I think I would describe this morning as sunny, but maybe the odd cloud will obscure the sun. The cloud still looks broken enough to let the odd ray of sun through for quite some time yet, but maybe the predicted rain for midday, and only midday will fall. The rest  of the the afternoon may be dull, but dry. There is a chance of light rain after 7pm. By midnight the temperature may have fallen to 10° C. During the night the temperature could fall to 8° C, and that is how tomorrow will start. From 9am tomorrow there is a 38% chance of rain, and by 11am it will have risen to 71% and rain is almost certain. What is less certain, but still possible, are thunderstorms for a couple of hours after midday. Tomorrow afternoon may be 14° C, but with rain, and possibly more peals of thunder.

  Yesterday was good in at least aspect, but could probably be called bland for much of the day. There was even one bad thing !

  Once I had finished writing yesterday's electronic diary (these web pages) I had a rest, and maybe I had a snooze too, but not for too long because I wanted to have a shower - which I did have. I didn't think I needed to wash my hair yesterday. Once I had finished with the bathtub I got my big buckets out and put some clothes in to soak in detergent in one of the buckets. It was the major failure of the day....well not starting the wash, bit not finishing it. That is becoming an annoying habit !

  The main reason for washing me was so I would not be smelly when I went out shopping to Aldi. I was a bit concerned with the walk, and particularly the walk back home carrying heavy shopping. The hints I was getting that something may be amiss with my new heart valve may have resolved into a disaster while my heart was working under load. Fortunately nothing happened apart from other strong hints that my heart may not be as frail as feared, and that the trouble may be elsewhere.

  I walk to Aldi with no reason to stop or slow down, although I had slowed a bit by the time I reached the store. I was walking fast enough at the beginning, although I used to be able to walk much faster, that by half way there I was breathing deeply, but far from gasping for air. I also developed a pain that seemed to be more likely a sort of sour stomach, acid indigestion type of feeling. That was despite taking my Omeprazole capsules that reduce stomach acid.

  I had that strange, a bit empty, a bit full, a bit acid, and a bit unlikely to be acid, while I was shopping, and it started to become a bit annoying, a bit uncomfortable as I was heading for the checkouts. Other than that, it was a successful shop. I remembered to buy a spare 9 pack of toilet roll - the prime reason to go to Aldi. I also got some other stuff, and some of it might even be half healthy. In fact I now know that at least two things I bought were semi healthy.

  I was carrying a lot of heavy stuff as I walked home. As well as 4 two litre bottles of Diet Coke in my rucksack, I had a bottle of rum, a bottle of strawberry tequila, a 4 pack of lager, and a few other things that were heavier than most items in two strong carrier bags. It really was a trial walking that lot home, and it would have tested me even if I was in perfect health.

  The good thing is that apart from a few aching muscles, that walk did not tax me, or cause any additional aches and pains. The more I thought about it, as I was walking home, the more I concluded that the discomfort I did get was nothing to do with my heart, and everything to do with my stomach. The proof was that once I got home, and had put my shopping away, I had some lunch. Almost as soon as I started to eat the sandwiches that I had bought for lunch, I began to feel more comfortable. It was just about a perfect cure.

  One additional thing about that shopping trip, and something I should have said several paragraphs back, was that I took one of my new pairs of cargo trousers for a walk. If the only criteria was that I could do them up, then they were perfect. Back in the real world they felt rather stiff. That should improve soon as I wear them in - not something you usually say about trousers, but it seems correct on this occasion. The other minor problem is that the legs are an inch or two too long. I may be able to do something about that, or maybe just ignore it. They probably look a bit silly, but I doubt I will wear them for any special social occasion.

  Back to what happened after I got home.....After my lunch I had a lie down, and I may have had a snooze. I can't seem to remember if I did or I didn't because I was using one of my few braincells to remember something I did a bit later in the afternoon. I am unsure why I chose that time, but I felt the urge to check a few camera things. Maybe while I snoozed, if I did have a snooze, I had a dream that I had gone out with a camera, or maybe it was just time to resolve an unknown from several days ago to make the unknown a certainty.

  It all started several days ago when I was looking at my camera lenses, and spotted one that I could not remember if it was one I own that seems to give bad results. The big clue was that it was for my Canon cameras, and the bad lens was for my Nikon cameras. I proved that more or less instantly when I checked I had the bad lens back in the original box it came in, and among my Nikon lenses was the lens I had bought to replace it - a genuine Nikon "Nikkor" lens with the same zoom range.

  Having made those checks I thought I would double check by putting the lens, a Tamron 18 to 200mm zoom lens on my Canon 600D camera. 18 to 200mm is a nice range for many occasions. 18mm is fairly wide angle, and if there was enough light, good for getting the width of the stage, and so all the band members at a gig, and 200mm is enough zoom to get good close ups. It is also a very good lens for train photography !

  I decided to do some test shots to check if my ideas had been correct. I did a couple indoors, and in the low light the results were not terrible good. The answer was to take some outdoor shots. Next door's cherry tree only had green cherries on it at this time of year, but they would do as my models for the test shots, and I get a good view of the tree from the open back bedroom window.
  I admit this is not a stunning picture. It would be much better if the cherries were ripe and nice and red, but it is fairly sharp - although not perfectly sharp. I don't think it is the lens, but just some tiny camera shake. I was taking this and the rest of the pictures hand held. A tripod would have helped a bit.
  I was fortunate to be taking the pictures when I did because I was soon joined by a Great Tit. I have seen one or two flying around for some weeks now, and I assume they have a nest nearby. Having the camera on a tripod would have definitely helped this picture, but maybe what would have helped more would have been brighter light. At around 5pm, when I took these pictures, the sky was bright, but it was still cloudy. Much brighter light would have made it possible to use a much faster shutter, which would lessen the effect of camera shake, and improved the overall contrast of the picture.
  It was a real treat to be able to take snaps of small birds in trees. Using the upstairs window put me on a level with this tit, and unusually they did seem to sit still for a long time instead of flitting about here there and everywhere. Sadly they didn't do any good/ideal poses for me.
  This picture could have been much better, but it would need more light, a much smaller aperture, and a smaller aperture would need a slower shutter speed to make up for the loss of light into the camera. If I could have satisfied those things I might have had a big enough depth of field for a second Great Tit, seen as just a blur in the background, to be in good enough focus to be recognisable.

  The overall result of my test shots is that I think that the Tamron 18 to 200mm lens for Canon is a fairly good, but maybe not quite excellent camera lens - at least not for wildlife photography. I still think it is fine for railway photography, and that was how I had originally judged it years ago.

  A bit of photography, plus the post processing on my PC, was a good diversion, and made dinner time seem much closer. I had an idea for a possibly healthy dinner. The bulk of it, but only by a smallish margin, was some sweet potato chips (already chipped and ready to fry, or in my case, cook in the oven). The second part was a couple of chick pea (or was it lentils) based burgers with harissa paste in them. It was a nice dinner, but not a wonderfully tasty dinner. I had the last of the mint chocolate ice cream for dessert. The ice cream was Aldi branded, and like most supermarket branded ice creams, it seemed to contain far less sugar, or maybe just no "corn syrup" in it than Walls ice cream.

  Last night was such an exciting night that I can barely remember what I watched on TV. Actually....it comes back to me now.... I watched at least one (repeated) episode of Red Dwarf on U+Dave - with those bloody Bet Fair adverts in it. I find it impossible to believe that anyone can be taken in by the odious characters who look like grifters beyond the Donald Trump level of getting rich at YOUR expense, who appear in the adverts, and believe that throwing away YOUR money can be entertaining. If I had my way they would be first against the wall when the revolution comes !

  I think it was fairly late, maybe 11pm, when I went to bed last night. I still read a page or two before putting the book down, and turning out the light. I could be making things up, but I think I laid in bed for a few minutes convinced I was not comfortable enough to fall asleep, before falling fast asleep. It was like I had gone from can't sleep to fast asleep in the blink of an eye.

  I slept quite well, and after the several time I got up to pee, I fell asleep again almost instantly. Upon waking up this morning I could remember two interesting dreams, but now I am not entirely sure I remember anything of either. I thought I could at least remember some of the second, but the act of trying to remember it seems to have killed the last few remnants of memory. That is a shame because I am sure the second dream was quite interesting...and...as..I..type that some memories return !!

  In the second dream I was at home, and I had a "lady friend" with me. It was set in an imaginary time that borrows from when I used to live with mum. At mum's house there were two cats, one male and the other female. They were brother and sister (and both were neutered). In the dream they were living here. They seemed to be a strangely obnoxious mood. They both came and sat between me and my "lady friend" on the settee, and so we could not cuddle on the settee. Then we though we would sneak upstairs to my bed. Somehow, in a way that can only happen in dreams, the cats had raced us upstairs, and were now laying like book ends on the duvet next to to pillows. Quite why they objected to me and my friend getting close together is a mystery - and a very annoying one !

  When I eventually got up I went for a pee, but it didn't seem like I needed a poo. About half an hour, or maybe less, later, I went back to the toilet and had the first of three poos. The first two were not that big, but maybe together they would be "sufficient" (if anyone knows what that is). A bit later I had another, and smaller poo. It was very little effort, and it just seemed they didn't want to be rushed.

  I think it was only after the first poo that I "officially" weighed myself. I had unfortunately put on 500gm. There was much better news about my blood glucose measurement. The three readings averaged to 8.67mmol/l, and all readings were under 9.0mmol/l. That is both bad and good. I try to aim for under 8.0mmol/l, and so the readings were higher than desired, but anything under 9.0mmol/l I think is grudgingly acceptable.

  My blood pressure seems to be in the "Ideal" area, or to be more exact it is 128/74 with a pulse rate of 70. My pulse rate is a bit higher than my more typical average of 60 - 65 bpm, but I think (hope) it is fine. I wouldn't go as far to say I feel great this morning, but I think it would be true to say I feel less crap than many mornings.

  Today could be busy. One of the first things I have to do is to finish the laundry that has been soaking overnight. Without doing that I can't have a shower, but maybe with a bit of deodorant spray I could get away with it. I think the only person I am liable to see today is Jodie. The trains are running between Elmers End and Catford Bridge today, and so Jodie should be over for another beer tasting session. I had better try and take it a bit easy because I have an appointment with the nurse at 9am tomorrow morning. I may well write tomorrow's diary after I get back from seeing her.