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Busy day today!

The day started with my weigh-in, I'm back on track, I've also broken through a round number barrier... Waist was also on track - though it's harder to measure with any reliability.

After breakfast we set off to the village train station to go west to Salisbury for a few hours of shopping. We had a few things to buy - we could have gone to Winchester or Reading, but Salisbury is the most direct for us by train and we get to go for free at the weekend if we travel on SouthWest Trains.

We bought the brollies we wanted, plus a new wallet - my old one was disintegrating - not through use you understand, it's not good for them to be opened too often.... I picked up a couple of nice shirts - in smaller sizes than previously, that were on sale - though everything seems to be permanently on sale... I also bought a very nice Tilley hat - they aren't cheap but I've always wanted one and it was a good price.

We then walked up to Waitrose to get stuff we can't get locally, and then because the trains are only every two hours, we loitered about and had a snack - there are lots of options at the very nice store in Salisbury. Interestingly we encountered the worst self-service till I've used, even worse than the ones Morrissons use.

Today's (badly exposed) blip is a pink horse-chestnut blossom on the river walk from the centre of the city to the Waitrose. Not the most exciting walk, but short and away from the traffic so perfectly agreeable.

When we got home I made two batches of rhubarb and ginger jam. If I make them in small enough batches then they are easier to handle - large batches can become unwieldy in the jam pan. Rhubarb cooks differently depending on the thickness of stem, it's best to not mix thin and thick in the same batch as they cook a quite different rates.