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Wednesday 6th 41F/5C [7.15] Bright and sunny all day again. Only 13C/55F maximum again. 63F/17C in the room. No heating yesterday. None overnight. I'll give it an early boost with the heat pump. See what happens. Greenhouse at 48F/9C.
7.30 Up at 6am. I felt breathless in the night. Imagination? Dreaming? I'll go for walk in a minute or two. Before I get welded to the computer chair.
8.00 Back again. Bright sunshine but a rather cool NE wind. I walked the parallel drive loop on the back field. The image shows why I like this area so much. There is a large pond just out of view to the left. The flat area, again to the left, is marshy. A stream runs just in front of the background trees.
The entire embankment, along which the new drive runs is less than three years old. It was started in the spring of 2023 and took some months to complete. It was beautifully landscaped and is becoming very natural in appearance. It took hundreds of vast tipper trucks full of soil, rubble, gravel and sand. To lift the embankment over the original marshy field.
A huge excavator did all the work in leveling and shaping the banks. With a vibrating, road roller compacting the surface. The excavator driver did a tremendous job of beautifying what could so easily have been an ugly, uniform, railway embankment. An area between the new and old drives was raised and leveled. To become a small field or paddock. Leading nicely up to the newly erected buildings and house at the base of the hill.
The Husqvarna robot mower was still trundling back and forth. As I walked back along the neighbours' drive. It was looking almost lost on the huge area of grass it tends.
Each day the sward visibly improves. Yet it is impossible to detect any cutting action while the mower is actually moving. The magic must lie in the endless repetition. No weed gets a chance to raise its head.
8.30 I ought to have a ride today.
10.00 The first bike battery is fully charged. I think I'll take the scenic route to Assens.
12.45 And back again after 25km. I visited two DIY outlets and a charity shop but came away empty handed. A headwind coming back. So I found my GripGrab "Aviator" medieval scull cap in the panniers to protect my ears. This greatly increased my comfort.
The spring countryside was absolutely gorgeous. Particularly the cycle path. Which runs N-S along the western boundary of Assens. It is quite a steep incline but wanders endlessly left and right in blind bends to provide greater interest.
With a dense shelter belt of trees between itself and the main road to the east. A similar wealth of semi-mature trees lies on the other side. To hide and shelter the houses. The adjoining paths are all named after birds.
After lunch and some YT I kept dozing off. So I had to have a nap. The computer screen keeps going dark and won't restart. A software update? I tried Restarting the mini-PC. No difference.
15.15 Back in from mowing the drive. 8 lengths of 100m. No back pain? Do I feel up to attacking the western lawn? It is very hard work pushing the mower through long, rough grass. The ground is very rough after there being hundreds of molehills earlier in the year. The Makita mower batteries will probably need recharging by now.
16.00 I have been filling out an online questionnaire on my heart symptoms. Prior to my appointment on the 20th May. After which there was a link to a very detailed description of the procedure for balloon expansion and fitting a stent. With an excellent video to watch. All helping to reinforce the illustrated text description I have already received and printed out.
I have heard back from the kommune [county council] about the overgrown, larch hedge blocking the drive. The piles of builders rubble, toilets, sinks, etc. in front of the corner house are judged not to be insanitary. Nor likely to attract rats. So there's nothing which can be done about that.
The hedge could be trimmed by the council at the expense of the owners. Though it was advised that discussion between the property owners would be more sensible. Unfortunately there has been no contact whatsoever with the owner. I have no idea who it might be. My nice neighbours would also like to contact them. To discuss the shared drive maintenance or costs.
I have just exchanged hand signals with a bunch of eastern European workers. Who spoke neither English nor Danish. Their manners in completely and repeatedly blocking the drive spoke volumes. As does the awful mess they left behind in the turning space. At the junction with the main drive and my shared access drive. Presumably to save the expense of taking it all to the local recycling yard.
Their mess has remained untouched since work was abandoned in the autumn. [September 2025] With no sign of a return so far. The plastic sheeting they used to cover the bare roof timbers after stripping the thatch. Is now ripping itself to pieces in the wind.
Dinner was poached eggs on toast. No pictures.
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