31.08.2023 Not an unsuccessful day.

 ~o~

 Thursday 31st Overcast. Possible cloudbursts or rain. It rained heavily last night. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. Bed at midnight. Up at 6.15. Catching up with the laundry backlog. I am having to hang the clean clothes on indoor airers. I need an early walk to loosen up tired muscles.

8.45. Just a short walk. A rest day on the earthworks. Probably just as well. Because the wetness from heavy rain carries mud onto the road. The aches and pains have subsided. I need to go shopping.  

 9.30 The crisis of a lack of drying space finally had me stretching a washing line along the inside of the greenhouse roof. It has taken me long enough! 18' [of a potential 22'] is enough length to hang  most of the wet t-shirts. The lack of sunshine does not bode well for quick drying. At least they are not being drenched by cloudbursts. [If any.] It is dry, but grey, so far. 

 Now I must speculate whether opening the outer doors will hasten drying. Or slow it due to the cool, outdoor  temperatures. There is no visible air movement. Fuzzy logic suggests closed doors will raise the temperature in the greenhouse. Which may help the cause more. Than potentially, accelerated evaporation from a weak airflow.

 In a perfect world I would have cleared the greenhouse floor of accumulated detritus by now. Alas it has not been prioritised by "the staff" so far.

 14.20 Lunch over. I spent the morning touring all the charity shops over a wide area. Without success in searching for specific items. There were only a few localised, wet areas with tire spray from recent rain. Dry everywhere else.

 The T-shirts on the line in the [now warm] greenhouse are still damp at the bottom. While those on airers, in the lounge, are still damp throughout. It is only 65F downstairs, indoors. Signs of brightening and even some sunshine. That should push temperatures up a bit.

18.30 Still monitoring the greenhouse washing line. It was warm but humid out there with the doors closed. The old T-shirts dry faster because they are thinned from decades of wear. The new ones retain moisture in their greater thickness. 

 I have to use up the chicken and mushrooms. Perhaps I should make curry? I haven't had that for quite a while. Or, I could make a greasy spoon fry-up. With poached eggs and beans.

 ~o~

30.08.2023 Battery suction?

 ~o~

 Wednesday 30th. Occasionally bright overcast. Up at 6.15. Museum day. I shall ride there. There is some risk of showers.

 8.00 Returning from a short walk to capture some more images of the renewed earthworks. Several 7-axle tipper trucks were coming and going in the short time I was hovering. While I was busy snapping away with my phone camera. 

 The new drive surface level seems to have been established. Now huge quantities of new soil being added to spread the sides outwards. Eventually raising the field to provide grazing and an attractive approach. The skilled excavator driver is quickly moving the soil to allow more to be dumped.

 14.45 Returning from the museum. Where I spent the morning hacking at moss between the cobbles in the huge yard with a sharp edged hoe. Progress was around an hour per m^2. The earth filled spaces between the cobbles provide a growing medium for many plants. There is a constant rain of leaves from the huge trees surrounding the farm.

 It was odd how quickly the bike battery lost charge today. Only 31km and the battery dropped from fully charged at 100% down to only 17%. I managed 70km for less loss the other day. I have checked the wheels spin freely. No brake disks dragging. 

 Dinner was chicken and mushroom with chips.

~o~

29.08.2023 49 more [km.]

 ~o~

 Tuesday 29th. Bright overcast. Up at 6.30 after a quiet night. No unusual effects from yesterday's long ride. Cooking class. I shall be riding there. If I can drag myself away from the computer.

 14.30 Returned from cooking class. There was a headwind on the way home. So I used Turbo mode quite a lot. I made carrot and cheese bread. I haven't tasted it yet. It has gone into the freezer. Just in case Denmark is invaded.

 18.30 I have just been shopping on the e-bike. Making it 49km today. The supermarket was short of its own label goods again. This is becoming a habit! It poured with rain on the way home as I approached a dark cloud. Only for it to turn into dry roads and sunshine shortly afterwards. Too late. I was wet.

 There is no need for dinner as I ate well at the cooking class. 

~o~

28.08.2023 Go east young [?] man?

 ~o~

Monday 28th [F later]  A restless night. Up at 6am. Bright but milky sky. With some golden sunshine. 

 I seem to have developed memories. Or increased awareness of dreams when I wake. Incredible, razor sharp, realistic, colourful detail, but with very confused story lines. Though I can recognize allegories of real events. These are often displayed in very unrealistic scenarios. 

 I presume my brain is selecting random memories. For processing or presentation, within the dreams, but completely missing logic and reason. I had one recent dream. Where shelving units became a huge, outdoor exhibition. With New Zealand strongly represented. Without my having any connection. Nor any particular interest in NZ. 

 Later, I was walking on a downhill pavement, in the dark, in search of something. While being harried by radio controlled cars bumping into the backs of my shoes. I recently visited a large, outdoor market on sloping ground. Searching for items of interest but found nothing worth buying. I have been watching YT videos of drones in Ukraine.

 All very odd but seemingly harmless. Unlike the long run of dreams. Where clear memories of my wife were involved. I would wake up and often have to get up. To avoid continuing to torture myself. With painful dreams "reliving" past events. Though sometimes these would also be strangely twisted stories. In one example, I had to cross a wide canal by swimming. To get to the shops with my wife. 

 I am a very poor swimmer and my wife once saved my life. After I jumped into deep water at a public swimming baths. There seemed to be no lifeguards on duty. We never went to a pool after that and I hated the perpetually cold water at the beach. On our annual camping holidays. The most obvious interpretation is that it is now impossible to go shopping with my wife.

 7.30. Time for a walk. It is my busy, alternate week.  With cooking classes and the museum. I haven't had an e-bike ride for what seems like ages. I may be able to ride to my cooking classes, weather permitting. If not then I had better do so today. When I am free, the wind is light and some sunshine is promised. Now I just need a suitable goal. 

 7.45. I'll see if I can come up with some ideas on my walk. Unfortunately I seemed to have chosen the rush hour. With almost constant traffic. Sometimes pushing me onto the verge. Or choosing to retreat there to avoid buses and lorries. The sun was in my eyes on the return leg. So I has to be even more careful than usual. The aches from yesterday's exertions abated.

8.50  There is Nyborg at 50km. On the opposite side of Fyn in a fairly straight line. 100km is about 60 miles. Manageable with two full batteries. A bit over two hours each way plus stops at my typical, average speed. I'd need snacks and fluids. There are plenty of Corny bars on the shelf but I have no apple juice left. No Netto supermarkets on the route either. 

 I like their organic apple juice in tiny cartons. Just the right amount for a brief stop and very refreshing. I could swing south to take in Ringe or even Ørbæk or both. Ringe would take me along the rural cycle path built on the old railway. An easy ride and high average cruising speeds on the gentle inclines. Though I am always careful to avoid distressing other users. I usually have the path to myself during the day.

 That would add 10km for 60km each way to Nyborg. 120km would be a new distance record for the e-bike in one day. 75 miles. Google maps has it at 3h15m per leg by bike.  Say seven hours. Call my average speed 30km hr and it's down to 4 hours. Highly unrealistic! 25km/hr =~5hrs moving time + stops. I should still be back by mid to late afternoon. Still doable on two full batteries. I'd need my best bibs to limit saddle soreness to a minimum.

 9.15. No more waffling! Time to get ready. 

16.45.  It was 10.30 by the time I left. Rode to Nyborg and back via Ringe and Ørbæk on the way. Straight through Odense on the way back. Surprisingly similar path lengths. One curving to the south. The other to the north. 128km or 80 miles. Averaged 24km/hr while moving over 5.5hours. Average cadence 77rpm. I changed batteries at 23% at 82km in Langeskov. Gone for over six hours in total. No lunch. I ate four micro Corny bars and drank four micro apple juices. I should have taken bananas or a cheese roll but had none.

 6.45 I have slept for two hours!

 20.00 Dinner was an apple while I prepared the meal. Mackerel in tomato sauce on toast, with fresh tomatoes. Tomato soup and a roll. A beer and a cup of milky coffee with chocolate coated biscuits. Not simultaneously, but in that order.

 Did the washing up. Bed at near midnight. To be sure I sleep after that two hour nap.

~o~   

27.08.2023 Bring it on down!

 ~o~

Sunday 27th ?F [No outside thermometer at my elbow] Overcast with variable light levels. Up at 6.30 after incredibly detailed but confused dreams. 

 I could be having another visitor today. Who promises to help me downstairs with the TV. Not an easy task. Since the TV is presently ceiling suspended above the open stairwell. Last time I had laid 2x4s across the gap and covered those with a sheet of plywood. To give myself a safe working platform. The levels across the gap are very different. Requiring a timber base on the landing's banister side.

 7.15. Time to consider a walk. It feels much cooler and there is dew on the inside of the greenhouse. 55F outside. I have just been upstairs to check the outside thermometer. A comfortable 68F in the lounge with the outside windows on the catch for ventilation. The three windows on the southern, greenhouse wall remain firmly closed. 

 I will have to re-site a thermometer downstairs. With the outdoor sensor under the northern, roof overhang as before. This has been my outdoor temperature reference for years. It receives no direct sunshine and hangs in open air. To allow the air to freely reach the sensor. The northern wall below only receives early sunshine at a grazing angle. Producing little in the way of convection throughout the day. So this should be the best situation for realistic temperature readings. The flexible lead on the outdoor sensor isn't long enough. To stretch from my new computer desk in the lounge. My bare, Aldi bought, steel and glass computer desk remains upstairs for the moment. It looks forlorn and dusty this morning. 

 8.40. My walk and morning coffee over. I walked the entire length of the new drive. To check on the drainage after recent heavy rain. A corrugated pipe had been run underneath. From one side of the new drive to the other. Otherwise the new earthworks would have formed a huge dam!

 The existing, small stream continues uninterrupted via the pipe without deviation. Weed growth had made the post dam side invisible from the road. Today's closer inspection suggests that there should be little change in the water table. Of the often marshy field. There were some large puddles on the northern side of the drive. Largely due to changed surface levels. 

 The project is still very incomplete. Though cables have been run to the road. Perhaps suggesting an automatic gate and lighting? It would be ironic, indeed, if they had invested so much time and money in a new drive. Only to have "scrap man" abuse it. To add to his untidy collection of hideous eyesores. 

 Which he now seems to have abandoned. There being nobody in residence in the half finished house. Which he bought on forced auction for small change. Then left to rot for years. As he accumulated oversized garbage on the associated land. Much like all his other property purchases scattered across local villages. It is difficult to understand how one person could do so much harm. To ruin so many innocent's lives and property values. Without the slightest sanction. 

 13.00 Bright sunshine. Lunch. After I had assembled a temporary timber platform over the stair well, my visitor helped me remove the TV from the ceiling mount upstairs. He supported the TV on end as I quickly removed the planks. Then he shared the weight as we descended the steep stairs. Where we lowered it onto the table mount on the old chest of drawers. Before he reset it to provide Danish TV programmes via the router. I have never had Danish TV before. So had lost those years of exposure to the language. All thanks to the transfer to digital transmission.

 He then moved onto the laptop which was stuck in BIOS. The software had been trying to load the date in the wrong month/day order. He then updated the software after months of inactivity and then left. The laptop has just restarted after a very long Windows update and is working again. 

 The removal of the TV. From the landing/stage area upstairs. Frees up a large storage volume. With the TV blocking access, it was difficult to impossible to stack anything efficiently.

 So, now I have my computer, TV, armchairs and bed downstairs. With complete freedom of movement between them. All thanks to my kind visitors. Helping me to overcome the hurdles which had presented themselves. I am most grateful for their vital assistance. I can now press on with steadily improving the hovel. Without a series of Catch 22 situations blocking my progress.

 14.00 There must be those who question my showing the hideous state of the place. Warts and all. I deliberately use this strategy. To ensure I make the necessary changes and improvements. I can pretend my vast following [😏] is willing me on. Or, more likely,  queuing to complain at my lack of progress. I find this provides a higher level of concentration and self discipline in all my activities.  

 15.00 Brought the washing in. There was a rumble and it became dark.

 The rest is lost to time. Or rather, an afternoon nap.

 Dinner was two, perfect poached eggs on two, perfect rounds of toast.

 

~o~

26.08.2023 Ever downwards!

 ~o~

 Saturday 26th 61F. Overcast, presently darkening, at 7.45, with rain. The trailer cover is full of deep water. I was going to empty the trailer's contents at the recycling yard this morning. Sacks of waste papers and loads of grass and hedge cuttings and some old furniture. I thought the load inside would support the tarpaulin but the sheer weight has pushed it down. I shall have to start bailing. There was over 50mm [2"] of rain, in half an hour, on Møn during  the night. A so-called triple cloudburst. The rain could continue until ten here. 

 Slept well and rose at 7am. Never heard any thunder from downstairs. I was dreaming my wife had gone missing from a shopping trip. The house is still tidy. So that wasn't a dream. I am wondering if a heavy curtain, hiding the stairs, would reduce heat loss to the attic in winter. An L-shaped track would do nicely. Light coloured curtains to avoid darkening the room.

 8.00 Becoming even darker. Now with a distant rumble of thunder. A load of towels has gone into the washing machine to catch up. I must maintain the momentum. Getting the 55" TV downstairs might be better done with a helper. Though I'd like to move the computer and its desk downstairs. I haven't yet decided where it should go. 

 The most obvious place in the lounge, for the computer desk, would be alongside the brick wall. Where the space might be better taken up with a display cabinet. Though I could have a glass cabinet each side of the TV. With LED lighting, they could easily double as additional light sources for the room. Thereby avoiding wall lighting. With flex trailing down the walls. 

 Unfortunately the double door, IKEA cabinets are too wide to stand beside the TV. IKEA do a single width tower but it is lower at 1.5m or 5'. About 30cm square or 1'x1'. Their display capacity is obviously much lower than the taller, double door cabinets. Though they would better suit the height of the TV.

 I am presently struggling to find suitable locations for lighting in the newly empty room. The previous lighting was meant for the dining table. We never really sat around downstairs. Now I have highly mobile armchairs. Rather than a three seater sofa. 

 Two chairs, or one, can turn their backs to the bed to watch TV. Visually hiding the bed from view. Two or three chairs can be arranged around the stove for relaxed conversation. A fourth chair upstairs can be brought down if necessary. Or the 3rd chair can be taken upstairs to avoid clutter.

 The computer desk might disrupt this flexibility if badly sited. It has castors so can be easily moved around. Cables willing, of course. With the usual chair, the computer desk footprint is about 150x80cm. Rather bulky and demanding low light falling on the monitor to avoid reflections. There are three, potentially sunlit windows right behind me. If I should choose to site it along the brick wall and facing the TV wall. I have discovered that I'd need one or more, made to measure, Venetian blinds. The windows are not a standard size.

 It now requires soft lighting at night regardless of the room's newly flexible  layout. The overhead light is like an interrogation chamber with it hanging centrally from such a low ceiling. It once hung over the middle of the [largely unused] dining table. We only ever ate at the table for Christmas dinner. The rest of the time it was trays on laps at the computer. Or sitting in front of the TV. 

 Perhaps I should consider sunken lights in the ceiling? I plan to replace the rest of the tiled ceiling with boards anyway. That would allow easy access to install the necessary wiring. In the past, the lighting was only necessary at times. To reach the old stove safely in a foolishly cluttered room. Now no longer true.

 8.15-9.30 Local thunder and lightning. Very dark, with lengthy cloudbursts.

 A wider angle view taken from the TV wall. One chair has been pushed back at the end of the bed. This clears the route to the central TV chair and computer. While providing a comfortable spot to sit and enjoy the fire in the stove.

 The phone camera causes distortion. For which I can only partially compensate with free, image handling software. These images show how much room there is to play with now that the lounge has been cleared..

 

 11.20 There has been some periodic sunshine. I have moved the computer down to a small table in the lounge. The glass and steel desk was much too bulky. The new arrangement lies along the brick wall. Between the window and the bedside table. I have a diagonal view through the windows to the approach. In case anyone calls. A view of the entrance hall too. Should I leave the door unlocked during the daytime.

 I can also see the TV from the computer. Which was desirable. My 32" 4k monitor is now slightly closer to the keyboard. Though it could be moved further away with a hinged wall bracket. Or even clamped to the wooden windowsill. It has a considerable rise and fall on the stand. As well as a rotating and hinged extension arm.

 Another patch of bad weather is passing over. So it is rather too dark for natural light photography at the moment. I shall tidy the cabling once I am happy with the new situation. It feels fine so far. Without dominating the room. I am relaxing back into my familiar chair. Instead of leaning forwards.

 13.00 Time for lunch. I can sit at the computer with a tray on my lap. For the very first time without having to go upstairs. 

 13.45. Sunshine. Lunch over. I ought to get rid of that trailer load while the recycling yard is still open.

 14.45 Returned from emptying the trailer at the recycling yard. 

 Dinner was fish fingers and chips with tomatoes. The images I took won't transfer from the phone to the PC. I will try again tomorrow.

27.08.23 Image transfer is now working again.

~o~

25.08.23 Space junkey.

 ~o~

 Friday 28th. Up at 6.30 to a newly emptied house. My visitor will be going home today. She has made a tremendous difference in the short time she has been here. I am most grateful for her efforts.  

 She provided the perfect balance between respect and detachment. For all the items which presented themselves. As we worked our way through the boxed collection/hoard. Another car full will go back into the charity system. To bring pleasure to more people. 

 It would have been incredibly difficult to have sold most of it. How would I have made it available? Or brought it to the attention of potential buyers? A flea market at home was impossible. Individual items, advertised online, would require postal charges. Making it uneconomical for most buyers. To hand it all back was the most guilt-free option. 

 Its collection gave us both many years of pleasure. As we traveled together in search of more bargains. Forever optimistic, so rarely disappointed. It is odd how I missed seeing this aspect of our relationship until now. It kept us close together and in constant communication. Expanded our circle of casual contacts.

 Many of the characters we met provided humour and insights into life as seen by others. We would often leave the vendors smiling. Or smiling ourselves. We rarely haggled. Greed was not part of our plan. It would impoverish the find. Or our relationship to it, or the vendor. 

 The prices were usually acceptable. And if not, the object of interest would simply be left behind. Our polite and cheerful demeanour would soften any refusal to buy. We had no need to make a killing. Because we would never be looking for a sale. Let alone a profit. Nor were we fools. It was a delightful hobby. One which kept our relationship alive. It was our bond. It also steadily improved our pidgin Danish.

 We soon discovered that some vendors were merely collectors. Their Insane greed simply took their wares off the market. Their establishments became vast junk yards. Several such fools have remained so to this day. No item is priced to match those elsewhere. It must be a multiple of its original value. Before being left to rot in the weather. For years on end. They must see their potential customers as victims. Until the intended "mug" turns and walks away in total disbelief.

 My lady visitor has left. The bus was 15 minutes late. So we chatted further at the bus stop. We hugged on parting. My first physical contact with another human being in over a year.

 Some light shopping and then back home to solo survival. With enough room to swing numerous cats. I have another car load of items for donation to a charity shop. Though I am certainly not returning to the shop with the ignorant staff of yesterday. 

 This afternoon I drove the second load to a huge, Assens charity shop. Where the older women volunteers were as blatantly rude as the bloke in another village. 

 Thankfully a very polite and willing young man came over. He helped me carry the heavy boxes inside from the car. Then he thanked me profusely and obviously sincerely, before shaking hands! That made me feel much better after giving them another half my "family treasures."

 The multimillionaire bosses of these international, charity shop rings. Really should give their volunteer staff some stiff, compulsory lessons in respect for donors AND customers. 

 How to say please and thank you. As if you actually meant it. Even if you don't have any social skills whatsoever. Even if you don't even know what the terms mean. Learn how to show warm gratitude to donors and customers alike. Customers are not all thieves, tramps, nor lepers! They are mostly human beings. There is no more rewarding job in life. Than dealing with the public face to ace. Bathing in the warmth of human communication at all possible levels.

 Learn how NOT to to be a self-important, jumped-up, prune faced, ignorant peasant. Just because you have served as a volunteer for a fortnight longer than the rest of your fellow voluntary pignoramuses. Entitlement is NOT a virtue! Try politeness. Or stay at home! 

 I bought a simple, inexpensive, wall mount for the TV while I was in town. Before risking all I must assess the solidity of the ugly, lounge wall. Which means pulling off one of the insulated, plasterboard panels. 

 The black polythene rectangle [image above] was ideal. For simulating where and how high to place the TV. It has been there for several days as a background feature. I moved it up and down and from side to side. Just to get a solid feel for a balanced appearance. I made the rectangle smaller and larger to get a sense of viewing distance and proportion. 

 The ugly chest of drawers could easily support the TV by its original stand. That is, until I confirm the structural integrity of the underlying wall surface. After that, yet another piece of unwanted furniture is strictly, recycling yard fodder. Everything must now earn its keep. Or it becomes superfluous.

 Dinner was cheese on toast with tomatoes. Followed by tomato soup and a bread roll.

~o~

24.08.2023 Hot n' cold.

 ~o~

 Thursday 24th 56F. Bright overcast. Up at 6.30 and had breakfast. I am going for walk.

 Today's plan to day is to deliver at least two car loads of boxes to the charity shops. Then to start re-organizing the attic. One bed has gone and the other is rotated. So there is plenty of potential for a far more sensible arrangement. Of both storage and all my [little used] clothing. 

 My skilled helper will no doubt provide the impetus to transform it all. Just like she did yesterday downstairs. It has been a huge boost to have brought some sense to my, now solitary, lifestyle. She has just the right touch of empathy and objective detachment. At a time, when I myself, am finally ready to make the vital break with the past.

Morning walk and shower over.

12.15. 65F. A morning of therapeutic chatting and intensive tidying upstairs. Where it is 75F. Large sacks containing decades of official papers. Plus 50 years of Xmas and birthday cards assigned to paper waste. 

 All my clothes are now on the rail on hangers in proper order. I was going to give up on the rail but now it is manageable. Boxes of charity shop fodder to add to those waiting downstairs for a second run. All very positive progress after total stagnation on my own.

 A car full was duly delivered to a large charity shop. No thanks from the volunteer staff for delivering several hundred pounds [equivalent] worth of sales in total? Peasants! 🙄

 Dinner was chicken and mushrooms with salad. Eaten at a newly empty dining table. All thanks to endless tidying and sorting. The meal was an interesting suggestion and worked well.

~o~

23.08.2023 Lounge transformation.

~o~ 

 Wednesday 23rd. Using my laptop to post on my blog. It keeps reverting to BIOS.  Probably the BIOS button battery is aged. I had a short walk.

9.00 My visitor is still asleep.

 We spent the entire day boxing up the contents of the lounge for donation to charity. My visitor provided the skill, discipline and motivation to sort and wrap all the items I did not want to keep. 

 I cooked dinner for her too. Then she suggested new furniture layouts which worked well. The armchairs are so easy to move on the carpet. That several possible layouts can be quickly achieved without effort. Whether I am watching TV alone. Or hosting others for a chat. 

 The dining table is now completely empty. For the first time I can remember in a long time. As was the habitually cluttered windowsill beyond. So we ate at the table to celebrate. The room now seems almost empty. Which will help enormously [sic] with insulation and decoration.

~o~

22.08.2023 Neighbours from hell.

 ~o~

 Tuesday 22nd 15C/60F. Bright but a smudgy/milky sky. Dead calm at 7.30. Up at 7.00 after a restless night. Aching all over from yesterday's "gardening." Today is visitor day. I had better have a walk. 

 I had hardly gone a couple of hundred yards before a large bird of prey crossed my path. It vanished into a dense copse without so much as pausing its powerful wing beats. 

 The farmers were busy. A spraying machine opened its arms as I drew alongside on the road. Further over, black sludge was being loaded onto a large muck spreader. Then flung far and wide. 

 10.00 I have been attacking the front beech hedge. It had grown too tall and dense again. The hedge clipper could only do so much. Due to the thickness of the branches. So I held the battery chainsaw at head height and walked forwards from end to end. It was noisy and messy but knocked over a foot off the top of the hedge. It needs a new chain. 

 Still lots to do from both sides before it is acceptably tidy. I had to cut the Cornus back too. It had doubled in size since last year. Making access to the front hedge too difficult. I want the hedge low enough for sunshine to reach the greenhouse in winter. This hadn't been possible for many years. 

 We grew the front hedge to protect the lean-to greenhouse. From air rifle pellets fired by our neighbours. The pellets used to collect in the greenhouse gutter. These neighbours used to let their dog roam free too. It would often come into our garden uninvited. So we had to put up gates on the drive too. 

 Not that this stopped the other neighbour's kids from coming into our garden. Where they would steal my wife's flowers. We caught them red handed one day. When we came back in the car. They were gathered with a tiny toddler by the garden pond. Each of them clutching a large bunch of flowers. 

 After that I had to padlock the gates as we left. By hanging over the top. This went on forever. Both lots of neighbours eventually moved on. So I could halve the front hedge height and discard the double gates I had built. This was immediately after my wife died. She no longer needed their protection but alas, much too late.

11.00 22C/71F. Hot sunshine as the wind picks up slightly, My visitor won't be here until this afternoon. So I can press on with lowering the hedge. I found a resharpened chain. So another foot of beech hedge has gone. I'd like it at an easy height to clip from both sides without ladders or stretching. The sawdust is stuck firmly to my sweat. I need a shower! I'll need to go shopping at some point.

11.40 Shower over. Second lot of towels gone into the machine. I can shop before I pick up my visitor. 

My visitor arrived and we spent hours talking and just catching up.

~o~

21.08.2023 Keep on mowin'!

 ~o~

 Monday 21st 56F. Clear sky but misty at 5.45. A restless night listening to gnats whining. Then overheating by hiding under the duvet. I was bitten several times. Up at 5am. Bitten again while upstairs. 

 8.30 Had half my usual walk to the lanes. Two hares were sunbathing out on a field. They moved steadily away despite the distance between us.

 9.00 I showered before driving over to my friend's place. To deliver a 4m high, Japanese, tripod stepladder. The wide base will provide a safer perch for trimming back trees and hedges.

 12.00 Back home and struggling to stay awake. Had a nap.

 13.00 Lunch. 

 14.00 The grass needs another trim. 

 16.00 73F. Warm sunshine. I am dripping with sweat. So I just cooled off under the cold tap. I have cut all the grass again. Trimmed various hedges and cut back verges. Almost another full trailer. What a hero! A legend in his own time. 😏

 20.00 I have tidied up outside. Dinner was chips with fish fingers and tomatoes. It is very warm upstairs at 25C/77F. Thank goodness I can sleep downstairs. I just hope I am not bothered by whining and biting gnats again.

~o~

20.08.2023 Sausages II. Director's cut.

 ~o~

Sunday 20th 15C/60F [at 6.00] Overcast. Two places on south-eastern Fyn had over 30mm rain in half an hour. That is rated as a double cloudburst. 17,000 lightning flashes were recorded. Only 129 reached the ground. I was blissfully unaware of anything happening locally.

 Up at 5am. I was having repetitive dreams and overheating. I had foolishly changed duvets to a warmer example. After being cooler last night. It was a steady 70F in the lounge. Where I now sleep. I changed back to the original [summer] duvet at 4.30 but it was already too late. I was too restless to sleep. All the duvets are duck down and recycled from charity shops. 

It will be a dry day. With some sunny periods possible. Back to tidying? Or should I go for a ride? Things can get a bit depressing when constantly handling my wife's things. Thankfully I have suffered no worse. For having given up the antidepressants at the end of July. 

 The absence of phantom pains. Caused by the 'waterworks' tablets. Has been equally beneficial psychologically. I felt like an aging cripple. When I couldn't even manage a walk to the lanes. I have had no recurrence of these weird pains since giving up these tablets. 

 I had pain in my hands, wrists, forearms, lower back, between the shoulder blades and across my upper chest. The pain was so severe at times that I was literally groaning aloud. I also had bowel problems every single morning. Repeatedly having to sit on the toilet. This also, severely inhibited my highly therapeutic, morning walks. All of these problems have now gone. The frequency and urine flow has remained acceptable and mostly unchanged. Since giving up these "prostate" tablets at the same time.

6.50. Breakfast over. The first signs of blue patches to the NE. Time for a walk.

8.00 17C/62F. Mostly overcast with smudgy clouds. Only one brief glimpse of the sun on the fields during my walk to the lanes. The prairie was still waiting to be baled. There seemed to be some disagreement between the crows on the village church roof. With noisy skirmishes and much wing flapping. The Sunday traffic was almost non-existent.

 There is an annual, open air market in a village a little distance away. Which would make a pleasant ride. Though I shall have to be careful about security. Three ABUS Granite locks should be enough. I wonder if the police would mind me locking my e-bike to their van? 😏

 11.30 22C/71F. Returned from a 36km ride to the outdoor market and back by another route. I walked quickly around the stalls but it was mostly junk. Or stuff which held no interest for me. Short stop at a village pond with lots of ducks on the way back. To eat a Corny micro-bar and drink some apple juice. 

 It is rather breezy but warmer and the sun keeps showing briefly. Plenty of cyclists out training. Including  a peloton of young lady cyclists going well. There were several blokes out training on time trial or triathlon bikes. 

14.00 22C/72F. Lunch over. I have a trailer full of grass cuttings and hedge clippings to get rid of at the recycling yard. Open 24x7 for garden waste. Vital shopping to follow while I am in the village.

15.30 Mission accomplished.

20.00 Dinner was sausages, peas, mushrooms and mashed potato with gravy. I can't remember having made mashed potato myself, at home before. So, something I made at the cooking classes finally paid off. It was all fine. I could have made a bit more potato and slightly less peas. Boiled potatoes are bulkier than mashed.

~o~

19.08.2023 Kitchen reorganisation.

 ~o~

 Saturday 19th 17C/62F. Overcast, thick mist and blowing a gale! None of which is shown in the forecast. There is something strangely wrong about simultaneous mist and wind. It feels too much like special effects for a film's atmosphere.

8.00 The mist is slowly clearing and the easterly wind reducing. Time for a walk.

 9.15 65F. Back from my normal walk to the lanes. Still overcast with some mist. Morning coffee over. Back to my chores! Where do I start?

 11.00 73F. Sunshine through a milky sky. I started with reorganising the kitchen. A small table and a corner shelving unit have been removed. The large trolley is now in the far left corner. Hidden beyond the working surface/draining board. Which overhangs quite a large storage area if I get it better organised. The image is badly distorted by the phone camera but gives a general idea. 

The ugly far wall will be insulated before finishing. The boot and shoe towers are now hidden in the alcove beyond the middle door. One tower could be removed if I put the cycling shoes elsewhere. They aren't needed for the e-bike. I have no plans to go back to the trike for the moment. So clipless shoes are irrelevant.

 I fitted underfloor heating pipes in the insulated floor under the tiles. Though it has never been used due to a lack of heat source. I also fitted the old wood stove with an internal heating tank. Which was rapidly covered in condensation and thick tar due to the cold of the floors. So from then on the stove performed only DHW duties while lit. Thereby robbing it of considerable output to the indoors.

 My plans for a wet, heat pump system for the kitchen and bathroom. Are waiting until prices drop from raving insanity to well below a total rip-off. Presently a minimum of £10k equivalent! It won't pay for itself before the house falls down. 

 The Danish government doesn't care about the population living in poorly insulated, badly heated, legacy housing. Anything you might hear on the news about Denmark being "green." Is strictly limited to headline, wind turbine farms. Which can easily be taken out with a couple of Russian missiles. 

 The government holds an occasional "lottery" amongst those interested in a taxpayer subsidy for a heat pump or home insulation. The tiny cash pool lottery is emptied within minutes of opening online. Needless to say Denmark doesn't even come close to matching their empty claims. On combating climate change. With ideas which are trashed by the experts. CO2 capture, energy islands, etc. They are betting billions of taxpayer's money in CO2 capture using unproven technology.

 Back to the kitchen: I have vacuumed but haven't started on sorting all the "stuff" on every surface. There is lots of paint and rendering materials and tools. At last I can now reach most of the floor to start cleaning. 

 It is a good sized kitchen at 4.3m x 2.4m now it is mostly cleared. [14' x 7'9".] It is hard to believe that there was once only a narrow aisle against the working surface. Due to a foolish excess of furniture. I looked back at old photographs and was saddened and deeply depressed by it all. I built the kitchen storage units [?] on the right too. The original working surface and twin sinks have now been replaced. Only one sink this time.

 The fridge-freezer is proving nicely accessible. Now it is clear of the hall door. The fridge is getting rather noisy. So may be on its way out. I keep a close eye on the temperatures in the fridge. 5C and -20C measured just now. Using a digital inside/outside thermometer with a remote sensor on a lead. 

 The shelving larder [at top left] is still an untidy mess. I need to take the shelves down. After moving the larder into the pine cupboard. Which is hidden in the far left corner. Beyond the fridge and behind the door to the front hall. The shelves hinder potential furniture alternatives by severely limiting their height. I have glazed cabinets which could be wall mounted to tidy up the larder. They could replace the open shelves.

 13.00 75F. Lunch over and having a rest. Before returning to cleaning and tidying. When I mopped the kitchen tiles and continued tidying. Vacuumed upstairs.

 15.30 71F. Overcast and breezy. There is a band of heavy rain approaching my location from the west. With a countrywide warning for cloudbursts. Heavier rain, well to the north, is shown over Jylland.[Jutland] That means I shan't be able to finish trimming the hedges. Just as well. Because I am tired and aching.

 Dinner was cheese on toast with halved tomatoes. Followed by tomato soup and a bread roll. I have been watching the 2022 Tour de France series on Netflix. The Tour of Denmark didn't come to Fyn this year.

~o~

18.08.2023 Sausages.

 ~o~

 Friday 18th 15C/60F. Overcast and breezy. Possible showers. Woke earlier but dozed for an hour. Aching all over from yesterday evening's, gardening activities. A walk should help. Loads more laundry hanging outside. The towels are wet again after overnight rain. I need to shop but have an appointment for a haircut at lunchtime. I might as well wait and do something more pressing.

 9.00 A walk removed most of the aches and pains. The farmers were spraying a field. With the wind coming my way. So I turned back. The hedges still need work but everything is still sopping wet.

 10.15 Still cleaning, laundering and tidying. In readiness for next week's visitor. Who is allegedly offering to tidy and clean. Which means I have to make an effort first. Not having visitors denies me the desperately needed poke with a sharp stick. Just to keep the place presentable. 

 I found a frog trapped in a half full bucket of water outside. It safely hopped away after being tipped carefully onto the lawn. A foraging blue tit has just landed on the small anemometer and did a few quick turns. 

 The kitchen needs less furniture. The large trolley is a magnet for unsorted "junk." With only a top surface and a lower one. It is far more fresh air than useful storage. Apart from looking awful in its constantly untidy state. 

 A "rustic" corner shelving unit is as hideous as it was in the lounge. I have finally "recycled" the countless plastic containers my wife kept on there. The small, meat trays were her seed trays. The empty yogurt pots her free plant pots for her seedlings. I had no real use for either but old habits kept them being stacked up ever higher. Just in case.

 Can't stop. The washing machine has fallen silent again. Now I really do need a washing line!

 14.25 Four more baskets of dry laundry brought in. I used an old clothes horse for extra drying space out on the lawn. 

 The sheep sheering went well too. I have an appointment to see the doctor about the mole on my back. Which means I seem to have forgotten to have lunch.

 18.00 Late lunch, then a nap and then bringing in several more wheelbarrows full of clean, dry clothes. I suppose this is an indirect admission that I have been slacking.

 19.00 Dinner looms. I had better pretend I can cook something other than mashed potato. 

 21.00 64F. Dinner was pork sausages, mushrooms, baked beans and chips. I made a change from chicken. The beans had to be used up. I can't manage more than half a tin at a time. Nor more than two sausages. So there's the makings of Sunday dinner in the fridge. The sausages. The beans have gone.

~o~

17.08.2023 Whoops!

 ~o~

 Thursday 17th 54F [7.30] Uniform, grey overcast. Cooking class today. I am going by e-bike.

 A strange night! I was being woken by an itchy back between my shoulder blades. Though I struggled to reach the spot. Finally I caught something with my nail. After which it stung and itched even more! My immediate guess was a deer bug. My recent gardening had brought me into close contact with the undergrowth. Not to mention brushing through hedges at the museum.

 Now I was concerned I had pulled the body off a deer bug. Leaving the legs under my skin. Possibly leading to infection. So I tried to find the area with two mirrors. A shaving mirror in my hand. With my back to a large wall mirror. The light was poor but my back seemed to be covered in red spots. Perhaps an allergy to soap powder? Then I glimpsed something even more worrying much lower on my back!

 So I started up the computer and used the webcam to try and see my back. This required more peering into the shaving mirror. To see the computer monitor behind me. With much writhing and adding more light sources I could finally see an ugly looking "mole." Much like the common images of skin cancer online!

 I managed to take a few pictures. Which involved holding the mouse still, on the desk behind me. Struggling to left click. While simultaneously moving my back around to bring the mole centered in the camera's field of view. All the while using the handheld mirror to see the screen. The best picture was no artwork but all I could manage at 4.30am! I immediately sent the image off to my doctor for his opinion.  

 I do not deliberately sunbathe and haven't done so for decades. That doesn't mean that the sun doesn't shine though my thin cycle, racing jerseys. My tanned legs are ample proof of my solar exposure. Ironically, I had recently taken to wearing a small, cotton scarf around my neck. To protect it while riding my bike. My wife used to worry that my neck often looked like mahogany during the summer. I had better ready the bike and shower for another day at the grindstone.

 14.00 67F/20C  It didn't feel very warm so I wore my windproof, cycling jacket. At the cooking class I peeled, cooked and mashed 2kg of potatoes. It didn't feel much warmer on my way home. When I was riding in my t-shirt. 

 After a nap I started on the laundry. Though it took fixed ropes and a ladder to scale the first pitch!

 20.0015C/60F.  No dinner required today. So I was good and trimmed hedges, strimmed and mowed grass. Half a trailer full again. A horse fly bit me on the arm! Grr! A load of towels was dry. Another load still drying outside. More cycles underway in the machine.

~o~

16.08.2023 Failing to harvest.

 ~o~

Wednesday 16th 15C/60F. Overcast and breezy. A mostly dry day is promised. Museum day. I'll ride there.

 I am leaning towards plastering the ugly, rendered wall in the lounge. Hopefully the lighter plaster won't fall off the wall as much as cement render while working it. It should also be much easier to move around and level. Once I get a reasonable surface I can paint the wall white. Which should bring lots more light into the room. 

 I also need a Venetian blind for the corner window above my bed. I considered another roller blind but that lacks adjustability of light levels. It's either up or down. In between makes little sense.

 7.20. Going for a short walk to loosen up.

8.15 My walk was paused while I chatted with another of my nice neighbours.  

I drove to the museum. Because I planned to go straight onto my British friend afterwards. Today I was mainly helping with the annual assembly of the old harvester/binder from around 1940. Unfortunately the annual harvest did not go so well. The machine is worn out and needs lots of detail restoration.

Driving to my friend's place, along the rural lanes, was a delight in the warm sunshine. I have found the most picturesque route of the many. Without much deviation from a straight line. We had a good chat on technical topics that interest us both. With a pleasant stroll around his extensive grounds.

The huge harvesters were busy again locally.

Dinner was poached eggs, beans and chips.

~o~

15.08.2023 39km.

 ~o~

Tuesday 15th 66F. [7.45] Bright but milky sky. The promised thunderstorms have been dropped. At least from the local forecast. I was going in the car but may now ride to the cooking classes.  I got up at 7am feeling drugged. 

7.45 Time for a walk I think. 

8.30 It was much too warm for a jacket while the sun was out. Then it suddenly became much darker as I reached home. A tabby cat was settling down behind the car as I approached. Then decided I was a threat and retreated into the undergrowth. It is looking much smarter with most of the grass now pretending to be a lawn. Though my wife would never have been able to manage the heavy new mower. She always insisted on cutting the grass herself. Using the much smaller and lighter Rotak.

8.40  Time for readying the e-bike and having a shower. A laundry crisis is looming unless I do some.

 15.15 Returned late from cooking class. We made tomato soup, a tart and a bagel. The soup was simply incredible. A complexity of flavours beyond simple words. The carrot and onion tart was slightly underwhelming but perfectly edible. The bagel, with salmon, was not to my taste. A headwind coming home but it has stayed dry all day. 39km today.

 No need for dinner. I had already eaten. Far more than I would ever eat at home. So I had a cup of coffee and a biscuit. Job done. A picture would be an overstatement. An exaggeration of humble reality.

~o~

14.08.2023 Heatstroke photography.

 ~o~

Monday 14th 10C/59F. Bright and almost clear. Some speckled, high cloud to the south. Up at 6am. 

No walk. I drove to the builder's merchants to see if they'd offer a "members" discount on a new mower. A sour faced prune offered a £2 discount on a £400 machine! Despite my having spent a fortune at their emporium over the years. Their competitors were asking up to £60 cheaper! I declined and told them I was going to their competitors. Only to discover online that both "names" had quietly joined forces. Yet another pair of shared monopolies become one!

 I bought the mower elsewhere anyway. The poor old Bosch Rotak is knackered and won't cut low, or wet, or longer grass. The new mower has a much wider cut. Which should save hours of trundling back and forth in narrow strips. Particularly on the drive. The batteries showed they were flat out of the box. So I have them on charge. I am hoping to get a lower cut in. Hopefully before the next rain. The opening of the new collector box/bag is wide open and full size. I like that.

 The Rotak collector box was an absolute pain to empty! It was heavy when full and had to be tipped back and forth endlessly. Just to get the damp grass out of the small opening.

 The designer of that atrocity should be made to wear the collector box over their head for the rest of their life! Nothing less is adequate punishment. For the torture their design has caused countless owners! 

 17.00 The lawns and drive have been covered again. At half the height this time. I even had a go at the verge on the main drive. The new mower gets all excited when it detects increased resistance. It speeds up. Like the roar of an afterburner! 

 Now I have a suitable mower I ought to start on the space behind the felled chestnut. Acres of rolling turf as far as the eye can see? Or not!

It would be pretty major undertaking now. Barren earth has become wilderness. Unknown creatures are swinging from tree to tree. There is the crash of heavy bodies launching themselves back into the ponds. Huge birds circle high overhead calling plaintively. There are strange cries at night! YouTube influencers sneak in to capture strange, alien lifeforms. 

 The picture was taken through the balcony room windows. It was 32C out there and I had to be quick or suffer from heat stroke. You can see the problem! Stop laughing at the back! It's not remotely funny! 😏

Dinner was something they serve in the mess. Aptly named in this case. If I don't blog tomorrow you can blame the week old eggs! Both yolks broke as I turned them over in a firmly stuck pan. I gave it all 20 minutes. Just in case any of it had gone off.

~o~

13.08.2023 Thirty Yellow Jerseys?

 ~o~

Sunday 13th 15C/60F. Rather dark overcast and quite breezy. A mostly dry day with a SW breeze. Up at 6.30 after another restless night with long, weird dreams. 

 Grubbe Mølle. Grubbe Mill. Near Fåborg. A historic water mill and Dutch style windmill on one site. Both are fully functional. Conducted tours cost 50kr. About £5 equivalent. There is a very atmospheric yard with old buildings and the mill pond. Lying on a curved, tree lined lane off the main road from Millinge. The lane continues on to Horne. Where the main road leads to the Bøjden Ferry terminal to Germany.

8.15  It is brightening up with blue patches now. I need a suitable goal[s] for a ride. There are four, Sunday flea markets I haven't visited before. All in the same, SE direction, down towards the sea. I need to do more grocery shopping. So that can be easily managed where appropriate. During what should be a pleasant ride in beautiful countryside.

9.00 Morning coffee. The e-bike is fully loaded and prepared. 

1.45 20C/68F. Returned from an 82km ride. [~50miles] Loads of effortless hills were climbed or swooped down. Spinning at up to 110rpm. Visited half a dozen flea markets. Quite a lot of sunshine between the clouds. I detoured to a supermarket but they were closed for stocktaking! Weird!

The GPS tracking shows I rode two, long, snaking routes, almost parallel, but with three crossings. A thoroughly enjoyable ride. I saw lots of cyclists. Including a whole peloton of around thirty, club riders. All in yellow, enjoying the climbs around Håstrup.

 A large, flooded sand and gravel quarry. The plant in the foreground was unavoidable. I was perched on a narrow ledge of sand. With a steep drop beyond! I visited this quarry years ago, to buy gravel, when it was still dry.

 A farmer, in his pickup, confirmed his criminal insanity. By passing me, about a foot away, at 80mph. Just as the only car for miles, on a long straight. Passed me going in the opposite direction. 

 Later on, a Mercedes driver reversed out of his drive without even bothering to look. Missed me by inches as cars were overtaking me. Leaving me with no chance of swinging wide. I expect this one was as pissed as a farmer too. They eventually overtook me at twice the [lowered] speed limit for a built up area. It seems this is allowed. Provided you have an expensive [Bmw-audi] German car with posh, alloy wheels.

Some light shopping in the village. Before returning to a 4" high lawn! Which had been far too wet to attack with the mower. I made a late lunch and then went into zombie mode. Falling asleep at the keyboard. In readiness for my afternoon nap. Which typically overshot from the approved 40 minutes into a full hour. It seems I am suffering from LOGS. Lazy old git syndrome.

17.30 70F. Enjoying a suitably belated, afternoon tea and a toasted roll. With a digestive biscuit of course.

19.30 66F. I have mowed all the grass including the drive. Both batteries are flat and on charge. There is still lots of work to be done requiring the hedge clipper[s.] My wife's flower bed is solid with colour. Nothing large of flashy. Just lots of small flowers and spires. Mostly pinks through to purples. Too many thistles are coming up and will need to be chopped to the ground. There are loads of apples and pears this year. Despite the trees not being clipped. Or because of it? 

 I am going for an easy dinner. Chips with fish fingers. It doesn't need to be tended. Nor even monitored.

 There are rumours flying all over the Internet that I have been cheating. The recent lack of images was used as evidence that my culinary skills are not all I might claim them to be. So, I have made the effort to prove my ability. Hey presto! Oven ready fish fingers and chips from my own fair hands. With two freshly washed <cough> fresh tomatoes. No AI image shenanigans involved either. So there! 😇

~o~

12.08.2023 Burp!

 ~o~

 Saturday 12th 62F. Heavy overcast and misty. With lighter winds fiddling with the top branches of the garden trees. Rain and showers. Possibly heavy, with thunder, is today's forecast. A large area of rain is sliding north-eastwards on the radar. With my location just outside the ragged western boundary. 

 I had no suitable image so here is an image taken tomorrow. Of an old, half-timbered farmhouse. Typically four-sided around a square yard. With animal sheds and barns on the other three sides. Because it was built on a steep slope, the house itself was constructed on a raised platform of field stones. To provide a flat foundation and floors.

 The corrugated, asbestos-cement roofing is very typical of Denmark. It took over from almost universal, rural thatch, from around the 1950s. Though it was developed earlier at the start of the century. It was light enough to be laid on new roofing battens. Without needing new trusses or rafters. 

 The low, narrow portal to the interior of the yard became a very serious handicap. As farm mechanisation required much larger machinery. Than the traditional, horse drawn implements. Harvesters in particular became much taller and wider. Sometimes a whole length of building would be demolished. To allow easier access. At other times the farm would be sold off as a previous generation of farmer retired. Usually sold to a larger holding. 

 A pattern repeated through the centuries of farming. In Denmark the generation taking over a business has to pay taxes to buy the property. The farmhouse and its attached buildings would then usually be sold off as private households. Or left to rot if beyond repair. Or the farm was left without a successor. Known as a Dødsboer. [Dead persons property.] Some such buildings were an eyesore as they steadily decayed. Often in the middle of a village. The number of active farm businesses continues to shrink. As others grow ever larger. Modern farming requires huge investments in machinery. Which, in turn, demands very large fields to make farming economical. Leading to the loss of trees, hedges, footpaths and outdated properties.

 There are still countless examples of these old style, farm buildings in many Danish villages. As well as huge numbers out in the countryside. The almost closed square would have large doors closing the portal as required. In harsh winters this provided shelter within the yard. At other times the portal would be opened. To allow a draught from the wind. To help with manually handling the harvested grain crops. 

 A farm is called a Gård in Danish. Meaning "yard." Engl. Pron: Goard. Usually with a prefix to suggest an earlier owner or some aspect of its situation. e.g. Elmegård. Elm Farm. These names avoided confusion between which farm was being discussed. Just as the English used many different names for its farms. e.g. Cherry Tree Farm.   

A rather restless night. The new [recycled] bed may now be firmer than before but was not uncomfortable. Merely different. Up at 7.00. My back is not quite so bad this morning. A walk would be a good idea. Despite the forecast.

 I have to dump the old, sprung mattress at the recycling yard. They open at 9.00. Some shopping to do afterwards. As my larder shelves are gathering dust. Leaving me with few options for dinner.

  9.00 65F. Just back from my walk and enjoying morning coffee. My walk was a grey affair but dry. Apart from the spray from my shoes on the backs of my calves. The roads were very wet in places. My back pain was much less obtrusive today. I will try not to make it worse while manhandling the old bed base. So I'll bring the open trailer as close as possible to the door. Thereby taking advantage of the height of the steps to avoid unnecessary lifting. 

 10.00 The mattress has gone. Light shopping to follow. I also bought some compost. For planting out the buddleias and a water lily for the carbuncle pond. 

   13.00 21C/70F. Still heavily overcast. Returned from a failed mission to find a better mattress at ever more distant charity shops. The lanes were full of harvesters. So large that the huge wheels, or tracks, used both verges. Without even touching the tarmac at times. They were breaking branches off roadside trees. As were stretched trailers, piled high with big hay bales.

14.00 A huge wodge of heavy rain is advancing on the country. It won't miss me this time. Should arrive by about 16.00.

 16.20 The inclemency was, in truth, a bit late. Though it still manged to put on a good show. A very soggy thrush was obviously completely mesmerized. By the heavy droplets splashing onto the water surface of Carbuncle Pond. It remained fixated while standing on the hideously raised edge. Oblivious to all that was going on around him/her/it/*. Even remaining blissfully unaware of the variation in level across the perimeter. Of the foolishly oversized, plastic dish. [* Insert a suitable pronoun of your own choosing.] 

 For dinner I fried diced chicken and mushrooms. Boiled potatoes and added a couple of halved, fresh tomatoes to the plate. Sadly no photos will be forthcoming. So I have no evidence of its creation. Nor its consumption. You will just have to take my word for it. Burp! Will that do? 😄

~o~