@seasiderdave – 7.9 is a fantastic achievement! Don’t underestimate it. Having had 22 years of HbA1c’s over 10 I got down to the 8 point somethings last year and it took an immense amount of hard work.
My latest HbA1c is 6.4! (blows own trumpet! 
) Hang in there – a bit of hard work working things out now will be well worth it. I’m so pleased for you that you feel like you have a hold on your diabetes – I finally feel like that too. My BG’s still bump up and down but I can normally see the reasons for most of the bumps and I can deal with them and learn from them – there’s still a random 12 here and 2 there but I don’t feel guilty or frustrated like I used to because I can see the bigger picture now and I’m confident they are just caused by ‘life’!
You mentioned Carbs & Cals – I don’t have the book but if you have an iPhone I’d recommend the app – it’s only a few quid and much handier than the book when eating out!