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Saturday 25th April 2026
09:19 BST

 
Yesterday was another gloriously sunny day. The afternoon temperature rose to 18° C, but a cool breeze from the east took the edge off the warmth, but less so than the day before yesterday.
 BBC_weather forecast
   Today, as forecast, started off with mist. The Met Office said that for one hour there may have been fog, and maybe there was and I was too late to see it. The sky is still a bit hazy, but the sun is shining for now. Only sunny spells are forecast until 5pm when there may be full sunshine until sunset. I suspect that some of the earlier sunny spells may be long enough to qualify as "sunshine". It may take until 5pm to get there, but 20° C is forecast for today. That should feel rather good. Meanwhile, my weather station barometers say it will rain ! Tomorrow may see sunny spells all day long, and a maximum temperature of 18° C.

  Yesterday was not specially good, but it was good enough. I can tick off two accomplishments that prove yesterday was not just another lazy day. My experiment of delaying my breakfast until it became lunch seemed to work, and I hope to do more of it.

  I must admit I did have a fairly lazy morning. After I finished writing yesterday's diary I had my usual lie down, and I may have had a snooze. What I definitely did was to have a shower, but I did not wash my hair. That took me almost up to midday, and I got dressed ready to go out. I had a mad idea that as well as going to the pharmacy, I might carry on walking for a walk around the park.

  I thought I would try out another pair of cheap shoes bought from Poundstretcher a few days earlier. They look superficially the same as the pair I bought a week or two ago, but there are differences. One thing not obvious when being worn is that the pair I tried yesterday had a black and knobbly sole. More obvious was the "go faster stripes". The most significant difference is that they seem a much more snug fit - snug enough to be slightly uncomfortable. I don't think I will be using them for any long walks, but they seem OK to wear indoors.

  Despite the slight discomfort from the shoes, the walk to the pharmacy seemed pleasant enough. My prescription was almost made up, but there was some confusion. They asked if it should include a Mounjaro pen, but I said that I had picked that up last Tuesday.  They also aid they could not find a box of Amidarone tablets, and they would have to order some. In a way that was good because I had meant to tell them that I did not want it because I get an allergic reaction to it (itchiness in the small of my back mostly, but also in some other places).

  When I got home again, and started to put the drugs away, I found that I had been given a spare TNG spray - the spray that relieves angina pains, and which I don't seem to need now, and the hospital Cardiologist says I should not use anyway. I now have three spare sprays plus the one I still carry around with me. The other surprise was another box of Furosemide. I didn't think I was still prescribed that, but I am happy to get it. It is a powerful diuretic, and was almost essential when my legs were getting puffy from water retention. That is mostly cured since I got my new heart valve, although my left leg, where the vein was removed for my bypass graft, can still get a bit puffy, and the Furosemide should cure that.

  After I had had my shower, earlier in the morning, I put some laundry in to soak in my big builders bucket. It was my two Catford t-shirts, and just three pairs of underpants. I may need one of the t-shirts tonight if things go to plan - which I can never be sure about until it happens. I managed to force myself to fully finish washing that stuff, and get it hanging up to dry, not all that long after my lunch.

  My lunch, as intended, was really a late breakfast. I had two lots of instant noodles. I think one would have been enough, and at least the second was a smaller pack of instant noodles. Today will be the same plan - no breakfast, but instant noodles at lunch time. I will try and have just a single helping today, but there could be a complication in how I eat today. I'll come back to that later.

  After lunch I did have a lie down, and I may have had a snooze. I could have relaxed a lot more, and just read my current paperback, but I knew I had to get the laundry finished, and forced myself into action. Once the laundry was hanging up to dry I did another sort of relaxation.....or maybe it is the opposite of relaxation. Perhaps madness would be a better description.

  I went online to Aliexpress.com to order a few things - things that I am in no hurry for, and so another 8 day wait for them will only be slightly traumatic. I have ordered a few pairs of flip flops. The price for them was a lot less than Amazon seem to be showing this year, and also cheaper than the pair I bought from Poundland. While I was at it I also ordered a couple of belts, and a miniature WiFi connected camera - a sort of spy camera, but I have no use for such a thing. It was mainly curiosity, and it was also very cheap - just £2.96. It is probably rubbish, or only works by being connected via a Chinese server or something. At such a low price I think of it as disposable.

  The next event was dinner. I tried to make some of it healthy, and the main course was, but the dessert was not....but it seems not that bad. The main course was mostly "Mediterranean roasting vegetables" with some cheese and a slice of corned beef. It was surprisingly tasty, and all those vegetables must have been good for me in several ways. All the fibre must have been good for my bowels if nothing else. My dessert was a whole tub of "Halo Top", alleged, low calorie salted caramel ice cream. The tub proudly proclaims it contains only 320 calories. The sugar content is still high, but one other thing I did yesterday was to have an out of sequence Mounjaro injection. The one I had on Tuesday, my regular day, was maybe less than half a dose until it ran out. The full dose of Mounjaro seems to be doing it's stuff OK.

  Nothing happened in the evening except the usual TV watching. One addition to the programmes on off was an episode of Guy Harvey's "From The Vaults". He was covering the year 1982, and of dear, what a terrible year for music that was. I think it must have been about then where I gave up on "chart music", and concentrated on "album music" - stuff like prog rock, and some hard rock, and some between the two. It was like leaving childhood behind and becoming a man.

  I seem to recall, albeit very hazily, that it was quite late when I fell asleep. I had been reading in bed until my eyes started to droop. I put the book down, turned out the light, and then....actually, I can't remember if I lay awake for any time, or if I just fell straight into a deep sleep. I can remember getting up to pee a few times, and I can almost remember a bit of one or more dreams.

  By "almost remember" I mean I can remember the subject even if I can't remember the detail, but even the subject is now getting very thin. The dream concerned a man who in the dream I named as someone I knew who is probably the opposite. That much I did sort of remember. The real man is a quietly flamboyant, or to put it a better way, he is a bit quiet except when he is playing keyboards, and then he is quite manic (and rather good). I must admit that as I try and explain this it seems more and more facts are just slipping away. In the dream I thought of him as boring, but now I try and explain it I find I can't remember why. It is probably safer to say I remember nothing about any of my dreams !

  This morning I got up a little later than usual, but as usual I headed straight to the toilet as soon as I got out of bed. I had a good pee, but at that point I didn't even seem to need a poo. Although I weighed myself then, I waited until I had had a poo before recording my weight. That happened after I had checked my blood glucose, and had counted out my pills for the day. After the poo, and another pee, I checked my weight, and I am happy to say that since yesterday morning I am 900gm lighter.

  My blood glucose level was also improved. This morning the average of all three readings was 7.47mmol/l. That is not the lowest this month, but still a good figure. Yesterday it was a bit higher at 8.2mmol/l. The Mounjaro injection seems to be doing it's stuff again. Today I will be having my breakfast at lunchtime, and hopefully that will help again, but there is a possible fly in the ointment.

  My first plan for today, once I have shower, and washed my hair, is to go to Tesco. That can bring unwanted temptations, but if my other plan works out as hoped, it might still be OK. My second plan is, I must admit, very fragile. It is to go to Beckenham for a Chain gig in the small and cramped Coach And Horses. If there is any hope that I actually go it will mean not having anything significant for dinner until after I am home again later tonight. I intend to buy a few sandwiches from Tesco that I will eat when I get home, but after a few pints I could be uncontrollably ravenous. I'll just have to see what happens, and that will include whether I even make it out my front door tonight.
misty morning
  I should have put this picture further up the page, but I almost forgot it. It is the view out the back bedroom window towards the park and towards the north. Note how misty the distance looks. It was the sort of mist that looks clear in close up, but wipes out anything in the distance.
 
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