4th July 2018 Who forgot to turn the lights on?

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Wednesday 4th  60-65F, cooler, calm and overcast. Early shopping ride instead of a walk. A pair of Red kites were hunting over a harvested field beside the road. Remaining cloudy at 64F @ 11am. Only 7 miles. Climate researchers are using the Tour of Flanders cycle race to confirm earlier foliage on trees and bushes. Because the race covers the same ground, in April and is televised, they can study the trees along the route. Bare trees in 1990 are now in leaf.

Today's health news is that drinking 6 cups of coffee a day can increase your lifespan by 16%. Good grief! If I drank 6 cups of coffee in a day I'd WANT TO DIE YESTERDAY! I'd need a funnel on the Trykit's downtube! These statisticians should be made to follow their own advice. And pay for their own portaloos and rubber underwear!

UK farmers are suffering from the drought too.  With some farmers already feeding winter stocks to survive. Grass stopped growing weeks ago in some places. Our own grass has suddenly turned to straw where it was mowed by The Head Gardener a while ago. The garden flowers and shrubs are attracting countless butterflies, bees and hover flies. The worry is a sudden collapse of trees and bushes. The headlines are getting worse with serious farming problems. Meanwhile old people are dropping like flies in Canada's heatwave.

Thursday 5th 59-66F, overcast, calm and cooler again. A bit of rain was forecast for today but soon disappeared from the DMI's charts. I went to Odense in the car yesterday. I wondered whether there was single road which wasn't being dug up. I could have crawled on hands and knees faster than I crossed town in both directions by completely different routes. At one traffic light, waiting to join a major route, the lights were only green for six seconds. That meant three cars escaping to the back of the next queue if they were awake. Only two if they weren't. I smiled as a tiny tot on her bike sprinted across a six lane road with her mum. Who was riding alongside on her box trike carrying more potential cyclists up front. The infinite power of the red traffic light to still the roar.

Just as I was preparing for my morning walk we are having very fine drizzle. The forecast is "mostly" dry. We had plans to water some conifers with rinse water from the spin drier. A fat toad had taken up residence amongst some small historical roses which were being watered from the same source. Another fair weather friend?

The roads were still slightly damp as a few bands of black clouds crossed over. Leaving brief, misty patches on the landscape where there was a local shower. Then the sun broke through and that was the last sign of any rain or dampness. It was interesting to see how the south facing hedges had lots of yellow leaves. While the northern sides were uniformly dark green. A large bird of prey hovered briefly over the garden as I worked outside.

Friday 6th 61F, bright, sunny and windy and much warmer. I have hiccups again this morning after having them all day yesterday. They kept going for the entire length of my walk as I explored the newly harvested prairie. The sheer size of the machine was obvious from the enormous width between the rows of straw waiting to be bailed. Swallows are still whizzing overhead everywhere I go. With skylarks constantly rising and singing. It is already 68F at 10am so it will be much warmer than yesterday. I forgot to check the highest temperature today so you'll have to settle for 73F.

Click on any image for an enlargement. 

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