9.08.2026 31km to admire sandcastles.

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  Sunday 9th 56F/13C [6.20]  A bright but cloudy start. To what is promised to be wall to wall sunshine. Peaking at 26C/79F. Rather breezy from the south east. Going southerly. I had better water the outside, potted plants. 21C/70F in the room. 14C/57F in the greenhouse.

 Up at 5.50 with cramp in my left calf. Fortunately it soon passed. I start every day with a glass of water now. I didn't used to like the taste but now it seems fine. Not too cold either. As summer heat reaches down to the kilometers of plastic piping.

 11.25 Off we jolly well go. I'll have a tailwind going and headwind coming back.

 13.05. 80F/27C. Returning from a 31km ride. I was slightly light headed at times. With my vision brightening strangely. I hadn't lost my marbles. Nor my balance. So I persevered. I'll take my blood pressure when my lunch has gone down.

 My ride took me up to the motorway and the close-by, new rail route. The raising of the ground to match the raised bridge level is going very slowly. It seems to consist of adding sand in layers. Quite recently there was a huge hollow in the middle of the picture above. The sheer scale of the sand castles is lost in this image. The motorway is just beyond the trees in the background. A blue sign can be seen. 

 I ran the robot mower along the drive a couple of times. Washed up while Sunday dinner was cooking. Emptied the indoor recycling tubs and dragged a recycling bin along the drive. So today was not completely wasted. 

Dinner was an organic pork chop, peas, boiled potatoes and gravy. 

 

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8.8.2026 30km.

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 Saturday 8th 60F/16C [8.00]  Bright though a bit cloudy. Peaking at 22C/71F. Lighter, westerly winds. 21C/70F in the room. 15C/59F in the greenhouse.

 Up at 7.15 after struggling to sleep last night. 

 Today would have been my wife's 80th birthday. Had she not died of cancer a little over four years ago. 

 I need a ride. Conditions should be fine today. 

 12.30 Back from a 30km ride. It was really quite windy. Regardless of my direction of travel. Fortunately I was feeling fitter than usual.  

 I visited a charity shop and then headed for the quiet, narrow, rural lanes. Where, quite unbelievably, I met about 30 immaculate vintage and veteran cars going the opposite way. Everything you could possibly imagine. Including an original mini and even a perfect Morris Minor. 

 Every one of them had a shine 10 feet deep. I may have missed some of them because I joined their lane from a minor junction. Several cars went past as I was climbing a steep hill towards their route. 

 It became sunnier in the afternoon. 

 Dinner was beans on toast. 

 

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7.08.2026 More lily leaves.

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   Friday 7th 59F/15C [8.45] Overcast morning. Leading to sunshine and a modest 20C/68F. Windy from the west. Gusting to 13m/s or nearly 30mph. 22C/72F in the room. 16C/61F in the greenhouse.

 Up at 7.45 after a fairly quiet night.   

 Another day wasted online watching videos. Followed by an hour watching rubbish on Netflix.

 Achievements for today? I watered the plants. Indoors and out. Fed the fish. The water lily seems to be producing new leaves. So I haven't killed it from over watering.

  Dinner was a salmon pasty with broccoli. The broccoli was dropped into boiling, salted water for four minutes. Then dumped into a colander. This stops it continuing to cook. Maintaining crispness. Thank you Google. I think I'll give it five minutes next time.  

 

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