The overnight rain has stopped now, but it still looks rather grey outside. By midday the cloud may be thicker, and 6 hours of light rain are forecast. The afternoon may be 18° C - warmer than yesterday, but under a gloomy sky, and rain it may well feel chilly. The small hours of tomorrow morning should see clear skies, and by 2am the temperature may drop to just 11° C, and it may still be falling. The forecast for tomorrow shows 10° C at 6am. The day may see some sunny spells, but much of it may be dull. Tomorrow afternoon may peak at just 14° C.

  Yesterday was generally a good day with the odd not so good bit. Highlights include a shopping trip to Aldi, and the late afternoon beer tasting session.

  I started writing rather late yesterday, and it felt like I had to rush to get everything done. I started by having a shower so I wouldn't stink out Aldi. The shower was nice, but maybe if the water was a degree or two warmer it would have been nicer. Once clean and dry I got dressed. It was not that warm out, but I didn't bother with a coat. I wore my outdoor shorts, and a t-shirt. I also wore my new Chinese trainers with the wide fitting.

  The walk to Aldi did not feel bad at all, although there was a bit of an edge to it when I wondered if my new trainers were going to start feeling uncomfortable. I guess they never felt 100% comfortable - maybe just 75% comfortable, but that figure never changed all the time I had them on. Maybe that is comfort but I had never realised it before.

  I seemed to fill one of Aldi's small/shallow trolleys up to the top, and I did wonder how I was going to carry it all home. It included a few ready meals, a few cook it yourself things, plus a fair amount of fruit. I also bought two small tubs of ice cream. One was strawberries and cream flavour, and it was rather nice, but I felt too full to really savour the flavour. Which may have been a good thing.

  One unusual item was a four pack of "English IPA" beers. It is rare that I buy ales, and I thought it was about time I sampled a few. Assuming that each can was about 500ml, the four cans added up to 2 litres, or approx 2kg. I carried those cans home in my rucksack on top of 4 two litre bottles of Diet Coke. That all adds up to about 10kg - which is quite a weight, but in a ruckasck it did not seem like hard work at all. I also had two shopping bags, and carrying those was harder work.

  I arrived home feeling like a sit down would be nice, but not essential. Once I had unpacked, and put away most of my shopping I did have a sit down to eat a couple of packs of sandwiches I had bought. They do seem ideal for soaking up the beer I would have a bit later. I also put a large pizza in the oven to cook. The idea was that I would have that for my dinner after the beer drinking had finished.

  It was slightly lucky for me that I got a message from Alan to say that Jodie was at the dentist, and it was taking longer than expected, and so she would be a bit late. That gave me time to have a lie down, and then later to wash and polish the beer glasses we would be using.

  Jodie arrived at about 4pm, and so hardly later than some days. As usual she was almost uncommunicative - spending much of the time "doom scrolling" on her phone. My first beer was the newly bought, but with enough time for it to cool in the fridge, "English IPA". It was not good, but it was not bad, and I suspect I could get to like it if I drank more. Even Jodie said it was drinkable, and I think Michael, who joined us a bit later, said it was not bad.

  We were also joined by Mark, and with Michael there, who often talks/moans non stop, Jodie could get on with ignoring us, and we had a sort of conversation. For reasons unknown I did not drink much, but to make up for it I opened a can of 12.2% (i.e. extremely strong) Imperial Stout. It was delicious, but to my shame I did not finish it. It was the final beer, and I did not feel like trying to force it down.

  Once the others had left I should have had the pizza I had cooked (or, strictly speaking, heated enough to melt the cheese), but after beer I preferred tradition in the form of a curry - a king prawn bhuna. I followed that with some fruit, and I may have got carried away. I had two plums, a nectarine and a Cox's apple. It was good to see that Cox's were back on sale for what is probably a very limited time.

  I didn't seem like it should have been too much, but that fruit really seemed to stuff me. I had assumed I would have room for a decent helping of the strawberries and cream ice cream that I was looking forward to. I only seemed to have room for a couple of spoonfuls. That little taste was rather nice, and I look forward to a few more spoonfuls today.

  I must admit it became a sort of fight between wanting to lay down after that dinner, and sitting up watching TV. I guess TV won because I watched the whole of Have I Got News For You. That finished just before 11pm, and after brushing my teeth I was in bed very soon after. I didn't attempt to do any reading, and I feel sure I must have been fast asleep well before midnight.

  I find I have nothing to say about my sleep. I am not even sure I didn't wake up until about 6am this morning, but I would be very surprised if I made it through to then without waking up to go for a pee at least once. It almost 8am when I finally got up. I definitely needed a pee then, and I needed a poo, but I don't think the curry and all the fruit had reached that far. Instead of the smooth action that the fruit was supposed to cause, it was quite uncomfortable as had a rather solid poo.

  When I weighed myself I was dismayed to see I had gained 500gm this morning. I can't think of any single thing to blame that on. On the plus side, my blood glucose was rather good - two of the readings were excellent, 6.8 and 6.9mmol/l. The third was 7.7mmol, and while not quite excellent, it was still very good. All three average to 7.13mmol/l - the lowest I have seen since one very slightly lower reading near the start of last month. I think I am pleased enough with my blood pressure, 125/85, with a heart rate of 79 bpm, that I can't be bothered to try for a second, possibly lower reading.

  I am unsure what I am doing today. I thought I was interested in a gig tonight, but that is tomorrow (in fact there could be two gigs I am considering tomorrow). I guess today I should try and go for a walk in the park. I have been saying that for ages, and there is at least a finite chance it could happen today.......although I just remembered it is going to start raining again in a few hours. Maybe I am going nowhere today !