9.09.2023 Crime pays.

 ~0~

 Saturday 9th. Another day of wall-to-wall sunshine is promised. Up at 6.45 after waking earlier. I had a flash of cramp in my left calf. A walk may help.

 A Belgian cyclist, "kneed" a 5 year-old, blocking his path, in snowy conditions. Now he has won a court case against the father. For sharing the phone video online. He claims that showing the video, of his "infamous behaviour" has made him a target for hatred. 

 His right to privacy, while publicly knocking a child to the ground. Was a breach of the law protecting him and others. From online publication of their "crimes." 

The judge suspended sentencing or a year. The "perp" having spent a night in police custody pending being charged for assault. Justice is only a fantasy. Perpetrated by those who profit from it. Which is precisely why superheroes were invented.

 9.00 Back from my walk. I could hardly move at first. Fortunately my calf soon freed itself up after the earlier cramp. My clumsy massaging may have helped too. 

 The earthworks are growing rapidly in their total, raised area. Filling in the sunken spaces due to the original sloping ground. No doubt boring news to my readers. A source of entertainment in my otherwise quiet, rural life. With little sign of beneficial change from one decade to the next.

11.00 I have been tidying again. Starting with dismantling my old, steel and glass computer desk upstairs. I can stack a lot of pictures in the now empty, dormer space. Which once took up with modestly fresh air. Intensive vacuuming was required to make the space presentable.

 11.30 All the pictures have now been carried upstairs and stacked two high in the dormer. The stairs are very steep. Usually I carried the pictures three at a time but fewer with the larger ones. Where balance with an awkward load was more important than speed. 

 I didn't count them but there must be fifty. Mostly rederinger. The Danish name we were given by our sources. Back when we bought them. Usually in flea markets and charity shops a couple of decades ago. Mostly rather drab daubs of Danish architecture and romantic, rural landscapes. Reproductions by the artist. My memory fails me why we bought them even so cheaply. Perhaps we thought they might appreciate in value? None were ever hung.

 It is 76F upstairs. I am stripped down but still dripping with sweat! The open stairs are now completely free of clutter beneath. So I could finally paint them. They are presently battered, black and maroon. White paint would help to brighten their dark corner. I'd leave the treads in their bare, natural oak. 

 A fair amount of power sanding will be required. If anything resembling a decent finish is demanded. They were probably recycled long before they found their way to Chez Hovel. They certainly look it! 

Then I have to find a way to use this empty space for efficient and attractive storage. Boxes or tubs are available for stacking into a triangular arrangement. Or a coat hanging space could be arranged over storage tubs on the floor. Wet coats would dry more quickly in the lounge. Than in the [presently] unheated hallway. In the past I have hung them from the dividing beam in the lounge.

 Dinner was poached eggs on toast.

~o~