9.04.2026

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  Thursday 9th 38F/3.3C. Bright start with lots of sunshine promised. 63F/17.2C in the room. 44F/44F/6.7C in the greenhouse. A wet day with gales and a risk of snow tomorrow! 

 Up at 6.45 after a busy night.

 Cooking class today. 

 

 

 

 

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8.04.2026 Missing tower.

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  Wednesday 8th 33F/1C. Another sunny day after a cold night. Hint of frost on the western lawn. Expected to peak around 13C/55F well after lunch today. Much lighter winds. Starting light NE this morning. Gusting to 8m/s easterly mid afternoon. 63F in the room. 40F in the greenhouse.

 Up at 7am after a typical night. Woke several times to attend to the fire bucket. Resisted the urge to get up.

 I'd like a ride but for the cool start and only reaching comfort levels around lunch time and beyond. I'll see how it feels with a walk at 8.00. 

 9.10 After my walk I have been preparing the trailer for a run to the builder's merchants. I'll go early to avoid cycling while there is still white frost on the grass. Then have a ride later.

 11.00 Back from a trip to the shops. I bought some more petrol and six, massive paving labs. The latter are 30x60x10cm. 12"x24"x4". Recommended by a builders merchant to be stacked under the heat pump unit. To avoid snow drifting blocking the airflow. I'll give the installer a free choice when they turn up.  

 I may have to net the greenhouse pond. The water has reached 60F/15C. The goldfish seem to be trying to increase their numbers. I can hear them sploshing about out there. 

 17.30 Back from a drive to find a bird watching tower at a wildlife wetland site. Unsuccessfully, I might add. I stopped to ask a pair of walkers for directions. They turned out to be Scots and could I speak English?! I drove along the track and found the car park mentioned online but not the tower. 

 I was lucky enough to see a Lapwing preening close to the track. So I stopped the car and watched it through my binoculars. Now I am back at home I can see that I didn't go quite far enough. Though the tower should have been visible from the public car park and from where I walked on. The information online suggested the tower was rotting away and should be demolished. That was some years ago. 

 Further online research confirms the tower supports had rotted. Making the building unsafe. So it was demolished after some years of closure to the public. 

 Searching mapping apps online shows a pale patch on the ground. After years of a black tower throwing a shadow. I needed to have walked a further 200m from the little car park. Which is embedded in the woods. I would have preferred to have ridden to the site but it was rather too late. For covering that total distance there and back.  

 Dinner was mackerel on toast. With halved tomatoes. 

  

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7.04.2026 Pots, runners & slabs.

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  Tuesday 7th 38F/3.3C [7.45] A bright start to a sunny day. Peaking at 12C mid afternoon. The wind gusting to 8m/s from the north west going northerly and reducing. A rather cool 63F/17C in the room. 43F/6C in the greenhouse. I had the greenhouse open to warm the house to 22C/72F. So so didn't light the stove yesterday. It was still 68F/20C at bedtime but cooled overnight as temperatures dropped outside.

 Up at 7am after a typical night with weird dreams.

 Doctor's appointment after lunch. No visit to my English friend today. This means a cycle ride is possible. As long as I remember to return in good time for a shower.

 10.00 I looped around the neighbours drives. 

 13.00 Returning from a drive to several charity shops. Where I bought a large, blue plant pot and a red, oriental [?] carpet runner. This carpet will run along the wall under the TV. Where there is currently a blue and buff carpet. Which has never laid flat.   

 I have confirmed with the installer. That I will have a floor mounted, indoor, heat pump unit. Not a high level one. Though it is at greater cost. There are several other advantages to a low level unit. Not least the absence of external pipework and conduit running up the outside wall. I didn't want Chez Hovel being disfigured! 😏 

 I had an ECG at the doctors. Provided a urine and several blood samples. Back next week for a follow up with the quack. 

 15.45 Returning from a drive to a builders merchant. Out in the sticks and still with a vast amount of interesting stuff. Most of which has been stripped from the soulless shelves of the other chains. I wanted heavy duty concrete slabs. For the outdoor heat pump unit. 40x40x8cm. The other chains list the 8cm thickness as strictly to order. While the lighter 50mm garden paving slabs can be bought almost anywhere. 

 I hope the slabs are large enough. 60x60x8cm is also available. The outdoor unit footprint is 82.4x30cm. With the vibration damping feet well inboard of the width. The weight of the outdoor unit is only 34kg. So each slab supports only 17kg with a central load. The slabs will be lying on granite chippings over self-stabilizing gravel. If cars and vans run about on this surface then the heat pump should be fine. 

 I just checked: The rubber vibration damping feet are listed at 60cm long. Which is twice the physical depth of the casing. Perhaps I had better fetch some 60x60x8cm slabs. Though I'd need the trailer. The larger slabs won't go in the passenger foot well. Even the 40cm were right on the limit. While standing on edge. There are individual rubber feet. Rather than the 60cm long strips. Which would fall within the footprint of the 40cm slab. Slabs are dirt cheap and can always be used around the place.

  17.45 I had opened the greenhouse door. To borrow some of the heat out there. A little late but worth the effort. It has now risen to 66F/19C indoors.  

 Dinner was a salmon pasty, pasta, peas and tinned tomatoes. I tried to cheat and have toast but it wasn't to be. So I washed up while it cooked.

  

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