31.05.2023 Weeding voluntary.

 ~o~

 Wednesday 31st 12C/53F [7am], bright sunshine and breezy. I was woken at 4.45am by a rumbling tractor. So I closed the window fully and went back to sleep until 6am. Breakfast over. An early walk? Museum day. Dry, with lots of sunshine forecast for at least a week ahead. I shall ride there.

 Partial interior of the barn at the museum. A series of spaces are separated by head height, partition walls. Perhaps to segregate animals over the winter. The "rooms" now house displays of historical farming equipment and provide storage for lots more. Changes are being made following the repair of one section.

 Donations of obsolete equipment and furniture are regularly made to the museum. Often when an elderly farmer retires. Or gives up farming and the family need to downsize the contents of his/her outbuildings.

 The  central, upright, timber supporting the roof are believed to have been repeatedly recycled from the 14th century or earlier. They show lots of sockets for bracing timbers in previous constructions. 

 Note the round poles used for rafters. Thatch is a relatively lightweight roofing cover. So it does not need massive support construction more typical of tiled roofs.

 The museum's present dining/master bedroom. Though it is unlikely to always to have served that dual purpose. A four poster bed rests out of sight in the right corner. 

 The walls are covered in painted murals. Which have been damaged beyond all hope of restoration by later wall coverings. An old loom sits in the far corner. The massive ceiling joists must bridge the entire span of the room. No doubt they were painted in far darker colours in the past.  

 17.00 20C/68F. Safely back from the museum. Where I mostly weeded gravel paths and the cobbles around the smithy. With a bit of brushing in between. I wore shorts and a t-shirt to help my tan. 

 The headwind at lunchtime required I use Turbo mode to get home quickly. Though I only needed Sport to return to the museum at 40kmph.

 I finally left about 2.30. After a chat with some passing, Dutch e-cyclists. Who arrived too late for a tour. Some shopping on the way home through the village. Before a more relaxed ride to reach home at 15.00.

 The washing up backlog had to be done before I could start dinner. Which was going to be toast but the chicken had to be used up. I made rather too many chips, but so what? 😋

~o~