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5.15 A long wait for breakfast at 6am. Up at 4.30 after a sweaty night under a duvet cover. I should have slept downstairs! Or found the double bed sized sheet. Which feels much cooler than the heavier, double thickness, duvet cover. The big sheet also protects me better from gnats as I toss and turn. Still 75F/24C upstairs this morning.
I have no plans for today. The recycling yard is open but I have no trailer full to dispose of. Trimming the ridiculously large, Thujopsis dolobrata hedge should wait until well after the nesting season.
If I am going for a trike ride it ought to be this morning. It will be too hot later. With a risk of thundery showers this afternoon. Where would I go? I never needed an excuse for a ride in the past. Then I remembered I need a new pickaxe handle. There are a couple of large charity shops which had that sort of thing. Except that the one I was thinking of closed some time ago. The big DIY outlets only have skinny handles. I need the pick to break up the crumbling "patio" slab.
There is still one possible charity shop. Which has tools in a shed. About 20km away. I used to go there all the time on my trike. It's a nice ride. Mostly along country lanes, quiet country roads and through the forest. A round trip of around 25 miles + detours.
My walk was uneventful. 6.45-7.15. Already warm and sunny. I saw a hare two fields over. No velomobile. At least not at the same time as yesterday. It was just possible he was commuting. Which might have suggest similar travel times.
That's the problem with seeing anything on the road. You assume they are local. But they could be on a round the world trip. They just happened to pass through your locality while you were there. Much like appearing on Google Street View. My Higgins trike and I no longer feature on the ride through the local forest.
8.00 70F/21C. A few small, high clouds. Morning coffee is over. I'm getting ready for my ride.
8.30 Left on my ride. Two, small, Corny bars and two small cartons of apple juice from the 'fridge. Wrapped in a cloth bag to stay cool. I paused to let two harvesters go by. Then overtook them when they proved to be much slower than I was.
13.00 88F/31C! Just returned after 37 miles and quickly sank 1.5 litres of cold water. I had gone onto another village after my initial goal was reached. Which proved to be a mistake. I had to fight the headwind all the way home! My right quadriceps [front of thigh] were aching all of the time. Later, my right foot started hurting. It felt like a broken nail but I'd clipped them a couple of days ago. No obvious injury to my toes under the magnifying glass.
Burning hot sunshine all morning. It looked as if I was sunburnt on my thighs and forearms. Probably just my sunglasses. They make the crops look redder too. I saw the velomobile on my way back through the lanes. The young blond "driver" shouted something to my thumbs up. Did he say "Skol?" He is incredibly fast! Perhaps he has a motor and battery? I couldn't see any name on the shell but he was really moving up the slight incline.
15.15 90F/32C outdoors, sunny and very windy. Clouding over from the west? 93F/34C in the greenhouse. End doors wide open. Slightly above ambient as usual. 87F/31C upstairs. Opposing dormer windows wide open for a cross draught. Which is probably raising the indoor air temperature to match outdoors. It should cool off as temperatures drop later. 78F/25C downstairs.
16.00 Just had a nap. I keep drinking water, juice and tea. I ought to move downstairs to be more comfortable. I have just been outside. It feels like an oven. Even in the shade. The same upstairs.
20.42 70F/21C. 78F/26C upstairs. Dinner was mackerel in tomato sauce on toast. With brown button mushroom topping. Followed by half a tin of tomato soup and a bread roll.
I am practising other's advice on being flexible. Eating the same thing two days in a row. To avoid wasting good food. Prepared the day before but not all eaten. This doesn't mean it can't be mixed up with other good foods.
Next time I won't put the mushrooms on top. I'll let them speak for themselves. It's not about appearance. Being responsible for its production demands greater attention. Now I know why I was told to eat at the table. Rather than in front of the TV. It's about eating for pleasure.
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