Warm.

I would class today's weather as a good summer's day in that it was warm and didn't rain. At least I didn't experience any rain but the state of the roads on the way home from town alerted me to the fact that there had been rain in places.

My first stop in town was to drop off more stuff at the charity shop. Seeing solid traffic heading down over the Old Bridge I opted for the longer but fairly empty route taking me back around town and over the New Bridge. I stopped first at Asda to check out their reduced/sale items and also sometimes the stock is different. Today Peter had asked me to get a red cabbage and some chilli paste both of which I found only in Asda. I did get some chopped chillies in vinegar in Lidl's which was my next stop so I got him that as well and he says he can use both in his cooking. Taking advantage of the free parking at Lidl's I walked over the Old Bridge into town. There I treated myself to another pair of those yellow and black gardening gloves from a stall in the market. I didn't get much else, okay I'll own up to buying yet another long black and white top from a charity shop. I don't really need it but that is some money towards cancer research and I had put one top from home into the box of stuff that I'd dropped off at the Oxfam shop. Having failed to find a replacement cafetiere in any of the charity shops I ended up buying one that was on special offer at Tesco's.

While I was going through some of my clothing stockpile to see what I could bear to part with I had a bit of fun trying on some of the jeans I have put aside. They range over 3 different clothes sizes and it was satisfying to find a pair in the largest size so big that they were unwearable. (Why don't I give those away? you ask. I'm simply being realistic about the future.) Clothing sizes are so erratic that another pair in the same size but from a different shop were only a little loose. I was pleased to find that a pair of Per Una jeans in the smallest size also fitted but oh dear, Muffin top wasn't descriptive enough, more like exploding bread dough. There's a way to go before I would wear those jeans in company. I have to admit that vanity is a strong incentive for my dieting though health is also a factor. We may have our free (at point of use) NHS  but maintaining the quality of life plus limited national resources puts a lot of responsibility on the individual. One of my biggest fears health-wise is developing Type 2 diabetes. It's one thing choosing to limit treat foods but to have to exclude them because of diabetes sounds horrendous to me. On the other hand the exercise I do is mainly for my health in general and to protect my spine and knees with the changes in my shape more of a bonus. The long term plan is that by the time I've melted away the fat from my middle there'll be some muscles revealed or am I being too ambitious? I can dream.