27.06.2022 Very, very wet!

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 Monday 27th 62F outside. 78F indoors. Overcast, with all day rain forecast. Possible thundery cloudbursts. So far the bad weather is heading north off to our west. Slowly spreading across to our area. I have the windows on the catch but am afraid of letting more gnats in if I open them properly. With no wind there will be no air movement to scavenge the hot air out of the house.

 No walk or pictures today. So you'll have to make do with this one from a few days ago. Rather spoilt by sunshine? Suit yourselves.

 Up at 6am after waking at 4.00. Feeling slightly more positive today. Or [perhaps] more neutral in comparison with yesterday's 3 month anniversary of my wife's death. I must overcome this apathy. Everything has come to a complete standstill. As I wander round and around helplessly. When I ought to be making more progress in tidying for intended visitors. The heat isn't helping at all.

 I have ordered a charger for a smaller "scissors" chainsaw. My wife hid "our" charger to stop me using the saw on "her" hedges. She had planted most of them. I couldn't get the car in or out without folding the mirrors. Or they would soon get folded for me. The B&D Alligator is an excellent tool for cutting branches up to a couple of inches. Much safer than a bare chain design. As is the battery operated model. A mains cable is a dangerous pest in a large garden!

 My poor old car [1996 Toyota] is due for its next periodic inspection. The door locks no longer work. So who knows what it would cost to replace the driver's side. Which would include a change of electronic key for the ignition. I am having to leave it parked unlocked. 

 Fortunately it is so filthy, old and ugly that few would bother to steal it. If I left the car in the countryside they'd think it had been abandoned! It was growing moss during the pandemic. This has dried out on exposure to sunlight. To form a hard crust. 

 7.10 The rain has started. Then a cloudburst at 7.20 with distant thunder. The radar forecast show a significant amount of rain falling all morning. A whole chain of "yellow" moving northwards right over us. No walk then. It is breezier now. So might pull the upstairs temperatures down a little. I have every openable window "on the catch" for ventilation. Some of them were never opened until now. Time for breakfast.

 8.00. Thunder. 60F outside, with steady, heavy rain. The upstairs, indoor temperature has dropped to 77F. Well, at least all those potted plants on the lawn are being well watered. Most of them never showed any signs of life. I had nowhere sensible to plant those that did. I could have used the bare soil from removing the Horse chestnut but it is undulating. 

  I was going to bring in some free compost from the recycling yard. Just to smooth it out a bit. Before the grass takes a firm hold to form a lawn. Bumpy ground makes a poor lawn. The high bits get scalped by the mower and the dandelions like the hollows. Where they can't be reached. 

 10.00  A pause in the rain sent me shopping in the car. 
 
 12.30 63F. 75F indoors. The rain stayed off. So I took the chance to rake the former chestnut's shadow of its countless fallen twigs and leaf mould. Making up a full trailer load. Which I duly delivered to the recycling yard. I was going to bring back some free compost but it started raining. So I left it for now. The garden falls away from the house to the west. Which surprisingly foreshortens the view. Raking away, out on the bare patch of earth, it seems absolutely huge. 

 13.15 The postman brought the battery charger I ordered. Amazing service!

 15.00 I have enjoyed an afternoon nap. The rain continues. 

 I plan to walk a disused railway when the weather is more stable. No cycle path but the landscape is worth the walk along the sleepers. I see the many dismantled crossings in villages and along the roads and lanes. The railway closed in 1966 but now has trolley cycling hire along its length. See image alongside.

 The trolleys cost £35 an hour to hire and take up to four riders. Very free running they claim. Downside is having to stop to open the swinging gates. Returning the trolley to the point of hire might be a bit of a pain if you are tired. They trolleys weight 120kg. So lifting one, to turn around,  takes four fit adults. I still haven't worked out what happens if you meet a trolley coming the other way....

 There is a cycle path on an old railway track much further away. Korinth-Ringe-Korinth. I really ought to ride that one again. It is a little narrow for trikes but I could usually manage to overtake any "normal" cyclists. They spoilt that path by insisting on having a much wider sand path for horses to walk along. I see from later images online that the sand has become grass now. So only the asphalt/tarmac cycling surface remains.

 There used to be a huge cycle shop in Ringe. Full of tasty machines. They seem to have changed hands. The Ringe website calls to an outlet in Odense. A big shed on an industrial estate by the look of it. Their website seems to be partially broken. No men's bikes, racers or mountain bikes? Seriously? Perhaps Covid caused them commercial problems?

 I feel that my enthusiasm for tricycling the gorgeous Danish countryside is returning. I had all but given up cycling during the pandemic. After that, my wife was worried I'd have an accident and leave her all alone in this house. Ironic really, but there it is. 

 Tidying has consumed enough hours and I am thoroughly sick of it. Cycling gets me away from the house and all the fleeting memories from everything I touch. Both good and bad, it cannot be undone. So I shall distance myself from it all when it suits me. When I need a break. Not today! When the weather permits. I don't have a serious waterproof cycling jacket. Only supermarket special offers.

 If I see another black or navy waterproof cycling jacket advert I will scream! What utter fuckwits think that a dark colour is suitable for riding in the wet? You know, when it is overcast or actually dark? When the crash test dimmies are tired and can't see through their windscreens and use their mobile phones at the same time. 

 Fact: Cyclists are second class citizens. They hide in the dark in dark clothing because they are naive simpletons. Who all believe that dressing like a foul mouthed, Sky Sports plonker will save them from the wrath of the crash test dimmies.

 Gotta get me a black or navy cycling jacket, right? Do a check online for "best waterproof cycling jacket. Cyclingmorons'R'us.  Cycling website after website show black or navy jackets.  

Coming to an ICU near you. Why is it even legal to sell dark cycling clothing? Is that why bike shops are usually sited on dark corners in back streets? So the dodgy clientele can't be seen let alone recognised?

 18.20 I have had the windows slightly open all day. As the outside temperatures hovered around 60F. It is still 76F upstairs. Comfortable enough for a t-shirt. 70F downstairs.

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