11.05.2026 Borrowed light.

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  Monday 11th 40F/4.4C [7.30] Cloudy, wet later. Peaking at a miserable 9C/48F at 11am and then falling steadily. 64F/18C in the room. No overnight heating. 48F/9C in the greenhouse. 

 Up at 6.50 after a quiet night. My back was hurting like hell at first but improving. 

 I have to fetch some timber to fill the gaps above and below the new doors. Though they are draught sealed with strips of fiber. There is already a noticeable increase in indoor light levels. The small window in the new entrance door is doing far more than expected in lighting the hall. This light further passes though the glazed door to the living room.

 To improve matters further I would have to remove the opaque overhang of the shed roof. Then lay some clear plastic sheeting there instead. I should gain even more light. At present there is no clear view of the northern sky through the new entrance door. The overhang currently protects garden tools and a small picnic table.  

 Both new doors face north. The view is heavily blocked by tall trees. My felling of one twisted willow had little effect on light levels. The canopy is much higher than the narrow window of the horizon I had achieved.

 All of this is probably a reaction to my wife's habit of hanging curtains literally everywhere. Even over the five [recycled] glazed doors I fitted. No wonder she suffered from winter blues!

 My own fitting of shade net over the greenhouse robs the living room of light. More so when it is overcast. Though I could pull the shade nets up with cord[s.] Possibly through the south facing dormer window.  

 Taking the stairwell [thermal] curtains down again has freed the light from the west. To enter the balcony room, at the top of the stairs and fall down the now open stairwell. Again, the tall trees to the west reduce the light. These are mostly towering willows. Planted by my late wife. 

 Though there is a backdrop windbreak of larch and oak. Which have continued to grow in the three decades I have been here. Increasingly valuable in reducing vehicle noise on the road beyond. Some 120m away. 

 8.30 Time for a walk.

 9.00 Back again. My back improved steadily as I walked.

  

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10.05.2026 New doors!

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 Sunday 10th 60F/10C [8.00] Overcast with possible light showers.

 Up from 2-5am after an hour of wakefulness. Back to bed until 6.30.

 8.15 I have had a message from the carpenter. He will be late. By half an hour. 

 12.45 He has both doors installed and is now sealing around the edges. You couldn't ask for a more helpful, friendly, careful, knowledgeable, fastidious and skilled worker. He left at 13.00. Great job!

 I need to buy some pressure treated timber. To seal the gaps at the tops and bottoms of the doors. Until the walls had been cleared of their existing construction it was impossible to guess what might be needed. He will then return to finish caulking them.

 It is Sunday so no timber stockist is open. The new doors look so smart they make the rest of Chez Hovel look even more shabby! White paint in place of the cream I think. With new black paint for the timber framing.

 It was dry and sunny all day after the early cloud had cleared. 

 18.30  I am going to make a Sunday dinner. Baked chicken, roast potatoes, peas, carrots and gravy.  

 I have emptied the indoor containers and taken the recycling bin along the drive.   

Dinner was perfect. 40 minutes in the oven at 200C. The roast potatoes were fluffy inside. The chicken beautifully tender after a rest. 

 

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9.05.2026 Mountains out of molehills!

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  Saturday 9th 50F/10C [8.30] Last fully sunny day for the moment. Peaking at 16C/61F this afternoon. A modest, easterly wind. 63F/17C in the room. With the stair well now fully open again. I took the heavy curtains down. They had made a useful contribution to keeping the downstairs warm when it was colder outside. 50F/10C in the greenhouse. 

 Rain and a northerly wind expected tomorrow. Just as the carpenter is coming to fit the new doors. On the northern facade. Hopefully the roof overhangs will provide some protection.

 Up at 7.40 after an untidy night. I was awake at four and 5am and then it was suddenly much later. My back is still hurting. Though I still plan to have a walk. 

 9-9.30. My usual loop along the drives. Warm sunshine. Very little wind. I almost walked off the back pain. The upper buttock pain was not noticeable today.

 12.10 Back from the next shopping village to the north. Two people admired the car. The petrol price has dropped a little. The rubber seal in the air pump was shot. Impossible to check the tire pressures. I think my back may finally be improving. 

 14.00 62F/17C. Bright sunshine. I have pushed the mower at its highest setting. Over the minefield pretending to be a lawn. It kept being bogged down on the molehills. I need to rake out these hills but I am already knackered and breathless. I need a rest.

 Dinner was fried chicken, mushrooms, baked beans and chips. 

 

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