27.08.2022 Sixteen tons..

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Saturday 27th 62F/17C. Overcast and very, very dark. Up at 4.45 after sleeping downstairs. I was too hot hiding under a single sheet [at 74F] and was being attacked by gnats. The nasty things are still at it upstairs this morning! They are too small to be visible and can't be felt until it is too late.

 No sign of any thunderstorms and now they are off to the east. There was some flooding from cloudbursts over Jylland.

8.15.  I started at 6am and came back in for morning coffee at 8am. I have shovelled and barrowed about half the pile of gravel to the former site of the giant hedge. I am sweating profusely despite it being only 62F outside. 

 It feels like an oven indoors at only 72F! Now I am going back out again. The more gravel I move, the easier it will be for the car to turn around the pile. I ought to check the levels too. 

 10.00 65F.  I used some old concrete posts to contain the far side of the gravel. The level falls gently all the way to the flower bed. I have also made up the dip in the middle of the parking space. Then evened out the slope. 

 Some washed gravel will be needed to make a clean, uniform and hard wearing surface. I doubt there is a quarter of the original pile of gravel left now. Amazing what one [old] man can do with a shovel, a rake and a wheelbarrow in four hours. I used the car as a steamroller. Just running back and forth to help to compact the gravel.

15.30 73F/23C. Bright sunshine. I've just had a visit from my rediscovered friend and his wife. It was great just to be able to sit and chat. I have never thought about it before but my wife and I were incredibly isolated. My only contact was with checkout staff at the supermarkets and online. 

 My wife had no human contact, at all, for years. Not even from the weird neighbours. Whom, by coincidence, moved away just as my wife died. As did the neighbours from hell for other reasons.

 My new friend's Danish wife was kind enough to help me translate the bereavement court's questionnaire. Even with the help of Google translate I couldn't understand some of the terms. 

 I had found time to mow the grass and do some tidying in preparation for my visitors. I can now park the car and trailer out of the way. Instead of them dominating the former parking area. Still lots of tidying to do out there.

 Dinner was salad. With lettuce, tuna, boiled eggs, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber and mature Cheddar. One heart lettuce is enough for two people. I don't have salad often enough for that to mean anything useful. 

 The tomatoes have gone soft only a couple of days after purchase. The last lot lasted well despite higher indoor temperatures. More waste! At least the bread is safe in the freezer. I can get a couple of slices out for toast without the dreaded green mould. Which had been harassing me for months. Lots of half loaves going into the bin!

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