Once again we have had a couple of short, "unauthorised" sunny spells this morning, but the forecasts insist that today will always be dull (although the latest revision to the BBC forecast does now show sunny spells for 10am).  It is unlikely to be any warmer, if "warmer" is the right word, than 11° C. From about 6pm it is looking like it is going to get very wet. The BBC throws in a sunny spell or two, plus some random rain for tomorrow, but The met Office just show it as a dry dull, and sometimes very dull day with a late afternoon temperature of 12° C.

   Yesterday had it's good and bad points, but overall it wasn't bad. The unexpected sunny spells in the morning added some cheer to the day, but it still felt cold, and when sunny spells would have made going to the pub that much nicer, it remained dull.

  Some days I am a complete slob, but I usually try and have at least a quick rub with a damp flannel, and some days demand the full works. Going to the pub on a Wednesday always demands a shave, shampoo, and shower, and that is what I did yesterday. The odd thing is that I thought I had started early enough to completely cool down after all that hot water (and hot air for my wet head and hair), and have a bit of a rest, but suddenly the clock seemed to have jumped over half an hour.

  I was still able to get out in plenty of time to get what seems to be my usual train to Ladywell. Of course before getting the train I had to pick up two copies of The Metro - one for me, and one for Ayse (my favourite barmaid). Then there was train spotting/photography to do. There was the Hayes bound train that arrives at the station 5 minutes before mine, and I had to take pictures of the front and back of it so I could later compare numbers to see if it was a train I wanted to add to my train spreadsheet.
  I'm getting ahead of myself here because this picture was taken at Ladywell station on my way home, but it is of a train, 466002, that I had never photographed before. Of the 43 made, I have pictures of 40 class 466 trains (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_466), and that is probably not too bad considering Wikipedia says 12 of the fleet are in store. Some of those 12 I do have pictures of them in the old Network Southeast livery from before they were put in storage.

  When first walking to the station I did get a few warning signs of impending Angina, but that only happened when I had to cross the tracks by the footbridge. After the walk there, going up those couple of flights of steps was just taking me over the edge. I felt fine when walking from Ladywell station to the pub, and that involves walking up steps too.

  The thing about The Jolly Farmers pub is you never know who might visit, and what sort of entertainment there may. The best thing yesterday was hearing from Ayse that she had been given the all clear that the growths in her nose are not cancerous - which came as a huge relief to her, and a relief to all her customers. Now she is waiting to see if a prescription of some strong steroids will reduce the growths, or if she will have to go under the knife.

  There was the usual banter as entertainment in the pub, and then a man, whose name I am not sure if I know, came in with his dog who I do know is called Ralph. It is a springer spaniel, and typically hyperactive, but very friendly. A little later Shawn came in with his dog Stella. She is another very friendly dog. I think she is a golden labrador, or looks similar to one. It was sort of fun with the dogs running around the pub, and only once did they have a confrontation, and a couple of barks, but nothing more.

  As usual I tried to do the crosswords in The Metro. There were lots of interruptions, but I still finished the quick crossword. Less usual is that I managed maybe a dozen cryptic clues as well. I was beginning to despair that I was only able to solve one or two (or sometimes none) of those cryptic clues. After my second pint of Guinness I decided it was time to head homewards. I had been there at least 90 minutes, and that seemed sufficient.
  There is an approximately triangular piece of land that is part of Ladywell Fields. It is bordered by the river and two footpaths leading down to the back of St Mary's Church. In previous years the grass was cut when the main fields were cut, but this year it has been allowed to grow wild, and possibly seeded with extra wild flowers. It sort of looks tatty, but also rather good. They do seem to bee keeping the path, and a couple of benches clear, but otherwise it is just all bee friendly plants. The biggest shock is how much it has suddenly grown in what seems to have been a single week - at least it didn't catch my attention the previous week like it did yesterday.

  I didn't bother to check the train times before I left the pub, and I ended up having a 10 minute wait for the next train back to Catford Bridge. I'm glad I stopped to take the picture of the wildflowers above. If I hadn't I would have arrived at the station to wave goodbye to the back a train I could have got on if I had arrived there less than one minute earlier. On the other hand, it was good because during the wait for the next train was when train 466002 called at the opposite platform, and I got the snap of it I was hoping to get one day.

  I didn't go straight home from Catford Bridge, but went via the little supermarket on Catford Bridge. I bought a fair few things in there, including the bottle of Courage "Directors" shown on the left. Once upon a time, and I think I am talking about the 1970s, I used to drink gallons of the stuff, served by handpump, in The Railway Tavern, also on Catford Bridge (now called The Catford Bridge Tavern).

  One fateful day the London (or Tower) bridge brewery closed down and production moved to somewhere else. That changed the beer from delicious to disgustingly horrible. When I saw a bottle on the shelf I thought I would buy one, and see if it was still awful - it was and it wasn't. The first half of the bottle I almost had to force down, but towards the end of the bottle, with my taste buds started to be numbed, a nicer taste started to appear. I think if I see it on draught anywhere I will be tempted to try a half.

   Other stuff I bough included two more bottles of beer, and a box of sugar free choc chip cookies. I have never seen that make of sugar free cookies anywhere else, but I bought one box there a few months back, and usually look to buy another every time I go in. I also bought a selection of my favourite Polish instant noodles, and some other instant noodles. One was a 5 pack by Ko Lee who may be Korean because they were Kimchi flavour.

  When I got home I had already planned to eat the other half of the pack of Tesco southern fried style chicken. I closely checked the sugar content according to the label, and it still said the sugar content should be very low, but the ingredients did blatantly include sugar, plus dextrose - also a sugar. I had mostly cooked them before I went out, and just had to warm them up before stuffing my face. I have to admit I rather enjoyed them.

  I had a short rest after eating them, and I might have had a snooze. There was nothing I needed to do, and so the only thing about getting super relaxed, and snoozing too long, was that it would spoil my sleep later. I was probably back at my PC, editing the pictures I shown today, and sort of feeling hungry again. After that chicken I shouldn't have been, but maybe it was a cross between greed and curiosity.

  I seemed rather too keen to see what those Ko Lee kimchine noodles were like. It may also have been because the noodles had cooking instructions - they were supposed to be boiled in some water for a few minutes. That seemed odd, and I wondered what they would be like if made up with boiling water like any other "instant" noodles. Well maybe they did taste a bit floury, but they seemed soft and otherwise perfectly edible.

  I have had several makes of kimchi noodles before, and usually they are mildly hot and spicy, but I still add hot pepper sauce. The Ko Lee kimchi noodles did not need any extra hot sauce, they were incredibly, and gloriously fiery ! I should have left the bowl another 5 or 10 minutes to cool down, because a combination of very hot water and very hot spices made it hard to eat. It was still very enjoyable in a very masochistic way !

  I think I had the noodles at about 5pm. Two hour later and it was dinner time (or maybe, typically, a bit past it). After the fried chicken and the noodles, I really shouldn't have eaten any more, but I gave in to routine and had a moderatly safe snack in stead of dinner. It was two medium apples, a golden delicious, and a gala apple, with a chunk of Red Leicester cheese. That did my nicely.

  Last night was unusual in that I didn't turn on the TV until after spending some time in bed reading. I turned it on to watch an episode of QI hosted by Stephen Fry (I've gone off Sandi's often weird guests). That started at 9pm, and I think, with adverts, it finished at about 9.45pm. I got straight back in bed, and tried for sleep. It wasn't until I was almost relaxed enough that I got something similar, but not exactly the same as angina pains.

  I had a sort of loose tightness of the chest, some mild pains up my spine, and under my jaw. It almost felt like my torso was quivering, a bit like palpitations. There was nothing to do except get out of bed, and go to sitting down at my PC again. I had the presence of mind to check my blood pressure. The first read was up in the "normal" position, but a few breaths, and another try, while trying to be more relaxed, took it down into the "optimum" area. I think it was 97/41, which if anything may be slightly too low.

  I did three things. I took a couple of antacid tablets in case it was no more than heartburn. I also took a single 300mg aspirin tablet dissolved in water, and two paracetamol. After a while I laid down in bed again to see what would happen. I didn't feel perfect, but I was comfortable enough to relax, and maybe by 10.30pm, possibly 11pm, I was fast asleep. I can't seem to remember much about my night. About the only thing I do recall was getting up once for a quite large wee, and waking up around 4am again, and turning the heater up full.

  I woke up at about 5.45am, and turned over to go back to sleep again, but it seemed obvious (somehow) that I was not going to be able to fall asleep, and so I got up in time to take screenshots of the weather forecast before the 6am revision - which may have been silly because they could change a lot in the next few hours. The Met Office still doesn't acknowledge the slightly weak sunny spells we have already had, although The BBC do say to expect sunny spells at 11am. Both forecasters have brought the predictions of rain forward. The BBC say today's first rain could fall as early as 2pm, and the met Office now say 4pm.

  One event for today has already happened. I have had an order delivered from Amazon via Parcel Force. It is for some super high powered batteries. I actually intended to buy AAA batteries for my blood pressure meter, which is a bit power hungry, but accidently ordered AA batteries. I don't have any great need for super high power, and a bit expensive, AA batteries, but I know they will definitely not go to waste.

  Now I don't have to wait for the postman I should be free to go and get a bit of shopping if I can get ready in time. Later on, maybe 3.30pm, Jodie will be over for another beer tasting session. I hope Michael can join us, but sadly I think he'll still be sitting by his wife's hospital bed being totally ignored by her, but there just in case something happens. His dedication is admirable, but shows very little confidence in the hospital staff. 
        







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