21.07.2026 32km and a cycle path.

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  Tuesday 21st 49F/9.4C [6.20] Bright, with a final sunny day. Peeking at 23C/73F.  Before temperatures drop and cloudy weather arrives. NW winds increasing slowly. Gusting to 12m/s later. 20C/68F in the room. 8.5C/47F in the greenhouse.

 Up at 5.45 after a busy night at the fire bucket.  Borderline dizzy in the background.

 7.30 55F/13C. I have just been outside to check the plants. They don't need watering. The drive doesn't need another trim either. It is really rather chilly out there. I was treated to a warbler's rendition of a Paganini piece. 

 12.45 71F/22C. Bright sunshine and breezy. I went for a ride to check on progress of the new cycle path. Whereupon I discovered the route was just navigable from Flemløse to Ebberup. 

 Though surface conditions deteriorated the nearer I came to Ebberup. At Flemløse the surface had been graveled and rolled firm. Several walkers were enjoying the route. No warning signs to keep off. So I went off road. 

 The firm gravel surface continued on for some kilometers of delightful scenery. Though I soon became grateful for wide tires and full suspension. The fine gravel was no longer rolled but only as laid. With lots of tracks from what may have been mopeds or scooters. Plus the occasional tractor tire pattern. Some of the tracks made the going lethal at intervals. As they weaved from side to side. 

 I eventually came across a rusty diesel road roller. Near the device being used to spread and measure the depth of the fine gravel. From then on it was firm mud. Of varying quality of surface and smoothness. The number of weeds, further on, suggest that the old track had not been touched in quite some time. Not since the tracks and sleepers had been lifted.

 At Ebberup the relatively smooth mud suddenly gave way to tall grass. Strictly single track and safe for walking only. The cycle path is due for opening a the end of the year. With the route divided into three sections. Each under a different contractor. I have marked the navigable section in red on the image above.

 At that point I rejoined the roads briefly. Before taking a narrow lane. Which snaked uphill across the agricultural landscape. With hardly a house to be seen. Lots of Red  kites were hunting over the fields full of lying hay and grass. I must have seen a dozen kites this morning. I kept to the narrowest and quietest lanes. As I headed home into the wind. 

 After lunch I took my solar telescope outside for an hour or two. 

I have chicken breasts for dinner. Probably fry one and have chicken in bread rolls.  And so it was.

 

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20.07.2026 Weeds: Self pluck!

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  Monday 20th 59F/15C [8.10] Two sunny days in a row are on offer. Though with a fairly strong, northerly breeze. 20F/68C indoors. 15C/59F in the open greenhouse. 

 Up at 7.30 after an earlier failure to lift off at 5.30. 

I raked over the new molehills with the beech asphalt rake. The large head is far more effective than trying to use a garden rake. 

 One of my four, Philips, sensor, down-lighters has died. Bought in January 2024. It kept getting dimmer.  I haven't a clue where the receipt might be. Nearly £40 equivalent now! Bløødy hell! It says E27. That's a standard large thread European fitting. I'll check to see if the LED bulb is replaceable. You know, those "premium" Philips LED bulbs which are supposed to last a lifetime! 

 

 It took me half an hour to replace one very dead, Philips LED bulb. I can still remember that I had a tirade about the pathetic design of the light unit a couple of years ago. At the time I blamed it on nepotism gone stark raving mad. Somebody had a black sheep in the family who they though might needed a job and a labelled parking space. Instead of wasting their lives away on drugs and booze and tattoos.

 

 Now I think it was probably the Woke culture presently crippling Europe. Philips was forced to find a new designer. One who was officially, severely mentally retarded. Just so that their quota for mental handicap in their management design team was filled. If nepotism was involved then so much the better. 

 

 I won't go into any more detail. Suffice to say that anybody who had two brain cells to rub together would not in a million years come up with such a pathetic design. I hope they crash into their official parking space name plate! 

 

12.20 Twenty minutes of pulling up Rosebay willowherb by the roots. Leaves me hot, breathless and dizzy.   

 

 I don't know how this text is appearing but the blog editing is all over the place.  

 

15.45 69F/21C. Bright sunshine. Breezy. Back from the village shops with groceries.

 

 17.00 68F(20C. Back from the next village with another pressure treated post. To support the canopy for the outdoor heat pump unit.

 Dinner was a cheese, mushroom and tomato omelette.  

 

 

 

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19.07.2026 All that glisters.

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  Sunday 19th 57F/14C [7.10] A cloudy day with possible thunderstorms is promised. While the sun is currently shining and has been since early on. Wind gusting to 12m/s from the northwest. 23C/72F indoors. 14C in the fully open greenhouse. The pond water temperature has dropped to 67F/19.5C With the pond plants noticeably spreading across the gravel base of the pond.

 Up at 5.30 after a quiet night. Attending rather too often to the fire bucket. 

 I have watered the plants indoors and out. Run one tour of the robot mower along the drive. The first load of laundry has gone into the machine.

 7.45 I have cleaned and polished all the windows in the Morris. Collected all the waste paper, removed and shaken the floor mats. The accumulated detritus has been moved to the boot, arranged more neatly. Or discarded as appropriate. 

 Completed my five physio exercises. Three repetitions of ten. Except for the alternative foot, step-up exercise. Three repetitions of 20. The only exercise I find difficult. No, really painful. Is sitting up from lying on the floor. My feet are too light to balance my upper body. The strain on my back muscles is agony. I don't even notice my abdominal muscles. So I must be doing it wrong.

 Had an online chat. Checking for signs of life. Mine.

 I have vacuumed the car. Cleaned the grey filth from the steering wheel. I need to go out again. To clean the door linings and reveals. Done. Zip-tied the conduit hose to the post of the new security camera. 

 I am still looking for big staples. To fix the hose into the weed infested bank/verge. I could use big tent pegs but they haven't the security of a proper garden staple. Fix and forget. 

 Staples are readily available. That they only sell them in expensive packs of 100. Makes them too readily available. I shall only ever use half a dozen. I'll find some galvanized electric fence wire and make some. 

 I dragged the two recycling bins along the drive. 

 Dinner was an organic, pork chop, organic peas, organic mashed potatoes and Bisto 'Original' gravy. One bag of organic carrots short of a Sunday dinner. 

 

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