3.08.2022 Peek a Roe!

 ~~

 Wednesday 3rd 64F, bright start but the sun is obscured by cloud in the east. A warm day is promised. Up at 5am. It's Wednesday. Another day as a volunteer at the farm museum. Should I wear shorts? 

 6.45. Breakfast over. The sun has finally broken though. Swallows are darting and swooping out there. Time for a walk.

 The morning traffic was busy. The first vehicle I saw was a fast moving, faired, recumbent, tadpole trike! A velomobile! I haven't see one for  many years.

 Despite searching online I can't confirm the maker. It had lots of bright headlights and rear lights. I was so surprised that I forgot to photograph its approach. The name is on the rear quarters but isn't legible in my images. I'm going with a Sinner Mango. The exposed front wheels suggest this maker.

 On a transport theme: It is quite shocking [?] to me how  many electric cars [BEVs]  there are now. A large proportion of those I see on my travels have no exhaust. It is ironic that some models of ICE cars have chromed or even stainless steel exit ports as part of their styling. Perhaps to bring attention to their filthy pollution? ICE car sales are crashing.

 8.00 69F/21C. I saw a pair of ears bobbing up and down out in a crop. The wheat[?] was only knee high on me. [20" or 50cm]  All thanks to its straw shortening characteristics. The [Roe?] deer was heading for the far side of the field. The hedge is 130m/145 yards away according to Google. 

 There may have been more than one animal. Because ears kept appearing in different places. It must have been quite a struggle to make headway against the stiff stalks for these small animals. Nor could they see where they were going.  Lumix G9 with Leica 50-200mm at 200mm. [400mm FF equivalent] Very heavily cropped! So probably well over 1000mm.

 12.45. 79F/26C. The museum, working day started with me helping to tie back Hollyhocks right beside the lane. Back home for lunch after a morning shovelling wet concrete into a trench. It was hot!

 Later I spent some time talking to a young pair of Dutch archaeologists on holiday. We shared an interest in old houses, cycling, walking, nature, the woods and the countryside. We could probably have gone on chatting for hours but her partner became bored. He wandered off with their dog. 😏

 I went back after lunch to weed the farm's enclosed, cobbled yard. It was hot and sunny as I went back and forth with a hoe. Ideal for killing small weeds and grasses. Just by lifting them from the dry soil. I was joking that the supervisor was a prison guard and I was one of the prisoners. Like one of those classic, southern US, jail films.

  16.00 79F/ 26C. Windy and bright but very cloudy. Rising from a nap to catch up on an early start. Probably chasing my own sleepy tail.

 18.00 Thinking about dinner. I have Pastella, organic, Fettuccine pasta. Should go nicely with fish fingers and tinned chopped tomatoes as "the sauce."  And, then there's brown, button mushrooms. Perfect! 😋

 18.30  76F/24C. I have just dragged the weekly refuse bin along the drive. Closed up the greenhouse. Done the washing up. Still far too early to make dinner. That way lies [potential] chaos. I would soon be doing everything earlier and earlier. Until I was having dinner before dawn and sleeping all day. Just to fill in the time. 

 I need the discipline of maintaining "normal" hours. Morning coffee is getting earlier because I am going for my walk far too early. That can't last because it will soon be dark in the mornings. Early coffee means a very long wait for lunch. 

 The swallows are back! Zooming through the open spaces of the garden. It is 82F/28C upstairs. I have the windows wide open to try and lose some of this heat. Which probably means gnats indoors!

 20.30 71F/22C. The wind has dropped. Dinner was perfect. Though next time I will cut up the long strips of pasta before it goes in the pan. Just to make it easier to eat. I was even able to use up all of the sauce from the tinned tomatoes. Which I usually have to throw away. 

 I used the baking paper to slide the fish fingers effortlessly onto the pre-warmed plate. Without damaging the fish fingers this time. So much easier than scraping them off the bare baking tray.

 Cooking and eating is good therapy. Good for balancing, multiple, time and control dependent tasks in parallel. These small successes help to build confidence in my abilities. Help to keep the brain alive. 

 Today was a good day but I still miss her dreadfully. All of the time. I could have cooked for her. Could have done the washing up for her. Could have cleaned for her. Could have done the laundry for her. Had she let me.

 ~~