31.10.2026

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  Saturday 31st 47F/8C [8.20] Another grey day. Peaking at 11C/52F. Light northerly winds.

 Up at 7.45 after earlier awakenings and dreams. A hot 23.5C/74F in the room. The heat pump remote has been reduced to 20C/68F.

 Ideal conditions for another ride? 

 10.00 Back from my usual walk. Traffic light. No dog. 

 Oh, the irony! After being told off for felling a withered little tree on my northern border. The vast willow we inherited, 30 years ago, has dropped a huge branch. Silvery and dying and very obviously wrong. It's left a nasty gap in the treeline.  

 11.15 Off we jolly well go. 

 

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30.10.2026 45km Because I still can.

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  Friday 30th 49F/9C [8.45] Thick mist. A cloudy day. Peaking at 12C/54F. A fairly light, westerly breeze. 

 Now that, is a proper sandcastle! The new High Speed rail track has been surfaced. Now looking just like a very large cycle path.  Lots of landscaping and drainage work still going on and much more to do. The motorway runs alongside. Over on the left.  

 With the vast new FTZ car spares building in the background. A claimed 3 million car spares in stock. 1000 staff spread across the country. This view is looking westwards on the road to Gelsted.  

 Rørup church no longer has its full onion spire. A more modest version was added after the original was absent for some years. It used to be a landmark from the motorway but the trees in the car park now block the view.

 Up at 8.10 after drifting for hours between weird, often repetitive dreams.   22C/72F in the room. The heat pump remote is set to 20C and lying on the coffee table.   

 Looking eastwards toward distant Odense. From the same, newly cast bridge. The motorway is more visible in this view. Over on the right.

 The ever expanding Grønnemose [Green Marsh] industrial estate is on the left. Once appearing almost disused. Even the roadside supermarket had closed. 

Now with new builds, parking, EV charging stations, recreation and many new businesses. Including popular takeaways. Several sites are actively under construction.   

 9.50 I've had a chat with my minder. 

 Then a brisk walk around the loop. No breathlessness. No dog. The mist is slowly thinning.

 13.15 Back from a 34km ride. Up to the new railway embankment above Aarup. Where the new embankments continues to rise and be compacted. I didn't take any pictures today because the sun was low and right behind the site of interest.  

 A short but steep section of the excellent cycle path above Aarup. A lovely, long climb or a speedy descent. Depending on one's direction of travel. Almost no other users to hinder the enjoyment. 

 Even though they made a deep cutting at the summit. It is still higher and steeper than the road running alongside. There is an ancient windmill to the right of the picture. A stately home [Erholm] to the left. 

 Mostly cloudy weather. I wore my hi-vis jacket. Just in case. Though the mist had soon disappeared. 60% battery charge remaining from 100% at the start. 

 I passed a vast field adjoining a wood. Where the hunters were practicing for a Russian invasion. There were hundreds of shots being fired. Local hunts rarely manage more than half a dozen. Before they get bored at the lack of prey. 

 16.00 Back for a chilly, shopping trip to the village. For a total of 45km today. It was Friday afternoon and the supermarkets were packed with shoppers. Many workers finish early on Fridays. Adding further to the numbers present. 

 I am noticing a distinct improvement in my cycling. As a result of the stationary exercise bikes. And the other exercise machines at the therapy classes. Where we are put through strenuous sessions under heavy pedaling loads. 

 Whether the exercises are called sprinting or hill climbing. The effect is much the same. My ability to climb hills faster and without pain is  noticeably better. Leg strength, lung capacity and stamina are all much improved. 

 Dinner was a chicken fry-up. With toast and tweggs. This time I managed to keep the eggs out of my lap. Not difficult, given that both yolks were broken before they hit the pan. I turned them to avoid embarrassment. 

 

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29.10.2026 Life threatening!

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  Thursday 29th 48F/9C [9.20] Wall to wall sunshine and lighter winds. Peaking at 13.5C/56F.

 Up at 8.20 after a fairly quiet night. I have been chatting with my minder for ages. The heat pump is getting too excited. 24C/75F is too hot for me. I am sweating!

 I'll have a shower and then go for a walk. Or not. It's a bit late now. I'll just fetch the recycling bin from the end of the drive instead. 

 Therapy at 11.00.  

 12.15 Another fine day of solid sunshine. Back from my exercise class. I tried to fit in every machine available. Pushing myself again. With enough series and repetitions. To cause real pain and make my timetable look good. 

 I washed up the usual backlog. It only took me half an hour. It saved me having to rinse every piece of crockery and cutlery I needed. As I went along. Just to have to something to use.   

 I have just risked life and limb to walk along the drive. Carrying a heavy DeWalt hedge clipper. For almost a year the occupants of the houses on our shared drive have taken our lives in our hands. Every time we attempted to pull out of the drive onto the busy road in our cars. 

 All thanks to the dangerously overgrown hedge of yet another abandoned "investment" property. Under the completely false guise of "property investment." But really just an evil ruse. For yet another attempt at blatant blackmail. Where the "investor" buys a dilapidated old house for [very] small change at forced auction. He then deliberately fills the garden, or grounds, with absolute junk. And damages the house beyond all hope of further repair. 

 So that the whole becomes a hideous blight on the landscape. To the absolute horror of those still living nearby. Whom, are now, completely unable to sell their homes. Not even for pocket change. There is no escape! 

 The entire farce is not so subtly designed. So that somebody [anybody] will offer the "property investor" ten times the price he paid at auction. For what is now an absolute, worthless wreck. So that the "investor" will simply go away. So that the property can then be summarily demolished and the garden cleared. To put everybody out of their misery. Of the last, many, intolerable years. And counting. 

 The perfect economic crime! The council won't do anything. The right is on the side of the "property investor." So, that those who work around the clock to pay their mortgages. Paid handsomely to have their own properties maintained and improved. Not to mention paying the generous salaries of the council officers, via their rates. The occupants who surround the "investment property" are utterly screwed! The same pattern is repeated across several villages and hamlets. All caused by the same "property investor." He has cost numerous residents an absolute fortune. 

 Meanwhile, back at the hovel: Thanks to the projecting hedge. It was impossible to see the fast approaching traffic. Now, finally, we can see them. Even if they cannot see us. As we hesitantly emerge from an apparently solid hedge. On a sharp, completely blind bend. 

 I was completely breathless before I even reached the road. Equally so on the way back. Somehow I dodged the speeding traffic. Though I had donned an old, high-viz jacket. In anticipation of potential phone abusers.

 Dinner proved to be almost as dangerous. As remote hedge trimming. I aimed for poached eggs and was completely successful. They emerged from their hot bath in a perfection of form and viscosity. Even if I say so myself. 

 The true harm only arose. When I sandwiched this wonderful pair, of true culinary pearls, in toasted rolls. Then settled into my armchair to watch Netflix. Only moments later I was to discover the magical ability of egg yolk. To cling to moustaches, beards, jumpers and cargo trousers. In no particular order. Except by descent under the effects of local gravity. Now I will always wonder if the use of a knife and fork. Would have avoided the splatter radius.

 

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