10 Oct 2025

10.10.2025

 ~o~

 Friday 10th 52F/11C [7.00] A dry but rather windy day is offered. The NW wind will be gusting to 12m/s after lunch. Which suggests a morning ride. 

 Up at 6.15 after a more difficult night. I got up at 4am for a drink of water feeling unwell. The moon was very bright again. Still 67F/19.4C in the room this morning. Thanks to lighting the stove last night.

 Following my online purchase of the Ryet, printed carbon fiber saddle I am being bombarded with spam [adverts from AliExpress.] Most of them for the identical saddle and all its shady? unspecified variants. 

 After a couple of days sitting at an unnamed airport the export process has started. Delivery date remains unchanged at the 20th. Still 10 days away. The sales advert clearly said 15th-20th delivery. So it has rapidly defaulted to the maximum waiting time. 

 I just hope it is worth the wait. I have owned so many saddles over the years. That I no longer have much optimism. 99% of the saddles I have tried were designed only for their looks. Never for comfort! It doesn't matter if a saddle weighs as little as a feather if it is uncomfortable beyond a few yards/meters.  

 Fortunately the boxed [reserve] Brown Brooks is behaving itself so far. I haven't laced it yet. I'll see how it progresses first. I still haven't done a longer ride on it. An unlaced B17 is just asking for a very short life and deep curves. This assumes that a high riding mileage is involved. No longer true for me any more. So this latest B17 may hold up for a bit longer than any of my previous examples. 

 8.30-9.00. My walk. I had put it off for half an hour. Because it was so dark. Thick clouds have hardly given way to a uniform, grey overcast. The wind wasn't yet a problem. The inevitable problem? Where to go? I have no need to go anywhere in particular. Head into the wind first? Let it help me back home. 

 10.100  A smidgen of misty blue through the grey lid. I had better find some cycling shorts.  

 10.15 Nearly ready. First glimpse of sunshine.  

 10.30-15.00 A 67km ride. It was mostly grey and rather windy. I visited numerous charity shops. The battery charge dropped from 100% to 12%. Close to shutting down. I had one unpleasant moment earlier when the power assistance suddenly vanished a long way from home. This happened before. It was due to a dirty speed sensor at the back hub. I managed to reset the error by switching off and waiting before restarting. A possible casualty of the error was the loss of the GPS mapping screen. It remained blank.  

 

  ~o~

9 Oct 2025

9.10.2025 Mine's the big one!

 ~o~

  Thursday 9th 45F/7.2C [8.15] Brighter earlier but possible showers after lunch. Wind increasing steadily all day.

 Up at 7.15 after nodding off again. I do a lot of that lately. I had chest pains over my heart last night. Used the nitro spray under my tongue several times. That helped. I was pain free by bedtime. 

 Cooking class today. I replaced the ink cartridge in the printer again. To be able to print out the recipes. 

 The bathroom is getting chilly. It quickly warms to the fan heater. Rather than having it warmed continuously with an oil filled radiator. That can wait. I didn't need to light the stove last night. It was hovering around 66F/19C. So I was comfortable in a fleece jacket over a jumper.

 9.00 Off we jolly well go in the Morris. 

 14.00 Back from cooking class. Where I made sweet rolls with a cinnamon sauce. Starting from scratch with milk and yeast. Then adding all the other ingredients to make the dough. It rained lightly but briefly before I left.

 No dinner required. I made do with a cup of tea and a biscuit.

 I lit the stove and it reached 69F/20.6C by bedtime.  


  ~o~

8 Oct 2025

8.10.2025 Using the lathe?

 ~o~

  Wednesday 8th 54F/12.2C [8.15] A grey, wet morning but brighter later.

  Up at 7.00 after deliberately dozing. 

  I may go into town. I need some bolts. 

  And did. It rained going both ways.

  I spent some time on the lathe in the afternoon. Making a part for my telescope.

 Then the lady from the local stately home called and stayed chatting for a couple of hours. 

 After which I had to tackle several days worth of washing up. 

 19.00 Time for dinner. 

 Dinner was a tin of tomato soup and a bread roll with cheese. 

 

  ~o~