk, but for shorter walks they seem fine now.

  There were several things I definitely wanted from Aldi, plus a few things I had forgotten to get from my last shopping trip to Tesco. I was thinking of getting some ready meals, but I didn't get any - at least no microwave ready meals. I did buy some flavoured meats and some ready prepared for roasting, vegetables. The other thing which I had not started out to get, but I did get once I saw them, was some ready to eat salads (or salad like dishes). Aldi definitely do a better range than Tesco's very sparse range.

 Top of my shopping list was toilet paper, and I completely forgot to get any. It is no problem yet because I still have an unopened pack of 9 rolls, and maybe 5 or 6 individual rolls, but I do like to keep a good stock of stuff like toilet paper. While forgetting toilet paper, I did remember tissues (for nose blowing etc). I also remembered to buy a big bottle of Bio laundry detergent (the big bottle I bought from Tesco only seemed to last a year or two !!).

  It seems like I only have enough brain cells left to remember a few things on my mental shopping list. If it gets worse I may have to start writing things down - oh shock, horror !!!! I couldn't do it for everything because I tend to shop by looking around and find stuff it would seem a good idea to buy. Of course the flaw in that idea is that I ended up with almost too much to carry home - although somehow it all fitted in the two bags I had taken there, plus my rucksack.

  It was still quite a load to carry home, but somehow I seemed to do it not stop. I am evidently getting fitter even if it sometimes feel almost the opposite. It was still nice to get home and put my bags down. One of the first things I did after getting home was to test some Aldi home brand dark navy style rum - swigged straight from the bottle. It was nice, but maybe tasted a bit thin, and so not as good as Lamb's Navy Rum, as a for instance.

  Once I had put all my shopping away I had some lunch. It was just a couple of items from Aldi's sandwich shelves - which include wraps and rolls as well as sandwiches. I started with a pack of "salt and pepper chicken wraps". It was one of those rare things that should have been delicious but wasn't, or it could have been awful, but it wasn't that either.  I guess it was very very mildly, slightly unpleasant. The other was a cheese and pickle sandwich, and maybe the salt and pepper sauce on the chicken did something to my taste buds because I didn't think much of the cheese and pickle sandwiches either. At this point I have to say that Aldi do sell some delicious sandwiches, but these two were an exception.

  After lunch the obvious thing (at least it is these days) was to have a lie down, read a page or two, and then have a snooze. I don't think I snoozed for long, but I did definitely have a snooze. Maybe my subconscious woke me up early because there was one thing I had to do. After I had had my shower I put one single small hand towel in to soak. I had been using it as a pillow protector, and had been doing so for some time.

  Just recently I had been noticing that when I woke up, in the morning, or in the night, that pillow felt damp in places. I didn't realise that I had been sweating in the night, and that was what the damp was. Also, sweat tends to leave a yellow stain on a white towel. I had to do some fierce washing to try and get the towel pristine white again. I failed this this time, but it is much improved.

  What I have to do now, particularly with warmer weather approaching, is to remember to wash the two towels I alternate between using as pillow protectors, far more frequently. After a lot of scrubbing motion on the towel, and maybe a dozen rinses, the towel was about as clean as I was going to get it that day, and ready to hang up to dry. Once that was done I could relax again.

  It wasn't until dinner preparation time that I did anything of note. Even then, the preparation for dinner was opened a plastic bag to tip a pile of ready prepared root vegetables (mostly parsnips) onto a baking tray for a good roasting. Towards the end I added a couple of Scotch eggs. I thought it was a better way to heat them up than using the microwave, and it seems it was a better way.

  I can't say I really enjoyed that dinner. Maybe it needed some baked beans, and/or some chips, but I wanted to keep it simple, and in my imagination, healthy. In fact it didn't need to be that healthy because it would be masked by what I had for dessert. It may be the spawn of the devil, but I had more of the tasty, but terrible Walls ice cream (or should that be iced sugar ?). I refuse to throw that stuff away even if it completely ruins my blood glucose measurements the next morning.

  Most of the day I felt fairly good, but in the evening I started to feel very weary, very tired, and in simple terms, a bit crap. I gave up on TV at about 9pm, and went to read in bed for half an hour. Things are very vague from that point on, but I think I had fallen asleep after about half an hour. I don't think I woke many times for a pee, and after eating the Walls Ice Cream, that surprised me. I do remember, at least in theory, having several rather sprawling dreams. I can only remember a few minutes of one. In the dream I was walking along a working railway line. A few trains passed, and I had to signal to the driver that I was aware he was coming, and I was prepared for the train to pass me. I have no idea how that dream started, and I have no idea how it ended.

  Maybe it ended because I woke up. I definitely woke up because I needed a pee, although it didn't seem to be an urgent need.  I expected to have a poo as well because my guts were rumbling, but so far it has only been wind. I suppose it was only to be expected after a day when I had been shopping, I found I had gained 600gm this morning. Maybe if I do pass the poo I thought I might do, and maybe still do, it might take the edge of that 600gm gain.

  The Walls ice cream had the bad effect expected on my blood glucose. I think it was the only thing I ate that had any significant sugar in it, and lots of it ! This morning I got blood glucose readings of 8.8 and 8.7  mmol/l, and I suppose I use to think that was once about normal. Now it seems higher than I like, but still OK-ish. The third reading was 9.4mmol/l, and that is definitely unacceptably high.

  This morning I wanted to skip breakfast, but I felt very hungry. I sort of compromised by having a small tub of an Indian inspired potato pakora on a bed of diced onion, rice and a few other things. I didn't dare look at the nutritional information, but I hope it was not too bad.

  If anything, my blood pressure readings are a bit low this morning. I got 103/44, and a quite slow pulse rate of 47 bpm. I don't think that is the reason I feel a bit crap this morning, and I use the word crap as not to indicate a possible minor stomach upset that I may see later. This morning quite a lot of me aches, or is creaky. I have some chest pain as well as neck pain, back pain, arm pain, midriff pain, leg pain and ankle pain. Oh, and if I think about it hard enough, I probably have a hint of a headache.

  If it is not all explained by some new Covid variant my body has just brewed up, it could be more simple explained by a change in the weather, or atmospheric pressure. Or it could just be one of those things..... I think I'll see if a morning snooze helps. I do feel like having a snooze would be as easy as eating a trifle (the first comparison that came into my head even if it is a lousy comparison).

  The main thing on the menu today is a beer tastings session with Jodie and Michael, and possibly someone else. I must admit I don't feel in the mood for beer tasting today, and that is despite buying a 4 pack of "AldIPA",  the IPA brewed by Brewdog (I think) with a customised labels and a box for Aldi, and I believe other versions for other supermarket chains. It is not a great beer, but it is oddly drinkable. Maybe by 3 or 4pm I will be more receptive to a drinking session, but with Jodie mostly silent, and Michael moaning about something or another, it could be more depressing than enjoyable.