I'm not sure if we have had any actual sunshine this morning, but it often seemed to be quite bright. As I write this it is medium bright, with a lot of cloud in the sky. If the forecast is correct, which I doubt, there will be drizzle at 11am followed by light rain until 7pm, except for 2pm when it might be heavy rain, or....it could be like yesterday and be dry for most of the time. The temperature will soon be peaking at 16° C, but almost all the afternoon will only be 15° C. Today does not seem like the weather for romping in the park. Tomorrow looks better for that. The current forecast (which could change a lot in 24 hours) says there could be sunny spells all day long, and the temperature may peak at 20° C at 4pm. There may still be quite a breeze blowing in from the east that may make it feel cooler.

  Yesterday started off really bad - feeling crappy and with terrible weight and blood glucose readings. With those readings I didn't have to push myself that hard to take steps to correct my health, or at least the worst bits of it. It became very pleasing that the extreme steps I took worked well.

  As mentioned yesterday, for the first time in ages, I skipped breakfast. With no breakfast to keep it down, I did not take my usual Cod Liver Oil capsule. I find it a disgusting oily and fishy taste if you burp up the contents of those capsules. I guess the other pills I had, both prescription and probably unneeded vitamins were my breakfast. Actually some vitamin tablets have had an obvious positive effect. I am sure that vitamin B complex helps my diabetes.

  After I finished writing yesterday's piece, which took longer than usual because of all the pictures I included, I had my traditional lie down. I couldn't rest and maybe snooze as long as I might have because there was a chance that I would be going out for more booze with Kevin, I was quite relieved when he contacted me to to say that he couldn't make it after all. It would have been nice to go for a long natter over a few beers, but it would waste all the effort I was putting in to get my health readings back on track.

  I still had a shower in case it should turn out that I was going out. In fact I did go out, but not very far. It was my intention to walk to Catford Bridge station to get some photos, and possibly some video, of the diverted trains that seemed to be going at quite a high speed down the line though Catford Bridge station. With the possibility of some rain, and the wind making it feel a bit chilly, I knew I would have to wear a coat. That sort of annoyed me.

  I started walking towards the station, and I got just over half way before I wondered why I was doing it. For one thing it seemed to be quite a hard slog, and it felt like I would have been on my knees by the time I got to the station. It turned out that would not be quite correct, but still close to it. I turned around and started to walk back towards home. The initial kick for this to happen is when a train passed (but at that time I couldn't take a decent picture through the chain link fence.

  That first train I saw was going unusually fast because it hadn't stopped at Catford Bridge. It was most probably one of the diverted Sevenoaks to Charing Cross services, but it was just a class 465 train, and while there may still be a few of those I need to photograph, I was really hoping to get photos of class 375 or 377 trains. I think they would be on the diverted Hastings services.

  As if to rub it in, the first train I saw was still audible as it raced up the line when the train to Sevenoaks came rattling down the line from Charing Cross, and it too was a class 455 train. I walked back home feeling some misery, but also in some physical discomfort. I wasn't wearing lightweight trainer, and while the trainers I was wearing have proved to be moderately comfortable for short walks, they felt like the were made of lead yesterday.

  When I got home I stripped off my outdoor clothes, and while in just my underpants (like first thing in the morning) I got on the scales. It was mainly just time, but I saw I had already lost 200gm of the 100ogm I seemed to have put on. That was the first bit of good news yesterday. I then checked a single blood glucose reading using the meter that had given a higher reading in the morning, and there was small improvement there as well.

  None of these small improvement was an excuse to have anything to eat, and I continued to fast. One thing I did do that may have helped a small bit was to do some laundry. It was quite a lot I had put into soak after my shower, and when I came to do the rinses I did three lots of wringing out before wanting to stop. It was more a case of running out of will rather than energy, although it did seem to be a bit taxing. I was just over halfway through the job, and intended to come back to it later.

  As well as doing as much laundry as I did, I also spent a fair time laying on my bed reading. I am still reading the Red Dwarf book "Better Than Life". It is still rather curious that I recognise lots of bits of the story as being from TV episodes of Red Dwarf, I still feel that I have never read the book before. That feel very weird. I am pretty sure it has been on one of my bookshelves for years. In the normal course of events it would only get there after I had read it.

  There are many bits of the book that were never used on the TV series, and that does make it a good book in so much I don't have to use up any brain power trying to remember the characters, all their oddities, plus the setting for the action. All that is very familiar. It seems rather better than some books that are little more than the script for a TV episode. I tend to steer clear of those. If I recall correctly, the one or two Star Trek books I have bought say little more than the script of the TV episode, and somehow that feels a bit like a rip off.

  I think it was getting on for 4pm when I checked my blood glucose again, and used two of my meters to check it - the Contour meter, which is usually fairly kind to me, and the Sinocare meter which can often seem completely off the rails. They both gave a reading around 8.3mmol/l, and that I would consider good if it was an early morning reading. I felt confident to end my fast.

  I may have ended my fast, but I was still careful...or not (depending on how you look at it). I started with a double 60gm helping of Kimchi flavoured instant noodles - they type which claim to have almost no sugar content.  They very pleasantly filled a void in my stomach, but they did leave a spicy taste in my mouth. It was not unpleasant, but I had a possibly insane idea that some ice cream might round it all off. I had a deliberately small amount of ice cream, and it was indded a wonderful way to round it off.

  I called that lot my dinner, and decided that a bit later, maybe while I watched the BBC 6 O'clock news, I would have some supper. That was to be rice crackers with cheese and smear of harissa paste on each. I only got about half way through it when the phone rang. It was my friend Keith. We only talk occasionally, but when we do it can, and did go on for hours. We talked about trains, telephones (mobile and fixed) plus old radio stuff and even beer. At 10:30pm I had to gently remind Keith that it was past my bedtime.

  I wound down reading a few more pages from the Red Dwarf book, and then turned over, and if I remember correctly, I quickly and easily fell asleep. Maybe I was more tired than I thought because I seemed to wake less frequently for a pee, although it seemed like I probably peed the same amount as usual during the whole of the night.

  I know I had dreams, but all the details seem to have evaporated away now. What I remember is, in some ways a a sort of anti memory, and it was getting up for a pee, and then falling straight into sleep the moment my head touched the pillow. It seemed rather perfect. Even when I woke at 5am for a pee, and it was light outside, I still seemed to fall asleep again the moment I laid down. I was quite surprised that when I next woke up it was just after 7am.

  I was quite keen for a pee once I got out of bed. During the night I can remember, or at least I think I remember, getting up for pee, but with no urgency to it. This morning, at just after 7am, I was very keen for a pee. I thought I would poo as well, but that was just wind. I was very happy to see that I had lost all the recent weight gain, and was back to where I was before there was several days of it all going wrong - climaxing with yesterday being a total disaster. In the 24 hours since yesterday morning I seemed to have lost 1.6kgm. Much of that mist have just been pee and poo !

  All the peeing, and the weight loss being partly because all I had peed, suggested that my blood glucose was not the low figure I was hoping for this morning. Sadly that was true, although the readings I got could be described as generally OK and tyical. The Contour meter read 8.7mmol/l. The GlucoRX meter read 8.3mmol/l, and the Sinocare meter read 8.4mmol/l. All meters were in close agreement, which is good, and all readings would be typical for a lot of the last couple of years - except for odd months when I did better, and revised my target to 7.5mmol/l which I don't achieve nearly enough.

  I am not sure how I feel this morning, There are many conflicting things to muddy the water. I do feel great relief that my weight and blood glucose are back to where they were. Even my blood pressure is a microscopic amount better than my long term average this morning. The latter doesn't really mean much. I feel I should feel good, but I feel a very poor average. The dull weather, and even as I write this, the rain all serve to dampen the spirits. That rain was definitely heavier than the forecast drizzle that was supposed to start very soon. It does seem to have stopped again - unless it is now continuing as such fine drizzle as to be unseen when when looking through the windows.

   It was the forecast that took the edge off my spirits, and now reality has blunted life even more. I think the weather forecast for today looked kinder yesterday, and I had hopes that I might find the will power for a walk to Ladywell today (as a for instance). Now though... I may still make it to Tesco, or possibly Aldi if it seems it might stay dry for at least an hour at some point in the next 3 or 4 hours. First of all I have to finish yesterday's laundry before doing much else, and I suddenly find I have little enthusiasm for even that for now. Maybe after my rest and a possible snooze....