~o~
8.40 Rain on the southerly windows. Up at 8am. I got up from 4-5am due to having intense memories of my wife. I wasn't really warm enough in a T-shirt, under a duvet cover, despite it being 24C/75F upstairs.
8.45 I was going for walk but it is raining harder now.
I had a shortened walk. To confirm the neighbour's new [mega]drive is fully covered. In a firm layer of rubble, on the surface, from end to end. Presumably flattened by the road roller. I wasn't present to hear its deep rumble yesterday.
A remarkable feat considering the changes in level. From the raised road and right across the sunken marshy field. Countless giant, tipper trucks dumped their loads of subsoil and went away for more. There is now a gentle slope throughout the length of the new drive with considerable width. To allow easy access for large vehicles. Huge piles of gravel stand waiting. To be distributed once the leveling and landscaping work is completed.
12.00 26C/78F. I have just mowed the lawns and the drive. Instead of running away on some false errand. It was too hot in the sunshine! I had to splash my face and neck to cool off. The Bosch Rotak 37 battery mower is tired out. We had it for years. This one was our second after the first one wore out.
The deliberately "wild" part of the garden. Which was once in extremely deep shade. Two decades of bare earth. Hidden under the giant horse chestnut. Towering teasels, pretty pink mallow, rosebay willowherb, lupins and foxglove are all self-sown. The striking 3-D effect is rather lost in the image.
My wife always insisted on mowing at the lowest height setting. Which meant the blade was scraping along the ground most of the time and hitting stones. Two batteries were never enough for her to complete the task within a reasonable time period. They were always on charge. Being stored over the long winters in the freezing shed probably didn't help.
I regularly re-sharpened the blade and replaced it at intervals. I do not think it is worth paying for another new blade. The mower was only ever suitable for small lawns. It stalls if it is faced with taller or thicker grass.
17.00 25C/76F Overcast but still warm. Countryside warning of a risk of thunderstorms. For this evening and overnight. Which is why I cut the grass. I should have gone shopping today, but didn't. 27C/80F upstairs. 30C/86F in the balcony room. The opposing dormer windows are open but here is no visible air movement in the trees.
I had better put the mower away before the rain starts. Well, that went well. The ants had moved into the mower. Just while it was standing out on the lawn for a couple of hours! I found a sharp stick and cleaned all the old layer of grass coating the inside of the base. That should help it to perform a bit better. Meanwhile it pretended to rain. It feels like an oven outside and in.
Massive rain just after 9.00! With hail, inky black sky. The temperature dropped to 15C/60F. The drive was bright with water from end to end. Short lived though. I have reopened the windows on their catches but it is stuck at 27C indoors.
21.13. Or not! As huge black clouds with flashes are heading straight for me now. With fierce winds. It's now turned as dark as midnight in winter! Constant lightning to the west and north. The northern sky is so dark I can hardly see the outlines of the garden trees.
Dinner was mackerel on toast. No imagination, but I wanted to save the mushrooms and chicken for tomorrow.
~o~
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