This morning we had our first hard frost. My thermometers agreed it was below zero, although I don't think I checked early enough to see -2° C. The forecast full sunshine seems to be lasting a bit longer than forecast, but soon we will only get sunny spells until sunset (now at 4:12pm). The best we can hope for this afternoon will be 9° C, but that is warmer than yesterday. Tonight maybe very slightly warmer, but it will still be finger tingling 4° C at 2am. By 6am tomorrow it will be starting to slightly warm up, and the temperature may be 5° C. The day will continue to warm thanks to warm (relatively speaking), and wet winds blow from the south. From 10am it could start to rain, and the rain could be quite heavy. The rain may not stop until 5pm.

  Yesterday was quite a productive day (if you stretch the definition a very long way). On the other hand, there were a few things I thought I might do, but didn't.

  One of the first things I did yesterday, after I had breakfast, finished writing, and having a lie down and snooze, was to finish washing the two hand towels I had left soaking overnight (because I could not be bothered to finish the job the day before). It was not a great deal of effort - they were only hand towels. A small bath towel would have been a much more muscle exercising effort.

  My breakfast had been instant noodles. I had a couple of rolls filled with cooked and sliced BBQ chicken with some Brinjal (aubergine) pickle. The chicken was unopened before I made those rolls, and it's best before date was the 13th (yesterday). I mention these facts now because something upset my stomach last night. I don't think it was those rolls.

  During the afternoon I did a few odd jobs, and one was to check my long trousers. Until today, and possibly longer, I have been wearing shorts. I think that even in thick frost, like I was expecting this morning, and was in fact a reality this morning, I reckon I would still be comfortable in shorts. I know my old postman was a good example of someone who wore shorts the year round, and he said it bother him in the least. I think I may only be considering long trousers now because of possible ridicule.

  I was surprised how many serviceable long trousers I seem to have. It doesn't seem to feel that losing a bit of weight has made any change, and yet I discovered two pairs of trousers that had never been worn before seemed to fit quite well. I can imagine that a weeks worth of wear, maybe a bit more, would get them into that extra comfortable state where they seem like a second skin (or something like that).

  I'm sure there was other stuff I did yesterday that would have been useful, but I have no idea what. It may have been a few very quick and simple things that didn't really register on the lost of all time great things done. On the other hand, clearing most of the stuff out of the kitchen sink was probably worth noting.

  I'm not sure if I mentioned that I got my energy bills in the post a few days ago. Both the gas and electric are in credit - a lot of credit ! Using a bit more heat was a no brainer under such circumstances. One thing I did was to get the spare fan heater out, and plugged into an extension lead so I can having it on low power, blowing into the bathroom (and with the thermostat set to not get the bathroom more than just comfortable. Later on it would prove to have been a very well timed move.

  I am not sure why, maybe it was because I was keeping myself very comfortably warm, but I decided to try and have a dinner that would be good for my weight, and not too bad for my blood glucose. It was simply one can of oxtail soup followed by some ice cream. The latter was not the best flavour (caramel flavour) for my blood glucose, but I got away with it.

  Once again I wanted to get an early night, last night, but it didn't seem to happen. I did the usual TV watching, or as usual that the altered schedules allowed, and went to bed at around 10pm. I think I intended to go to bed an hour earlier to leave a bit more time for reading in bed. I still read in bed, but I think I may have only read for 10 to 15 minutes before trying for sleep, and as far as I can remember, falling asleep very quickly.

  The only thing I can remember about my sleep was having a dream, and I think I only remember a bit of the dream. The dream was notable because it was about toilets. Many of my dreams seem to be about toilets, or trying to find one. As far as I can recall I went straight to a toilet with no searching. The only trouble was that the toilet seat was loose, and it fell off as I tried to dry a small area of it with some toilet paper. The really weird thing is that it fell off into the bowl, and somehow it seemed to ignore the laws of physics, or even common sense, and somehow fitted itself in well enough to fall below the water line. I think I woke up as I contemplated what to do next - try and fish it out, or find another toilet.

  The dream could have been prophetic in a twisted sort of way. When I got up it felt like I would be passing a lot of wind, but I only did a small fart. Applying a little more pressure and suddenly I squirted a whole load of diarrhoea into the pan. I can't imagine how it was possible, but it seemed I had another dose of food poisoning. It does seem to be quite a coincidence that I have had more trouble in that area since I had to take Plenvu to clear me out prior to my aborted Colonoscopy.

  My timing in getting the fan heater out, and running to take the chill off the bathroom was extremely well timed because I would end up spending a lot of time on the toilet this morning. It must have been a couple of hours before I felt stable enough to go back to bed, and catch up with some more lost sleep. I think I may have managed as much as 2 hours sleep, but it could have been half that. I was not really watching the clock.

  This morning, probably thanks to all my visits to the toilet (if thanks is really the right word), I seem to be 400gm lighter. I think I can describe my blood glucose as "average OK". It is not particularly low, but the average of all three meters was 7.7mmol/l - slightly higher than yesterday, but only a fraction over what I think was the target I have been aiming for (which was 7.5mmol/l).

  My blood pressure was high and low ! On my first, and only attempt, I read 112/62. I think that is maybe a tiny weeny bit low, but otherwise rather good. My heart rate was 88bpm. That is well inside the limits for a 71 year old. The mean value would be 80, and so I am a bit over it, but I don't think anyone would care about it.

  So, I seem to be fit and healthy......it's a shame that is just the imagination of my assorted health meters. I can't say I feel all that wonderful, although maybe now my guts have settled, and I am sitting here quietly in a nice warm room, I probably don't feel so bad. It is more the case that I don't want to upset the apple-cart by doing anything reckless.

  It is unlikely, but I could take a pair of long trousers for a test walk today. It is very cold, but the sun is still shining, and I think I would describe it as "sunshine" instead of sunny spells. The sunny spells should have finished at 11am, and it is now 12:34pm thanks to my late start. When I think of it, I think the most likely thing I will do this afternoon is to have a cheese and lime pickle roll...or two !