Wednesday 28th March 2018

To a lesser of greater extent, we all live in some kind of denial or another. And I am no different.

Four years of air travel, driving hire cars, sitting in meetings, living in hotels and eating and drinking in restaurants meant that no matter how hard I tried, rather than lose weight, I gained it. Over the years t shirts and trousers got bigger. I knew it, but you know, tomorrow.

We have started to change, and hopefully that change will accelerate; we have been on the cross trainer since the week before Christmas, and now that it is light in the evenings, we can go on walks. We just have to motivate ourselves, or get a dog, to do it. The first step outside the door is the hardest.

I say this as I had to go to the doctor; I needed a referral to the hospital for tests, following up on a procedure I had done eight years ago. I don't like my doctor, as he is inclined to make everything I used to go in for about my weight. But this time I would just have to accept it, and once I was weighed and my blood pressure taken, no more denials. Change is needed.

And I got my referral too. So, mostly good news.

But the day began, as ever, with coffee and checking the news online, outside it was dry, but not for long as rain was due to fall all day. And fall it did.

By eight it was hammering down, but as I had to walk to the doctors, I had remembered to get a brolly out of the car, so I would mostly be dry.

At half nine I don my walking boots and new work coat, unfurl the brolly and walk out of the drive, down the street to Station Road and walk down the hill. Work has stopped for the day on the new house at the bottom. The house seems to be done, now they need to build a garage, a drive and do something with the rest of the land. A retaining wall has been built, but this day it looked like a WWI battlefield with kneedeep mud everywhere.

Up the hill the other side, before turning down by The Red Lion, still closed and past the village pond before taking the footpath at the back of the school. Along the side of the paths all the way to the surgery and back, I searched for wild flowers, seeing very little growing, but then it wasn't the weather really for searching.

It was warm enough walking up, but in the surgery they had the heating turned all the way up and for me was like being in a sauna. I took off my coat and was still overheating.

Once I had seen the quack, I walked back into the village centre, going by the shop where I had to buy some butter for the saffron buns I am going to make for easter. And from there is was downhill, half the way, to home before I began the slog up the hill to our street.

I go indoors, glad to be home out of the rain. Funnily enough, I had been home for 5 minutes and the rain eased.

Typical.

I had been away two hours, which meant work was calling. Literally.

6 missed calls, Three messages. And a dozen e mails. Jeez.

So, I spend the afternoon putting out fires, instead of my planned work, which is the usual case if I'm honest.

Come four, and my brain is scrambled, so what better than a half hour on the cross trainer, with a Mood Elevator soundtrack? Nothing at all. And time flies, I enjoy it and come off the machine with the endorphins flowing.

I have a shower then begin dinner; well, egg and breadcrumbing the one remaining aubergine, and am cooking it when Jools comes home.

Wine?

Hell, yeah.

We eat well, tidy up and sit down to watch Deadpool. Oh yeah, Mr Pool. Darker than dark, and funny.