13.04.2026

 ~?~

 Monday 13th 40F/4.4C. Overcast. Possible early brightness. 24 hours of rain arrive at lunch time. Easterly winds. 63F/17C in the room. 50F/10C in the greenhouse.

 Up at 6.45 after another night of weird dreams. Not weird in appearance but just unlikely and often boring subject matter. Highly realistic. Mixed contexts. Mixed casts from different walks of life.

 09.30 Back from my short walk. It was unpleasantly cold in the easterly breeze. Plenty of birds about.  

 

  ~?~

12.04.2026 41km

 ~?~

  Sunday 12th 42F/5.6C. Overcast as a heavy band of overnight rain moves eastwards. Sunshine is possible later. 63F/17C in the room. 50F/10C in the greenhouse. The fish seem more active after I changed their bathwater.

 Up at 7.20 after a ridiculously busy night. I had moved the big digital clock away from the bed. After being reminded of magnetic smog surrounding electronics. I saw every hour being indicated and twice in some cases.

 I must go shopping. There wasn't even enough milk for my muesli. I had to put the milk in first. Then add organic porridge oats. A little at a time. Until I reached a satisfactory level of saturation. Finally adding a few organic raisins to taste. Reason enough to avoid an old peoples home. They'd never get it right! 

 9.40 Back from a walk down the road and back. Lots of birds. Both audible and visible. Including a small bird of prey. Flapping wildly to make headway against a gentle headwind. Another bird call which left me baffled. A deep sound emanating from a roadside tree. Without at any sign of a bird being present. 

 The nice neighbor's cat nodded at me as I passed. I'll have to go shopping if I want to have morning coffee. 

 10.40 Full sunshine. Back from the village. Loads of groceries and petrol refill. I'll go for a ride after morning coffee. I went outside to sort out the recycling bins.

 12.00 I have just had a nice chat with my neighbours. It was beautiful outside in the sunshine. Almost no breeze and comfortably warm. They had returned my wheelbarrows after I had loaned them for a job. 

 They both speak excellent English and seem to enjoy practicing their skills. Both use English to some extent in their work. Which suits me perfectly of course. Not to mention them not having to suffer my awful pronunciation and mangled grammar in Danish.

 13.20 Off we go for a ride. Dressed warmly but not overdressed. The Endura rain jacket is fine for blocking the wind. I could feel the warmth of the sun on my back. While the cold headwind tried to sneak in at the front. The GripGrab gloves were fine today. The lobster mitts went into a pannier just in case. I wore an old pair of DHB, padded cycling shorts to increase comfort.

 15.30 58F/14.4C. Back from another ride. To inspect progress on the new railway line. 41km. A comfortable distance today. I kept to the narrow, rural lanes as much as possible. Almost devoid of traffic. Though the main roads were quite busy.

 I passed a cat rolling on its back in the middle of the road on a narrow winding lane. Enjoying the warm asphalt. The road and bridge I keep going back to is very close to completion. It just needs some asphalt to reopen.  [Image top right] The sign says the 31st April.

 67F/19C indoors. 81F/27C in the greenhouse. All skylights and the end door open.

 Back on the computer to watch YouTube videos. I have closed the door and skylights now I am back. So the sun's warmth can be transferred to the indoors.

 Dinner was baked chicken, roast potatoes, mushrooms, carrots and peas. The best roast potatoes so far. They had 15 minutes simmering in salty water. Before going into the baking pan for 40 minutes. I let the cooked chicken rest for five minutes. 

 

 

  ~?~

11.04.2026 Extra Mature Cheddar Fraud.

 ~?~

  Saturday 11th 35F/2C[7.40] A bright start to another sunny day. White frost on the grass. Melting dew sparkling in the hedges from the rapidly rising sun. A rather chilly 61F/16C in the room. 39F/4C in the greenhouse. I can raise the temperature using the greenhouse later. 

 Up at 7am after a dream filled night and the usual interruptions. 

 9.00 41F/5C. Back from my walk. Still cold but unbroken sunshine. A huge pall of smoke was traveling for hundreds of meters from a fire at a distant farm. White smoke and no flames. So presumably burning some unwanted vegetable matter. 

 The last few days has seen an explosion of bird life. Every tree seems to host a wheezing Greenfinch. There are buds everywhere and even a few leaves on the shrubbery. Though the trees are a little slower to get going.

 Both e-bike batteries are showing two bars. One is now on charge. So I can have my usual Saturday ride to the shops. Since I have some time to kill I am pumping out some of the water from the greenhouse pond. The walls of the pond container are heavily coated with algae. Which I have scraped with a squeegee on a pole. 

 The water level has already dropped by about 15cm due to evaporation. So any water contaminants will have become more saturated. The image is affected by the optical effect of refraction at the water surface. The depth of the remaining water is much more than the newly exposed sides at this point.

 11.30 51F/11C. Changing half of the water will help to dilute any toxins. I checked the temperature of the cold tapwater and there is close match with the pond water. Which makes topping back up effortless. No need to match the temperature by adding hot water. As is required with most indoor ponds and aquaria. Fish don't like sudden water temperature changes. It can even cause ill health.

 I am using a spray head to ensure adequate oxygenation of the fresh, cold water during the refill. Which will take some time. I tried a normal, garden hose nozzle but it was much too fierce. Meanwhile the e-bike battery is finally flashing between four and five bars. The room has risen to 63F/17C. With the windows and door open out to the greenhouse. Currently showing 86F/30C and still rising. I'll postpone my ride until after lunch and shop locally.

12.00  I was mistaken about the tap water temperaure. It was colder than yesterday's measurement at 47F/8.3C. So I had to add a touch of warm water at the kitchen mixer. To match the 56F/13C of the pond.

 12.45  I have stretched the first shade curtain over the greenhouse roof. Perfect timing. The pond is finally full again. 

 Time for some lunch. Shame about the utterly tasteless rubber. Masquerading as Extra Mature Irish Cheddar. I presume the supermarket chain saved a penny per metric ton. To want them to go over to this garbage. Simple bribery? A bargain they couldn't ignore? 
 
 Wouldn't you think they would trial the new crap? To watch sales instantly drop. Before discontinuing the real thing. Now I have to try other outlets just to buy real cheese! I wonder what else I can find to buy in these other chains?

 Dinner was mackerel in tomato sauce on toast. With halved tomatoes. 

 

  ~?~