27.04.2024 Half baked cooky rules.

 ~o~

  Saturday 27th, 37F/3C. Fry and bright but misty with a smudgy sky. It could reach 13C later. Warmer weather ahead. 

 Up at 7am after a much better night. One visit to the fire bucket at 3am. Woke at 6am but slept for another hour. Still coughing but not as badly. I have to shop today. Or it's mackerel on toast again. And nobody wants to see that. 

 My Chief Medical Advisor has recommended I have a chat with a pharmacist. Just to see if there is any over-the-counter meds for treating my prolonged "man cold." Probably wise advice. Given that I have just finished the last of a vintage pack of Strepsils. Without any obvious effect. Let alone any improvement. My sick bed remains far too heavy to lift unaided.   

 There is a trillion dollar industry to treat coughs and sneezes. Ibuprofen is recommended by the least sales oriented "medical" website. The list of reasons to avoid included several of my own. Bloody thinning aspirin, etc. 

 I completely missed the sales advice of most websites. Not only did they want to push their sponsored products. They wanted me to fill out a two page questionnaire. "Allowing" me to avoid automatic opt-in. Before planting lifetime cookies anyway. 

 I closed each and every one of them. Why didn't the corrupt legal-sleeze numpties? Who make up these silly rules. Demand automatic opt-out as standard. With opt-in for cookies only for the cringeingly gullible or the cripplingly naive. And all those who would cheerfully volunteer their bank details. To any passing stranger. Who "seemed nice."

 

  ~o~

 

26.04.2024 Spring is ris.

 ~o~

  Friday 26th 39F/4C. Overcast with rain and wind. 

 Up at 6.45 after one of the worst nights of my life. I was coughing constantly. Awake more than asleep. I'd put my record number of visits to the fire bucket at 18. I imagined an hour had passed since the last time. But was peeing at quarter of an hour intervals according to the clock. I'd had nothing to drink, since lunch, except for a small glass of water. Nothing to eat since lunch except a biscuit. 

 10.30 Raining hard and blowing. 8mm of rain since I emptied the gauge yesterday evening. I have just lit the stove because the room had dropped to 62F/16.7C. Still coughing. It feels more shallow than previously. More akin to a clear-out. Rather than an attempt to stir the murky depths.

 16.00 Increasingly aware of sleeping while seated at the computer. I can't stay awake! Dare I have an afternoon nap? Alarm clock as an arrester wire. To avoid the old afterburner from overshooting the runway.

 16.45 Safely resurfaced. I found that controlling my breathing. To the barely alive. Kept me just below the wheezing level. Where I was guaranteed to trigger a coughing bout.

 17.00 71F/21C in the room. A pretense of sunshine. Needs more rehearsal. The brighter light is emphasizing the sudden burst of leaves onto the scene. The hedges look well enough for a top trim. Hopefully before they get away from me. 

 It had taken this long for them to recover from my onslaught of two years ago. Nature can sometimes overcome an NDE. Aided and abetted by a 150-year, record rainfall in April. [Since records began in 1874.] It makes a change from warmest and coldest ever. That was last week.

 I have been seeing movement out of the corner of my eye for days. Through the window and towards the main entrance door. Today the culprit spent some time perched on a sloping bar. A tiny wren was using the bar as a base to forage all around the area. A wren used to nest above the door under the roof overhang. I'll have to check for a nest. Wrens have a lovely song.

 Dinner was mackerel on toast. With a beer.

 

 

  ~o~

25.04.2024 Still a mouth breather.

 ~o~

  Thursday 25th 39F/4C [at 7.45] Overcast. Showers possible. The bad weather seems to be sliding past towards the NW.

 Up at 6am after an odd night. The weird dreams continue. Coughing bouts in the night. My dust dry mouth needed a visit to the kitchen tap. I am afraid to have water on the bedside table. I'd be fumbling blindly for the remote light switch. Only two trips to the fire bucket despite a beer with dinner.

 I am not well enough for my cooking class yet. It would not be kind to share my germs with them anyway. 

 It is approaching 8am and I have cabin fever. What can I do outside? I was wobbly yesterday just walking to the postbox. About 25 meters each way. Is a longer walk sensible? I am particularly deaf today. I can't hear myself type. Blocked sinuses? I hate feeling old and decrapped!           

21.00 Another day watching YT videos. Around 18.00 I suddenly felt unwell. Dizziness and nausea. I had spent half an hour catching up on the washing up. It was only 63F/17C out there. So I was probably chilled. 

 It had only been 64F/18C in the living room. Lighting the stove late hadn't helped. I kept all my clothes on and went to bed. Shaking furiously with cold for a while. I have had no afternoon bread roll nor dinner. I couldn't face anything. The room is now up to 21C/70F but I have probably ruined my sleep patterns for tonight.

 

 

  ~o~

24.04.2024 Rumours of my demise..

~o~

 Wednesday 24th 39F/4C [at 8.15] becoming cloudier, with rain forecast.

 I woke up unexpectedly, to daylight, at 6.30am after a weird night. Wide awake at 1am. My only visit to the fire bucket. More out of boredom than necessity. I had deprived myself of fluids after 17.00 except for a small glass of milk. 

 Ironically, I had to have a glass of water. Because I was so parched from mouth breathing. I finally went back to sleep to yet more ludicrous dreams. One memorable highlight was visiting a high street clothes shop. Access and egress being provided only via a small hatch in the facade. On the first floor! And no, it wasn't North Face.

 I think it is safe to say I am finally on the mend. My nose is still running. My chest is full and wheezing but a better night's sleep has helped. My head no longer feels under pressure. Presumably from the formerly overflowing sinuses.

 The morning was spent dozing over YT videos again. I was having a very silly dream while seated and woke myself up to stop the nonsense!

 14.00 Just had a call from the hospital. My Monday appointment for a heart scan has been given to an acute case. So I should be fully recovered from my "man cold" in another three weeks. My foolishly squeaky voice should also have returned. To what passes as normal. [For me] I wonder whether they have been reading about my exploits in moving 3m^3 of stabilgrus [self-compacting gravel] with a shovel. While waiting for a third scan to confirm my mortality. Am I so famous as an online influencer? Surely not? 😂

 The forecast is for temperatures above 20C in a short while. At the same time Denmark has broken records for coldest and wettest going back 80 years to previous extremes. I lit the stove and it went out before the kindling took proper hold. It's an ill omen! I tell thee!  

 Dinner was a fry up of chicken, mushrooms, an egg and fresh tomatoes. Helped down with a buttered bread roll.

~o~

23.04.2024 Another day wasted.

 ~o~

  Tuesday 23rd 38F/3C [at 8am] Bright but cloudy. No sun yet. Rain later. Maximum of 7C forecast.

  Up at 7am after another awful night. Frequent trips to the fire bucket. Despite having nothing to drink after dinner. Coughing and sneezing fits. The phlegm is so thick and deep I can't fetch it up by coughing. Making my plumbing hurt. The glands in my neck hurt too when I swallow. At least there was no more nose bleeding.

 8.10. First glimpse of the sun. It is only 60F/15.6C in the room. So I'll have to light the stove.

 I didn't bother light the stove until later. A fleece jacket helps me to ignore the cold. Another day wasted on YouTube.

 I made poached eggs on toast for dinner. Using the strainer trick to separate the whites. It was a disaster. I shan't bother with that again. Four minutes and the yolks were hard. With hardly any whites left to play with.

 

  ~o~

 

22.04.2024 Snow?

 ~o~

  Monday 22nd 35F/1.7C. It could be brighter if it wasn't so cloudy. A cool, dry day is promised.

 Up at 6am after a dreadful night. Coughing, sneezing and spluttering. Getting up to use the fire bucket every half hour. Woke to discover warm blood flowing down my face. Used a wad of tissue as a nose stopper. Blood tracks are clearly visible on my dark green pillowcase and dark red under sheet.  Spoiler alert: It was the butler! Shame it's not Halloween.

8.45 The sky has darkened and it has started snowing heavily! 

9.00 It is only 60F/15.6C in the room. I had to light the stove.

 The snow petered out over 3/4 of an hour.  I have an appointment for a blood test this morning. To be taken one week prior to my heart scan. I sought advice on the telephone. To be told that my terminal "man cold" was not a problem. That said, I felt I should be taking a mask. If only to protect others from my lethal germs. 

 The only mask I could find has been lying in the open in the kitchen for over two years! So it will be full of bacteria and viruses from all my doubtful attempts at cooking. Best not to try. I'll take some real handkerchiefs to cover my face. I doubt they have been used in well over a decade. Perhaps two. No, they have vanished. I probably gave them away to a charity shop.

 Hopefully the blast radius. When I inevitably explode into a sneezing fit. Will be reduced to the immediate vicinity. Unlike the moron in the dentist's waiting room. Who didn't even cover his face with his hand. As he repeatedly sneezed and coughed extremely loudly!

 The nurse was kind and swapped my handful of paper handkerchiefs for a proper mask. There was no bloodbath from being stabbed in the arm. As I had feared from all the nose bleeds.

 12.15 Shopped on the way home. Now I can eat again. Lots of people staring at the Morris. The kids at the village school wanted me to toot and cheered when I did. The Morris has a funny little horn sound. I feel better for having some fresh air but my chest and nose are still a wet mess.

 17.00 It has been sunny all afternoon. I am trying to squeeze a couple more degrees indoors [66F/19C] from the greenhouse. It didn't work.

 Dinner was fish fingers and chips with tomatoes.

 

 

 ~o~

21.04.2024 I hab a bad kowd.

 ~o~

  Sunday 21st 35F/2C. Bright but cloudy. Up at 6.30 after five visits to the fire bucket. I can feel pressure in my head as well as a burning chest. Coughing or sneezing is very painful. My lower back hurts too. Not a happy bunny.

 19.00  I have spent the entire day watching YouTube videos. While trying, poorly, not to cough or sneeze. I have just dragged the recycling bin along to the corner. 

 Now thinking about dinner. There isn't much choice except fish fingers and chips. I have used up all the frozen sliced bread for toast. Just a few crusts. So I don't think I'll bother. Milky coffee and a digestive. And so it was. 

 Bed at 11pm without a deliberate nap today. Though I was dozing off on the computer at times. I don't think this counts as "power napping."

 

  ~o~

 

20.04.2024 Survival of the fittest?

 ~o~

  Saturday 20th 37F/3C [at 8.00] Sunny periods but rather cloudy. Northerly winds are moving the boundary trees occasionally. The rain gauge added another 12mm yesterday. Up at 6.20 after a reasonable night. I keep having wet, coughing fits. Slightly yellow phlegm tastes unpleasant. Leaves my chest burning. The coughing seems to be reducing now that I am safely upright again. My chest was wheezing in the night on each exhalation. 

 I have to keep blowing my nose. Kleenex tissues seem to have a lost a lot of strength recently. Despite the false advertising claims of "always soft and strong" on the box. There is no visible mention of country of origin. My trusty magnifying glass isn't up to deciphering the sub-micro text on the tear out oval. Printed on a dark blue background for minimal intelligibility? What are they afraid of?

 Only 61F/16C in the room. How long will it take me to get around to lighting the stove today? It takes only seconds but I resent the loss of logs. I have almost used up the previous trailer load. The new lot was separated from the old with a strip of cardboard for ease of identification. 

 Logic suggests that the older logs will be drier. Though this is weather dependent. Very dry logs will become damper again with higher, outdoor air humidity. Then dry again. Provided I bring them into the heated room early enough. The greenhouse storage humidity is variable. 

 Dinner was mackerel on toast with fresh tomatoes. Still coughing at intervals. Which hurts. While my snotty nose is becoming stuffy.

 

  ~o~

19.04.2024 Man flu?

 ~o~

  Friday 19th 40F/4.4C. Overcast and all day rain. Midnight to midnight. Up at 6.15. I still have the cold [?] symptoms. Coughing and snotty nose with a bad taste. 62F/17C in the room. I had better light the stove.

 The stove was lit much [much] later. Now I will probably forget to feed it with logs. Not because I am senile but because I have un-diagnosed ADHD. I tick every box for the symptoms and have done since childhood.

 12.50 Time for lunch. It has been raining on and off all morning but I haven't wanted to go out anyway. My chest is wet and burning slightly. I keep coughing and my nose keeps running. It doesn't feel like a cold. So it's probably something terminal. 

 16.00 That was a waste of time. I went to bed for my afternoon nap and coughed continuously. I tried lying on my left side, right side and on my back My chest is wheezing and my coughs are increasingly wet. 

 Dinner was chips, chicken, mushrooms and tomatoes. The Google image storage app, for which I pay £8+ equivalent per month, isn't working. Again! And now it is. It requires the phone Wi-Fi to be enabled. To transfer images. Why? When I connect the USB cable every time.

 

  ~o~

 

18.04.2024 A Bloodbath!

~o~

  Thursday 18th 31F/-1C. Clear and sunny. White frost on the cars and garden. 61F/16C indoors. 

 Woke at 6am to find blood gushing from both nostrils. Grabbed a tissue to clamp my nose and headed to the bathroom. Blood everywhere but fortunately it soon stopped. As I splashed my face with icy cold water. This has never happened before. Perhaps the aspirin is thinning my blood? Surely not my clumsy attempts at killing the poor, innocent aspidistra? The clay pots really weren't that heavy! Well, they were quite heavy. As were the bags of compost. I was completely breathless after carrying one small [18L] bag into the shop.

 I checked: Various medical websites suggest nosebleeds are possible due to reduced clotting. I have discovered that there is a history of heart problems. On my mother's side of the family. My mother had a pacemaker fitted. My grandmother died on a train journey.

 7.45 Time to get ready for a walk.

 8.15 Returning from a loop along the drives. A pair of Mallards were foraging in the long grass near the pond. It was still cold enough to see my breath as I walked back. Japanese knotweed is reemerging through the gravel on the new drive. This invasive plant was imported on contaminated soil when a steep roadside drop was filled.

 I have an occasional, ticklish, dry cough and a sore upper respiratory system. A chap was coughing loudly and sniffing wetly and endlessly while waiting at the dentists.

 10.15 I returned to the garden centre. To buy another pair of matching pots and saucers. Plus a couple more bags of potting compost. All are now safely tucked in with fresh compost. It is just a matter of finding indoor sites for them all. 

 10.45  I sent a repeat of my December 2023 email to Contec requesting a replacement for the broken saddle frame. The dealer from which I bought the saddle has closed down. The nearest Contec dealer is hours of driving away. 

 An update: Contec wholesale responded. They can't help me directly. There is a Contec dealer in Odense. The nearest city. This wasn't shown on a previous list of dealers.

 13.00 Lunch. I am now battling an invasion of tiny ants in the kitchen. I have sprinkled the ant killer where they emerge.

 A lazy afternoon feeling a bit under the weather. Runny nose, occasional cough and a sore chest.

 Dinner was beans on toast.

 

  ~o~

 

17.04.2024 77 not out.

 ~o~

  Wednesday 17th 38F/3C. Brightening between variable splodgy clouds. Winds light. It has dropped to 63F/17C in the room overnight from 71F/22C at bedtime.

 Up at 6.30 after a night of strange dreams. I kept dreaming, for what seemed like hours, on variations on designing and building hammocks. Asking different people what they thought. Recommended materials? I have absolutely no idea why. I am not even remotely interested in hammocks! 

The next long dream was about a series of actors or models standing and seated in an open backed, canvas topped lorry. With lots more totally illogical variations. Had the lorry moved they would have tumbled like skittles. Yet I was chasing it through the traffic at one point. The characters kept changing too. Perhaps it had something to do with watching TV?

8.00 Time for a walk.

8.30 42F/6C. Sunshine. Back from my walk. I reached the lanes and turned back. The traffic was unusually dense. Nose to tail at times. The sun broke through now and then. The light, northerly breeze wasn't enough to cause a chill. 

 My walks are not the marathons of the past. The distances I covered, almost every morning, surprise me now. I would regularly be walking though the forest for an hour and half. Often capturing hundreds of images each day. Now I barely make it to the lanes and bring back a phone camera snap or two.

 Many of my plans for the house have not come to fruition. The place is certainly improved. Though not to the extent I had imagined or even hoped for. Motivation is very hard to find. So I dive into whatever interests me at the time. Perhaps the warmer and brighter weather will spur me on.

I have often used my blogs to push me into completing projects. Discussing the details, often at length, helped me to maintain momentum and focus. I imagined my "audience" was willing me on. That they'd be disappointed if I failed.

 Alas, no more. I spend pointless hours watching YouTube videos. When I could and should be doing something creative. While I still can. If only for achieving cosmetic improvements. Or tidying up!

 My wife was my constructive critic and a valuable guide to common sense goals. Without her constant presence and advice I now stumble aimlessly forwards. Her vital "nagging" got things done. Things were not allowed to be overlooked. Just because they did not inspire me at the time.

  I miss our constant back and forth exchange of ideas the most. Even a heated conversation is/was better than nothing at all. Nothing prepares you for the deathly silence. Of being entirely alone.

 There were some large clay plant pots for sale at the supermarket. So I decided to split my wife's aspidistra. Which was totally root bound in the red pot at the rear. 

 The only way to get it out of the pot, other than smashing it, was to use a knife. I ran the knife around the inside of the pot. Trying to avoid the root system. Eventually I was rewarded with a clean exit of almost solid root ball. Only the very bottom had a few cup fulls of soil. 

 Fortunately I had remembered to buy some clay balls and potting compost at the village garden centre. The knife was used again to cut between bunches of leaves. Keeping at least two to a bunch. There was no chance of splitting the solid mass of roots by teasing. They proved to be fragile anyway.

 The divisions added up to more than three pots. So I had to find some remaining plastic pots. I gave them a good rinse with a watering can. Then re-potted all the clumps. The sheer volume of leaves shows clearly how overgrown the plant was for its single pot. 

 I'll have to buy some more potting compost to fill the empty spaces as I soon ran out. My wife left me some open bags of the same potting compost. Though they may have been contaminated by years lying open on the ground outside. So I shall spread it around and not use it in the indoor pots. 

 I have no idea where I am going to put the replanted horde. They'll have to come indoors before it gets cold. But not into the greenhouse. Which is too bright and too hot and cold.

 19.15 Dinner is... ? Chicken, mushrooms, fried egg and baked beans. With a bread roll to mop up the plate.

 

  ~o~

16.04.2024 One day at a time.

 ~o~

  Tuesday 16th 41F/5C. Cool and overcast with early showers. 12mm of rain overnight. Up at 6.30 after a reasonable night.

 Dentist at 9.00. 

 10.00 Back from the dentist. Six x-rays! If I glow in the dark I can probably save on lighting. I have to go back after lunch after they have analyzed the results. Am I the only one who finds teeth cleaning at the dentist torture?

 I lifted the shade nets to let some light in. It was depressing enough with the sky overcast. Though it is pretending to brighten. There was some sunshine in the afternoon so I opened the internal doors and windows.

 I tried to adjust the tension on the Brooks B67 but found the tension nut was locked tight. A pair of long nose pliers held the plain section of the tension bolt still. While I got the nut to move along the thread using the special Brooks spanner. The Contec has a hex socket in the end of the tension bolt. Too 20th century for Brooks? 

 Dinner was fish fingers, chips and peas.

 

  ~o~

15.04.2024 We only borrow that which we do not destroy.

 ~o~

  Monday 15th 40F/4C. Quite bright but lots of cloud. Up at 6.30 after a reasonable night. 

 It was very odd. I have worked hard all day, for several days, without too many problems. Then, when I dragged the wheely bin along the drive last night I became very breathless.

 I have to go shopping today. So I might as well ride to the village with a dentist. I broke a tooth in half on a bread roll. Hopefully I can get an appointment before it becomes even more painful. 

 7.45 Time for a walk.

 8.15. I had a leisurely stroll. Veiled sunshine, the slight chill and the light breeze did not spoil the experience. As I looped along the drives. The new drive is becoming ever more beautiful. As the sewn grass takes firmer hold on the steep banks and the trees come into leaf. The girls, of the newly built house, had spent quite some time. Collecting and removing the small, surface stones. So that a mower can make short and economical work of taming its thousands of square meters.

 The quiet pond is becoming surrounded in scattered, new, broad-leafed growth. Perhaps irises will enliven the scene further in time. This very real oasis is only slightly removed from the racing traffic. Though I could still hear the noisy thrush all the time I was out.  

 The contrast between the raving lunacy, of scrap man's vast, rusting and rotting hoard. Against the newly formed, soft, green calm. Was never more noticeable than today. It could all have been equally hideous. Yet was formed, with unusual care, by a natural landscape artist. Effortlessly and quietly wielding a huge excavator!  

 All hope that electric cars would bring calm can be safely abandoned. Their tire roar often exceeds the racket of the endlessly-hyped crap which went before. Their exhausts still hanging like filthy, obscene testicles. As if to romance their pulling power. In the pointless hierarchy of gaining one space. On the road to gridlocked hell. Or merely intensive care. For their billions of very real victims worldwide.   

 12.30 Returning from a shopping trip on the bike. Only 20km.  I have a dental appointment early tomorrow morning. Possibly with a student. 

 A strong headwind on the way home. So I engaged Turbo mode and kept pedaling. The relaxed, upright riding position, with the new handlebars, has found its Achilles heel. One I am willing to accept. 

 Dinner was salad. With 12 minute, boiled eggs.

  ~o~

 

14.04.2024 Taking it all apart again.

 ~o~

  Sunday 14th 44F/7C. Very windy with possible showers. Up at 4.30 after lying awake for ages. No escape from my miserable thoughts.  The kitchen stinks of rotting bananas in the recycling bag/basket. It was only a quarter full. Emptied into the wheely bin outside. New bag inserted. I must find a better basket!

 7.00 Time for a walk.

 7.30 Watery sunshine. A fleece jacket was not remotely warm enough in the westerly wind. Lots of birds singing and calling. Including a yellowhammer. Which crossed to my side of the road and huddled into its down jacket as it watched me. The "harrier" was soaring near the road. I stopped to watch it through my binoculars. It ignored me and continued on its slow, forward path. The noisy thrush is still shouting in the shelter belt. 

 The gravel is still there too. Taunting me to fix the levels. I may ignore it and go for a ride instead. But where? North or south makes most sense. Every inch to the east has to be repaid in compound interest. In fighting the headwind coming home. Not a great day for cycling. There is always the Morris?

 8.00 Morning coffee while I make a decision. I'll stay at home and work on the gravel. The clouds are racing over. Giving short sunny periods.

 9.00 The self compacting gravel is reasonably level now. It will rise and fall as vehicles are rolled over it. The car wheels can only reach repeated tracks. So ruts are inevitable until a solid surface is achieved. I like granite chippings for their cleanliness and stability. The common pea gravel just rolls everywhere and is dangerous to cycle over. Slabs are also fine for limited sideways movement in carports and garages.  The self stabilizing sand&gravel is poorly resistant to heavy rain and drips. It also carries on footwear as red sand. So cannot be left naked in the longer term.   

 10.00 What to do next? Start dismantling the observatory? I can take the cladding plywood off the larger building. The smaller building is still intact inside it. Then I would have better access to the area behind the building. I can work from the second floor to dismantle the 14-sided, outer timber framework. I might change my mind about taking down the building when it is back to its original size. It didn't seem to loom so much as the later expansion. 

12.00 Almost continuously sunny. Partial cladding removal. I need to tidy up to continue. I am dropping the plywood panels straight down. Which is safe provided there is nothing below. The timber leaning against the building would block a straight drop. Probably hitting the stepladders and causing an accident or damage.

 I tidied up the timber around the observatory. Then had lunch at 13.00

 15.00 Mostly overcast. I needed a nap to catch up on my lost sleep and recoup my strength. Just for once I set the alarm to avoid my typical overshoot. It went off a quarter of an hour early! So I only had half an hour.

 

  ~o~

13.04.2024 You call this a rest day?

 ~o~

  Saturday 13th 46F/8C. Overcast but dry. Increasingly windy from the SW.  Up at 6am after a reasonable night.

 7.45 It is brightening up. Time for a walk?  

 9.15 My post update about my walk has disappeared. A song thrush is shouting in the shelter belt. The sun is really struggling to break through the cloud. Not helped by the distant mistiness. The variation in brightness is remarkable. It almost looks like rain at its worst. 

 I thought I might have a tootle on the e-bike. To shop at the next village north. Just to get some fresh air before I have another go at the gravel. Or I could get some fresh air playing with the gravel first. Eeny meeny..

 10.30 55F/13C. Variable brightness with weak sunny periods. No bike ride. I had to come in for a rest and to cool off. I have advanced another two meters toward the boundary with the gravel. 

 It is very hard work dislodging it from the heap.     Then it has to be thrown three meters with a swing of the shovel. The gravel is much heavier than sand. I am laying a minimum thickness of 15cm or 6" and tramping it down as I go. Normal people would hire a machine! 

 12.30 60F/15.5C. Another hour of breathless, hard labour. Sunnier now and warmer. I am using a wheelbarrow to bridge the distance to the far edge. It is quicker but even more exhausting.  

 I am having to use my foot to push the shovel into the heap. The weight of the shovel itself wasn't remotely enough to make any impact. Raking was even harder work! 

 Almost there now. I'll take my builders level out and lay it on the planks to confirm a gentle fall to the left [west.] 

 Another image with a wider field of view. To avoid distorting the perspective. The newly leveled area is 8 meters beyond the steel pole x 4 meters wide. [26'x13'] The phone camera considerably foreshortens the view. For reference, the orange coloured building in the background is 160 meters away.

 Having the rubble base has saved me a huge amount of heavy work. The larger blocks, on the left, will be moved. Behind where the observatory is presently standing. Then covered in smaller rubble and topped with gravel. 

 That space is inaccessible at the moment. It really needs the observatory to be removed first. Meanwhile, the gravel heap is shrinking, but only very slowly.

 13.00 Lunch and I broke a tooth in half on something hard in a bread roll! 

 14.00 Time for another rest. I am getting a bit tired and achy now. Local adjustment of level is still required but it is getting closer to completion. 

 18.00 55F/13C. Overcast and breezy.  I am quite surprised how much I have managed to do in one day. Provided I paced myself I was able to continue. Without becoming too breathless. A rest every hour helped to quickly relieve any tiredness.

 18.30 Still 6F/19C in the room without the stove. It feels rather too cool. Dinner will be salad. 

 The view through the living room windows is suddenly very green. The mild, spring weather has really spurred the leaves on.

 

  ~o~

12.04.2024 A jaunt in the Morris.

 ~o~

  Friday 12th 50F/10C. More rain is promised. Up at 5am to escape from my memories.

 It is nearly 6am. I can allow myself to have breakfast.

 The greatest danger, to the unfortunate inhabitants of any country. Is never the oft-stated enemy. It is always the self-appointed tyrant. The scum which always rises. To the surface of the sewer of corruption. Demanding loyalty to a system. Built only to enrich the tyrant and its false flag waving cronies. 

 No tyrant ever reigned over a Golden Age. Only over their own, gold plated toilet. Nationalism and populism are the snake oil of their toxicity. Their evil propaganda written in glistering piss in the snow. To be washed away. Only with the arrival of true, freedom of expression. There can be no left-right wing media. There is only the unvarnished truth. Their silence, is by default, the worst lie of all! 

 8.15 Returned from a walk to the lanes. A robin was singing in the absent neighbour's trees. It was slightly misty. Exaggerated by a brightening to the west. Which moved towards the north with glimpses of blue. To be replaced by the uniform overcast. A light breeze is increasing.

 13.30. I returned from visiting my friend in the Morris. It rained going both ways. I have been catching up with the laundry. The wood stove provides excellent drying conditions.

 I had a fry up for dinner. With a bread roll to mop up the remaining yolk. I use a small amount of butter instead of sunflower oil these days. It was all perfect. I even flipped my eggs successfully today. All thanks to my large, non-stick frying pan. I preheat the plate on top of the wood stove when I am not using the mini-oven.

  ~o~

 

11.04.2024 Just call me "chef."

 ~o~

 Thursday 11th 48F/9C. Overcast, with and a wet and windy morning promised. Up at 3.30-4.30. Regurgitating endless, indelible memories. Searching upstairs for important papers again. It is two years since I last looked. I feared I had mislaid or even discarded them. Where did I put all the others? Then up at 6.30 again to face another day. Without her.

 It is cooking class today. As it is so wet I am denied a pleasant ride. Through picturesquely winding and undulating, rural lanes. In freshly laundered, morning sunshine. I have started the Morris Minor to confirm that all is well. 

 Only 62F/17C in the room. So I should probably light the stove. Though there is no real point. Not if I shan't be here to enjoy the warmth. Nor feed it with expensive logs to maintain the glow. The shade netting is making it darker in the downstairs rooms. 

 The kitchen is getting on my nerves. It is in such a mess! The same old mistakes from the past. Unnecessary furniture collecting detritus. Without any useful surfaces to hold things near the working surface. The pretend larder shelves remain. They are useful to one with the memory of a goldfish. I can see what I need more of at a glance. The same could be said for a cupboard. Though that wouldn't be so accessible and would be blocked by the door when it is open.

 I keep daydreaming about having a window [or even a glass door] in the end, west wall of the kitchen. Pointless expense. Even if it would provide a view across the unkempt lawn. A door would provide garden access. Without having to go all the way around. It would provide more light but be subject to driving rain. Greater heat loss than a solid, properly insulated wall. It would deny a space for larger furniture. Like my wife's, now empty dresser. Which has been sitting there for 27 years. Too many options. Let's not go there.

 Nearly 9.00 I can stop waffling and go.

 14.15 An uneventful drive to the cooking class as it rained lightly. There I made two dishes: Potato gratin: With a bed of finely chopped onions, layered with sliced potato, sliced large tomatoes and sliced squash. Cooked for half an hour in the oven. 

 Then it was onto making a complex, broccoli salad with Miracle Whip sauce. Time consuming but well worth it. Both dishes were excellent. Aided by a further meat dish with broccoli dressing and mushroom sauce ladled over the top. With almost nothing left of a huge quantity of each. I was struggling to stay awake during the after dinner chat around the table. We all washed up and dried and then I drove home for a well earned nap.  

 16.30 It was only 60F/15.6C in the room. So I lit the stove and had a cup of tea. While I scribbled my blog update.

 18.30 No need for any food tonight. 

~o~

10.04.2024 The Morris Minor is back!

 ~o~

  Wednesday 10th 45F/9C. Cooler, overcast, with light showers and gales. Up at 6am after a difficult night. The greenhouse was whistling loudly in the fierce, southwesterly winds. Gusting to over 20m/s overnight. I feared another pane had blown out but its was just leakage. The wind is slowly reducing and going westerly. From where there is lots of shelter from trees and shrubs. 

 I laid some long planks and the level across the rubble. The workers did a great job. Just a few big blocks can be moved out to the edges. In case I hit any of them while excavating for the carport anchors.

The Moustache e-bike on the carrier on the Morris. The clip-on number plate has been removed for privacy. The e-bike is much longer than the Morris is wide. A brightly coloured band could be applied to the overhanging, rear bike wheel. 

8.30 Returning from a loop along the parallel drives. The wind really was strong and gusty. I was treated to a superb flying display by what I am calling a harrier. Smaller than a red kite and with a long parallel tail. Long, narrow wings held stiffly without flapping. It seemed unperturbed by my presence and was continuously gliding sideways. Soaring effortlessly on the wind. To quickly cover the entire field looking for potential prey. White speckles and splashes here and there but mostly brown and black.  

 I am going to collect the Morris Minor this morning. I left the Buzzrack, bike carrier in the car all those weeks ago. So I can ride there and bring the bike home on the back of the Morris. I just hope I don't have to sell the car to pay the repair bill! 

 9.00 I am readying the bike and myself. For a ride to the rural garage. 

 10.45 Returned with the bike and the Morris. The new handlebars are great. Very relaxed with no weight on my hands. Fierce gusts from the side, at first and then behind me. I was cruising at 35kph on the flat without much pedaling. All thanks to the tailwind.

 The workshop proprietor was very generous and only charged me for three hours of work. Instead of three weeks! Many of the electrical and ignition components have been replaced. I now have an alternator in place of the dead dynamo. Most of the problems were caused by badly installed, faulty components and very poor earthing. A red kite was circling low over the road as I neared home. 

 11.15. I ought to go shopping. There is nothing in the larder. I'll go in the Morris.

 12.15  Back from the shops. I had no sooner climbed out of the Morris at the supermarket. Than I was accosted by a mature woman full of praise for my car. 

 I saw a dead deer on the verge. A very unusual sight. 

 12.50 52F/11C. It is trying to be sunny now. More blue skies than the white fluffy stuff. I have opened the internal windows to the greenhouse. Starting at 62F/17C indoors.

 It was far too hot in the greenhouse. So I hung both shade nets. The cord I used isn't UV stable and is fraying badly! Sold as flag line! If the whole lot slides off the greenhouse roof I know who to blame!

 While I was outside, getting breathless, I replanted the screwed spike and put up the rotary clothes drier/airer. Which made me even more breathless! Though it was nicely timed. Because then I could put the mower back into the shed. Ambition discovered its boundaries. So much for shoveling gravel today. It's not going to happen.

 My wife's flower bed is looking quite green. Some orange cowslips have flowered. Lots of promising tufts of leaves spread over the whole bed. I am glad I cleared all the woody stuff away this time. It will be easier to see her flowers when they come out. 

 Dinner was chicken and mushroom with chips.

 

  ~o~

9.04.2024 Rubble and new handlebars.

 ~o~

  Tuesday 9th 50F/10C, windy, dark and misty. Showers this morning. Rain later. Up at 6am. My lower back hurts again. 

 I will have to move all the components over from the old handlebars to the new. There are lots! I wonder which is the most efficient way of doing it? Slackening clamps rather than dismantling them completely! Fit the new bars before swapping the various levers over? What if any of the cables are too short? 😟

8.30 Whoopee! The neighbours have arrived to deliver the demolition rubble. Due to the rain the car won't push the heavy trailer backwards on the parking space. The wheels keep spinning. Putting down gravel didn't help. So they are lightening the trailer load into wheelbarrows before having another go.

 One trailer load of rubble. It is difficult to judge. Four more loads should fill the entire space to the correct level. After that, it can be spread further back. 

 It is only a very short distance from the trailer to the sunken garden. Too far to throw and too time consuming to walk. Two Romanians are doing the work. They speak no English nor Danish. So we are using hand signals and mime. They are spreading the gravel on the ground now in the hope of the next trailer load getting closer. It can even tip if it gets close enough.   

 

 My idea of dumping it next door to their building site was to save them time. If they are having to unload it with wheelbarrows this isn't so likely. The time per trailer load has to be balanced against having to drive to a recycling yard and back again. Ten or twenty kilometers round trip. Depending on which day it is. The nearest yard is only open on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. 

2nd trailer load. The view from the higher ground foreshortens the area below.  

 8.45 I have the new handlebars fitted. Only the headlight dip button is a bit of stretch. The cable has been clipped into a zip tie under the light. So more length is possible it just needs extreme care not to damage the bundle of cables. I have never needed to use the dip switch but it ought to be easily accessible.

 There were three tiny zip ties but I managed to free the bundle. Problem solved. The greenhouse makes a good workshop when it is raining. Excellent light too. When the sun isn't too hot!

 9.15 Morning coffee. Sunny periods now. I thought the new handlebars might look a bit "city bike" but they don't. The increased sweep back gives a sense of urgency. Like a bird of prey with its wings half folded. For those with a vivid imagination! 😊 

 I have checked everything is tight. It just needs a test ride. I'll probably hate the change! We'll see. The bars can be rotated to taste, in the stem clamp, of course. 

 10.00 I have been spreading more gravel in the hope of better grip on the car tires.  Getting very breathless again. I feel fine until I do any heavy work. I am so used to being able to do anything I need to. Without a second thought. Not any more. 

 It keeps getting darker. As if about to rain. Not helpful! 

 10.25 57F/14C. Rain! 

 12.00 The second trailer full has been dumped via wheelbarrows. Lots of car sliding and wheelspin. A lorry would have no more success trying to reach the sunken area. Particularly with the gravel mound still blocking the way. The trailer can get past but can't reach the bank.

 The blog editing software is having a bad day. It is impossible to place images correctly within the text. It should be effortless drag and drop but it isn't today.

 12.50 They are trying to reverse down the drive again with the third trailer full. They are no better at it than I am. The boss is driving now. So it's going much quicker. The drive is being chewed up but it cannot be avoided. Not with all the rain we've been having. A few trailer loads of gravel will make it firm again. I have just been along to check. There is still lots more rubble left next door. Once the present space is full. They can work backwards towards the boundary.

  They have fixed their phone to the steel post. So they can video chat with their family back at home while they work. 😄

 14.50 Four trailers full and the intended area is almost up to the level of the parking space. The observatory platform is a little higher but that doesn't matter. Some drainage slope is good. I don't want to waste the gravel filling big holes. Just spread it on the top of the rubble. So it is firm and level. 

 The boss says they can't do any more today because the ground is far too wet. His towing car is getting splattered with mud! The lads did a good job. Now I can spread some gravel far more economically. Perhaps more importantly, without killing myself. 

 16.30 Raining hard and forecast to continue for hours. I wanted to go out and spread some gravel but couldn't. 

 I have heard from the garage. The Morris Minor is ready to be collected! I shall ride over there tomorrow and bring the car back. With the e-bike on the rear carrier.    

 Dinner was weird. I started preparing for a salad. Eggs first. Into the pan and bring to the boil. Only then did I discover that I had no lettuce. So, I had hard boiled eggs on toast. With tomato soup and a bread roll. Stop laughing at the back! 😳

 20.30 I lit the stove at 18.00 after spending the day at 18C. The temperature shot up to 22C/71F. I'll let it go out now.

 

  ~o~

 

 

8.04.2024 88km for new bars.

 ~o~

  Monday 8th 46F/8C. Up at 5.30. Still 66F/19C indoors without the stove being lit.

 7.20 Only a little cloud and the sun has risen.

 7.40 Time for a walk.

 8.20 Returned from a walk to the lanes. I was tempted by the field tracks but they were puddled and the soil was wet and sticky. The traffic was quite heavy. Slightly cool on my hands but I could feel the warmth of the sun on my cheek. 

 Brooks B67 in the lowered position on the dropper post. Note how curved the saddle appears. 

 8.45 I feel the need for a ride in the sunshine. The winds are light and southerly. I am tempted by the coastal lanes going north.  

 15.15 60F/15C. Returned from an 88km/55mile ride. I was saddle sore almost from the start despite wearing my best bibs and bare legs. [Padded cycling shorts with braces.]  After reaching my goal I came back by another way. 

 I visited a bike shop first but they had no suitable handlebars in stock. Lindebjerg were kind enough to sell me some handlebars from their electric bike range. These bars have sharper angles and more rise than my present bars. So I am hoping they will be more comfortable. I am already using the shortest, high rise stem available. I am almost upright on the bike but my hands and wrists still hurt. 

 The new handlebars propped on top of the originals.
 To show the much sharper bends and higher rise.

 Years ago I had a Scott mountain bike. It cost me £5 equivalent from a flea market. It was all aluminum but still weighed a ton! Even then I had wrist pain from the nearly straight bars. I never rode it very far. 

 All of my cycling life I have rested my hands on the hoods of racing bikes. Where the support was parallel to the machine. Not at right angles. The new bars are more swept back at the outer ends. Hopefully this will help.

 Lindebjerg's speciality is electric, mobility, micro-cars for the elderly and disabled. With e-bikes and scooters also in their range. They seem to be thriving. All of the staff, who passed me. While I was waiting for the young chap to come back. Spoke politely and offered help. They should train supermarket and big shed store staff. 

 The Lindebjerg building was incredibly smart and vast and they have showrooms in many Danish cities. They were enjoying a get-together around a hot dog van in the car park. To celebrate their 12th anniversary. They all seemed cheerful. The young man who was helping me even went off to quickly find a vernier caliper. To ensure the bars were the same sizes as my originals! That is real service!👍

 I deliberately stopped on each hour of the ride. To eat a sub-micro, Corny chocolate bar and drink a small carton of apple juice. If the packaging of the sub-micro, Corny bar gets any bigger, relative to the microscopic contents, they will have to provide a guide dog. Each bag is 1/3 longer than the bar!

 The lack of wind was enough to halt the wind turbines. Yet I still felt I was fighting a strong headwind all the way. There and back. It started sunny but became progressively more cloudy. Until it was fully overcast. I was comfortably warm in a racing jersey over a thermal vest. Under my Endura rain jacket. I had taken thermal long-johns and a jumper. Just in case. Now I am back at home it is 66F in the room but I feel cold. So I have put on fleece trousers and warm jumper.

The batteries had to be swapped as I neared home. The first had fallen to 20% charge. From memory, I think I managed around 75km/46miles on the first with 100% charge. That was 47% in Tour mode. To try and extend the range.  About the same amount in Sport mode and the rest in Turbo. Average speed was 23kph. 

 I saw lots of blokes on racing bikes out training. All of them ignored my wave. Perhaps they couldn't see me through their [expensive] dark glasses? I was overtaken by a streamlined trike. I was cruising at 30kph but they soon left me far behind! Later I was being chased by a mobility, three wheeler micro car. It followed me up a long, steep hill as I pedaled furiously in Turbo mode. As soon as we crested the hill I pulled off into a lay-bye. To let him pass. He was able to travel at twice my speed downhill. He gave me a wave and grinned as he passed.

 I shopped for groceries on the way back. When I came out of the supermarket the Nyon head unit would not turn on! Without the active display there is no assistance. An extra form of security. After fiddling for a few minutes I gave up and pedaled slowly away uphill in a low gear. Heading for home at a walking pace. After a few meters it switched itself back on. So then I had full assistance to get home. 

 Imagine if that had occurred far from home! Rather than the 10km/7 miles to the next shopping village. Even that distance would have been exhausting without power! There are some nasty hills on the way home.

 Dinner was bake beans on toast. Followed by supermarket, own label tomato soup and a bread roll. The soup was much better than the usual, overpriced Heinz. The own label beans as awful as they have always been. Under-cooked and chewy with watery sauce. Made badly in Italy.

 

  ~o~

7.04.2024 Contec saddle frame critique continued.

 ~o~

  Sunday 7th 53F/12C. Very heavily overcast and a very wet morning. A northeasterly going stream should slide away after 10am. Threat of sunshine later. Up at 6.20 after a quiet night.

This is the text directly copied from Contec's own website describing its "Exclusive Touring Men's" saddle:

"Harmonious suspension at the saddle end with 2 built-in springs ensures comfortable sitting. The springs effectively dampen every impact.  

Furthermore, the rails made of chromium-molybdenum steel offer secure and comfortable support. The high-quality alloy ensures that the rails remain impact and crack-resistant. 

The saddle does not require a plain seatpost clamp, it is suitable for use with a modern seatposts, in which the post and the clamp form a single unit.

The assembly of the saddle and post is more durable with modern seatposts than with multi-part clamps. This fulfills a further aspect in terms of high-quality seating comfort: A permanently vibration-resistant saddle angle." 

 Strangely, it does not mention the nicks at every saddle frame bend. Caused by the dies of the wire frame bending machine. Making it highly prone to breakage many miles from home! As happened to me. So that the saddle made a loud knocking noise and rocked sideways with each turn of the pedals. The frame had broken at the saddle nose. Fortunately, for me, it was the under-frame which snapped and not the seatpost support frame. 

 The easiest way to break hard, spring wire is to dent it. The dent causes a local stress point. Repeated flexure will then snap the wire at the dent. There is no need to cut right through the hard material. Which cannot be cut with a normal hacksaw. Only grinding or a disk cutter will penetrate the hard surface. Piano wire is a common springy wire used for making models. It exhibits the same qualities as Contec's spring wire, saddle frame. 

 10.25 It stopped raining round 10am and now the sun is trying to break through. I might have a ride into town.

 13.30 60F/15.6C. Sunshine and gales. Returning from a ride into town. 30km/19miles. It was a struggle going there into the headwind. The cycle lane was completely flooded but i  didn't need to go that way. 

 It was almost as bad coming back with a cross wind. My way was blocked by flooding on a narrow lane. I started into the water but quickly ran out of forward motion. It was much deeper than I had guessed. So I had to pedal to keep going. My right foot went right under the water and then the left! It was bløødy cold! Fortunately I was on my way back by then. The B67 saddle needs to be tipped slightly more nose up.  

 The greenhouse is showing 100F/38C despite the wind whistling through the gaps. So I have opened the internal windows to warm the house. I shall have to fit the shade nets soon but can guarantee it will be warm and sunny again for ages if I do.

 Dinner was salad. No tomatoes. I forgot to buy more. The 14+ minutes of boiling the eggs was slightly too much. They were fine but 12 minutes is the gold yolk standard.

  ~o~

6.04.24 60km and saddle dismantling.

 ~o~

  Saturday 6th 46F/8C. Light SW winds until after lunch.

 7.30 Overcast but brightening. It should remain dry. With some sunshine possible later. Up at 6.30 after a reasonable night. I shall go for a walk soon. Morning brightness, when available, is just as important as the exercise. Roaming in quiet, green spaces is another bonus.   

 8.15. 49F/9C. The sun is trying to break through but with little success. I saw two pairs of yellowhammers before I'd left the drive. Not much to report after that. Except for all the attention seeking skylarks. 

 I walked to the lanes. Becoming too hot in a thin fleece jacket and jumper. While my hands remained cold. The large puddles had returned to the fields after more heavy rain. Though not on the scale of Australia. Where they had all 7"/18cm of April rain in one day. It did not end well.

 9.20 Sunshine! Too good to waste! Where am I going today?

 15.00 61F/16C. Rode to see my friend. 60km/37miles. There was occasional sunshine and it was mild. I had to remove my jumper on the way and swap batteries on the way back. Lots of flooding in the fields. Huge puddles and streams across the rural lanes. I rode through water over 10cm/4" deep at one point. Keeping to the crown to minimize the water depth. 

 Becoming more breezy and cloudier later. A flying beetle managed to get past my hearing aid and into my ear. I stopped several times thinking my hearing aid was dislodged. Then it started tickling even worse. So I removed my helmet, sunglasses and hearing aid. After which I managed to hook the beetle out with my little finger. How did it get past the silicone dome in my ear?

 Safely back at home I dismantled both saddles. The Contec "Exclusive Touring" and the Brooks B67. The springs were the same width apart but there were differences. The Contec leather top is at least 10mm longer. The screws and the springs were different sizes too. I could have used the B67 frame on the Contec leather top but decided it wasn't worth the risk of trouble far from home. 

 I have to say that the Contec seemed far better made and designed overall. Though was obviously a close copy of the B67. One screw [or nut] on the Brooks was cross threaded. Making it impossible to tighten or loosen. Brooks use a square shank, coach bolt, to grip the last coil of the spring. Which quickly failed. I had to resort to a woodworking clamp to hold the head of the bolt still while I worked on the nut. The Contec uses slightly smaller diameter crews with serrated lock nuts. It was much easier to dismantle. 

BUT: As mentioned previously: My Contec saddle has sharp nicks at every bend of the wire frame. Making it highly susceptible to local fracture or even work hardening. All it needed was for the bending tool dies to be gently radiused. This glaring cock-up was clearly beyond the copyist's understanding of the Brooks 19th century technology. Which uses completely worn out machines from the steam driven era. So that it's machine bending dies are all worn out enough not to nick the bends even if they tried. While Contec's built in obsolescence is probably due to nepotism. 

 Or the factory sweeper being put in charge of design and production. That's not really fair. Many a factory sweeper would know far better at a glance. But would never be listened to by an elitist or crooked management bent on copying an existing product.

 No qualified engineer could possibly have let this major production fault pass first inspection. Let alone leave the sweat shop. 

 If further examples of bend nicking exist then all Contec saddles are clearly unfit for purpose. "Unmerchantisable goods" I think they used to call it. Back in the last century in Gravely Blighted. Which is against UK consumer law. 

 Sadly, Denmark has no consumer protection. So I can't just go to the Local Trading Standards Office for learned advice. Had Contec answered my email, about the broken frame, I might not have been so harsh. 

 Any company, which fails to support its shoddy products, is clearly little more than a bunch of crooks. Strictly IMO of course. I wonder if I should upload a video to YouTube? To show the faulty construction of my £90/105€ + £10 postage, Contec saddle. What they used to call "a nice little earner!" 

 Dinner was fish fingers and chips.

 

  ~o~