8.05.2022 Dum englænder.

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 Sunday 8th 43F, bright sunshine. Slept well. 10.30 to 6am. Aching all over from yesterday's efforts. Including manually lifting a smaller car trailer into my bigger one. This sounds more dramatic than it really was. Though getting it to sit up on its tailgate was a bit of a struggle. When it was vertical I "walked it" up to the bigger trailer. Once the wheels were safely over the bed of the bigger trailer it could be rotated around the axle. Which sounds much easier than it was. 

I was ripped off by a [Department Supervisor] colleague over that smaller trailer. It was in such poor condition that it could not be tested at one of the vehicle testing stations. Which is a legal requirement in Denmark when a trailer changes hands.

 Something I didn't know when he stole my money. But he knew of course. An active farming family and fully qualified mechanic and Master Machinist? Daylight robbery!

 So the trailer has been sitting unused in the garden for 20 years, full of junk. Which I had to take to the recycling yard yesterday as yet another load. Along with the bitter memories of being "Dum englænder" to yet another, racist Dane. One who profited to the tune of £150. [Equivalent.]

 The same, racist Dane who wouldn't fit an extractor to a filthy, dust-producing machine. Not until years later. When a Dane was put there. To be trained up by me as the sole operator until then. The extractor system was fitted the same day. It was simply a matter of dropping a pipe down from the main trunk overhead. They should have added a Danish flag!

 The trainee Dane proved to be completely clueless. Though at least they did not remove the extractor system after he was moved on to far simpler tasks.

 I just tried to tell my wife that she had died 5 weeks ago today. But just ended up crying my eyes out. I need a walk! ["Only on the roads," of course.] 

 In fact I kept to the "main road" up to the woods. A wide and heavily rutted track. Where one may legally walk or ride a bicycle but nothing motorised. 

 Once in the forest I walked a once familiar loop around a large area of clear felling. The sombre atmosphere of the formerly towering conifers was completely absent. I hope the vast and steaming heap of wood chippings does not catch fire!

 I heard my first Willow warbler of the season. This was in a roadside hedge. Then my first and rather insistent first cuckoo calling from the forest. 

 Chaffinches tend to dominate with their songs. Probably because they have slightly deeper voices and I am deaf to high frequencies. I am seeing very few swallows so far this year. 

 More of my wife's tulips have come out under the big hazel. Many more tulip leaves in her flower bed. Sadly there is little sign of anything coming up from all the pots I rescued. I have been watering them. Some of the grasses are showing fresh green growth from the base. Small quantities of rain are promised for the coming week. 

 These three image are from the newer TZ7. Perhaps I should try again. Using the G9 and the 12-60mm Leica lens. That might be sharper for close-ups. Even if I do have to heavily compress the images for the blog format. I always resize blog images to 1000 pixels from the 3-6MB originals. I have now added the same flowers but taken with the G9 and Leica lens.

10.30 60F. I might have a ride on the trike today. Along the lanes through the gorgeous countryside. I need more coffee and the recycling yards are all closed. So that's my excuse. This lovely weather can't last forever. Though there is still a cool, westerly breeze. 

 I was going remarkably well. Managing 23 very hilly miles. I chose a hilly route deliberately. There were lots of signs of the Baltic Pipe project. With long pipes snaking across the landscape in huge trenches. Loads of cyclists out and about. Some waved or called out as they passed.

 It has only just occurred to me that my memories can be considered positive or negative. Everywhere I go and everything I do reminds me of my late wife. Her possessions, her activities and effect on the house and garden. Her shopping lists, the supermarkets, the houses we looked at, villages with flea markets. The charity shops we visited. 

 All remind me how much I desperately miss her. Still with floods of tears at unexpected moments. If only I could switch to a positive attitude to these countless memories. Perhaps that comes later? I should be grateful for so many happy memories. Shouldn't I? Then why do they make me feel so sad? 

16.30  I have been outside having another look around. The beech hedge which I chopped back is growing new leaves. Mostly on the inside which wasn't really touched. Though there are some leaves on the outside. Remarkable, considering I cut back at least 4' of horizontal growth and about 3' off the top.

 I have brought my wife's aspidistra back indoors. It was being bleached by the sun and 100+F temperatures in the greenhouse. It is now sitting in the corner of the lounge on a low stool. Where it won't block the light or get in the way. 

 I am seriously considering adding a second layer of shade net to the greenhouse. Still only May and it is reaching nearly 110F. Albeit not nearly so unpleasant to be out there as no shade at all. If you ever see an advert for a greenhouse or conservatory where somebody is standing in full sunshine then the advertisers are cheating or lying. It is intolerable to be under unshaded glass in sunshine. 

 Before enjoying a salad dinner I made a template for the work surface cut-out for the new hob. Given the cost of a piece of thin card it seems very odd that Siemens fails to provide one. All you get is a tiny, dimensioned drawing in the instructions. Yet the much cheaper sink came with a card template. Not having a template made it difficult to guess where the adjoining appliances would safely fit together. 

 

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