23.06.2023 Belated spring cleaning.

 ~o~

 Friday 23rd. Bright overcast. The council therapist is coming today. Months of cleaning and vacuuming to catch up on! Nothing has been done since she was last here. Drag the temporary bed back upstairs. Heavy! Which caused pains in my chest and shoulders. Soon passed off. 

 Vacuum every room. Then down on my hands and knees on the bathroom, both halls, lounge fireplace and kitchen tiles with a soapy sponge. To clean away the filth. Back over with a well rinsed sponge. Repeat. 

 Clean bath, basin and toilet. Clean kitchen sink, racks and draining boards. Unusually, I washed up last night. I must find somewhere to store clean pans. The trolley provides far too little storage. The old pine dresser is almost unused.

 But I digress. There is more work to be done: Remove build up of cycling clothes from dining chair backs. Clear months of "paperwork" and supermarket receipts from the coffee table. Shower, then trim my now droopy moustache. Trim eyebrows and nasal hair. No time to get the mower out. It's what it is. I am blaming the drought! 

11.30 21C/70F. Well, that went well. Thanks to the antidepressants I am much more cheerful and talkative. Probably far too cheerful! My continuing lack of motivation is to be tested. Or at least gently whittled away. By my having a clear rota for daily or weekly chores. I have never felt I needed one until now. Or so I thought. 

 It was so much easier doing absolutely nothing. Until something was vitally necessary. If only to be able to continue for another day. My reacting to a rare visitor, with hours of intensive cleaning, is rather foolish. 

 So much needs to be done. Just to bring the house up to basic hovel level. Let alone anything resembling normalcy. Actual smartness is probably asking for miracles. Small steps will probably achieve more in the long run. Than my earlier over-enthusiasm. I certainly let the light in but merely exposed all that was wrong with the place.

 13.30 22C/71F. Lunch over. Still bright overcast. Bit of a northwesterly breeze. I had a nap before lunch to leave the afternoon free. Need some shopping. Where shall I go?

  18.00 73F. Bright sunshine for most of the afternoon. Luckily I applied lots of sun cream before leaving. I rode over to see my English friend. Going well with a tailwind. Then had to fight the wind on the way back.  

 I swapped batteries at halfway. To give me plenty of reserve for Sport mode on the flat. With occasional bursts of Turbo mode. To climb some of the hills more quickly. 58km. Average of 27km/hr. 

 Least saddle discomfort so far. I think that riding every day must take its toll. I saw several birds of prey. A red kite, a buzzard and a harrier. A bunch of large, white ducks were all packed tightly together on a roadside lawn. Some drivers haven't heard of the 1.5m rule. Few drivers have heard of speed limits.

 Shopped at the last village. So I had something to eat for dinner. Surprise!

~o~