13.05.2026

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  Wednesday 13th 43F/6C [6.45] Heavily overcast. With rain forecast all day. 68F/20C in the room. Heat pump on all night set to 16C on the remote. Greenhouse 51F/11C. 

 Up at 6am after an unusually quiet night. Aching shoulders from yesterday's heavy lifting. 

 I should have a run with the trailer to the recycling yard. To get rid of all the debris from removing the door and window. Plus the door packaging. Continuing work on the woodwork over the new doors could take place under the carport. There is little to do. I spent/wasted most of my time moving and setting up the heavy saws. I was also overthinking the job. Trying to saw a deep rebate instead of simply thinning larger material to match the spaces.  

 It was raining lightly as I enjoyed my usual walk along the drives on the back field. The robot mower has been moved to another, flat area. I shall enjoy monitoring its progress in improving the sward. An interesting variation on watching other people work. Not quite as much fun as actually owning one but considerably cheaper!

  

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12.05.2026 Saws 'Я' Us.

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  Tuesday 12th 46F/8C [7.30] Bright overcast but expected to become cloudier. Possibly with showers. Rather breezy. 69F/21C in the room thanks to the heat pump. I was cold in bed and switched on the heat pump. 48F/9C in the greenhouse.

 Up at 6.30 after a rather busy night. Shoulders aching? Possibly due to yesterday's activities while clearing the area of blockwork and mortar under the new glazed door. Back not aching? Probably having a rest day.

 I had been sold old milk at the supermarket. A freshly opened box came out all blobby in my coffee. I checked the date with a magnifying glass. Printed in pale grey on fawn. To ensure total illegibility and continuing profits. It was already two days beyond the 'Best By' date. I poured the full box down the toilet. 16 kroner wasted. £1.85 for a liter of milk! Avoiding food waste? Yeah, right! 

 No visit to my English friend today. He is on his 4th day of suffering from Man Flu.  

 9.00 We had a nice chat via WApp. A quick walk and then I'll get on with fitting the wood above the new doors. I'll have to drag the table saw out.

 The sun is shining on the new doors. Filling the entrance hall with sunlight. 

 9.25 Back from my walk. No back pain.

 13.00 Lunch. What a struggle! Extracting both saws from the shed was difficult beyond belief. I am not as strong as I once was. The shed is far too dark to work in. I lost the power and lights when I demolished the observatory. Once outside I had a lot of dust to remove. Then to fit the dust extractor unit. Which I'd ordered online from the USA and then never fitted it. If not today, then when?

 Meanwhile the sky was getting progressively darker. As if it was about to rain. The birds were chattering away all around me. Several warblers singing away. Out of sight in every corner of the garden. 

 The saws are ready to be used. I am watching the greenhouse roof for the first sign of rain. 

 Dinner was fish fingers, pasta and peas. Guess who forgot the tinned tomatoes again? I washed up while it cooked. For 20 minutes! 

 21.30 It is getting dark. I have just been outside to put the tools away. Talk about breathless! Those saws don't get any lighter! I fitted an axle and two sack truck wheels on the sliding miter saw stand. That was years ago. Without which it would never have moved.

 

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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.

 12.45 Back from the builder's merchant with some 100x100mm pressure treated timber. They cut the length in half for me. So it would go in the car. Only just!

 16.30 51F/11C. After lunch I used the big DeWalt hammer drill with various chisels. To clear the mortar and blockwork under the new, glazed door. It took some time to make enough room. For the length of timber to slide easily under the door's threshold. 

 17.00 It has been getting noticeably colder but no rain yet. Dropping below 63F/17C in the room. So I have started the heat pump. Remote set at 18C/64F. The outlet air is briefly showing 55C before dropping back to 29C. 

 19.00 I just woke from watching YouTube! It must have been an hour! I hope I can sleep tonight!

 Dinner was tuna on a wholemeal bread roll. The room has reached 69F/21C.

 

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