26.02.2020 Danish Climate Vacuum.

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Wednesday 26th 33-36F, overcast, calm but mostly dry. The flooding/puddles on the field continue to rise. Another couple of inches and the lane will be covered in water. Small beer compared with some places around the world but significant to a local resident. There was a fleeting snow shower this afternoon.

Thursday 27th 32F, white overnight frost with a light snowfall just now. No walk yet. Going shopping early to avoid crowds of virus carrying bods. I have just been reading that beards do not suit surgical masks and respirators. This, as the first case of Covid-19 arrives in Denmark after an Italian skiing trip.I had a pre-lunch walk to the lanes as blue gaps appeared in the clouds.

A Danish coalition party is now threatening to bring down the government if they don't come up with a climate plan soon. They were elected on the promise to bring down Denmark's CO2 by 70% by 2030. Nothing is being done. It was all hot air, CO2+methane. Typical electoral lies latching onto the electorate's fears. The last lot did well on stoking fears of mass immigration and did little on that score once in power. Did nothing for the climate. Quite the opposite, in fact.

There are cheap wins to be had in stopping private [in]security light's from blazing 24 x 365. Insisting that Danes don't run around half-naked indoors all winter with the central heating turned up. It is commonplace for rural Danes to answer the door in their underwear. Banning the sale of wet firewood. Stopping empty churches from being heated 24x365. When they don't hold any services due to a complete lack of interest. Banning outdoor, patio heaters. Small beer, but surely better than nothing at all? 

Friday 28th 35-41F, sky almost clear with some sunshine promised. A cool wind and bright sunshine on my walk to the lanes. A bird of prey was being bullied by a crow. While a brilliant Yellowhammer sang, in full view, in a roadside hedge. Sky becoming overcast now at 10.20. A day of heavy cloud, short sunny periods and showers.

Saturday 29th 37-39F, heavy overcast with steady rain. Variable wind. The rain rattled on my hood as I walked to the lanes. Lots of detours onto the verge as sociopathically handicapped, totally non-empathetic drivers tried to spray me from head to foot. The GripGrab, fingered gloves were completely out of their league at these temperatures. I wore their lobster claw, winter gloves yesterday and they were perfectly suited to the windier conditions. Even at slightly lower temperature. Today, my hands were unpleasantly cold. Another, long, grey, miserable day of grey skies and rain.

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24.02.2020 Denmark Wins! Rest of the World 0.

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Monday 24th 36F, calm with a clear sky but no sun yet. None is forecast by either competitor. Brisk walk to the lanes. The sky looks clear but is increasingly milky from high cloud.

Being elected, on the promise of major changes in Denmark's climate policies, is beginning to wear thin. After months of zero change the coalition parties are getting restless. Instead of Denmark making global headlines. Leading the world with bold new ideas to reduce CO2, the "climate" minister remains silent and invisible. Well, at least they cleared the hurdle of increasing their own, lifelong pensions. So that's alright then.  

Meanwhile, the UK is banning coal and wet wood for private woodburning stoves. Denmark can't even manage that! It is burning tropical hardwoods in [Amager] brought from half way around the world to feed its <cough> "climate friendly" <cough> power stations.

That'll be the wood felled illegally, by bulldozer, from the Amazon. To make more [very short-term] farmland to supply the Danish pig farmer's desperate need for dirt cheap feed for its factory farming. Heads, Denmark wins. Tails, Denmark wins. Rest of the World 0.

Danish link to TV2 story on illegal clearing of the Amazon Rain Forest to feed Danish power stations with tropical hardwood chips. Use Google Translate to read the text. Or just watch the videos and look at the pictures.

Her house was bulldozed, so Copenhageners can [district] heat with tropical hardwoods - TV2

Hendes hus blev bulldozet, så københavnerne kan fyre op med tropisk træ - TV 2

Tuesday 25th 40F, heavy sky and gales with fierce gusts. We ere promised sunny periods by both competitors. Yeah, right! There was rain in the air as I toddled briskly to the lanes at the mercy of the wind. I was leaning forwards on the way and cough> backwards on the er, way back to avoid going arse over tit. There is talk of 26m/s gusts this afternoon. Which converts to 57mph in Ye Olde Money. Arrived home just in time to miss a downpour. The field puddles are now well above their highest point and pushing debris uphill on the downwind side.

*

18.02.2020 Rain, rain and more rain.

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Tuesday 18th 39-44F, bright and breezy. The wind has gone around to the west. Conditions were rather soggy as I walked for an hour and a half up to the woods. With the tracks almost continuous puddle. I was very glad for my hood and gloves in the strong, chilly wind.

More puddles had appeared on the fields. With the grass underfoot almost liquid in places after recent rains. It remained sunny until the last leg of my walk. When the sky suddenly darkened and a sleety shower passed over. It rained on and off for the rest of the day.

Wednesday 19th 38-46F, heavily overcast but almost calm at 8.00. Some sunshine is promised throughout the day. Just a half hour walk to the lanes. The field puddles have grown back almost to their worst levels of the winter. A saw a solitary skylark but no singing yet. The sky has turned mostly blue. Though there is a cold wind from the SW and little warmth in the sunshine. The morning was a mixture of sunny periods and occasionally, heavy showers. As was the afternoon.

Thursday 20th 38-44F, very heavy overcast, wet and windy. The two forecasts are for sunshine and showers. Or no sunshine and rain. Eany, meany.... I wonder if you can average two forecaster's predictions and still be completely wrong? Walking for 40 minutes in driving rain managed to darken my cotton jacket for the first time. Though I managed to stay completely dry and comfortable inside it. The jacket is standing up in the bath to drain the worst off.

There were white horses on the field puddles as they continue to expand and deepen. Every passing vehicle was towing a tail of spray several times their own length. Aided and abetted by the side winds, I was having to turn my back on them from the furthest reaches of the verge. Several huge lorries kindly gave me a nice wide berth. Though not many drivers of private vehicles shared remotely the same empathy. It hardly stopped raining all day.

Friday 21st 38-45F, bright and breezy with blue skies. Walked briskly to the lanes. Short lived sunshine because it clouded over to full overcast mid-morning. New records being set for warmest winter and individual months since records began 150 years ago. Wettest too.  A new examination of Denmark's deep, drinking water wells has found agricultural poisons which were never legal in Denmark. Not just one well. As one might expect from a single "entitled" fuckwit, but half a dozen wells. Possibly suggesting an "entitled" fuckwit conspiracy? 

Saturday 22nd 42F, solid overcast, blowing a gale and raining hard. No walk today because I had to catch up on the shopping, in the car.  Horizontal sheets of rain, horizontal sheets of wheel spray and sheets of water on the roads. One forecaster has sunshine and showers. Do they actually get paid for this? Seriously? Do they publish their work under science fiction or fantasy? The other forecaster has 26m/s gusts this afternoon. That's nearly 60mph!

1.00pm This is very odd! The wind has dropped to a light breeze and the rain has stopped. Even a few blue patches and some sunshine. Eye of the hurricane? The wind picked up again later.

Sunday 23rd 40-41F, heavy overcast and windy at times, but presently dry. The forecast is for lots of sunshine with showers. Or no sunshine at all and showers. They can't both be right, but can both be wrong? Walked briskly to the village in a stiff south westerly wind under a leaden sky. Sunday traffic delightfully sparse. Possible rain in the air. No sign of the sunshine yet. Field puddles fully back to their highest level.

February in Denmark has just scored another record for wettest ever.

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17.02.2020 Darwin awards for bad drivers?

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Monday 17th 42F, rather cloudy with more gales and gusts to 45mph promised. There seems to be quite a lot of blue patches as we approach 08:00. Even fleeting hints of brightness. Short lived because it is now completely overcast at 8.30.

It as much windier than yesterday as I cowered before the roar in the roadside hedges and trees. It was not so much being buffeted but being bodily pushed around. Glimpses of sunshine were accompanied by a procession of glory lights marching across the horizon.

The marsh pond was empty of waterbirds with the exception of  circling heron and two wild mallards. All of which promptly left on my arrival. I disturbed a solitary hare. Which dashed off across the prairie. Wind chill made it very uncomfortable to remove my gloves for photography. Though I still managed thirty nine images of the dramatic skyline.

The UK is to have a £1.2 billion pound supercomputer for weather forecasting. I predict it will cost well over 3 billion and fail to work properly for at least a decade. Before the whole sorry mess is finally abandoned. It is intended that the power hungry behemoth will be built in Iceland or Norway. Where low carbon, electrical energy is available from thermal or water power.

Denmark has seen a reduction of 21% in prosecutions for "entitled" hand held, mobile phone use behind the wheel. Only 8,837 still felt entitled to break the law in the five months since a change in the law. The reason claimed for the reduction? A "clip" on their driving license on top of the £200 [equivalent] fine. A clip is similar to a UK license endorsement. It increases the risk of losing the automatic, absolute human right to a driving license.

Three clips means the loss of the driving license. £200 is small change to many Danes. Why doesn't the government add a nought to the fine? To focus the gap toothed retards who still feel entitled to mobile phone use behind the wheel. £2000? Try shrugging that off!

I see young women commuters every day using their huge mobile phones as they drive. Some of whom have serious problems driving around me as I walk along the edge of the road on my morning walks. Why should I be risking my life so they can illegally exchange their drooling trivia? 

There is increased interest by the new [cough] green [cough] coalition government to end deliberate and repeated "lunatic" driving. Where the driver travels at 100% above the legal speed limit and often at much higher speeds. Loopholes in the law meant that lunatic drivers could claim they were not the owners of the vehicle. So the car could not be confiscated.

There seems to be cross-party support for a change to ensure the vehicle is confiscated, regardless of ownership and an automatic prison term applied. Not that this will stop all those illegal drivers who continue to drive without a license, insurance and vehicle safety checks.  

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16.02.2020 International Business Times Advertising offers unique antidote for COVID19!

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Sunday 16th 49-51F!! Very dark overcast, rain and gales [again.] Storm Dennis is supposed to produce strong winds only a week after Ciara. Exactly the same as last week. The wind is blowing from the south. Not the SW claimed by the weather services.

I decided to walk the opposite way today. Only to be exposed to the gales without a single twig of hedge for protection. It started raining but then grew bored and stopped. So I plodded on down the main road trying to avoid the motoring ignoramuses. The sky seemed to be broken into strips  of dark and not so dark, grey. I was buffeted at one moment and then spared so much as a breeze, the next. Only half an hour of "enjoying" nature. Tomorrow's forecast looks much the same. With gusts to 22m/s or 45mph.

Don't you just love these advertising bureaus masquerading as news channels? International Business Times Advertising Bureau claims the only known antidote to COVID19 coronavirus:

 Protect Yourself From The Deadly Coronavirus By Doing These Four Things

BUT! Open the link and the advertising bureau's screen is blocked with demands to allow all kinds of shit to be foisted onto your computer in exchange for saving you from the pandemic. Which part of "respect" don't they understand?

Is this snake oil salesmanship at its worst? Is this even legal? Claiming to protect people from the pandemic but only in exchange for intruding on their computers? Does International Business Times offer the only known cure for COVID19? Does it have the world's greatest viral experts onboard?

Or do they just want to go viral? To make more money in a fiercely competitive advertising market supersaturated with downright lies and falsehoods?

An online search will provide free advice from real health agencies and national health services without demanding their pound of flesh. The gist is as follows:

Wash your hands regularly and properly with soap and water.
Patented "Kills 99% of pandemic viruses" hand washes are not superior.

Hand washing is also sound advice for medical "professionals" like nurses.
Who often can't be arsed to wash their hands after a visit to the toilet.

Wash your own hands carefully after a toilet visit and before eating.
Keep your unwashed hands away from your face.
Avoid contact with people who are ill.

You don't need to wear a mask unless YOU are ill.
A mask is only to protect others from your flying bugs.
Most masks will not prevent you from catching the virus.

Cover your face if you are going to cough or sneeze.
Use an elbow wrapped around your face in an emergency.
Put soiled tissues straight into the rubbish.
Don't recycle them through your pockets.

Cook foods properly.
Keep food preparation surfaces clean.

Meanwhile, Gligolo speinkling chukker still doesn't recognise "coronavirus!" There I am suffering from flu-like symptoms and I'm worried about the pandemic. So I type the word "coronavirus" onto my blog page and Grudgile doesn't even recognise it! I typed the link above and Grabgile still has "coronavirus" underlined in red! It is offering "coronations" in exchange for more overdoses of advertising. What has very doubtful, hereditary entitlement, to live like a multi-billionaire at taxpayer's expense, have to do with a pandemic?

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15.02.2020 Fuckwits 1 Public Privacy 0

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Saturday 15th 41F, heavy overcast, rain and wind. Another storm is coming tomorrow. I dressed for
rain but it stayed resolutely dry. Though breezy again. Four Skylark-like birds were hovering and chasing each other wildly over a roadside field. No song, so not really a confirmed first sighting for this year. Heavy shopping in the car. At least six, everyday items with no stock.

A Danish solar farm has been vandalized by a fuckwit. Or the plural thereof. Lots of glass panels broken. The owner had requested permission to be allowed security cameras but was turned down on the grounds of public privacy. Fuckwits 1 Public Privacy 0.

The hypocrisy is absolutely mind blowing. Appliances with multiple cameras and microphones, are spying on vast numbers of people in their most intimate surroundings. Including their children's bedrooms and bathrooms. But you can't have security cameras to protect private or public property? Hundreds more spying apps are taken down almost every day according to the media. The vast, global, tax-free, advertising companies always claim complete ignorance until the internal emails are leaked. 

Owners of private security cameras must ensure they don't cover public spaces in case criminals are identifiable. Yet, as soon as there is a terrorist scare, the police and security forces canvas local, security camera owners. On the vague chance of their having captured useful information.

Photographing or filming a criminal in the act of a crime is illegal. Particularly if you share the video or images online. Even if you are the victim! But you can give the police a verbal description right down to the last possible detail: e.g."He was covered in my blood!" The victim is always guilty! Off with her head! Meanwhile the criminal is given another free pass of the 20+ they have already been given. Total hypocrisy! 

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10.02.2020 Get ahead. Get a hood!

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Monday 10th 43F, heavy overcast. A mixture of calm and gusts as the sky races across from the southwest. The wind is in the west now. Our most sheltered wind direction. It is just getting light at 7.45. I can't see any damage so far. Walked to the village under a broken sky. Leaden to the north as I was buffeted by fierce gusts roaring in the trees.

I probably caught the very edge of the rain as the sun struggled to peek through to the SE. Even some patches of turquoise going over. No sign of any damage. A trampoline, with safety netting, leaning awkwardly against a hedge. Just a few dead twigs blown out of the roadside trees. None thicker than my thumb or longer than my arm. We were lucky this time.

Tuesday 11th 37-?F, very very dark at 7.30am. Still dark at 7.45. Went for a walk at 8.30 only for my nose to start dripping blood. Changeable, windy weather continues with light showers. Spent the day tidying the trike shed.

Wednesday 12th 38F, dark overcast with showers and windy again. Walked to the lanes in showers and gales. Spent the day replacing the expansion tank after the old one sprang a leak. It could have been a lot easier if the new tank hadn't had different connections. I flushed the system while I was at it.

Without any heating [at all] for nearly three days the indoor temperature had dropped to 57F/ 14C. It was only about 37-38F/ 3-4C outside for the whole time and very windy. I fitted 30-40cm/ 12-16" of Rockwool in the roof somewhere around 2000 after the Storm of the Century damaged part of the roof. That probably helped maintain a tolerable indoor temperature. An old down jacket is a handy accessory at such times.

Thursday 13th 36F, calmer and brighter but cloud forecast. Or sunny? Eeny, meany, miney mo. I had hardly managed 5 meters before it started raining. Though it was as soon over as it had begun. The roads were saturated as usual. Which meant retreating to the back of the verge with every vehicle passing, where possible.

The roadside, hedge clipping tractor had been along. Which meant prickly twigs scattered across the entire width of the road. They have uninvented road sweeping. So the mess will turn to mulch under the tyres of the traffic. Then turn dirty, soggy brown strips until the weather finally washes it away.

I have discovered the hood on my jacket is remarkably efficient in stopping a head-on wind. Being made of doubled cotton, it is much stiffer than man-made materials. It is also wired at the rim. A bubble of still air forms in front of my face thanks to the enveloping hood. Drop the hood and the eye watering gale instantly returns. Back up with the hood and all is calm again. None of my previous hoods was ever stiff enough to manage this. So it was quite a surprise to enjoy such comfort in the recent gales. The sides of the hood do not interfere with my sideways vision so it must only be level with my face. There is certainly no tunnel vision effect.

There may be some value to some cyclists in this interesting personal discovery. An enclosed recumbent rider could enjoy an open-faced, stiff, cotton hood instead of the usual, tiny, clear plastic screen and fiberglass bubble overhead. With all its attendant problems of getting scratched, overheating, noise and rain obscuring the view.

Friday 14th 37F, overcast and almost calm. Lots of sunshine is promised. Or very little. Eany, meany, miney.. No sun by 10:00am and the wind has gone around to the NE. Avoid Colombian avocados. They are stripping the Amazon forest and turning it into an avocado desert of corruption.

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9.02.2020 Storm Ciara!

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Sunday 9th 43F, heavy overcast and soon to be stormy. With potential gusts to 60+mph. I walked to the village in a strong but variable S-SE wind. I presume and hope, that it will go around to the SW or even the west  later.

There is an exposed junction on the brow of a hill at half way. Where it was really hard work making any progress at all. A little further on the roadside hedges provide plenty of shelter. The garden trees are already rocking. My neighbour's corrugated metal, carport roof is already lifting and rattling back down. This, despite the wind not having reached anywhere near its promised peak until much later this afternoon. The rain is just starting at 9.30 and expected to continue all day. The rear windows are already being sprayed as well. Which shows how turbulent the wind is.

The wind is still from the south despite the DMI showing SW all day. TV2 weather shows the correct wind direction and has it going South Westerly at 19:00 when it peaks. The gales are supposed to continue for several days.

The highest wind speed measured so far is nearly 37m/s at Kolding which is 83mph. That's not very far away to our west! The wind should begin to slowly die down to "normal" gales over the next couple of hours. It sound noisier than ever outside now at 20.00 but is highly variable.

The storm has caused serious flooding in the UK.

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6.02.2020 Odense cycle path paved with slippery slabs!

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Thursday 6th 41F, heavy overcast and occasionally breezy. Some sunshine forecast. Or not. The overcast was breaking up into clumps and small blue patches as I strode to the lanes and back. No real sunshine but there were glory lights on the eastern horizon. A cold westerly breeze made me glad for my hood again.

In cycling news: Odense, renowned for its cycling friendly network of cycle paths, in cycling friendly Denmark, has failed. It laid paving slabs, which are lethally slippery when wet, on [guess what?] a major city center, cycle path. What are the chances that those who made this daft, decorative, paving decision never [ever] cycle? "Fetch the Limo, Jens! I fancy a nice little jaunt."

Friday 7th 40F, heavy grey overcast and calm. The wind turbines were all standing still. Very light drizzle on my brisk walk to the lanes. Another grey day, tootling about on projects at home.

Saturday 8th 37F, clear, bright and sunny start with only vapour trails for cloud cover. Two airliners went over in close company. Something I have never seen before. They were still together when they went over the south westerly horizon. Google just changed blogs again when I clicked on New Post. What can they possibly get out of this idiocy?

The Antarctic has just set a new high temperature record of 18.3°C. Nearly a full degree over the last record of 17.5C in 2015.

Tomorrow a storm passes over Denmark after a tour over the Atlantic and the UK. We had better batten down the hatches!

 "South American forests are cleared to feed Danish pigs. Farmer's should buy responsibly grown soya - now!" Danish TV& Radio, Inland News:

 Sydamerikanske skove ryddes for at fodre danske svin: 'Landbruget skal købe bæredygtig soja - nu' | Indland | DR

Danish pig farmers are directly responsible for clearing the Amazon Rain Forest for cheap Soya feed. Remember this as you enjoy your antibiotic-saturated, Danish bacon. With its very long record of animal mistreatment and very long, often illegal, animal transport. Just to gain a few more pence at a distant, German slaughter house. Or even much further afield!

Let's not forget the regular reports of modern slavery in Danish [animal] factory farming and the transport sector. Nobody monitors animal transport. So the animals can travel for a very long time without the legally required rests and watering. Animal transporters are regularly involved in traffic accidents. I regularly see pig transporter lorries careering around sharp corners. With the pigs crashing about and crying out in panic and pain! 

Denmark imports 1.7 million tons of Soya per year. Isn't it time every country's environmental and CO2 footprint should be accurately and independently measured on its total footprint? Including all that hidden abroad!

Sunday 9th 43F, heavy overcast and soon to be stormy. With potential gusts to 60+mph. I walked to the village in a strong but variable S-SE wind. I presume and hope, that it will go around to the SW or even the west  later.

There is an exposed junction on the brow of a hill at half way. Where it was really hard work making any progress at all. A little further on the roadside hedges provide plenty of shelter. The garden trees are already rocking. My neighbour's corrugated metal, carport roof is already lifting and rattling back down. This, despite the wind not having reached anywhere near its promised peak until much later this afternoon. The rain is just starting at 9.30 and expected to continue all day. The rear windows are already being sprayed as well. Which shows how turbulent the wind is.

The wind is still from the south despite the DMI showing SW all day. TV2 weather shows the correct direction. TV2 has it going South Westerly at 19:00 when it peaks. The gales are supposed to continue for several days. The highest wind speed measured so far is nearly 37m/s at Kolding which is 83mph. That's not very far away to our west! The wind should begin to slowly die down to "normal" gales over the next couple of hours. It sound noisier than ever outside now at 20.00 but is highly variable. The storm has caused serious flooding in the UK.

~~

3.02.2020 Near miss, but no cigar!

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Monday 3rd 39-43F, damp, misty and heavily overcast. You can have sunshine and showers or just showers today. Eeany, meany, miney... A brisk walk to the lanes in spotting rain. One neighbour's barking dog was being choked by another's smog. The mist has cleared now. I hear this year's, small, diesel, family car from VW is to be called the Smoka.

Tuesday 4th 37-43F, bright, lots of blue sky and calm! I was fooled by the shelter of the garden. There was quite a westerly breeze once I cleared the gate. My first obstacle was avoiding a white Tesla as I crossed the road. It made no effort to slow or avoid me. So I had to sprint onto the opposite verge. I have seen the same car daily for a couple of weeks now. It seems rather bulbous compared with others so may be an 'Y.' The tyre noise is little different from most other car's overall noise. So I was just unlucky in my timing this morning. Wouldn't it have been ironic if I had been run over? Global headlines! Tesla kills poor old pensioner!

On the way back from a brisk walk to the lanes a juggernaut lorry passed on the other side of the road. It was dragging a spray halo well above head height and several times the width of the road. I was prayed from head to foot and my eyes were stinging.

Fortunately I was only ten minutes from home and could thoroughly rinse my face and eyes. I'm am trying not to imagine the filth on the roads with dead rats and amphibians decorating the asphalt at intervals.

Wednesday 5th 27-41F, calm, clear and bright. A sunny morning is forecast. White frost on the grass and the previously soggy ground was now safely frozen. Walked up to the woods and back down along the marsh in an hour and a half. Inspired by the low sun I took lots of photographs today. Crows were having a noisy, aerial scrap over the marsh. Though not a single water bird in sight on the wall-to-wall ice A family of wagtails flew past. I haven't seen one for quite a while. They are very commonplace in summer. Often to be found foraging on country lanes. Presumably where cars had knocked down insects. We have regular visitors to our roof and garden.

An afternoon ride to the shops. A cold crosswind had a touch of headwind going with a slight tailwind on my return journey. I was trying to keep up my cadence to my usual 95-100rpm. My knees were hurting on the way back. Probably for letting my cadence sink too low. 15 miles. The temperature has dropped to  a rather cool 35F now.

~~

1st February 2020 EU RIP?

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Saturday 1st February 46F damp, dark grey and very windy. Misty rain driven by a reducing wind. Half a dozen hazels had catkins this morning. Denmark's record warm winter is producing early visitors including fish. I'll probably be seeing and hearing the first skylarks before long.

Britain has officially left the EU and Smaug The Frauge has lost his day job. It's an ill wind... 😊

The Boris is obviously emboldened by his role [roll?] as the token leader of a rather small, insignificant, all but separate and now completely isolated island. So he  has sacked the token head of the upcoming Glasgow, climate, summit meeting. That meeting is now considered to be the absolute last chance to limit global warming. Boris hasn't held a climate meeting since taking office. Bodes well, doesn't it?

If the Chinese close down any more cities and businesses to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the the local air quality might improve dramatically. That might make the citizens think it is a very good thing and want more clean air. Let us hope the virus can be contained. Or an effective antidote found sooner rather than later.

There is a large, dead, grey rat, by the road, at the end of the drive. I expect they are doing well with the record mild, winter temperatures. Plenty of food scattered in every chicken owner's garden and around every bird table. Mind you, the farmer's drop literally tons of grain along the roads during every harvest. With their leaky, old trailers, often overfilled into a high mound well above the brim by their harvesters. We once followed a thick trail of grain, along the verge going north from Assens, for 12 miles before it finally petered out. I can't imagine there was a single grain left in the trailer by then.

Sunday 2nd 41-43F, windy, almost clear but milky blue sky with thin, high cloud. I walked briskly to the village and back. It steadily clouded over after that. I spent the day inside and outside working on a project.

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