08:19 BST

  So far this morning there has been no hint of any rain, and yet it is most definitely cloudy. By my reckoning the rain has 22 minutes to show or the forecast was a hoax...well sort of. Thick cloud is forecast from 9am to 5pm, and even though none is shown in the forecast, I would not be surprised if we didn't get at least a few spots of rain during that time. From 6pm the clouds may have changed from very dark to light grey, but it seems we will not see a single ray of sunshine today. The temperature may only rise to 21° C, and that might almost feel cold compared to some of the hottest days recently. Tomorrow morning may see some thundery showers. I have no idea why, but they always seem to be shown with the rays of the sun around them. I doubt we will see a single ray of sunshine at any time tomorrow. Once again the temperature may only rise to 21° C. Monday may be no warmer, but there may be some sunny spells in the afternoon, but a lot could change by then.

  Yesterday was really all about my visit to see the actual diabetic nurse (the nurse who deals with diabetic patients). I think she was the one I saw a year (maybe two) ago, and thought she was a bit harsh. This time she was less annoying, and made some fair suggestions.

  I was not due to visit the nurse until 2:50pm, and so I could take things easy all morning, and even some of the afternoon. It may be an indication of taking things easy that I wrote 3,089 words yesterday. It is rare I manage that much. Maybe I had a lot to say yesterday morning. After writing I laid on my bed and read for a while, and then I think I had a snooze before reading some more.

  One thing I did do was eat any more after my breakfast of one single 100gm packet of instant noodles. The odd thing is that I didn't feel any temptation to have a snack or even a little nibble. One reason was that I just didn't seem to want to eat, and another was that there was always a chance that the nurse might want to check my blood glucose level. I think that has only ever happened once, and that was probably when I was given the GlucoRX blood glucose meter, and we did a check on the meter rather than of me.

  One nagging doubt during my long wait was whether I would find myself needing another poo. At times it did feel like I might need to go, but considering how much I had done between 4 and 5am, it didn't seem likely. I didn't seem to pee much either, and that was slightly annoying because a few big pees may have made me seem a bit lighter if the nurse had forced me onto the scales.

  I think it was a bit after midday that I washed and conditioned my hair, and had a good scrub under the shower. Although I had used only slightly warm water, it was still good to have plenty of time to cool down before I had to go out. I also cleaned my feet with alcohol gel (Covid hand cleaner), and particularly between two particular toes where it can get a bit smelly. Once again this was just in case the nurse insisted on checking my feet again if she didn't trust the healthcare worker who did it a fortnight or so ago.

  Just before I was due to leave I went to the toilet, and spent a little longer in there that was ideal. It was lucky nothing happened because I suddenly realised I had left only 10 minutes to get to the surgery, and it is about a 6 minute walk. I think I might have done it in 5 minutes. I arrived at the surgery breathing heavy but far from gasping, but I could feel the first hints of angina. Although waiting in the waiting room is super boring, it was a good thing in terms of cooling down after a faster walk that was ideal.

  When I used the screen to report my arrival it mentioned the name of the nurse, and it was not a name I recognised. It looked a bit African both in forename and surname. When I was called to the consulting room I saw that it was Jane - one of the nurses I have seen before, and she is not African at all. Unfortunately she was the one who was all stick and no carrot, and I prepared for an ear bashing.

  Maybe she was in a better mood yesterday, and was even a bit supportive. She said that my blood test had revealed a small rise in my blood glucose, and it was getting near the danger zone. That was not really news to me because I already knew that May had been a bad month when I had lost control, and the start of June was also not good, but I know my blood glucose is back under control now. I said I felt content to manage it myself, and she half agreed I could do so.

  One good, or possibly bad thing was that she said that after looking at my medical history I was a perfect candidate for a course of injections from the new wonder drug Mounjaro. It is a tricky decision to make regarding taking up this offer. The drug has some serious side effects when used when some medical conditions already exist, but I have been assured that I have none of these problems. One of my problems is that it feels a bit like cheating, or that I am failing to get the same results by other methods - aka diet and exercise.

  I told the nurse that I would continue what has already allowed some useful, but not huge weight loss, but as winter approached, and the thought of going out walking (the only sort of exercise I will do) in the cold, dark and rain (and even snow !) made me want to stay in and eat too much, then maybe I would take up her offer. That seemed to satisfy her to some extent.

  That nurse was still true to form when she made official entries of things like my blood pressure and weight, as measured at home. I printed out my spreadsheets, and they clearly showed that my weight and blood pressure was abnormally high on that morning. I suggested she record the more typical readings from the day before, but she recorded the one off bad readings. She could have put down the running average as calculated on the spreadsheet, and which is a better indicator of the truth, but she didn't even look at it.

  I felt fairly happy when I left the surgery to walk home. I think I tried to walk a bit slower, but it was probably hardly slower at all. One reason for rushing home was that there was something in the freezer I wanted for my very late lunch. It was plain vanilla ice cream. I had eaten some the day before yesterday, and my blood glucose only went up a tiny bit. Yesterday I ate about the same amount.

  It was not long after the ice cream that I had what I was considering as a possible dinner. It was a pack of Tesco savoury eggs - a bit like miniature Scotch eggs. They are almost nice, but tedious if eaten with nothing else. I had them with tomato chutney - normally considered very dangerous because of it's high sugar content. It was partly a sort of protest about diet things, and also an experiment. The sad thing about that tomato chutney is that it is not nice enough to make the dangerous choice of having it valid.

  It was probably less than 2 hours before the BBC 6 O'clock news, and time for dinner. I made a conscious decision to have an extremely light dinner. It was about half a dozen sourdough crackers and sliced Edam cheese. The latter made it less healthy, but the crackers made it more healthy for one special reason. Those crackers are so hard and brittle that they break into shards that can, or at least feel like, they are cutting you gums and mouth. Six of them is about all I can take before my mouth is complaining. I did not eat anything else after than brief dinner.

  There was only one important thing I did last night, and it was to close my bedroom window before I lost too much heat. As the sun set it started getting almost chilly feeling outside, but by shutting the window, and closing the curtains it stayed warm enough to sleep in no more than underpants, and with no duvet covering me. I think it was 10pm when I turned the TV off, and I only spent 10 or 15 minutes reading before I put the book down, and was soon fast asleep.

  I seemed to sleep well last night. One excellent thing was that I didn't suffer any stomach problems, and didn't need to spend any time sitting on the toilet when I should have been sleeping. I also didn't seem to wake as frequently to go for a pee, and when I did it was less than usual. This time there may have been a valid reason for it (that was not, I hope, kidney failure),

  During my last hour in bed, some of it asleep, it was feeling a bit cool, although just pulling the empty duvet cover over me felt almost too warm for comfort. I think I ended up covering one arm and one leg, and bit of my chest. When I finally got up I went for a pee, and once again it was smaller than expected, or hoped for. The lack of peeing meant my weight had not gone down much after yesterday's big blip. I had lost 200gm, but that was all.

  This time my lack of peeing can be blamed on very low (for me) blood glucose. The Contour meter read 7.1mmol/l. The GlucoRX meter read 7.0mmol/l, and the Contour Plus meter read 7.3mmol/l. I used just a single bead of blood for all three meters, and if I had cleaned the old blood off, and squeezed a fresh drop for each meter the readings may have all been identical. Although still extremely good by my usual standards, it would have been a bit nicer if they had been just a tiny bit lower, with a reading starting with a 6, and I would have been able to use dark green as the colour code on my spreadsheet (sevens are coloured light green).

  I can't decide what I am going to do today. It is still dry outside, and both forecasters say it should stay dry all day - although the Met Office does say a 40% chance of rain right now, and that seems high enough that rain should not come as a surprise. Even if dry it is still bloody gloomy outside, and outdoor activities hold zero appeal - except for one. It is possible, maybe even probable that I will go shopping in Aldi today. I heard they had re-opened after their refit, and as well as wanting a few items, I am curious what might have appeared in the central aisle. The most essential thing is to check that they still have staffed checkouts, and aren't using the refit as an excuse to try out 100% self checkout again. If they are they will have lost my custom !