12th October 2015 No snake oil involved.

*

Monday 12th 43-45F, 6-7C, overcast, light breeze. Any early showers should clear to brightness with light winds.

I passed this large barn under reconstruction on a country lane. It is very unusual to see traditional farm outbuildings being repaired or restored. Modern building economics must make it cheaper to demolish and put up a tin shed.



A glance through the decorated entrance on the left showed new steelwork had been erected on concrete pillars to completely clear the floor of the original wooden support posts. The internal, dividing walls had been demolished to provide hardcore for a new floor. New rafters had been strapped to the originals to provide a safe and flat roof surface for the new tiles in the foreground.

The imposing portal on the front is also new work to allow larger machine access. The sheer scale of the building is difficult to judge until you see the two men working up at the ridge. [1/4 of the way from each end]  I have added a Google Street view image of the barn as it was originally. The asbestos corrugated roofing has obviously required earlier replacement on the left after storm damage. Such fiber reinforced, corrugated cement roofs are remarkably commonplace in Denmark for industrial, farming and countless homes. Eternit roofing was light enough to provide an affordable replacement for expensive and fire prone thatch. Which was still remarkably widespread even in the 1950s. As can be seen in the many archived aerial photographs which are freely available online.

After a morning of digging and relaying timber foundations for our greenhouse I went for a ride after lunch.  It stayed dry with sunny periods and the winds remained fairly light but definitely feeling cooler. 20 miles.

Mmm! McLardy's slug bait. Burp!

Tuesday 13th 45-47F, 7-8C, mostly overcast with a cool, but light wind. My planned, usual loop up through the woods was curtailed by spraying on the field beside my normal exit track. Without wishing to retrace every step I tried to walk beside the edge of another field. But, as usual, it had been cultivated right to the hedge. Forcing me to plod the tractor tracks as I accumulated enough mud to plant my own lawn.

I was going to have a tootle on the trike after lunch but it started raining. With no pressure to go shopping I took another rest day.

Wednesday 14th 44F, 7C, another day of cloud and showers.Walking to a more distant section of the forest provided new paths to explore as leaves fell like gentle snow. I spotted a Kestrel hovering busily over bare fields. Kestrels are not very common for some reason despite the huge numbers of other birds of prey. Hardly a day passed when there was not a kestrel overhead at our last place.

 Just as I was readying to take a picture in the woods two deer rose up and bounced off into the background conifers. I still managed to miss capturing their flight with my camera. It impossible to do large trees adequate justice with a compact camera. Or any camera at all, for that matter. The trees soar but look like mere matches in an image. Later, I was regretting the lack of small birds when over 30 Chaffinches moved in fits and starts across the nearest field. My last hundred yards in the drive were at a snail's pace as I allowed a mixed flock of fifteen, heavily armed pheasants to disperse at their own pace. It had stayed dry but a niggling wind had picked at vulnerable trees and my bare hands for an hour and half.

My ride started with rain but stopped before the first shops arrived. The wind was more beneficial on the way back. I pulled off for a large, verge-trimming tractor but caught it again at 26mph on the next descent. My wife gave me a spectacle case for my shopping reading glasses but I lost them again just the same. Fortunately they cost little more than a fiver in old money. Lack of [optical] accommodation is nature's punishment for my surviving long enough to become forgetful. Has anyone seen my reading glasses? I need them to read the microscopic print on food labels. Just because you can nano-print does not mean you should!

I have probably mentioned it here before but cycling cured my long distance vision problems. [About minus one dioptre] I needed glasses to read the wall clock for nearly a decade. That was before my employment was exported in exchange for a fat director's bonus and a smart new Audi. [His, not mine] It took them another three years to close the whole factory with its globally unique and desperately needed products. I still see colleagues at the shops with no real hope of employment.  The government was talking about dispersing jobs from Copenhagen to the outskirts of Denmark. Those involved were being offered crisis help for their potential psychological problems! Only in Elysium! 10 miles.

Thursday 15th 46F, 8C, breezy, heavy overcast, light local showers. Another sad, grey day. Busy, so another rest day.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

*