26.02.2026

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  Thursday 26th 42F/5.6C [8.00] Overcast and threatening to be misty all day. 64F/18C in the room. 47F/8.3C in the greenhouse.

 Up at 7.00 after a fairly quiet night. It took me ages to get to sleep. 

 Cooking class. I have missed the last two. I hope they still recognize me! 

 13.30 Returning from cooking class. Where I made a lot [2kg] of roast potatoes. They must have been popular because a large bowl of them were consumed by our eight attendees. I had left my phone behind so I have no photographic evidence. I had hastily put it on charge just before leaving home. Others made pork cutlets in a complex sauce. While other still made a tasty fruit salad with cream.

 I didn't light the stove until 14.30. Desite this the temperature has shot up from 64 to 72F. 18-22C. Outside temperature 47F/8.3C. Record temperatures are being set further south. With Mediterranean countries reporting unheard of records for February of 25C/77F. Sahara sand is being sent north on a tongue of warm air. Causing red sunrises for those favoured with sunshine. We have three days of rain forecast. Record rainfall has been plaguing countries around the world. 

 DAO, the replacement postal service for letters. After the Danish Post Office gave up letter deliveries. Has misdelivered my post to my nice neighbours. Who live 150 meters away. The gentleman very kindly brought the post along the drive. A national election has just been announced. With postal notification and voting forms in vast numbers potentially being misdelivered. Cue absolute chaos? 

 

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25.02.2026 Log on, log off.

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  Wednesday 25th 35F/1.7C. Heavily overcast, showers and 3C/37F this morning. Clearing and 6C/43F this afternoon. Moderate SSE winds. 65F/18C in the room. 45F/7C in the greenhouse. The snow is all but gone. Hanging on, only where it has been piled up or compressed. 

 The higher outside temperatures meant I had to turn down the thermostats on the oil-filled radiators in the kitchen and bathroom. Both were reaching 20C/68F. When all I need is for them to provide background heat. I don't spend enough time out there to warrant comfort temperatures. I boost the bathroom with a fan heater for shower times. Short lived and switched off as soon as it is no longer needed.

 Up at 6.30 after a fairly busy night. 

 I was hoping for a ride today. This afternoon might be a better choice. It could reach 8-10C locally. I had better check the battery charge. In case they need a boost. They lose range in winter. I need to get some isopropyl alcohol to clean the brake rotors. Both disk brakes are squeaking loudly now. 

 8.30 The stove has been lit. I'll have to fetch more logs in from outside. Talking of which: I could buy more beech logs now the drive and roads are clear.  

 9.20 Back from my walk in steady rain. My trousers are soaked. My [recycled] jacket dark with wetness. The chestnut logs are damp and refusing to burn!

 10.25 71F/22C. The stove has woken up while I was away. Back from the timber yard. With a trailer filled with beech logs. Now parked outside the greenhouse until I finish morning coffee. By which time it will hopefully have stopped raining. The payment App refused to pay for the logs. Not without my imagining a fictitious code number. Fortunately I had nearly enough cash. Once back home I could share my inside leg measurement and mother's maiden name with the app. Then pay off the balance. 

 11.00 73F/23C. The rain has stopped. I have barrowed about a quarter of the logs into the greenhouse. I need a rest before I start to stack them neatly. The cover is back on the trailer. To ensure they don't get any wetter.

 15.00 43F/6C. Heavily overcast. Half the trailer full of logs is now in the greenhouse. The car and trailer are put away in the carport. Showing skill well beyond your average. As I reversed in the confines of the parking space. The room thermometer seems stuck on 21C and refuses to move. 

 Dinner was poached eggs on toast. They were absolutely perfect. Michael Angelo would have painted them in a heartbeat. Guess who forgot to take a picture? No, not Michael Angelo! You'll have to make do with a picture of the last of the snow. Just pretend they are eggs.

 

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24.02.2026 New stairwell curtain.

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  Tuesday 24th. Overcast and misty. Most of the snow has gone.

  Up at 7am. 

  9.00 Visiting my friend. Now that I can get out. Without fighting ice and snow in the drive.

 13.00 Returning from my visit. My friend had advised me on improving and varying my cooking. I need to do more baking. Rather than endlessly frying my dinners. I shopped on the way home. 

 14.00 38F/3.3C.The stove is lit. 64F/18C in the room. I have just hung the heavy, insulated curtain over the originals I had fitted around the open stairwell. 

 The latest curtain came from the local charity shop and is perfectly sized. To go the whole way around in one drop. So no more gaps. Nor rearranging the curtains every single time opening the door wafts them apart. The tight fitting to the ceiling leaves no room for warm air flow. As might occur with a conventional curtain rail and hooks.

 I simply stapled this new curtain to the plasterboard ceiling tiles. Just as I had done with the previous curtains. Leaving these still hanging doubled the thickness. The new curtain is also lined. So effectively triples the thickness relative to the originals. While the air space between the curtains acts as further insulation. 

 The appearance is a matter of taste. I feel the darker, metallic grey has less impact on the eye than the original off-white curtain. This new curtain cost me the equivalent of about £7GBP. If it further improves the efficiency of the stove in warming the room. Then it will have been money well spent.

 The room temperature stuck at 71F/21C all afternoon. 73F/23C in the evening. Dinner was a fry-up of sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes and an egg. 

 

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