10:24 GMT

  During the night the temperature may not have gone below 8° C, and although not really mild, it was enough that my bedroom, with heater running all night on low, was very warm this morning. It is sometime hard to tell if it is actually raining, or whether the puddles are from earlier rain, while indoors. I think it is raining now, and the forecast says it will rain all day long. Some of it may be heavy rain. Most of the day will be a constant 9° C, but by 9pm it will start to fall. The rain could stop quite early in the night, and clear skies mean that tomorrow may start at 5° C. Most of tomorrow could be dry, and the afternoon could see some sunny spells, but the temperature may only be 9° C again. Rain could resume at 9pm, and the temperature then could be just 7° C.

  The day before yesterday I said I was beginning to see some improvement in how I felt. This was both true and false. I definitely seem to have thrown off the effects of Covid - far less coughing, and very little mucus - but It still left me feeling a bit tired.

  Lack of activity has left me with wasted muscles...well maybe not wasted, but definitely a bit weak. On top of that, too much exertion causes some chest pains as my faulty heart has to work harder because of the faulty heart valve. I have some good news coming about that further down the page.

  There were quite a few things I thought I would be able to do yesterday, but it didn't take long to remind myself of my limitations. There were two things I needed to do, and which I did do. The first was to empty a few waste bins indoors, and put the contents in the wheelie bins outside. The recycling bin, containing maybe two beer club sessions of empties was modestly heavy. The bin outside my bedroom containing things like used tissues and other detritus, was light by comparison.

  The job should have been easy at any other time, but it stressed me a bit, and the added problem of breathing in cold air every time I went outside, left me feeling like I needed a long lie down - which is precisely what I had. Clearing the kitchen sink of washing up, and disposing of some waste food, was less troublesome. That is not to say it went unnoticed. It felt good doing it, but once again I think I had a snooze afterwards. Then again, I am having loads of snoozing these days, and it is so easy to just lay on my bed, and fall asleep. I don't fight it because it is part of the healing process.

  There was one thing I wanted to do yesterday, and yet I didn't do it. I am not exactly sure why I didn't do it. It was to take a very overdue shower, and to wash my hair. The latter would have been nice, but the shower really should have been essential. I am very aware that bits of me stink. While I am not going out, and not having any visitors, it shouldn't matter too much, but yesterday I discovered it did.

  There is still a roll of fat around my belly, at about trouser belt height, and I knew that under that it was getting very stinky. I thought I would give it a simple clean with hand sanitizer on some tissues. Big mistake ! When I later looked I saw some ulceration, and the alcohol based hand sanitizer really stung - it was agony ! It did cure some of the stink though.

  Apart from more sleeping and some eating, that is most of my day described apart from odd little insignificant things. My eating is not very healthy at the moment. I am trying to clear out the larder section of my fridge/freezer, and I have used most edible things in it now - including a couple of ready meals that were slightly past their use by date. One ready meal was definitely gassy, and I put that out for the foxes, but it doesn't look like they touched it last night (possibly they were just keeping out of the rain).

  One semi interesting thing was using up a couple of Paninni rolls that were fairly stale (but free of any mould). I decided I would toast them. The heat would regenerate some of the texture of the roll, and toasting would crisp up the outside. I filled them with cheese and some "smokey barbecue relish" that is very unexciting, but may have improved the taste a tiny bit. Two of these toasted cheese rolls should have been enough for dinner, but I still found myself feeling peckish.

  That feeling of being peckish is probably mostly boredom, and is the reason why my weight is increasing (although lack of any exercise is the chief culprit). A bit later on I snacked on some Norwegian "brown cheese" (a strange, but rather tasty cheese made with milk heated to the point of it starting to caremelise - my simple explanation, but if you look it up it is far more complex). I didn't eat the two together, but I also ate a small jar of Kimchi. It is odd stuff, but once you can ignore how odd it is, it becomes sort of nice. The bacteria that ferment the cabbage and vegetables is claimed to be pro-biotic - so in some ones imagination I am terribly healthy now.

  I watched TV until I felt tired enough for sleep - which was earlier than my usual time, and quite surprising after all the snoozes I had during the day. Just like those snoozes, I fell asleep very quickly and easily - pointers that I really needed the sleep. My night was almost uneventful, but I do remember having a seemingly long dream featuring a pub.

  The pub I was in has no existence in reality, and in fact could not exist in reality these days. There was one big bar that was quite busy, and I could not seemed to get served at the busy bar. Then I noticed there was a smaller bar at the back of the pub. It was a smokers bar - something that really ought to have been allowed when all the anti smoking legislation came in.

  I went to the back bar, and it too was quite busy. There were packs of cigarettes on sale, but the prices scared me - £20 for a pack of 20. Once I caught the attention of the bar man I asked what ales they had. He didn't seem to understand my question. Maybe the dream was set in the past when most pubs were tied to a single brewer and only had one or two ales available (a medium and a stronger beer).

  I finally managed to get a pint of bitter, and it was Truman's bitter - which also suggests the pub was set in the past. I also bought a packet of cigarettes, but I don't recall opening it. Once I had my beer in hand, the dream seemed to fade out. I think I woke up than, and it would have been definitely time to get up if things were normal. I did get out of bed to go for a pee, and also to refresh the weather forecasts so I could take screen shots later on, but then I got back in bed, and slept on for another hour.

  It was quite a late start for me, and it would get later. My friend Aleemah sent me a link to a You Tube video about a man who goes on long walks, and on this one he was walking through Lewisham and onto beyond Lee as he looked at the River Quaggy. Apart when he diverted towards Blackheath, I had walked most of his walk during Covid lockdown. It was sort of interesting, and I watched it for it's whole 25 minutes.

  I have had two more diversions this morning. The first was a text message from the staff pharmacist at my GP group practice. It concerned my medications. They had received a copy of my Lewisham Hospital discharge papers, and she wants to discuss the changes they have made to my medication. This has saved me a lot of bother. I was thinking I would have to try and get a message passed on to one of the doctors to look at the changes Lewisham has made, and for him to prepare all me prescriptions details for when I want to order my next repeat prescription. Now it seems it will be done without me having to crawl across the broken glass of the receptionists. This is good.

  The pharmacist will be calling me between 2 and 3pm to discuss the details. I have also had a voice call from Kings College Hospital. It seems my heart valve replacement could be coming soon. I have an appointment for another assessment on the 23rd of this month, and if all is well I think she said I could have the procedure to replace the heart valve on the 27th. I know there is some recovery time after the procedure, but it is possible I'll be firing on all cylinders again in February. Of course after that it is going to be gruelling to try and get myself back in shape again.

  Finally, back to today, and before the morning is over Or maybe just after it because it is already 12:55am, I will, at last force myself under the shower, and get myself clean and fragrant. The silly thing is that I don't know why I have kept putting it off, but with the beer club meeting this afternoon I have run out of whatever excuses I had before !









   1717 words today.