11th June 2018 I'll get my [winter] coat.

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Monday 11th 57-64F! 14-18C! Overcast and breezy but dry. A couple of decent rain showers yesterday afternoon will hardly have dented the drought.

Much cooler and windier than of late. I needed my jacket for my walk to the village and back.

Only a racing jersey and shorts for a shopping ride. Cool but not cold as it hovered around the mid 60sF. Only 7 miles but going out again this afternoon.

Rosa "Scharlaglut." 

And I did. Blowing a gale with fierce, crosswind gusts. I had to hide behind the top tube to stop myself being blown into the shrubbery. Not so bad on the way back with a cross tailwind. Another 13 miles for 20 today.

Tuesday 12th 56-64F, 13-18C, windy and grey. A repeat of yesterday's weather but with less wind. Walked to the lanes. Two rich, fat, unnelected, infantile dictators, both with appalling records on human rights, exploitation and hairstyles, got together for a fake news conference today. But there was no news. Fake or otherwise. They just wanted to be really self-important. Nothing to see here. Move along please! No ride today.

Wednesday 13th 58-64F, 14-18C, bright with some cloud, light winds. My morning walk was nearly my last. First an elderly, local, ground works contractor overshot a corner to put his vehicle and trailer carrying a small excavator onto the verge right where I would have been walking on the edge of the road. The next "bit of excitement" was a huge, articulated lorry clipping the inside verge on a blind corner. I had to quickly hop up the sloping concrete blocks and flatten myself against the hedge. I'm just another walking potential statistic as far as many drivers are concerned.

Afternoon ride to the shops. Overtaken by a drooling moron. Where the only oncoming vehicle for miles [a lorry] passed me by on the other side. Do joke shops sell driving licenses? It seems you can get a  free pass on the annual Danish vehicle test for only ten times the price of a genuine MOT/Syn in an official tester's back pocket. They didn't even need VW's crooked software! A strong and steady headwind coming back. Life is a headwind and then you die. Only 7 miles.

Thursday 14th 58-72F, 14-22C, bright, white sky and windy from the SW.

A longer walk to the far woods. Where some of the major tracks had been covered with demolition rubble. Somebody must be planning to extract some trees. A Goshawk was sailing across the cliff face of the forest. When it suddenly did a horizontal loop and vanished between the trees. Still with its wings outstretched.

A small flock of heavy, black birds were foraging on low, early corn. I immediately labelled them carrion crows but I haven't seen such large, all black birds in years. Checking online suggested they were Ravens with their large Roman noses. They has a very distinctive and unfamiliar, rough-edged squawk. Which safely confirms their identity.

It was very pleasant walking in today's cooler conditions. With bright, glossy waves racing across the crops. The sun came and went with the variable cloud cover. Another Goshawk was soaring nearer home. Still looking for breakfast. I've just remembered not noticing my knee hurting. Busy all day so no ride.

Friday 15th 61F, 16C, bright, calm and clear. Walked to the village and back and survived to tell the tale by taking to the verge several times. Afternoon ride to the shops.

An Audi raving fuckwit's station car was at the supermarket. When the driver left the shop he shrieked his tyres for 50 yards across the jam packed car park. Then he "floored it" on the busy shopping street to reach at least 70mph by the unprotected junior school playground. His tires were still screeching until he was out of sight. Beyond the bend there are small shops on both sides of the much narrowed road with busy crossroads at either end and several junctions with difficult exits. The speed limit is only 40kph or about 25mph in old money. With pensioners and children constantly crossing the busy road. Not to mention all the heavy lorries taking a short cut through the village. Only 7 miles returning heavily laden.

Saturday 16th 61F, 15C, cloudy and breezy with scattered showers possible with thunder too, as well. As the weather persons are wont to say, as well, too. Just a 40 minute walk along the lanes. Surprising easterly headwind coming back. Saw a tiny bird of prey going in a beeline like a missile across the landscape.

Talking of blowing up: The narrow strip of land beside the road, where the trees were cut down earlier this year, has exploded into dense growth. Poplars in particular are throwing hundreds of shoots from root suckers. The big stumps are also producing hundreds of shoots from their edges. Hawthorn, blackthorn and wild roses are also doing well, now they are no longer in heavy shade. As are lots of Field maples.

At this rate they will be putting on the lost height to rapidly return the strip to nature. The roadside  verge of a field just down the road was deliberately planted with mixed natural species. It is superb now after only a few short years from dark twigs in long grass. The birds love it, judging from all the singing and constant movement in there. Why they choose to compete with the traffic is a mystery. I don't hear the same number of birds in the forest. Perhaps hedges are far more dense. Allowing for better cover and many more secure nesting sites.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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