March 2020

My Diary/Blog For the Month of March 2020

The links in the calendar above link to individual pages for each date.

Tuesday 31st March 2020

08:49 BST

Yesterday's weather forecast predicted no rainfall, but did show a few times when the chance of rain might be as high as 14%. I can't remember whether that is when rain fell, but there certainly were some showers, and at least one lasted for a fair time, and made sure it looked very wet outside. Apart from the rain it was cold and grey all day with the temperature only just reaching the prediction of an afternoon high of 8° C.

at
least the day is starting with blue sky and
sunshine

Real life has turned out better than the weather forecast - so far ! If the sun and cloud symbol for 8am was replaced by the sun symbol, reality and forecast would match. The latest revision of the forecast shows that 11am should be sunny instead of sunny intervals. From midday there should be sunny intervals right through until sunset at 7.33pm. The wind is still from the east, but should be quite light, and maybe the afternoon high of 10° C stands a chance of being pleasant. Tomorrow morning may well start with a frost, but the morning should be bright, and sunny. The afternoon will probably be rather dull, and only 9° C.

As is often the case, I didn't really know quite how I felt until I had tested myself, and so just before midday I went out to try and get some shopping. As I wrote yesterday, I definitely wanted to buy some Diet Coke, and I had a strong hankering for some fishfingers (for some unknown reason). I was fairly sure that I could get Diet Coke at any of quite a few Caribbean/Asian food shops, but I thought I would have more luck getting fishfingers from somewhere like Tesco. I didn't fancy tackling the big Tesco store, but I had an idea that the smaller Tesco Express might be OK. It was. There was a no more than 5 customers in the store policy, but there were only two people ahead of me, and I was in and out in little more then 10 minutes. The rest of my day included messaging Angela and Patricia. Angela was annoyingly vague. I had a few more twinges that could be attributed to coronavirus during the day, but they were more like having a winter chill - ignorable in the correct circumstance. One thing impossible to ignore was breaking out into what must have been a feverish sweat in the night. Oddly enough I feel better for it today - within limits. The full run down of my day is HERE.

Monday 30th March 2020

09:42 BST

Yesterday's weather left no positive feeling, and instead mostly negative feelings. After a little sunshine in the morning it was just cold and grey for the rest of the day. There was even at least one shower of rain.

It seems like winter is back. The sky is grey, and although no rain is shown to fall at any specific time, there is a small risk of rain at any time. The afternoon temperature may only reach 8° C, and wit the wind still coming from the icy north, it will probably feel much cooler. Tomorrow may be a far nicer day - by comparison, and not in absolute terms. The temperature should reach 10° C for a while in the afternoon, and with the wind coming from the east, still cold, but not icy, it may even feel bearable when the sun is out - there could be sunny spells throughout daylight hours tomorrow.

One thing that failed to make an impact yesterday was the clocks changing from GMT to BST. I didn't even realise it had happened until quite late in the day, and it wasn't until I noticed that it was light at 7.30pm last night that I really believed it. Yesterday was a very miserable day for many reasons. I explain some as best I can in my archive page for today. I am not sure if I wrote anything positive except that my temperature was nice and low this morning. The full story is HERE.

Sunday 29th March 2020

08:22 GMT

It didn't matter how much sun there was, which was actually not much, or what the thermometer might have said, yesterday was a bloody cold day. At first I thought I might have been feverish, but the quickest way to atop the shivers was to close the bathroom window. It's opening faces north where icy blasts, direct from the arctic were chilling all they touched. The temperature may have been as high as 11° C according to the thermometer, but it still felt like 2° C as that wind whistled around those bits of me that it is better to keep warm !

It looks like someone has turned the clock back to January. Today could feature some rain, maybe a little sunshine, but mostly dull grey and cold. Incidently there is a 76% chance of rain as I type this, but it is actually sunny at the moment. The latest revision of the forecast says that 11am is when we might get a shower, but most daylight hours could feature a sunny spell or two. It looks like one of those days where the forecasters don't really know what the day will be like, and have just chucked in a load of averages in the hope that some of it will be about right. The wind is still from the north so it seems certain that today is going to feel very cold. Tomorrow is currently thought to be dry, but it will feature far more dense cloud that will make the day seems gloomy in the extreme. Once again it is predicted the wind will be blowing straight in from arctic, and tomorrow will feel bloody cold too.

I was probably thinking a bit too much about it being cold in that last paragraph, and after the last full stop I decided I would go back to bed for 5 minutes. It turned out that I fell asleep, and almost a whole hour passed before I realised it. I didn't expect to fall asleep at all. It was one of those things you do because you can do it, rather than need to do it. Hmm, it seems maybe I did need to do it. It is another hint that I am fighting some sort of infection, and yet most indicators suggest I am not needing to fight so hard. My temperature did rise to 0.1° C above "normal" for a while, but 37.4° C is apparently still considered normal. Most of the time it has been 1° less than normal (although "usual" may be more indicative than "normal". I am more happy that my blood glucose level has dropped to a safer area this morning. Meanwhile my weight is still slowly creeping down. The long version of all these things, plus other observations, are to be found in my archive for today - HERE.

Saturday 28th March 2020

07:59 GMT

Once again the forecast for yesterday seemed to suggest a good day, but the wind continued to spoil things by making it feel a lot colder. For a few hours in the afternoon the air temperature was 13° C, and in direct sunshine, in still air, it would have felt good, but alas it still felt chilly. Of course there is the problem that in these days when going out is a rare luxury, I may not have appreciated in the same way as when actually walking in the sun.

bright. amd slightly less cold start to the
day

The sky was clear enough for the sunny periods shown for 6am to be actual non stop sunshine. To my great surprise, the clear sky did not mean a frost this morning. It is still a very chilly morning, but not that chilly. It should stay sunny this morning, but the sun may finally disappear behind cloud at 2pm. It won't even get that warm - just 11° C maximum. As it clouds over there is a very small chance of rain, but I expect it will stay dry. Maybe the only good news is that tomorrow may now see some sunny spells in the morning, but the afternoon will probably be very dull. Tomorrow may well be a very chilly day with most of the morning barely higher than 4° C, and the afternoon only touching 7 or 8° C. It is possible we will have to wait until 6th April to see the sun again.

Yesterday was another day where I didn't feel that good, but I also didn't feel that bad. It is still my belief that I am fighting some sort of infection, but happily I seem to be winning. Of course it is always possible that it now takes me a full day to get over the sort of walk that I should get over overnight. I am relying on some very vague memories, but I think I can remember my dad, who seemed very old to me, complaining about aches and pains typical of old age. He did when he was 52, and so he obviously was not that old. Now my mum, was always complaining about her "screws" (meaning her leg joints) in any bad weather when she was not that far into her 60s. By that standard I am doing quite well - maybe even very well. Two things tested my stamina, or resilience yesterday - gardening and hoovering. Both left me feeling knackered, but apart from the speed that it happened it was nothing unexpected. I describe it all, with pictures, plus I write all sorts of extra scribblings in my archive page for today HERE.

Friday 27th March 2020

08:10 GMT

The bright sunshine, and the afternoon temperature of 12° C, should have meant that yesterday should have seemed warm, and in direct sunshine it did almost feel like that, but it was a cold day when seen from a different viewpoint. My south facing bedroom seemed warm enough while the sun was coming through the windows, but seemed to get quite chilly when the angle of the sun meant a lot less of it was lighting up the room. The kitchen, on the north side of the house, felt terribly chilly a lot of the time.

Today's weather forecast has changed a little since I took the screenshot above, but neither shows the temperature being low enough for another frosty start - which it was ! The latest revision says the sunshine should now last all day, and the temperature should be 13° C for most of the afternoon. The wind from the north east is not going to be that strong, but it will be a cold wind. Today should be very similar to the previous few days. Tomorrow may see the first cracks appearing. The morning may start sunny, but it is predicted that sunshine will gave way to sunny spells in the afternoon, and then it will cloud over. Sunday looks to be cold and miserable, but maybe that might change if we are very lucky.

There was really only one highlight for yesterday, and that was another walk in the sunshine. It was a walk that was both good and bad. One of the first things I noted when I went out yesterday was that the corner shop was closed. She doesn't normally close even for Xmas (although she is open for only a few hours on Xmas morning). Newsagents are specifically exempt from having to close up while the crisis continues. That leaves two possibilities. The first is that custom has dropped to such a low level that it was not worth keeping open. The other is that the lady who runs it, or her husband has fallen to the Coronavirus.

It was nice in the sunshine, but non stop walking for 2.25 miles at 3mph seemed to take it's toll. I felt quite tired when I returned home. Perhaps the highlight of the walk was the poster in the picture above. While the stupid or ignorant on social media scream for everyone to stay indoors until this little hiccup to life is over, the council make the point that exercise is good for physical and mental health, and the parks (in this borough) stay open for exercise - just take a few precautions. How terribly grown up. The rest of my day included considering good and bad aspects to my health. My blood glucose remains higher than desirable, and may indicate I am fighting an infection. All other indicators are good - except my brain function ! It seems that I sometimes write the wrong word, but if I have spelled it correctly, it escapes my notice, Heaven knows what strange things I wrote in the long, archive version of today right HERE.

Thursday 26th March 2020

07:52 GMT

It was rather a gorgeous day yesterday. The wind was mostly low, the sky was blue, and the sun was shining. The temperature reached 13° C. In other words, yesterday was as good as the day before (albeit as much as 1° cooler).

Like yesterday, today will be 1° C cooler than yesterday, but should otherwise be a fine day. The wind is back from the east, and so 11° C (perhaps 12° C briefly) may feel a bit cool even in direct sunshine, but at least it will stay dry. Before writing I thought it wise to check for any revisions to the forecast. It has been revised, and the latest prediction is that most of this afternoon could see 12° C. Tomorrow will be very similar, but the cracks start to show in the afternoon. Sunshine will give way to just sunny intervals in the afternoon. The day after may only see sunny intervals until the afternoon when it will become overcast, and may stay that way for 3 or 4 days.

Yesterday was not a great day. I managed to keep myself amused all day, but it was hard work doing so. I must admit that if the lock-in, aka 95% curfew, "social distancing" were on a cold, dull and rainy day, it would still feel annoying despite the fact I would be doing nothing different. The fact that it was bright and sunny, and probably not feeling that bad in the sunshine, that made yesterday annoying with bells on. I moaned about that, plus coming out with some old twaddle about how the government could make this so much easier, and it could be more effective, if they used more carrot, and less stick. I also wrote about boot laces, and baked beans (although not in the same paragraph) in my full page for today. If you have the stomach for it, you can read it all right HERE.

Wednesday 25th March 2020

09:16 GMT

It was rather a gorgeous day yesterday. The wind was mostly low, the sky was blue, and the sun was shining. The temperature reached 14° C (although I confess I didn't check that personally), and in direct sunshine it did feel quite warm (not so much in the shade though).

Maybe today will not be quite as good as yesterday, but according to the forecast it will only be a solitary degree less. The sun has been shining since it first rose, and it should stay shining until sunset. The wind is still from the east, or it could have been a bit warmer, but it would probably have been wetter if it were from the west. It looks like the next two days may be very similar to today and yesterday, but it all changes to less pleasant weather for the weekend.

I wrote quite a lot about my day yesterday, and a bit about today on my page for today. Some of it uplifting, but more of it about my fears for the future. Some of it about how I couldn't find the enthusiasm or maybe energy to lengthen my exercise beyond a 1.6 mile walk. All the words, and pictures are HERE.

Tuesday 24th March 2020

07:13 GMT

It was very sunny yesterday, and it did feel sort of mild, but the current political state of the land made the desire to enjoy it somewhat muted. The afternoon temperature was about 11° C.

It is really chilly this morning, but that is not surprising with the sky being so clear. Right now all I can see through my south facing front window is the merest wisps of some very high clouds. The breeze today should be quite light, and it should feel very nice in the sunshine this afternoon when the temperature hits 14° C. Tomorrow should be very similar today except a degree or two cooler. Tomorrow marks the start of a slow decline in the weather. If the decline continues we could see some very chilly days in a week.

It was not absolutely essential, but yesterday seemed like a good time to go to Aldi and buy a bit more shopping. In many ways that was the most important thing I did yesterday. It was yesterday that the screws were tightened on the lockdown. It is all for our own good (said every new dictator). Now we are only allowed out for one period of solitary exercise or one (essential) shopping trip per day. The police have been given special power to deal with anyone abusing these "privileges", although how they will detect them is currently an unknown. I expect as in all true police states they will rely on informers. That last is a rant that I didn't include in a a much longer rant, interspersed between more genuine news in my long version, archived page for today that is a single click away HERE.

Monday 23rd March 2020

07:43 GMT

The weather forecast was predicting that yesterday would be sunny. In the end it was, but it took a long time for enough cloud to clear to give long periods of sunshine. Even then, I don't recall the mostly clear sky, and fiercely burning sun that the forecast predicted. If I recall correctly there were just long sunny periods in the afternoon. It did stay dry, and the temperature did reach 9° C (possibly even 9.5° C), but it still felt rather cool.

It seems sacrilegious to say it, but there are rare times when sunshine can be a nuisance - and right now is one, but I can't condemn it that much. Right now, as I write these words, the sun is pouring through my bedroom windows, passing over my left shoulder, and showing up every speck of dust, or greasy smear on my PC monitor. A quarter of my back, and my left shoulder are feeling very slightly too warm while the unlit parts almost feel chilly. This is unusually completely in accordance with the weather forecast. It looks like the wind is going to be much weaker today, and the forecast 11° C could feel nice in the sunshine. The only downside to the clear sky is that I think we had a touch of frost earlier this morning, and may do so again in the early hours of tomorrow. This is not good for my plants. Tomorrow is predicted to be an even warmer, aka less cold, version of today with the temperature possibly hitting 14° C.

I wasn't keen on going out for a walk yesterday. I was feeling a bit creaky, and I even wondered if I had the energy, let alone the enthusiasm to go on a long walk. With talk of a possible even harsher lockdown, that would even limit exercise, in a somewhat pointless exercise to contain the Covid-19 virus, I decided I just had to push myself to get out regardless of how I felt. I set myself the challenge to walk up to the top of Mountsfield Park, and take some pictures of the view over some of central London. While not doing the full walk was not good for me I did find a valid excuse to curtail it when I noticed it was fairly quiet inside Aldi. I rushed in an panic bought a Mattress Topper to hoard, and to balance the weight on my body as I carried it home, a 12 bottle case of Corona Beer. Much of yesterday was boring, but I did see a fascinating web site which caused me to do further research. Basically a Professor of microbiology suggested that the lockdown (very tight in Italy and Spain, and probably coming here) could be counter productive when looking at the big picture. He also presented some figures in a less headline catching way - stuff like survival rates, and a better run down on the types of people that have died of Covid-19. I comment on some of it, and provide links to a couple of important web site where the info came from on my full page for today HERE.

Sunday 22nd March 2020

08:11 GMT

It was gloriously sunny for a lot of yesterday, and it was unsurprisingly dry. The thing that spoiled it was the wind. The afternoon temperature was not very high, just 9° C, but even that might have felt OK in the sunshine if it wasn't for a very strong and gusty wind that blew any warmth away mercilessly. I didn't check, but I suspect the temperature fell away faster than forecast last night.

The forecast for today, even the latest revision, has started off wrong. The starting temperature was almost certainly lower - we only missed a frost by about a single degree, and it is not sunny yet. At the moment the sun is trying to shine through quite a cloudy sky. It is not heavy cloud, and there are still plenty of blue patches to be seen here and there, but they are small. Maybe all the cloud will clear as the morning progresses, and we will have the sunshine promised. Unfortunately there is still a lot of wind from the east, and it doesn't look like it will be much lighter than yesterday. It is coming from the east, and while that means dry weather, it also means cold weather. Today will probably be the same disappointing 9° C as yesterday - and feeling much colder in the wind. The possibility of frost in the early hours of tomorrow is looking likely, but tomorrow may end up a degree or three warmer, and the sun should be blazing down. The wind direction will change a bit, and the wind may be a little weaker. There could be a chance that tomorrow may actually feel almost warm.

Before daring to step outside into the big dirty world yesterday, I decided to check some health indicators. It was partly as defence against those stupid people who believe we should wrap ourselves in cotton wool, and not leave out "panic room" until the all clear has sounded some time in the indefinite future. They claim that by being out of the house I could infect their 90 year old grannies with Covid-19. That really begs the question, why are they, and other similar very vulnerable people, allowing themselves into situations where they could come into contact with infected people. Apparently they should be allowed to roam the streets with impunity while we, hopefully less vulnerable people are supposed to shiver with terror in complete biological isolation. With my blood glucose level way too high I had little choice but to go out and do some exercise. I walked over three miles, and by fasting until dinner time, I got my blood glucose down to what was actually a very nice figure. The detail of my health, my walk, and how boring the evening was, can be found in my archive for the day HERE.

Saturday 21st March 2020

08:42 GMT

I find it hard to remember what the weather was like when it is exceedingly bland. I remember hoping that it might not be as dull as forecast, and if I recall correctly there were a few brief, rather hazy, sunny spells in the afternoon. Mostly it was a grey day, and a rather cool one too. I don't think the temperature went above 9° C, and a lot of time it felt a fair bit less than that.

Today should be sunny, but I see far too much cloud for that yet. There are a few short sunny spells at the moment, but even the latest forecast says the sun should be blazing from a clear sky right now. Even the temperature forecast seems to be over optimistic by about a single degree right now. That may not sound much, but it is damn chilly in my bathroom ! All we can do is to hope that reality catches up with the forecast above. Tomorrow is currently forecast to look like the forecast for today - apart from starting even colder. We might even catch a frost in the morning. Oh well, at least it should stay dry.

Yesterday was a day where paranoia about the Covid-19 epidemic was raised another notch. It was the day that all pubs were ordered to shut after last night's final boozing. I fear that it will have a negative effect on the nations health. Maybe by isolating people from each other it might slow the spread of Covid-19, but it will also badly effect the nations mental health. I say more about my theories of public health, and describe what there was the describe of the day. I sort of proved that is some respects I am healthy, but my blood glucose is probably way to high. In that latter respect I am very unhealthy. All I wrote, plus some pictures to back it up, plus a video (if it plays in your browser) is ready to read HERE.

Friday 20th March 2020

08:53 GMT

Compared to the previous couple of days, yesterday was a bit grim. The early version of the forecast turned out to be correct with regard to the heavy cloud cover, and the temperature. The afternoon just about managed 9° C, but it cooled quite quickly in the evening. I suspect it was even cooler than the 7° C predicted for midnight. Maybe it was just the wind blowing through the slightly open window, but it felt absolutely freezing in my bathroom at midnight. I don't know if it appeared in later revisions of the weather forecast, but the early versions only acknowledged a bit of light rain in the morning - which was so light it couldn't easily be seen, but was keeping the ground wet. No version of the forecast I saw showed fine misty drizzle for the later half of the afternoon, and continuing into the evening - maybe even later. It was the sort of rain you can completely ignore until you realise you are getting damp.

The forecast for today has got off to a bad start, and the latest revision is no different. So far this morning there have been no black looking clouds, as in the pictograms of the weather forecast above, although I do note that the headline says "light cloud". At the moment the cloud is thin enough to let enough light through for the day to appear fairly bright. Every now and then there is a very brief, literally just a few seconds, sunny interval. They have been slightly hazy, and casting a fuzzy shadow, but this still feel much, much better than the forecast suggests. Maybe the clouds will thicken up to more resemble the forecast, but then again, light cloud is forecast from midday onwards (or now 2pm in the latest update). The latest update quashes any idea of a sunny period at 6pm (as above), but I am thinking that if the current cloud doesn't thicken, but actually thins, as the forecast claims it will, then there could be sunny periods this afternoon in defiance of the forecast. It may still be a rather cool 9° C though. Tomorrow is still predicted to be a mostly sunny day, but at just 9° C again, it will not feel that warm in the sun (although it will probably warm my front, south facing, rooms up a treat !

Yesterday was another busy day, or at least was busy at times. I spent quite a lot of time messing about with old videos (while completely forgetting that I was going to prepare one to show here - oh well maybe I'll do one today to include tomorrow). In between that I did some laundry, I hand washed two pillowcases, a bottom sheet, recently taken off my bed, and while doing those I also washed a small hand towel. In the late afternoon I went for a drink. Instead of the usual Thursday drinking club, this session was local and started in a very expensive (and pointlessly noisy) pub with Jodie, before going on to the 'Spoons to meet up with Kevin and Iain. I haven't drunk with those two together for countless years. It could have been a very long session, but I only allowed myself 5 pints. That was still enough to stop me going into the fried chicken shop. There are pictures of three of the beers I drank, plus pictures of the laundry I did drying, and other pictures all stitched together with assorted words and punctuation. There is also how I managed to pay off an overdue electricity bill painlessly (except for the time on hold). Read all about it in the archive for the day HERE.

Thursday 19th March 2020

07:48 GMT

The forecast for yesterday was resolute that there would be no sign of sunshine yesterday, but it was wrong ! There may not have been much, but something is a lot more than nothing. Until about 5pm the sky was light, and now and again the sun would peep through the clouds. At about 5pm the clouds thickened, and it became very dark - just like sunset had come over an hour early. It seemed like it was about to rain (which would have been handy for reasons I'll come to later), but it stayed dry until well after dark, and possibly until some time after midnight. The afternoon temperature of 14° C felt mild even under a dull sky.

Today is going to be a fair bit cooler than yesterday, and maybe today will be very dull all day. Sometime in the early hours of this morning there was a sprinkle of rain, and while it is dry now, and the forecast says it will continue dry, it does look like there could be a creditable chance of rain sometime this morning. (I can't see any rain falling as I write this, but it does look very damp outside - there could be some fine, hard to see, drizzle). I suspect that the afternoon high of just 9° C is going to feel quite cool in the dull grey light. There is hope that tomorrow may be slightly better. t the moment the forecast says a bit of rain around sunrise, and then the clouds will start to thin, not enough for any sunshine, but the afternoon should be a bit brighter, and it should be 9° C again.

Yesterday turned out to be a more productive day than I thought it might be - although I had almost predicted what some of it might be. For instance a vague possibility of considering going to Aldi did turn into a shopping trip to Aldi. Some of the shelves were a bit sparse, but they had everything I was looking for, and a few things I wasn't originally looking for. The other two significant things I did was some gardening, and changing the sheets, and duvet cover on my bed. I even did some hand laundry - which is something I forgot to say in the long archive version of today's blog (or whatever all the scribbling I compose is supposed be describe as - actually more like a diary). The long version, excluding that I did that other bit of hard work, aka hand laundry, but including a picture of the current state of my garden, plus some observations about my health (it is good and bad at the same time), can be found in my daily archive, or archive of the day right HERE.

Wednesday 18th March 2020

07:25 GMT

After an hour or two of sunny periods in the morning, yesterday was mostly lightly overcast. It was still bright, and there were times when the sun could be seen behind the clouds, but there was precious little any sunshine. The wind was quite low, and the 13° C in the afternoon felt quite mild.

I have just rechecked the latest forecast to see if there is yet any hope of seeing any sunshine today. It appears not. The only change to the screenshot above is that there will now be about 5 hours when it is 14° C this afternoon. The wind speed is shown to be about the same as yesterday so it should feel quite mild even in the gloom. There is a slight background chance of a shower, and the time this might happen keep changing, but generally the forecast says it will be a dry day. Tomorrow could be similar with the same thick clouds, but the temperature may only peak at 8° C, and while no rain is specifically forecast there seems to be a 10 to 20% chance of some precipitation through the day.

I decided against trying to get any shopping yesterday, but in the end that is exactly what I did. I knew I would not be seeing Angela at lunchtime, and so I didn't have to work to any schedule. For some reason I thought it might have been a bit earlier, but it seems I went out for my daily exercise at two minutes before midday. It turned into a long, 3.6 mile, walk, and ended with me buying salad and beer on the way home. The beer seemed to have a very bad effect on my blood glucose level, and today I need to be very careful about what I eat and drink. I have written all about my walk, and illustrated it with some picture. All that, plus some observations made this morning about my health and stuff, is to be found in my archive page for the day right here.

Tuesday 17th March 2020

08:12 GMT

Yesterday was every bit as good as the forecast said it would be. The forecast was downgraded a bit compared to the early forecast I showed yesterday, but it seemed like the original forecast had been closer to reality. There was sunshine - lots of it ! Perhaps "sunny intervals", as shown in the later forecast includes times when a stray cloud might block the sun for a minute or two, but 90% of the time the sun is blazing away. That probably describes much of yesterday afternoon. The afternoon temperature was probably about 12° C, but there may have been a brief time when it hot 13° C. It felt lovely and warm in the sunshine !

similar temperatures to yesterday, but no sun

The forecast temperature spread for today is very similar to yesterday, but plus 1°. This morning I reckon it was 1° less than the forecast, and so it will be interesting to see if the temperature reaches 13° C this afternoon. Another small departure from reality is that the sunny periods shown for only 7am, and not shown at all on the revised forecast, are possibly only finishing about now - an hour late. However, there is still quite a few patches of blue sky to be seen, and maybe the sun will come out again. I doubt it will still be appearing this afternoon, but we live in hope. Without any sun that 13° C may feel much cooler than yesterday's 12° C. Until recently tomorrow was forecast to be a bright and quite warm day. Temperatures were predicted to rise to as much as 16° C, but the current prediction for tomorrow is that it will be overcast, and only 14° C. 14° could still be OK, but with sunshine it might have almost felt like summer was just around the corner.

My visit to the pharmacy was a success yesterday morning. They had ordered, and had ready the prescribed drug I wanted. I declined to do any shopping in Aldi when I found it far too overcrowded. I went to Tesco instead, and ended up buying some very nice beer from there. A little later I went for some exercise, and walked about 3 miles. There was some bad news from Angela. Miranda, Angela's daughter, who was staying at Angela's home for a couple of day appears to have come down with Coronavirus. She has some medical problems that could make it very serious for her. Quite what happens next is yet unknown, but Angela and Miranda are supposed to self isolate for a fortnight, and depending on the outcome, possibly longer. There was also news from my friend Patricia. She was due to come to London in April, but with all the travel restrictions in place, it seems she will be stuck, and actually far better off in her quiet part of Argentina. All the good and bad news in long form, plus pictures of my walk on a very sunny afternoon yesterday, can, as usual, be read by clicking this link HERE.

Monday 16th March 2020

07:22 GMT

Apart from a few minutes of hazy sunshine soon after sunrise, yesterday was a very dull and grey day. An afternoon temperature of 11° C was probably the best thing about yesterday's weather, but it was nothing to get excited about. Maybe the forecast rain not, or mostly not happening, might have been a bonus, but on the other hand it might just have well rained while it looked so horrible outside, and some of my seeds and seedlings might have liked a bit of extra water.

The penalty for the clear skies, which is already bringing bright sunshine, is we only escaped a frost by the skin of our teeth. Maybe we didn't ! My thermometers are currently saying it is only 4° C now, and a few hours earlier it might have been lower than that. It is less than an hour ago when I took the screenshot above, and the forecast has changed already. Many of the sunny hours are now shown as just sunny intervals, and the afternoon temperature has lost it's predicted brief blip to 13° C. The best we can hope for is a few hours at 12° C, but that may feel nice in sunshine - provided the wind doesn't blow it all away. The big change in the forecast is that now tomorrow is predicted to be lightly overcast all day, and no more sunshine can be expected. At least it might be 13° C all afternoon, but with no sunshine to back it up it might not feel more than mildly mild. The biggest disappointment concerns Wednesday. A few days ago it was shown as sunny with temperatures of 16° C, but now it is predicted to be very grey, and just 14° C.

After being so busy, and writing up most of my day yesterday afternoon, there is not that much to add, but there were a few other things to describe. For instance there was a piece on TV by a GP who had had Covid-19, the coronavirus in it's more usual mild form. Her description of how the infection affected her sounded very familiar, and while still not conclusive, it does suggest that my aches, pains, and fever the week before last might well have had Covid-19. That would be good because I now should have some immunity to it. I have written more details about that, plus a crossover between a few seconds seen on TV and a dream I had last night. All that, and more, plus some thoughts about this morning, are in the daily archive of my life in written, and picture form. The latest scribblings can be read HERE.

Sunday 15th March 2020

14:18 GMT

There seemed to be some rainfall before I got up yesterday, but as far as I recall it stayed dry until some very light rain at the end of the day. It was one of those days that sometimes felt a bit warmer than the forecast temperature. I suspect it was because 13° C, as it was yesterday afternoon, was around a transitional temperature where it feels cold when sedentary, but warm when doing any sort of physical work/exercise. As such it could have been nice if there were more sunshine, but I can hardly recall any sunshine yesterday.

By now, half of the weather forecast for today has already happened, and mostly the forecast above seems to have been right, but reality diverged at 1pm. As far as I am aware, the last 3 hours of potential rain never turned into actual rain. Rain could happen any minute though - the overcast sky looks right for it - but on the other hand it has looked like this all day except for a short while sometime probably between 7 and 8am when there seemed to be some sunshine lighting up the outside of my curtains. It is a couple of degrees cooler than the best of yesterday, but like yesterday it feels cold when being lazy, but it is easy to warm up when being less sedentary. The odd thing is that while I often have my heater up high to stay comfortable in my bedroom when, for instance I am doing no more than reading or writing stuff on my PC, it doesn't seem to feel unpleasantly cold in the bathroom where the window is partly open. The latest revision of the weather forecast says drizzle will start at 3pm, and that will be followed by up to three hours of light rain. Tomorrow should be bright and sunny with an afternoon temperature of 13° C.

Yesterday was one of those days where I was unusually busy, but also with some nice periods of relaxation...at least I think I managed to relax a fair amount of time, but somehow I can't seem to remember when that might have been. It was mostly a day of two halves - gardening and gigs. The morning (or was it early afternoon) was all about finding a long plant pot to put on the third part of my bay windowsill. The the evening, and in this case it was almost early evening, I went to two gigs. Maybe it would be more true to say I went to a sound check and a gig. The first band started so late that I had to get to the second venue before they got around to starting. Last night I don't know if I slept well or not, but I know I spent very little time awake. As is now the new normal, the full account of yesterday, or as much as I can remember of it, plus the little there is to tell about today, illustrated with pictures and a video from the gigs, can be seen

HERE.

Saturday 14th March 2020

09:08 GMT

There was something about yesterday that made it feel very spring like. Maybe it was the taste of the air, or maybe it was that there was very little wind to make the afternoon temperature of 11° C feel cold. There was some good sunshine in the morning, and sunny intervals, or sunny spells seemed to go on longer than the early forecasts said they would. Even from mid afternoon when the periods of sunshine were quite sparse, it still seemed to be bright. It was a dry day, and that helped.

I was not aware of any heavy rain early this morning, but there was enough rain to give my garden and potted plants a good watering. In an idea world we would now have sunny spells, and indeed the sun is trying to come out, but the forecast says the last of the rain will be at 10am. The latest forecast does say that sunny spells will start at 3pm, and that sounds much better than the gloomy, overcast skies predicted in the early morning version of the forecast. This afternoon should see the temperature rise to 13° C, which will be very welcome, and may feel nice in the sunshine. The headline feature for tomorrow is rain, but at the moment the forecast shows it to be dry until 1pm when only light rain may fall until about 6pm. The rest of the day will be dry, but overcast with the afternoon temperature only reaching 11° C.

As mentioned above, there was a subtle quality to the air, light, or something else that made it feel very spring like. I ended up having a semi busy day instead of a very lazy day as originally intended. I went shopping in Tesco, and in the afternoon I did some very satisfying cleaning work in my front room. I don't think there is anything too cringeworthy in there now if I have any visitors. I even found time to do a little bit more in my backroom. That room seems big when I go through it now, and I am now beginning to imagine some sort of completion in there (up to a limit) by summer. Like the front room the ultimate treatment will be repainting, and even that may happen one day. I have written about, and illustrated my day in my full archive page HERE.

Friday 13th March 2020

09:32 GMT

The forecast almost got the amount of sunshine right yesterday, although it did underestimate it in the early morning. Just for a change it got the temperature wrong. The forecast said the afternoon would be around 10° C. It was actually closer to 8 or 9° C. The difference was probably due to the wind. Strong winds were forecast for midday, but they seemed to start earlier, and it still seemed very windy long after they were supposed to stop. That made the low temperature feel even lower. Just after dark, when the temperature was supposed to be 8° C, the wind made it feel like it was about 4° C !

bright
start, but probably mostly overcast

The forecast has been revised, but without any big changes since I took this screenshot earlier this morning. After a sunny start, with lots of blue sky, it has now got quite cloudy, and while the forecast still says sunny intervals for a lot of the day, I suspect the periods of it being dull and overcast will greatly exceed the length of sunny periods. The latest revision suggests that the clouds will start to clear at about 3pm, and after a pause of a couple of hours, the sunny periods will resume, and if the forecast is correct, the length of the sunny periods will get longer and longer until there will be non stop sunshine for the last hour of the day. This afternoon should be 11° C, and with the wind looking to be very light, it may not feel too bad this afternoon. Tomorrow could be 13° C, but it will probably be an overcast day - heavily overcast in the morning, with a small chance of a shower, but the cloud should be lighter in the afternoon.

The legacy of my couple of hours in the garden the day before lived on yesterday. It was nothing that serious, or at least it didn't affect walking, but it was painful when leaning over the bath to do some washing. In the morning I went to the pharmacy to collect all but the one drug of my repeat prescription they always forget to order. In the afternoon I went for my regular late Thursday afternoon drink. The wind was quite fierce, and I felt rather chilly going there, and even colder coming home. That chill gave me a raging hunger, or at least very impatient to eat some hot food. I suspect I would have eaten less if I had bought fried chicken on the way home. I might have even had a more comfortable night. There are pictures to illustrate some of my day, but fortunately farts cannot easily be caught on film, and so you will spared pictures of the unpleasant aspects of my day. My day yesterday, and a little bit of this morning is described here on it's own archive page.

Thursday 12th March 2020

07:41 GMT

Yesterday I posted two screenshots of the weather forecast. The first showed yesterday to be bright with sunny intervals. The second was a revision posted an hour later, and it said it would be a dull and overcast day. The first version of the forecast turned out to be almost right, and the second definitely wrong. There was a lot of sunshine yesterday, and if hadn't been for a strong breeze, it might have felt as good as 14° C probably should have felt.

If this is only a sunny interval then it is a very long one ! It seems to have been sunny since the sun rose over an hour ago. It is a shame it is only 5° C out, but I can feel that sun on the back of my head as I sit here writing, and it feels lovely and warm. Today could see quite a lot of sunshine, although maybe only as sunny intervals, but the afternoon temperature may only reach 10° C, and at midday some strong winds will make it feel much colder. At least it should stay dry....although the latest revision to the forecast says there will be hail at 9pm, but it does acknowledge that there will be full sunshine before the hail. Also, the strong winds are now thought to start at 9am, and finish at midday. Evidently the weather is changing faster than the forecasts can keep up with it, and so to say that tomorrow may be dry and bright with an afternoon high of 11° C probably doesn't mean much.

I did two things of different amounts of significance yesterday. One less significant thing was that I went shopping in Iceland where I bought two Iceland "Slimming World" meals. I tried one, and it was rather tasteless (some in the range are fairly nice). The most significant thing I did was to spend a couple of hours working hard in my garden. It was doing more clearance work, and so the only evidence is some bare areas, where once was tangled ivy, rotten wood, and old bricks. The rather bland evidence of this, plus part of my Iceland shopping, is shown in pictures on the full archive for yesterday, which also includes predictions for today, and can be viewed HERE.

Wednesday 11th March 2020

09:15 GMT

Yesterday was forecast to be dry, and warm. It wasn't ! The thick clouds happened as forecast, but there was quite a lot of rain. Most of the rain was very light, but it spoiled any chance of it feeling warm. I guess I could say that there were a few times when it did feel milder than of late, and the actual temperature did seem to briefly peak at 16° C, although 14 and 15° were more representative of the day.

This forecast, posted at 6am seems to suggest it would be a fairly nice day. An hour later, disaster struck...
The revised forecast

In the space of an hour and 50 minutes the day turned from looking good to looking dull and miserable. Oh well, at least it seems it will stay dry (but they said that about yesterday, and it wasn't). 14° C is not bad either, but it would have felt so much nicer in some sunshine. All is not lost. The forecast keeps changing. Sunny periods have now been re-instated for 4pm, and only 4pm. Judging my the sinister looking colour of the clouds at the moment, there won't be any sunshine for quite a while. If it were a lot colder there could be snow - the clouds have that sort of colour ! Tomorrow is still forecast to be sunny in the morning, with sunny spells in the afternoon, but once again there is a sting in the tail. The temperature may be 11° C, and enough to feel fairly nice in sunshine, will be a wasted effort. Strong winds starting for a few hours around midday, will just blow any warmth away.

My (so called) daily exercise was rather different than normal yesterday. It consisted of lots of little walks - some done at a rush. My first walk was a rush to the pharmacy and back to order my next repeat prescription. If they do it right this time I will be collecting the entire order tomorrow morning. Then I went out again to have my AAA (abnormal Aortic Aneurysm) screening. The train which would have been idea was cancelled, and so it was a mad rush to get there in time. It turned out to be a waste of time because the little, portable ultrasound scanner could not see through my belly fat. Afterwards I had a quick look in the Beckenham park that has the rather rusty, and skanky looking David Bowie Bandstand (it is no wonder they wanted to demolish is some years ago). That gave me just enough time to get back on a train to Ladywell station, walk across the park and order a drink for me, and a drink for Angela before she got there. There is a lot more to this story, including some pictures, to be read on the archive page HERE.

Tuesday 10th March 2020

07:51 GMT

Yesterday wasn't exactly like the weather forecast, but it was pretty close. The day started with sunshine. That gave way to sunny spells, and then the cloud closed in to make it overcast. Finally rain started to fall. It actually fell after dark. A little bit later than forecast, although I can't be sure exactly when it started, or to be honest, how long it lasted. I think it was mostly light rain. The afternoon temperature was about 11° C.

It is going to be closest to warm that we have experienced for many months now. It is already 12° C, and by this afternoon it could be as high as 16° C. That should actually feel warm despite there not being a single forecast glimpse of the sun today. The wet roads suggest that it was raining earlier this morning, but no more rain is expected until 8pm according to the latest revision of the forecast. Tomorrow may start with a few sunny spells, but the rest of the day is predicted to be lightly overcast. It will be almost warm with a top temperature of 14° C. We have now entered a time when afternoon temperatures should be at least 11° C for the next fortnight, and frequently a few degrees higher.

I only had a short walk yesterday, but I did have a very nice lunchbreak with Angela in the pub during her lunch hour. There were a few times when I thought my health was not all it should be yesterday. There was even a hint that I could have been heading for the next stage of Covid-19 - the "coronavirus". Fortunately that now seems unlikely, although in one respect it is a shame because it would provide proof to mere speculation that it might have been coronavirus in it's mild form that I was suffering from last week. Today I am off to Beckenham Hospital to have an ultrasound scan of my Aorta. It is apparently now standard screening for men when they reach 65. It is quick, and it is before midday. I should make the pub by 1pm ! The full version of yesterday's story, plus a bit of the night, and this morning, is on the archive page for today - including pictures. That page can be read HERE.

Monday 9th March 2020

08:40 GMT

Yesterday was bright and sunny, and it felt quite mild. I can't remember exactly what time it started to rain, but it was not long after midday, and when it started it really meant business ! I was first aware of a loud clatter from from my bedroom window that sounded like someone had thrown a big handful of gravel at it. It wasn't gravel, or even hail, but big raindrops being blown against the window by a strong gust of wind. In some ways it was good because such heavy rain "drained" the clouds, and instead of the persistent light rain that was forecast, much of the afternoon was dry with occasional sunny spells. The afternoon temperature was a pleasing 12° C.

This morning sees another bright and sunny start. The latest revision to the weather forecast says that the sunshine will soon give way to just sunny intervals, and that these should last until midday (an hour later than the earlier revision above). The afternoon will be a fairly mild 11° C, but it will be dull and overcast. Rain is due to fall from 6pm onwards (once again, an hour later than in the early version of the forecast). The temperature will start to fall after mid afternoon, and it will fall to it's lowest at 7pm when it will be 8° C. After that it will rise again, and reach 11° C by midnight. It will continue to rise, and tomorrow is predicted to see the temperature rise to 16° C for a while in the afternoon. Unfortunately it will probably be a very grey day with a small chance of rain at almost any time.

It turned out that I was actually feeling fairly OK yesterday. I seemed to have more energy, and only an occasional little twinge from a muscle, joint or bone. I think, or at least I hope that I can say that everything was returning to normal after my recent malady. I tested myself with shopping trips to Poundland, and then to Poundstretcher. The main object was to buy stuff for planting more flower seeds (plus more flower seeds !). Both walks were fine, and so was a medium sized bit of hand laundry. The full details, plus more pictures, and some thoughts on today, can be read in the full archive page HERE.

Sunday 8th March 2020

09:02 GMT

Yesterday was not quite as bad as the forecast predicted. There were a few hazy glimpses of the sun for a short while after sunrise, and then almost the rest of the day was overcast - or so the forecast predicted, but later in the afternoon the sun did make a few more appearances. As per the forecast it was a dry day, and the afternoon temperature was 11° C.

As I write this the sun is shining, and it has done so for well over an hour, and maybe for two hours. There are clouds in the sky, and sooner or later one will come along to block the sun for a while. Some of those clouds could be rain bearing, and the forecast has made a few attempts to predict when it might rain. The latest revision to the forecast above still shows the first shower at 10am, but no rain for the next couple of hours. The forecasters are still convinced that there will be showers all afternoon, but they also show the chances of rain to be in the region of only 30%. I would hazard a guess that there may be more sunshine than rain this afternoon. In any sunshine the predicted 12° C could feel nice. It should stay mild (for night) tonight, and tomorrow is predicted to start at 5° C and rain. Once that splash of rain is over it could be a nice bright day with a fair amount of sunshine, but the temperature may only be 11° C.

I thought I felt reasonably OK yesterday morning, but only after having some doubts about it. It turned out those doubts were right, and although quite attenuated, the aches and pains of my recent illness, whatever it might have been, still rumble on. I had a mostly lazy day that was punctuated by many small little jobs, and one that was physical enough to remind my that my bones, joints and muscles are still recovering from what viral infection I had/have been suffering from. This morning there is something that I can't quite put my finger on that suggests I really do feel a lot better today. Time will tell. I have described my day and night (and a bit of this morning), and illustrated it with a few pictures on it's very own archive page. Click where it says "here" to go to that page right HERE.

Saturday 7th March 2020

08:28 GMT

The days seem to be going from one extreme to another. Thursday was grey and wet. Yesterday bright dry, bright and sunny. Sadly it wasn't a warm day, although it did get close to it for a short period in the afternoon. The temperature hit 10°C, and when the wind dropped the heat of the sun could be felt.

At the moment we are heading into a period when the latest revision to the forecast predicts a 72% chance of rain, and yet it will apparently stay dry. As I write this the sun is putting up a valiant attempt to shine. Sadly it now appears to be losing, but 5 minutes ago there was a blindingly white patch of cloud that was casting a fuzzy shadow. It seems today is likely to be dry, but it will be overcast, to one degree or another, all day. However the temperature is now thought to rise to 12° C this afternoon. Only a moderate breeze is forecast, and so that 12° could feel very mild...maybe. A lot of tomorrow may be mild with temperatures once again reaching 12° C, but there will be some showers now and then.

I felt a lot better yesterday morning, but I still had a selection of aches and pains. Once I got moving I felt OK, and ended up walking almost 3 miles. I met Angela in the pub, and that added to my feeling good. On the homeward leg of my walk I stopped in two shops to buy shopping. After getting home, and relaxing, I could feel my bones/muscles/joints start to stiffen up again, but it was mild compared to how I had felt the day before (and the day before that). Although I took some care to not eat too much that was bad for me, I was definitely not on a diet yesterday.

My walk, my day, my evening, and my night, are all described in my archive page for today, and it includes pictures of blue sky, me, Angela and bottle of Corona beer ! I also speculate what I might do today. I could only come up with just one definite thing, and that was to go to the corner shop. The rest I'll make up as the day progresses. The archive page, freshly written today before being stored in the archives, can be read by clicking this LINK.

Friday 6th March 2020

09:01 GMT

Yesterday was horrible ! It was very dull, and very wet. I seemed like it was raining from the time I got up until the time I went to bed - and probably beyond that ! To add insult to injury, it was barely 7° C at it's "warmest".

During the night most of the clouds were blown away, and this morning has seen the return to sunshine (even if the sun has just gone in as I write this). The latest revision of the forecast now shows sunshine instead of sunny intervals for a lot of the daylight hours. It is a little strange to see that with all that sunshine we may not get that little peak to 10° C at 3pm (as shown on the chart above), and may only see 9° C this afternoon. Tomorrow may reach 11° C in the afternoon after a very cool start. The morning may see a few sunny spells, but most of tomorrow is currently predicted to be overcast to one degree or another. It should be another dry day.
grim rain

I felt quite ill yesterday. It was a continuation of what started with what was most probably a fever on Tuesday afternoon. On Wedesday I was getting lots of experiemental aches and pains while the virus (I assume it is a virus) was seeking out my weak points. Yesterday it has selected bits to attack, and many bones,joints, and muscles ached. None were strong pains, and many were movement related. None would have really stopped me doing anything, but they would have made most things unpleasant. So I stayed in, kept warm, and got very drunk in the afternoon. Meanwhile, one of my main views of the outside world was my old Cat-Cam still sitting on the backroom windowsill in all weather for the last 10+ years. It is creaky, needs regular doses of WD40, but it still works - not bad for something that makes strong warnings about it being not for outdoor use in it's manual.

The long version of this discourse, which includes stuff not mentioned here in this précis, and some pictures, is HERE.

Thursday 5th March 2020

08:06 GMT

The forecast had several goes at predicting some rain or drizzle for yesterday morning, but to all intents and purposes, it was dry until gone midday. The forecast said it would rain continuously from about 1pm until at least 10pm. It wasn't that simple though. The rain was actually quite intermittent. It would rain for a while, and then stop. Hlaf an hour, or maybe a full hour later it would rain again. It seemed very random. The only constant was that it was a cold day with the temperature never getting higher than 8° C, and then for only a few hours.

Unless the weather forecast radically changes soon, today is predicted to be like yesterday, but worse. Being heavily overcast is bad enough, but it will also be a rather wet and cold day ! I've now checked the latest revision to the forecast, and it is now looking worse. The latest revision says the rain will start soon (although it is looking very wet outside already), and will soon turn to heavy rain. It may finish with some drizzle at 10pm tonight. Instead of all the afternoon being 7° C, as in the screenshot above, the latest revision says it will be 7° C for just a few hours, and 6° C will be a more typical temperature for most of today. Tomorrow may well start with a frost, but at the moment it is predicted to feature sunny spells all day long, and the afternoon temperature could peak at 10° C.

I didn't feel that good yesterday morning, although it didn't stop me going out to do some shopping. Through the day I waxed and waned between feeling bad, and almost good (but never actually good). The feeling continues today. It is a lot like mild 'flu - which doesn't exist, or so we are told. Maybe odd moments do feel as bad as a bad case of 'flu - or even Coronavirus (Corvid-19), but I have had no breathing difficulties, and so that can be ruled out for the moment. On the other hand, it might be worth suffering a few more days like this if I became eligible to wear a "I survived the coronavirus" t-shirt ! Today my symptoms feel less severe, but I seem to have more of them. I find it terribly difficult to describe these symptoms because they keep changing. What's the point of saying I have a pain in my right forearm when by the time you come to write about it, it has swapped over to the left forearm ! I have attempted to describe some of the more memorable, or general symptoms, and described the few bits of my day where I did something notable. I have also pondered out loud about what I might do today. All this can be found in my archive page for today HERE.

Wednesday 4th March 2020

09:47 GMT

It was cold enough for a frost yesterday morning, but it was a bright and sunny morning, and the frost did not linger. However, despite the morning sunshine, it was still a rather chilly day. The sunshine ended before midday, and the rest of the day was overcast. There were a few light sprinkles of rain in the early afternoon, but I don't recall any more rain falling later. The afternoon temperature was 9° C - just below 10° when the first signs of warmth are just about detectable - but feeling even colder because of the grey sky, rain, and the wind.

There was no frost this morning, but we only escaped it by a degree or two. This morning is dull and overcast, and it will get even duller this afternoon when rain is expected to start falling until late at night. The latest revision to the forecast now says there will be light rain at 10am, and drizzle at 11am. There might be a few hours of dryness until the rain starts up again at 2pm. It is going to be a cold day. There will be a few hours this afternoon when it is 8° C, and at other times it will be colder. Tomorrow could be a truly awful day. The current forecast says rain all day, and the temperature only ranging between 6 and 7° C.

Yesterday started good, but ended bad. I managed to stretch my walk out to 2.66 miles, and it could have been long had I not been needing a pee towards the end. I had a lovely lunchtime drink with Angela before continuing my walk for the complete 2.66 miles. On the walk to the pub I had a few aches that seemed odd. It wasn't so bad after the analgesic properties of a couple of pints of Guinness. I had left all the heating off while I was out, and the house felt very cold when I got home. Later on it would feel freezing, and while I didn't check, it seemed feasible that I was running a high fever. Fever plus the aches and pains form a potential diagnosis for the dreaded Coronavirus, but also, and slightly more likely, ordinary 'flu. I later felt better, or at least warm with the aches not feeling too bad.

I am not seeing Angela this lunchtime - she needs her lunchbreak to do some shopping. This morning I don't feel nearly as bad as yesterday, but I am happy not to have to go out in the cold for a long walk (although I will miss Angela). I think I am happy to to stay in the warm, and do some work here - and hang the electricity bill (bigger than expected) I will get my working and resting areas as hot as needed today ! Read more about my electricity bill, my aches and pains, my time with Angela, and see the pictures I took on my walk - including a very photogenic squirrel ! Just click HERE.

Tuesday 3rd March 2020

09:07 GMT

Yesterday started cold and wet, but the rain was over before sunset, and for the next few hours it was heavily overcast, but the clouds soon thinned out, and broke up. That gave some very pleasant sunny intervals. They started earlier than forecast - maybe even before midday. The rest of the daylight hours were bright, and sometimes sunny. The afternoon temperature was around 9° C. With a fairly light breeze, it almost felt warm with the sun on my back.

Today seems to be one of those days where the weather forecast keeps changing to try and keep track of reality. The day started with quite a clear sky, and a frost. There are some clouds about that occasionally drift across the sun, but so far this morning it has been generally sunny. The latest revision to the forecast says the sunshine will end with some showers at 11am. By midday, and for the rest of the day it will be, or may be, dry, but overcast. The afternoon temperature will only be 9° C, but with no sunshine, it will feel rather chilly. With today's weather being constantly revised it is hard to believe that the forecast for tomorrow could be anywhere near correct. The day will start with a frost, and then the temperature will probably climb to a maximum of just 7° C. That much is probably correct. The much more variable bit says that the whole day will be overcast, and that it will rain from about 1pm until the end of the day.

Yesterday was a good, bad, good and good day. The first good was a nice walk in some sunshine that felt warm on my back, and a really nice meeting with Angela. The bad was discovering that the timer on my mini oven has gone faulty, and my lunch was rather dry and crunchy, but surprisingly still edible. The next good was getting both the new batteries for my old Sony portable Mini Disc player/recorder. The final good was probably successfully cooking, instead of cremating some more chicken in a curry sauce. There are several pictures describing my parts of my day, and lots of words written about my day, night, and a bit of this morning, HERE.

Monday 2nd March 2020

08:40 GMT

Yesterday was very sunny, but still rather cold thanks to a fairly lively wind. The afternoon temperature was 10° C.

Prior to this morning, earlier forecasts for today, going back at least 48 hours, said this morning would start with sleet or hail. Now it says it will be dry, but heavily overcast. It certainly is very overcast, but the ground looks wet as if there has been a recent light shower. By late morning the clouds may thin a bit, and the day will become a bit brighter. From 2pm until sunset we may get some sunny periods. The latest revision only changes 10am when it is now thought there will be a light shower. This morning it is 5° C, and by midnight it will possibly be just 4° C (and feel like 0° C). The afternoon will be a little less frigid at 9° C. The cloud should be a bit lighter tomorrow, and the morning may see some sunny intervals, but the afternoon will probably be lightly overcast. The temperature range will be very similar to today.

According to my memory I was quite idle for much of yesterday morning, and the first part of the afternoon. The real headline feature of yesterday was an afternoon gig featuring Lord Algae playing in The Morden Arms pub in Greenwich. I was keen to go because it is an easy pub to get to, and more importantly, I have seen the the band a few times in the past, and they are good. I have written a few plausible ideas for how I spent the time before going out to the gig, and something about the gig in my archive page for the day. It includes a couple of pictures, and a video from the gig, plus a few other bits of news - both good and bad, but probably mostly good. Read all the words, look at the pictures, and play the video....

HERE.

Sunday 1st March 2020

09:37 GMT

Yesterday was neither one thing or another - except rather cool. There was some rain, and there was some sunshine. Most, but not all the rain was in the morning, and most, but not all of the sunshine was in the afternoon. The early afternoon temperature was 8° C, but by mid afternoon it started falling, and by midnight it was supposed to be just 5° C, but I think it might have been lower than that - maybe 4° C.

We begin March with sunshine (the rain forecast for 7am was replaced by sunshine - as far as I am aware). The latest revision to the forecast now shows just sunshine all the way through to sunset. It should take the temperature up to 10° C. Sadly this nice start to March will not last. After midnight the temperature will have dropped to just 5° C, and by 6am tomorrow it will be as low as 4° C. That is cold enough for some early morning showers to fall as sleet. It would only take a drop of another degree and that sleet could be snow, and it would be falling on dry ground (maybe). By mid morning things get a bit less sure. The rain/sleet/snow may finish by 9am, and then it will will probably be dry for the rest of the day except for a light shower or two.

I was very busy yesterday, although as yet I have nothing to show for most of it. I spent a lot of time messing about with tape to PC transfers. I did some laundry, and I ate some stuff I probably shouldn't have. Today I will be going to an afternoon gig in Greenwich. There's lots to read about the problems of audio transfers to PCs - although most of the problems relate to fine grained editing procedures - plus other other stuff yesterday, and plans for today. Read it HERE.