17.10.2024 Nyborg and bust!

 ~o~

 Thursday 17th 52F/11C [11.00] Bright sunshine and dry but still windy.

Up at 7.40 after another odd night of dreams. I have physio so I have to get a move on. Shower, breakfast, check the news.

 I was early at the physio building. The automatic doors were operating but no sign of life other than myself. After ten minutes the other members started turning up. Expecting a normal hour of exercises. Just on time the staff started appearing. I was just on the point of driving home. 

 Nyborg town hall gable end.

 After an hour of trying to fit in as many exercise machines as possible I left to visit the cycle shop. I have an appointment next Wednesday afternoon. To see what new kit is needed to convert my trike to straight bars. I can no longer tolerate being bent over on dropped bars. With my weight on my hands and wrists. 

 I have already fitted the bars from the Moustache e-bike. Though I feel I may need a much shorter stem and the bars may be rather too wide. I hope to ride the trike into the village to shop. 5km each way. With small hills on the direct route. Further if I go the long way through the forest. With lots of far more serious hills. 

 On the e-bike it is far too easy to use motor power. I have nothing to judge my real cycling fitness level. Being fully manual the trike will provide this information While remaining a useful shopping trolley due to the large bag on the rear rack.

 I plan to drive into the city. To look for kitchen storage furniture. Charity shops and/or IKEA may offer what I need. I prefer to see the IKEA stuff rather than shop online. I can look at washing machines too. It would be tempting to ride there if it wasn't so windy. Though there are charity shops outside the city with furniture. I would have to pay to reserve them. Then return later with the trailer. If I was sensible I could prepare my bread rolls for lunch and take them with me.  

 11.45 Lunch made. Off we jolly well go.

 8.00 Finally home. I made it to Odense in the Morris and then onto Nyborg. Where I saw a chap riding a green Pedersen. After which the car started misbehaving. The engine would cut out briefly. The problem was that it kept getting worse! I made it almost all the way home after several complete stops. In the end I could not progress any further. 

 So I parked up in a village. In a location that would be easy to find for the rescue service. I rang my insurance company and they organised the pickup. Luckily the driver was able to drop me off at home. After delivering the car to the Morris Minor expert's workshop. The proprietor reminded me that I was going to miss the vintage car show in Fredericia this weekend. Grr!

Too late to start cooking. So I made poached eggs on toast.

  ~o~

16.10.2024 Comet.

 ~o~

 Wednesday 16th 43F/6C [8.30] Another dry, sunny day but windy from the SE. Peaking at 11C/52F.

 Up at 7.30 after an average night of weird dreams and topping up the fire bucket.

 70F/21C at bedtime. 65F/18C this morning. 

 8.30 Going for a walk.

 Despite it being much milder the wind made it feel quite cold. 

 10.00 I am expecting a lady visitor from the village.

 12.45 53F/12C. Sunny but rather windy. My visitor has just left.

 I shopped in the car in the afternoon. 

 The comet was just visible in binoculars but much more difficult to capture with the phone camera. I went out several times. There was a lot of cloud and the cold wind. Checking my images later showed I could squeeze one image to make the comet visible. Mostly by reducing gamma and cropping heavily. Timed at 19.29[CET].  OnePlus Nord 2T 5G f/1.88 1/4s 5.59 mm ISO15866.

 Dinner was cheese on toast with halved tomatoes. Delicious!

 

 ~o~

15.10.2024 First white frost!

 ~o~

  Tuesday 15th 36F/2C [8.00] Bright with small, pinkish clouds against turquoise to the east. All  day sunshine forecast with light winds. 

 Up at 7am after a reasonable night. I shan't be cycling anywhere far today. Much as I would like to. I can still feel the B67 saddle! I shall probably be visiting my friend today. So I shall go in the Morris.

 8.30 A walk first.

 9.15 Returned from my walk to the lanes. The first real frost. With snow white grass and hard black ice on the Morris. I emptied the 28mm of rainfall from the gauges to avoid potential ice damage. There was not a breath of air movement. A neighbour's chimney smoke couldn't decide which way to drift. Yet the local wind turbines were spinning vigorously. Which makes absolutely no sense at all. Perhaps the silly rumour, that the towers are full of batteries, is actually true? 

 I wasn't cold thanks to the absence of wind. My hands were a bit chilly but soon warmed up with intervals in my pockets. No doubt the low, blinding sun was doing its thing.

 Two cormorants went over without deviating. Geese and gulls will always change course. At the sight of my plodding figure below. Magpies were interested in a fresh, roadkill rat. Until I disturbed them by crossing their path. A huge, white, bird of prey was sunbathing in a distant tree. It stood out like a swan had crash landed!

 The MacSlobs had been distributing their toxin packaging again. A car was heading for me like a cruise missile. Only inches from the verge. So I quickly took to the grass. Only for the blonde driver to wake up and steer away with a smile and a wave. Of apology? Or admiration for my fast reflexes?

 The washing up has got away from me again. I am rinsing individual mugs, bowls and cutlery. Just to be able to continue eating. 

 13.15 Returned from visiting my friend. I very sensibly went in the car. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the leaves were brightly coloured on many of the trees.

 I had the room and kitchen up to 69F/21C from the greenhouse. IT fell back to 66F/19C later. So I lit the stove. Only one log later it is back up to 70F/21C and rising.

 I have to do some more tidying before my visitor arrives tomorrow. The hall coat rack looked rather untidy. I have ten jackets hanging there! All used at intervals. With half a dozen more upstairs. 

 Thanks to a nudge from my friend I have just seen the bright comet. I caught it just before the moon flooded the sky. All my pictures were hopeless. Camera shake! Despite borrowing a fence post to steady the phone.

 Dinner was mince with tinned tomatoes and chips. An experiment which worked well. I used a slotted spoon to spread the tomatoes on top of the mince. This reduced the amount of liquid. I ought to sieve the tomatoes next time. Probably try mashed potatoes with it instead of chips. I am not sure it wouldn't be too soggy. It would need the tomatoes to be much drier.

 ~o~