25.09.2023 Bags'Я'Us?

 ~o~

 Monday 25th. A pretty,   mottled and barred sky in pink and gold. Rather windy! 7m/s base with gusts to 12m/s. A mild, dry but rather cloudy day is promised. Up at 6am after a quiet night. Got up twice. Doctor's at lunch time for tests related to waterworks problems.

  8.45 Back from a short walk. Cold wind. No new earthworks. What now?

 13.00 Lunch after returning from the doctor. A few drops of blood the lighter. Furnished with assorted containers and a combined questionnaire/diary on my habits. 

 It was hell finding anywhere to store these items on the way home. I went bereft of panniers on the e-bike. So I had to use the rear pouch pocket on my jacket. Which meant I couldn't do up the jacket. So the jacket was flailing in the stiff headwind. 

 I'll have to hang the small Carradice 'Junior' saddlebag on the Contec's loops for such occasions. Being black canvas it should look the part. Though black straps would have been nicer than white. As would a black leather bag instead of canvas. The Carradice makes the whole bike look scruffy!  Now I am turning into a handbag fetishist!

 The earthworks excavator has been busy all afternoon. Fortunately it is well silenced. So hardly disturbs me. Until it finds a rock. Or shakes the bucket free of clinging soil.

18.00 The towels have gone out. I forgot I'd put them into the machine before riding to the doctors.

Dinner was a fish and spinach pastie. With chips and tomatoes. I'd gone off these pasties when they failed to cook in the mini-oven. It nearly happened again. After the recommended 20 minutes at 200C it came out white! I steeled myself to wait for another ten minutes cooking on a higher shelf. With the chips staying warm on the preheated plate already on top of the oven. Disaster averted and I quite enjoyed it. After it gained a tan. 

 It felt cooler at 68F/20C in the lounge. So I lit the stove and burnt a single split log. The temperature rose quickly and the stone cladding on the stove became hot to the touch. Helping to maintain the warmth long after the firewood had burnt away. 

 I woke in the night to find I had been sleeping comfortably with the duvet lying beside me. It was 73F at that point. All internal doors were closed at bedtime. The unheated bathroom and kitchen showed 67F. No doubt helped by the earlier sunshine. I need to remember to close the greenhouse doors early enough to maximise heat gain and retain it. If  I close them during sunshine the greenhouse becomes too warm. Whatever that means in real terms. There shouldn't be anything out there to deteriorate. The chore to clear it has become another major roundtoit!

~o~