14.01.2026 A bit of a ride.

 ~?~

  Wednesday 14th 40F/4.4C. Rain dying out. Possible sunshine this afternoon. 64F/18C in the room. Greenhouse at 46F/8C. 

 Up at 6.20 after a quiet night.  

 I need to go shopping but beyond the nearest village. The rain and warmer temperatures have melted most of the snow. The security cameras can see even in pitch dark. A few thin patches still lying on the parking area. 

 The drive is much worse. It lies in deep shade and is sheltered from the rain by trees and hedges. So will take more time to clear. Hopefully the snow is wet and soft and will flatten under the car tires.

 9.15 Back from a walk along the road. The drive was wet and icy in parts. The road mostly clear. The section where the prairie blows snow onto the road had the only banks from the snow ploughs. Mostly higher than waist height. I did not walk the drives loop today. It was too icy and steep to risk it.

 12.50 Back form the shops. Going to villages to the south and north of home. Three carrier bags full just from restocking. It was difficult driving into blinding sunshine reflected off the wet roads. Despite my holding to the speed limit I was overtaken by three drivers in three different places.

 14.50 Back from a 11km ride to the village and back. I had forgotten to buy more honey. The sun was out and the wind was light. So it seemed a waste not to have a ride. Rather a lot of traffic. The bicycle lanes were all full of snow and slush. Where it had been pushed by the snow ploughs and homeowners clearing the pavements. The drive was still iced in places. So I deliberately rode along it to see if it was slippery. It wasn't. 

 

  ~?~

13.01.2026 The thaw.

 ~?~

  Tuesday 13th 35F/1.7C [9.00] Overcast and rather misty. 100m invisibility. Snow still here. Risk of light rain. Possibly icy surfaces with a slow thaw.  I am still bunged up. Coughing and snotting but steadily improving.

 Up at 8.20 after a busy night. I managed to keep the stove going until I ran out of logs at 3am. Then dozed and clock watched until after 8am. 62F/17C in the room. 42C/5.6C in the greenhouse. I'll bring in more logs and get the stove going again. There is some glowing in the fire bed. The greenhouse has been dripping on the last few logs. 

 No Tuesday visit to or from my English friend this week. First cooking class on Thursday. Hopefully the snow will be washed away by the rain by then.  

10.30 36F/2.2C. Back from a short walk looping around the neighbours' drives. The roads were wet so I was having to retreat from tire spray.  It would have been too easy to stay in and have morning coffee. So I forced myself to get out. 

 Lethal wet ice in lots of places. So I stayed on the snow for better grip.  I cleared the snow from the parking area nearest the house. Hopefully leading to a more rapid thaw. The snow is wet, sticky and heavy now. Tiring and made me breathless. 65F/18C in the room. 

 18.00 38F/3.3C. Thick mist! It is supposed to start raining and continue for over 12 hours. The area I cleared this morning is already down to the bare gravel.

 Dinner was organic sausage, organic brown mushrooms and organic mashed potatoes. I should have added Bisto gravy. I missed a trick there.

 The thick mist proved to be all four security cameras have steamed up in the thaw. I can clearly see my distant neighbours' lights through the window. It has reached 67F/19C in the room. All thanks to rising temperatures reducing heat loss.

 I trimmed my beard heavily. Going from Father Christmas to international businessman at a stroke. Well, in a few minutes. I have rather let myself go during the holiday season. With the cooking classes starting again I feel the need for rather more decorum. The beard literally makes me look old. The whiter it gets the more obviously it stands out in the security cameras. Beards may be trendy but the "homeless" look is not for everybody.  

  

 

  ~?~

12.01.2026 Keep on spinning!

 ~?~

  Monday 12th 30F/-1C [8.30] Overcast and windy. With bands of snow crossing slowly from the west. 60F/15.6C in the room. 37F/3C in the greenhouse.

 8.30 Up at 7.30 after a fairly quiet night. 62F/16.7C in the room already. I was able to keep the stove going with short, but large diameter logs each time I got up. Though I had to relight it this morning the stove was still hot. Far too hot to touch the soapstone cladding. Now I need to bring in more logs. I don't like to disturb the fish in their pond in the dark. It is light enough to see now. Without using the greenhouse lights. The fish are just dozing at these low temperatures.

 I have a problem today. There is a widespread black ice warning. Which may make the roads treacherous even before any new snow falls. Or afterwards if it goes over to rain. There is also a warning for snow drifting. An unhappy combination when I need to go shopping. 

 I have only two, perhaps three days worth of logs left in the greenhouse. The trailer has another three to four days worth of dry logs. So I am hoping to be able to reach my supplier on safe roads very soon. The Morris is limited to a smaller trailer. Compared to my previous, family car and builder's trailer. So I need to think in those terms from now on. I must keep a larger reserve in case of a run of bad weather. Simply because I cannot obtain lots more logs in a single journey.  

 I keep looking at the possibility of a heat pump. However they are still ruinously uneconomical in a poorly insulated home. I fitted underfloor heating hoses in the bathroom and kitchen years ago. An air to air system would do nothing for this option. 

While an air to wet system costs as much as a decent secondhand car. Because it uses a huge and expensive water tank and miles of visible plumbing. So neither type sells itself. Taking forever just to cover the cost of installation of a wet system. Adding hugely to the electricity bills in the case of a dry system and probably both. There is a house beside the road on the way to the village. It has SIX heat pumps installed. You can see the fan units dotted around the lower walls. With conduits for the heating fluid pipes going up the walls. Yet it is not much larger than my place. 

 9.30 The stove is going well. Going for a walk. Just to see what the road conditions are looking like. I'll wear my Scarpa walking boots. It is too uncomfortable to go far in the short wellies.

 9.50 Back again. The roads are 95% fine. The Morris started instantly after I checked the oil and water. I'll change into more suitable footwear for driving and go shopping. 

 11.00 64F/18C in the room. Back from the shops. Just as the first snowfall begins. The DMI shows a band of snow just reaching us now. I had to burn my way up the gentle slope of the drive in third gear. Then got stuck right on the far end of the drive. 

 My front wheels were on the road but the Morris is rear wheel drive. I had to rock the car in reverse and 3rd to finally pull away. The exit is right on a tight, blind bend. So one can't just roll out and hope for survival. 

 I came back with two carrier bags stuffed to the gills. The price of all meat goes on rising. I have run out of instant Arabic, organic coffee. Neither supermarket in the village stocks it. Or anything like it. I needed more tablets from the chemist too. 

 I spent the rest of the day browsing. The snow never amounted to much visually. Though it still coated the car quite thickly.  

 Dinner has to involve chicken. It is three days beyond its Best By" date. The last egg was a whole week past. So I cooked it well and turned it over. Just to make sure. 

  ~?~