...I can poke my tongue out, Grandad........

Woke up at 5.10 this morning....in agony....the gout is back! Looked out of the window....pissing down.

Went downstairs......ibuprofen....coffee.....Game of thrones.

An hour later....still in pain....still pissing down.

Limped upstairs....ablutions......limped downstairs....more coffee.....still pain and rain.

Did some more work on yesterdays project........still pain and rain.

Lunch....more painkillers......a beer....still pissing down....and no the bloody pain hadn't gone!

The afternoon drifted away in a blur of cooking....in pain....with rain.

YH turned up with Charlie and Hannah......the S & H turned up....the rain stopped...D and V arrived. We toasted Hannah with a bottle of bubbly.

We sat down to an enormous buffet.....prawns in various forms....Indian nibbles....ribs....quiche....chicken....spring rolls....salads.......garlic mushrooms.....doughballs.....doughnuts....profiteroles......eclairs....clotted cream.

The pain persisted but the sky cleared to give a great view of Orion.

D and V wandered off home about 9.15.......the young family left at 9.30.

The pain has steadily increased........I'm trying to numb it with alcohol.....so far 3/4 of a bottle of a very good sauvignon blanc hasn't touched it.......I foresee a sleepless night...........or a headache in the morning if I manage to drink enough to sleep.

Das vidanya moy padruga.