It's a horrible damp looking grey morning, but both the Met Office and BBC agree that the sun will break through at midday. The sunny spells for 10am have disappeared from the latest revision to the Met Office forecast. The Met Office and BBC now say that the sunny spells will last from midday until 6pm, and the BBC say they last 2 hours will feature full sunshine, and not sunny spells. For all that we can't expect more than 18° C today. There is a difference of opinion about tomorrows weather. The Met Office predict an all dull day with a top temperature of 18° C. The BBC predict a bright days with sunny spells, and 19° C. You can be sure that both forecasts will be very different tomorrow morning !
  Yesterday was a day of consequences. It was almost midday when I finished writing yesterday's diary thanks to a long break when In went out to get my 'flu jab.  The sun had been shining for a good few hours by then, and my bedroom was starting to feel comfortably warm. The consequence of that, plus the feeling that going out for the 'flu jab was a useful accomplishment, was that it put me in a very lazy mood.

  There was one other thing I did yesterday morning, and it was after having my shower, prior to going to the surgery. I put in a couple of t-shirts and some underwear to soak in detergent. At the time I assumed I would then do the three rinses, and than fabric conditioner a bit later. The big builders bucket with the cold and slimy clothes and detergent is still sitting in the bath tub this morning. Another thing I couldn't be bothered to do was a sink full of washing (or the plates and cutlery type).

  I have to say that after so many cold days it was rather glorious laying on my bed, reading and snoozing, in a warm room. Another day's electricity saved !  What I did do during that time was to have at least one can of hot soup, and then a bit later, some rice cakes with the last of the little tub of pate I had bought from Aldi, and had been slowly using up.

  One other diversion, while deeply relaxing, was to think about photography. Taking pictures of bands is good, and from time to time I can take a few very good portrait pictures, but with no control of the lighting, or the background, it is not that many pictures that stand out. Back 2018 I accompanied Sue to a photoshoot in Wimbledon. She had been lured by some sort of voucher code that would allow her 5 free, professionally taken pictures. Of course there was a catch - they took a lot more than 5 snaps, and the rest would cost money. There was some subtle pressure to buy at least some of them. It was in the form of "you looks so good in that one !".

  It was interesting to see the professional photographer at work. His equipment was a couple of Canon cameras, and some trolley mounted, remote operated, flash guns with diffusers over the front. His cameras were not a lot better than mine. What made the big difference was the studio was fitted out with lots of props and backgrounds. One bit of wall was covered with pages from an old book pasted to it. As a background it was meaningless, but was something different to a blank wall. The props were no more than a couple of old chairs and a stool.
  One other service they offered, as part of the first free pictures offer, was a girl who would apply make up. She was pretty good, and almost disguised the terrible bags under Sue's eyes. That make up, and a happy smile after the photo session, was all that was needed for the picture above - the best I have ever taken of Sue, and I would say equal to the pictures taken by a professional. It was taken on my pocket sized Canon Ixus 285HS camera, and taken on the spur of the moment with no posing involved.

  I don't think I would want to work in a studio taking pictures of all and sundry, but I would like to stretch my photographic skills by doing more than taking pictures of bands and trains. I can think of a few young, and maybe not so young, woman I would like to take pictures of. The odd thing is that I would say I haven't got an artistic eye, but there is one young woman I know of who looks, or at least presents herself as very plain, and almost tomboyish, that I think would be an excellent subject to photograph, but the chances of it are so close to zero that it is best thought of as impossible.

  As dinner time approached I wanted some sort of excitement. Another facet of me being extremely lazy yesterday afternoon was that I hadn't prepared any dinner, and having not done any washing up I didn't have anything to cook it in ! The simple, but reckless, answer was to order a takeaway. I didn't fancy my usual safe choice, shish kebabs, but went for the dangerous option - a Chinese takeaway.

  As usual, I ended up buying enough for at least two dinners....or so I thought. In fact the portions seemed a bit smaller than I expected, and I only have enough left for lunch today. I used a takeaway I used to use a lot 20 or more years ago. Their stuff was generally very nice - as would be expected from a takeaway called "Very Nice" ! I don't know if it is still owned by the same family, but the food is very similar, although as a presumed cost cutting measure there seemed to be more gravy and less solid stuff than I think they used to have. One thing I used to like about the place was that it was one of the early places that cut right down of the amount of oil in their dishes. I have reason to believe they might have cut down on the sugar too now.

  Obviously I didn't go out last night after filling my face, and I was pretty sure I wouldn't be going out even before I decided to order my takeaway. I probably didn't realise it at the time, but I may have been having a mild reaction to the 'flu jab in the morning. I had a bigger reaction in the night, or at least that is what it felt like. By 8pm I was feeling a bit sleepy, and I essentially went to bed then, although only to read for a while.

  I'm not sure when I put the book down, and turned out the light, but whenever it was it took at least another hour before I fell asleep. My excess intake of Chinese food, which didn't seem it at the time, had left me feeling a bit full, and maybe had left me feeling a bit warm. The feeling of warmth would cause problems a bit later in the night. Once I did fall asleep I seemed to sleep quite deeply, although I think I may have been dreaming about photography.

  When I woke up I certainly thought about photography a lot while I tried to get back to sleep after I had had a pee. Maybe I was only awake for 5 minutes, but it felt like over half an hour. Perhaps it was my imagination getting in the way of sleep - perhaps there is little "perhaps" about it. I was imagining how I would take pictures from basic posing, maybe outdoors, to something more like glamour photographs in something like a studio set up, and even soft porn " (fantasy knows no bounds !! - I should be so lucky !!).

  I was feeling very warm when I got back to sleep, and I had partly moved the duvet to the side. I woke up next time feeling very cold. With hindsight I wonder if a reaction from the 'flu vaccine had made me feel hot - sort of like a mini 'flu. What I am very sure of was that getting cold arms and legs was not a great idea when enduring a brief mini-'flu. I seemed t ache all over, and could not seem to get comfortable. I was still feeling a bit hot, but the air outside the duvet felt almost icy, and the air under it was like standing in front of a furnace.

  It was only in the last hours of sleep that I started to sleep normally (whatever that is). I remember a bit of dream about having a reaction to the 'flu vaccine. I seemed to be on a training course, and had to miss a morning because I was feeling so rough. When I went in, in the afternoon, I hardly recognised anyone from the same class. There was a lot more to the dream, but that is the only bit that sticks in my mind.

  After getting up it was with great trepidation that I checked my blood glucose reading. I had visions of it being well up above the red line. I was quite shocked, but obviously delighted to see it was just 8.9mmol/l - less than yesterday's 9.0mmol/l. If I had unlimited wealth I would put that takeaway on my approved list !

  I can't say I am looking forward to any but the last thing on my lists of things to do today. The first thing I have to do if I am going to wash myself today, is to finish the laundry that has been soaking in, now ice cold, detergent for the last 24 hours. Once that is washed, and hung on the clothes horse to dry I have to tackle all the washing up. It now includes several takeaway containers, although they only need a good rinsing under hot water before putting in the recycling bin.

  The final of the three things is a Sunday afternoon beer tasting session with Jodie. I think the only proviso about her coming over was that the trains are running. After yesterday's industrial action, the trains appear to be running normally this morning, and so Jodie should be over this afternoon.