31.01.2024 Minnorrun.

 ~o~

 Wednesday 31st 37F/3C. A dry day is promised but increasingly windy. Up a 6am after previous false starts. Lit the stove at 7am. 60F/16C in the room. Museum day. I haven't been for ages because of bad weather. Not a great day for a bike ride. I'll go in the Morris.

 Working on tidying the southern boundary to the museum. Where the old millstream runs across the middle of the picture. To disappear under the road. 

 The neighbouring property, beyond, is another thatched and half-timbered, four sided farm. Much like the museum in layout but not nearly so grand.

 The hard working volunteer, at centre, was born in the village nearly 80 years ago and remembers a completely different world. When the village still had numerous shops and other businesses. He started work at 14!

 13.45 Returned from the museum. Where I was raking wet leaves into heaps. Then loading then into a wheelbarrow with large and heavy, antique fork. Before wheeling them steeply uphill to dump them as compost in the woods. I had a sudden fierce pain across my upper chest and severe shortness of breath. It didn't feel like anything to do with my heart. I carried on and it passed off after half an hour. I may have to talk to the quack about it.

 I have heard a new name for the Morris Minor  in Danish. They are referred to as Minnorrun locally. Said quickly and smoothly without emphasis on any syllable. The i in Minor is not pronounced like my. But i as in it. The end of the word en means "the". So it means "The Minor" in Danish. I have taken liberties with the spelling so it sounds correct in English. It would probably be spelt minoren in Danish but this could easily be mispronounced in English.

 20.00 Blowing a SW gale. Dinner was chips and fish fingers. Or fish fingers with chips. Depending on your culinary sensibilities. I washed up while it cooked. 65F/18C in the room. Despite the stove.

~o~ 

30.01.2024 Disturbed.

 ~o~

  Tuesday 30th 41F/5C. Grey, misty and breezy. Up at 4am after a restless night. Back to bed at 5.30. Slept until 8.20. 

 8.40. Stove lit and room warming from overnight temperature of 60F/15.6C. 

 15.00 Returning from my English friend. I went in the Morris Minor in rainy weather. 63F/17C in the room. I have relit the stove. 

 I bought a very long masonry drill on the way. To continue with the greenhouse lighting.

 Dinner was poached eggs on toast.

 ~o~

29.01.2024 "The Butterfly" plants butterfly bushes?

 ~o~

 Monday 29th 35F/2C. Bright moonlight. Another dry day is promised. Up at 5am after a restless night. No coffee last night. 63F/17C in the room. 

5.40 The flashing orange lights mean the dustbin men have arrived. To empty the overfull bins they didn't reach last time. Because of snow and ice in the drive. Luckily I remembered to drag the bin along to the pickup point. 

 I shall have to go into town for my hearing aid update in the Morris. My nether regions can't cope with three days in a row of the new Brooks B67! Not even in my best bibs! I wonder if the leather top of the Contec would fit the frame of the B67? Probably not, but it might have been a way forward. The Brooks top is like knocking on a thin plywood box. The thicker, Contec leather sounds much duller. More like real leather?

 Shame the Contec frame broke. Probably the same pretend Chinese steel which breaks on eye contact. The stuff which makes their buildings and bridges fall down spontaneously. And makes reviewers scorn their most popular, tinny EVs. The hard bends on the Contec frame did not promise a long life. So completely unnecessary too. All it needed was a radius on the dies forming the bends. To avoid deliberately causing local stress points. Medieval blacksmithing 101.

 What can you expect from copycat engineering? Designed to undercut the prices of a company trading on its worn out label? It's not as if they needed to reverse engineer a Brooks. The Brooks saddles are supposedly still made on ancient machinery according to their YouTube videos. Despite being owned by an Italian company.

 10.30 40F/5C. Bright sunshine. Returned from a hearing test and adjustment of my hearing aids. Went in the Morris Minor.

 I have applied more Brooks Proofide to the B67 saddle. I'll leave it to soak in before buffing it all off again. It never feels as if it soaks into a new saddle. The factory's leather treatment always seems to shrug it off. Only when the leather looks like real leather does it seem to be absorbed. I always apply it with my fingers. It only takes five seconds and smells pleasant enough. Using a rag wastes most of it on the rag. It is too expensive to waste! A sunny day is a waste too if I don't do something constructive. 

 12.00 The sun has just gone behind the clouds. Today "The Butterfly" really lived up to his nickname. My wife would often refer to me as the butterfly. Because I had hundreds of interests and dozens of hobbies over the long years. 

 I have just planted the Buddleias. [Butterfly bushes] Which have been sitting in their pots since I bought them. They were set in a row along the north side of the house. Where they were sheltered from the wind and in the shade but could still be rained on for moisture. I think they probably thrive better in sunshine.

 Now all six remaining plants are re-potted into huge, enamelled iron, cooking pots. Using the cow manure based compost, Which I bought at the same time as the plants. One of the Buddleias turned white and died within the first week from purchase. Mildew? Which rather put me off planting them all out properly. Not if they were all going to die. I separated them to ensure no cross contamination.

 None of those we bought over the years survived in the ground. So I have isolated these new specimens from the ground. No drain holes. Just in case. I needed a sack truck to manage the weight of each full pot! They are now in a row in full sunshine. In front of the huge, green "observatory" dome. Which remains a complete nuisance with regards to parking, turning and appearance. I keep dreaming about the dome and coming up with different options. None of which has ever become a reality.

 Well, that was irritating: I started drilling the front wall for the lighting in the greenhouse. Only to discover my 8mm masonry drills wasn't long enough to go right through the wall. I'll have to buy a longer drill tomorrow. 

 Once a pilot hole is formed I can open the hole out from either side as needed. I have much longer drills in larger diameters. I don't want to force a larger drill through from the greenhouse side. Not until I am absolutely sure of positioning for a neat run indoors. I want the cables to run just below a beam [original wall plate] indoors. Where it will eventually be hidden from view. Both inside and out.

 Dinner was salad.

~o~

28.01.2024 Keep on pedalling!

 ~o~

 Sunday 28th 35F/1.7C. It is supposed to be dry again but colder. The wind should be lighter and from the south. Up at 7.20 after a restless night. Five trips to the fire bucket! I blame the can of beer with dinner and the coffee to follow. I was testing to see if I was still sensitive to fluid intake in the evening. I was!

 8.30 I really ought to light the stove. 61F/16C in the room. It's a bit too chilly. 

 I'll try another ride today but wearing bibs. To protect me from the new Brooks B67. You know, the company which advertises that their saddles "are comfortable from new but keep on improving." Ouch! 

 The bibs [racing shorts with soft, fixed braces] are more thickly padded and shouldn't move about between myself and the saddle. I wonder what would happen if I wore two pairs of padded shorts at the same time? I shouldn't sweat in these low temperatures. 

 Talking of which: I wore a thick Norwegian jumper under the Endura jacket yesterday but it didn't really help. There was still a cold feeling down my front from the zip leaking cold air. The zip has a 15mm wide band to stop leakage but it obviously isn't good enough. 

 I might try my other high vis jacket today. The Game ID-Tech. Yet another charity shop find. It is thicker than the Endura but doesn't have the specialist, cycling rear pocket. It has normal hip pockets with zip closure. Worth a try as long as I don't stuff the pockets.. 

 The Endura would be much better for having a divided rear pocket. One large one means I am constantly searching for things which are all mixed together and out of reach. I keep my reading glasses in there. Along with keys, tissues and my wallet. My racing jerseys and jackets all have several rear pockets. Which makes life so much easier. 

 ON a manual bike, or trike, I would wear multiple layers under a windproof cycling jacket. This would give me the option of removing layers if I overheated on climbs. The e-bike is much colder to ride in winter. Higher speeds mean far more serious wind chill. Not producing so much warmth from lighter pedalling loads is another factor. On the trike I would be working hard all the time. It was just the way I rode most of the time. I'd get on and ride hard. Usually just below breathlessness. Often beyond breathlessness on the climbs.

 On the e-bike I seem to have adjusted automatically to the power assistance available. I am exerting continuous effort on the pedals but no longer overheat nor get breathless. I get a good workout but am not at my personal limit any more. The burning in my legs on climbs is now history. I do get tired after a long ride but don't stagger indoors when I get home. I often use Turbo as I near home to overcome the hills. On the trike I would be nearing exhaustion. I would be down to a crawl in bottom gear and looking for an even lower one. 

 Thank goodness I chose a '45' Speed model of e-bike. I would have been extremely irritated by the low speed available from a standard e-bike. Even in my 70s I would have been able to maintain their low, top speed on my trike. It would have been a short lived frustration ending in a quick sale and a considerable loss on the investment. That said, I do not see the need for very much higher speeds than the '45' 28mph currently provides. 

 Speed is of course subject to power input from the rider. Many older, inexperienced riders would find themselves struggling to be safe in Turbo mode on a 28mph e-bike. The US style e-bikes with throttle are a completely wasted opportunity. IMO. Exercise is essential to human survival. Having to pedal makes far more sense to me. Sitting like a big blob of jelly, without pedalling, is a recipe for becoming an even bigger blob. Obesity is responsible for many avoidable, human diseases and deaths. 

 9.20 The stove is going. So I can have a short walk.  

 10.00 38F/3C. The sun came out but it didn't warm the cold, southerly wind. The verges still had signs of overnight ground frost. Just a stroll down the road. Then looped the clockwise way around the neighbour's drives. Small birds scattered on my approach. 

 Where to go for a ride? It would be risky to go too far on the new saddle. 

 12.00 41F/5C. Back from a 26km ride in bright sunshine. Average speed a gentle 22kph. The house is full of sunlight. My nether regions were still tender from yesterday's ride. So I tried shifting around on the saddle but little really helped. Nevertheless it was sunny. A ride was going to be had regardless of the pain. 

 I tootled around the quiet, hilly lanes and even explored those I had never followed. Because they were marked as no through roads. Which meant driving along them would be rather silly. I'd probably end up in a farmyard and did so this morning. On a bike one can U-turn silently without disturbing anybody.  The rural views from these closed lanes were fresh and delightful. Though they were far too narrow for two vehicles to pass. The few houses would not make for heavy traffic.

 Today I wore my best bibs. With thermal long-johns over the top and all concealed by lightweight trousers. The D-Tech jacket was a little constraining over my proper layers. Though I did not overheat and was comfortable at today's temperatures. The Endura jacket would probably have done just as well over layers. Thermal vest, racing jersey and knitted cycling cardigan. I shopped in the village on the way home.

  I now have a thermal imaging camera. An add-on for my Android phone. It shows images captured in infra red. To which the human eye is insensitive. The hope is to minimise heat loss and find cold spots where insulation is absent in Chez Hovel.

 I now have lots of images of the walls and windows. Which will help me decide where I should prioritize improvements. I already knew the the temperature of the living rooms walls is vertically stratified. Because I had two different, pistol style thermometers. 

 What these can't easily show is the bigger picture. How badly the walls are insulated locally or compared to other areas. Has the roof insulation slipped down the 45º slope above the attic ceiling? The frost melts unequally on the roof. How is the heat reaching those particular spots more quickly than elsewhere? The thermal [IR] camera will show cold spots indoors where the heat is escaping.
   

Now it has just occurred to me that I can use the camera on my assorted cycling gloves and clothes. The split mitts are great when it is cold. Though normal five digit gloves are more dexterous on the bike's numerous controls. 

 I have been sorely disappointed by some gloves. I hope to identify where they fall down and leave my hands freezing. To that end I have put a mitt and a glove on the outside table. Where it is 38F/3C chilly. I will image them with and without my hand inserted. To see if there are any weak spots in the insulation.

 I was careful not to touch the outside of the gloves as I put each of them on. The heat from my hands would transfer to the shell. Rather than showing the heat loss through the layers of fabric and insulation. I should have been more patient before taking pictures but it was blowing and freezing out there! 

 Dinner was chicken, mushrooms and chips. I was going to do gravy but opted out.

~o~

27.01.2024 36km/22 miles.

 ~o~

 Saturday 27th 40F/4C. A dry day is promised. Slightly spoilt by a fresh, westerly wind. Most bike/trike rides involve returning westward. I am not far from the west coast by road. Leaving most of the island of Fyn to my east. While the e-bike provides enough power to overcome any normal wind. It is still unpleasant to fight the gusts. It also means much reduced range. Particularly in winter when batteries lose efficiency at lower temperatures. 

 Using Turbo mode, to overcome a headwind, eats up battery reserves. There is no free lunch with an e-bike. The rider must still apply their own effort to the pedals. Hopefully battery chemistry will bring benefits to e-bikes. Which assumes that Bosch does not abandon its legacy batteries on older machines. A doubling of capacity in the same format would save having to carry a spare 625aH battery at 3.5kg. 

 The claimed range of 90km would suggest a very slow ride. In a low gear. On a warm day in summer. In windless conditions. Using a low assistance mode. From frequent, longer rides, my own experience shows 70km is a far better average. In summer using mostly Sport mode as I do. 

 Tour mode is only useful if duration is ignored in favour of range. Sport mode makes hills fairly effortless. Tour mode makes the rider work much harder for the same average speed. I only use Tour mode to extended battery range on flat roads or downhill. Because I like to limit ride duration. By riding at a higher, average speed. Which means the twin benefits of less tiredness and [hopefully] fewer saddle problems.

 I always have panniers fitted on any ride. Which adds considerably to the overall weight of an already heavy machine. Plus the inevitable drag. My '45kph" [28mph] model also uses more power in all modes. Because it's higher speeds present much higher wind resistance. Which is by far the greatest load on the motor and/or bike rider. Only a fit racing cyclist on a lightweight racing bike could manage my average speeds. Turbo speeds of a '45'. [28mph] is equivalent to fast riders in a training group. While their teeth chatter on bumps. The e-bike provides almost effortless comfort, suspension and superb braking power on wide, grippy tires.

 8.10.  Heavy overcast. Up at 7.20 after a restless night. 62F/17C in the room. Today's forecast peaks at around 6C just after lunch. 

 8.40. Going for a walk despite the gloom. 

 9.15 Returning from my usual walk. Looping along the old and new drives. The westerly wind was unpleasantly cold. The grey skies offered no sign of the promised sunshine. A ragged chevron of geese went over noisily. Stove lit. Now what?

 13.00 43F/6C. Overcast and windy. Returned from a 36km/22 mile ride. The new Brooks B67 was already forcing me to lift off repeatedly after 15km. Beyond that point it just got much worse!

 I had tipped the nose up slightly and that helped to start with. I was wearing a pair of thin thermal long-johns under DHB padded racing shorts. It was lucky I hadn't decided to go further afield. I had two breaks in the shops. Average speed 26km/hr in 1h30m moving time. Top speed 44km/hr. [Downhill] It felt like a cold headwind regardless of my direction of travel. I wore the Sorel boots and found they limited my pedalling speed. My foot would lift off the right pedal as I approached 90rpm. Fortunately they made up for it in comfort and warmth.

 My hands were beginning to freeze in GripGrab's warmest [fingered] winter gloves. I should have taken a pair of their split mitts. Of which I have several pairs. The difference in warmth is night and day. The battery dropped from 85% to 31%. 66% in Sport Mode. The rest in Turbo. Motor assistance 79%.

 Dinner was mackerel on toast. You know what that looks like. So you don't need pictures. Which really means I forgot to take any. I am too honest to borrow earlier images and pretend.

 

~o~

26.01.2024 Hermit gets a visitor.

 ~o~

 Friday 26th 41F/5C. Rain and wind promised for this morning. Up at 5.45. 64F/18C in the room. Stove lit at 7.15. The bereavement support councillor is coming this morning. So the usual mad scramble to make the place tidy. Though it's not that bad this time. 

 It just needs a quick belt around with the vacuum. Replenish the logs in the rack and clear away all the log baskets. Tidy the dining table. Remove accumulated outdoor clothing. Wash the tiled floors in the bathroom and kitchen. Just the usual chores for a hermit expecting a rare visitor.

 09.30. Now up to 20C/68F in the room. Very heavy overcast and breezy. It is raining so hard the water is running straight over the greenhouse gutter like waterfall. The standing water on the drive is advancing slowly but steadily downhill towards the house. Two dark grey stripes reflecting the sky beyond. 

 It will eventually pass by the house and make the parking space even more soggy. The forecast is for up to 20mm or 3/4" of rain to fall today. Perhaps half of that locally. I checked the price of plastic, grass reinforcing grid yesterday. It would be cheaper to lay heavy duty, concrete slabs.  

 11.40 Still heavily overcast. 46F/8C. 70F/21C in the room. 65F/18C upstairs. The heavy rain has stopped. My health visitor has just left. Always a  delight to be able to talk about almost anything. In Danish or English. She will visit me again in about a year. Just to monitor my progress. I feel I am in a pretty good place now. Just over 18 months after my wife died.

 Of course my mood swings up and down but then so does everybody's. I am remarkably fortunate to have so many personal resources to call upon. While enjoying enough health and fitness to avoid any serious limitations. Long may it remain so. 

 I just wish I was better motivated to carry out all the DIY tasks ahead. Perhaps some spring sunshine will help. Though that is usually the cue to jump on the e-bike and ride much too far away. I already have a list of destinations when the weather allows.

 3.10 A glimpse of sunshine! Now I can turn the indoor lights off. It was brief. Soon back to dark grey overcast.

 Dinner was chicken, mushrooms and broccoli. Another triumph for the new frying pan. The broccoli was simmered in a pan of salted water of course.  I must remember to make more broccoli next time. I washed up while it all cooked.

 ~o~

25.01.2024 Moustache wins D&I Award for J Off model.

 ~o~  

 Thursday 25th 41F/5C. The sky looks clear and there is the threat of some sunshine. The NW wind will reduce steadily. North facing coasts have been experienced high water. Up at 6.50 after a night of weird and sometimes boring dreams. 

 8.15. Stove lit. 64F/18C overnight. Two more baskets of logs brought in from the greenhouse. It is normal daylight already today. Time for a walk.

 I have an appointment for ear wax mining after lunch. With assorted shopping to do while I am in town.

 9.00 A toasty 66F/19C in the room. I have returned from a short walk looping around the drives again. The feared "flooding" is well under control. With the beck quite low despite the rain. Though I could see areas of brightness. Where large puddles in the woods were reflecting the sky. A rather cold westerly wind but not excessive. 

 I could have a ride on the Moustache today. BTW: French Moustache has claimed yet another Design and Innovation Award. For its unique, cast frame, full suspension, step through, off road, J Off model. Entirely manufactured in France. Which has earned the praise of the specialist cycling jury. This comes on top of the Eurobike Gold Award in 2023.

https://85tgi.r.a.d.sendibm1.com/mk/cl/f/sh/SMK1E8tHeG7uhtPSTnU4GQFgWmXs/gHn86ITaKZNg

 I have previously mentioned the lack of a dropper post and high step over on my Friday '45' model. These criticisms have been attended to in the new design. I have replaced the truly awful, Brooks Cambium C17 with a Brooks B67. The latter offers a wider and softer bench for more upright riding positions. 

 The dropper post has [literally] been a lifesaver on more than one occasion. Despite being well matched to the Medium size frame I could not reach the ground from the saddle. Even dropping the bike on the handlebar end several times in traffic. Fortunately I still have the skill and fitness. To ensure the bike fell towards the verge or pavement and I could safely step off uninjured. The  Moustache bikes have a legacy of EMTB design. Which means they have very high bottom brackets. To clear rocks and other obstacles. Which inevitably means a much raised saddle height. Or ride with ones knees very bent! Which would be very silly.

 My fitting a dropper post almost solved the problem. It is still quite a stretch to the ground [from seated] where there is no raised kerb. Sliding forwards off the saddle would obviously help. Though I resist this tactic whenever I can. Probably the result of riding only a trike for many tens of thousands of miles. One can safely remain seated on a trike when traffic lights change. Or cars brake repeatedly in front of me. 

 The problem is having to lift oneself back onto the high saddle in stop-start traffic on the e-bike. Which gear and which power assistance mode to choose? I have the potential speed to match most normal car's acceleration in town traffic. Though this requires the correct gear and power mode. 

 There is a steep learning curve to lifting oneself back onto the saddle at short intervals. So called track balancing is not as easy on a very wide and very grippy tire, on a heavy e-bike, on dry tarmac. I have been track standing since my teens on skinny, racing tires. Over 60 years but with over a decade's break while riding a trike. 

 9.15. Only now has the sun cut through the murk in the east. Even while the sun was well clear of the horizon it lacked power and brightness. 

10.00 I am going to ride into the village to shop. Get back into the habit after a long break. One has to take advantage of every chance when the winter weather is so changeable.

 12.00 Returning from a shopping ride to the village.  The whole house is full of bright sunlight. It was past 11am when I finally left.  I bought two very full carrier bags of groceries. One bag slipped nicely into each of the Ortlieb panniers. The Brooks B67 saddle was not nearly as comfortable as I had hoped. Probably not tilted backward quite enough. Though the degree of tilt required is quite subtle. I had set it up horizontally with a builder's level for an initial trial. 

 The [broken frame] Contech saddle has thousands of miles on it. So it wasn't a fair comparison for the Brooks. Both saddles have very similar dimensions. Though the Contec was smooth leather instead of the Brooks dimples. I'd say the Contec was far more comfortable from new. Though I'd have to consult old posts on the blog to be sure. Update: It wasn't nearly as comfortable, when new, as I falsely remembered.

 A headwind coming home. So I slipped the Bosch motor into Turbo mode on the Nyon control. Then averaged 80rpm for an eye-watering 28-30kph. Around 20mph. Only 10.3km today. The exileration of effortless speed has returned. No pain. No breathlessness. Not even on the climbs.

 16.15. Just back from town. My ears were almost clear of wax. I made an appointment for a hearing test and adjustment of my hearing aid on Monday. My left ear is almost completely deaf now. The specialist said the canal was clear and the ear drum looked fine. 

 The sunshine has raised the temperature in the greenhouse to over 21C/70F. As was the room. So I let the stove go out. I now have four wall lights for the greenhouse. I just have to start drilling. 

 20.00 Dinner was salad. I had an apple for desert.

 

~o~

24.01.2024 More homework.

 ~o~

 Wednesday 24th 46F/8C. The forecast is for rain and gales all day. Up at 6.30 after a reasonable night. I had nothing to drink after 5.30pm. 63F/17C in the room. Wednesday should be museum day but the bad weather suggests otherwise. It is promised to gust to 25m/s and rain for most of the day.

 11.15 44F/7C. Heavy overcast, raining and blowing steadily. Not ideal conditions for a walk. I can be comfortably waterproof but the wind spoils the fun. I am continuing my research into home insulation. Mostly via YouTube videos. It has reached 65F/18C in the room. Fairly comfortable while wearing a fleece jacket over my normal clothes. I can feel the warmth of the stove on my face from 2.8 metres away.

 14.00 68/20F in the room. Still heavily overcast and raining on and off. I haven't noticed the gales from indoors because of the favourable NW angle. The deepest run of trees lies in that direction.  

 I am still watching YT videos about laying drives. The levelled and grassed parking space I made is not ideal. Though it does work most of the time. It lies below the drive and slopes away to the west. Driving cars gently uphill and onto the drive in wet weather is the problem.

 The free compost I laid over self-compacting gravel is far too soft. The grass really helped to bind the soil but it still turns to mush when driven on after rain. So I need to remove the compost and build up the parking area with much more self compacting gravel. Then it needs to be plate vibrated to compact it properly. Before covering the surface with decorative gravel and using the plate vibrator again.

 The "patio" area nearest the house is still partially broken concrete. It was originally laid roughly over an unprepared base of subsoil stone and whatever was lying there. The badly cracked and crazed  concrete varied hugely in thickness and strength. I started using a sledge hammer and pick but it was very slow and very hard work. I am no longer as fit as I was thirty years ago! When I was excavating the rock hard ground beside the cottage in Wales.

 I have my doubts over the foundations for the north wall of the present house. It seems as if the later, lightweight block wall was built directly over this rough, badly out of level, concrete patio. If I excavate under the wall things might get very silly!

 Should I continue to break up the concrete ever closer to the wall? Hiring a concrete breaker hammer "drill" might be wiser. I can get closer without risking hitting the wall on rebounds. Or even undermining it. I can also work in removing smaller areas without big lumps of concrete falling or flying away. 

 The patio area could eventually match the entire parking area with firm gravel. For a far more cosmetically acceptable and practical walking surface. Paving labs are likely to become wet and mossy in the shade. Being situated on the north side of the house. As was the concrete before I started breaking it up.

 Dinner was fish fingers and chips. Only to avoid having toast again. I washed up while it was cooking in the mini-oven. This is becoming a habit! 

~o~

23.01.2024 An omelette! 😋

 ~o~

 Tuesday 23rd 41F/6C. Scattered wintry showers and breezy. Up at 7am.

 7.50 Still very dark. 61F/16C in the room. Stove lit.

 9.50 Returning from a short walk. Windy and cold with watery sunshine through the clouds. I upset a kestrel by staring at it while it hovered. Then passed a nervous male pheasant hiding close to the drive. 

 There is an unmarked van outside a property which has been empty for some time. They have left the outside lights on and a window open but haven't reversed in. Which would have allowed much easier unloading of any possible cargo. Like furniture or belongings for example. It could be a contractor pricing repairs or other work. Who knows?

 15.00 It has been quite sunny. 66F/19C in the room despite the stove going out. Returning from visiting my British friend. I went in the Morris Minor. Which had suffered from dampness during the frosty weather. The roof lining was dripping. Hardly surprising as snow has been  lying on the car roof for ages. I need a carport! Or a garage. I could build quite a decent one with the materials from the observatory building.

 19.00 71F/21C in the room. Washing up over. To avoid yet another bout of chips and fish fingers I am aiming for a cheese omelette. With the new frying pan I should finally be able to achieve a cosmetically acceptable result. One which does not look like a child was practising scrambled eggs without parental guidance. 

 Sadly I have no mushrooms. So will attempt the addition of small, fresh tomatoes. Worst case scenario it will look like oversized currants in an un-risen bun. Wish me luck!

 The omelette was mouth wateringly, utterly superb! I should have let it cool but instead, I scoffed it down like Midas. To have added the tomatoes to the batter would have risked all and so I relented. 

 I had only three eggs left. So added milk in lesser proportion. Grated cheddar cheese was added in generous amounts before folding. I should have cooked at 7 out of 9. So wasted far too much time. Waiting for the omelette to firm up and brown at a modest 6. Nevertheless it was a minor culinary triumph. Albeit by my own, very modest standards.

 

~o~

22.01.2024 Lean on me!

 ~o~

 Monday 22nd 42F/6C. Gales! A series of storms is crossing. With gusts over 20m/s for three days in a row. The worst affected areas are the western coasts of Jylland. [Jutland] Storm Isha is leaving the UK. 

 05.30 Stove lit. 60F/15C in the room. Up at 4.45 to escape from dreams and memories. I have been going around with a pistol, remote thermometer. Checking for cold spots and draughts. The kitchen extractor fan is blowing cold, outside air with every wind gust. Not helpful! The self closing louvre is hopeless in windy conditions. The fan doesn't have enough blowing power to lift the louvres if I load them.

 6.00 I have an ear wax clearing appointment this morning. Which means a trip into town. I hope the car behaves itself. I could go in the Morris Minor but the roads will probably still be salty. The gales and heavy rain deny me a ride on the Moustache e-bike.

 8.30 I had a nap, a shower and then I remembered my appointment was moved to Thursday. I had left the original appointment up on my PC calendar. Never mind. I have started attacking the laundry.

 8.45 45F/7C outside. 63F/17C in the room. Very heavily overcast. The empty dustbin had blown over across the end of the drive. So I walked along and fetched it. The wind is very strong but the rain hardly a mist at the moment. Though I was not tempted to have a proper walk. The S-SW gales have even driven rain against the north facing windows under the roof overhang. The wind is supposed to drop slightly after 10am. With the rain forecast to end at about the same time. The are reports of many fallen trees in south Jylland not far to the west.

 10.10 The sun came out and the greenhouse started warming. The wind has dropped considerably.

 11.00 55F/13C in the greenhouse. I think four downlighters will be required out there. For an even spread of light. No point in driving to town just to buy two more lights. I can get them on Thursday.

 13.45 46F/8C. Now overcast. Still blowing. I might wander around the drives loop for some exercise. It will get me away from the computer and watching endless YouTube videos! Though I am doing research on interior and exterior wall insulation. So it's not just passive, couch potato viewing. Not that I have a couch any more.

 15.00 Returning from a short, windswept walk. My neighbour's recycling bins must have had a good night out. 😉 Only the master fuse box prevented an even greater lean. It just shows how strong the wind was.

 Dinner was mackerel on toast. With halved fresh tomatoes.

 

~o~

21.01.2024 Reorganising the recycling.

 ~o~

 Sunday 21st 35F/2C. Heavily overcast and very breezy. The snow has gone but leaves are blowing about on the ground. Up at 7.30 after several false starts. [Or stops?]

 And there they were: Gone.

 9.00 I have lit the stove. 59F/15C in the room. 40F in the greenhouse. I have lower back pain again. I really must have a walk. Warmly dressed for windy conditions. Which are starting southerly and turning SW as the temperature hovers around 1C all morning.

 9.15 - 9.40 Returning from a short walk looping along the new and old drives. The strong wind made it feel very cold. Even though I was well dressed my peripheries were exposed. Tomorrow will be warmer but much windier and wet. With gusts to 25m/s or 56mph as another low passes. Heavy rainfall is forecast again.

 The Sorel boots, which I complained about when new, have become my footwear of choice. The feeling of cold and wetness in the right toe has passed. They have become comfortable and much lighter than my Scarpa walking boots. 

 The recycling baskets work fine in the bottom of the pine cupboard. I just had to lift out the shelves just above the baskets for easy access. Magnets hold the doors closed. So no effort is required to open the cupboard. The hall door no longer crashes against the metal waste bin. Which is now performing its duties by collecting snotty tissues at the computer.

 The pine cupboard had been waiting patiently for some useful purpose. Fortunately the recycling materials are not smelly rubbish. Just paper and cardboard on the right. Plastic in the basket on the left.

 I have finally found the roll of cable I needed. To install the Philips greenhouse downlighters. I really must make an effort to tidy the shed. 

 This is hilarious! Is Philips deliberately aiming for bankruptcy? The blind screw holes in the backplate don't break out. Not even with a narrow punch and a hammer! So they will have to be drilled and filed oval. 

 Then the cable will push the backplate away from the wall. There is no side or bottom exit and the rubber grommet exits directly rearwards. So only a through-the-wall cable route will work. The instructions are printed in sub-micro text in grey on white paper. With a load of nonsense symbols to guide the installer: Dugh?  It was no wonder these lamps were being sold at half price!

  14.00 35F/2C. It's horrible out there! Freezing cold and blowing a gale. With sleet and snow. The drive has already turned white. I just brought in another two baskets of logs from the greenhouse. The room has only reached 64F/18C. 

 While the potatoes were simmering I washed up. Then dragged the heavy wheely bin along to the pickup point. I am making progress with the new frying pan. It says not to use too much oil. So I have cut back to almost nothing. The food still cooks and is less greasy. Probably my best, fried chicken slices so far.

~o~

20.01.2024 More car trouble.

 ~o~

 Saturday 20th 38F. Rain and higher temperatures have helped to thin the snow. Though patchy, the ground is still largely covered. Overcast. A dry morning and 4C/40F is promised but rather breezy from the west. Up at 7.45 after a disturbed night. 61F/16C in the room. 44F/7C in the greenhouse. The milder, outside temperatures have pushed the kitchen and bathroom over 60F/15C. 

 8.30 I had better light the stove.

 I went shopping in the afternoon. The car wouldn't start when I came out from the supermarket. The starter was spinning the motor over but it wouldn't fire. I went to another shop and tried starting the car again afterwards. Finally it fired but was reluctant to pick up. Eventually I was able to drive home normally.

 I now have two, square, plastic baskets for recycling in the kitchen. This will save me from having to separate items into the various large bins in the wind and rain outside. The final touch would be to have a smaller container for glass and metal. I am wondering if the baskets could be hidden in the pine cupboard. Trivial? Quite probably, but it matters to me.

 In case anyone is still interested: I never did hear back from Contec. After I emailed them about the broken saddle frame. Contec customer support is obviously as fragile as their saddles.   

 Those with a long enough memory will know that I bought a Brooks B67 to replace the broken Contec saddle. Then the bad winter weather intervened. So I have not had a chance to test the Brooks over any distance. I want to protect the Moustache e-bike from winter road salt for as long as possible.

   I discussed the broken Contec saddle and its replacement with the Brooks B67, in three consecutive blog posts from the 15th December.  

 20.30 38F/3C. 70F/21C in the room. Dinner was fish fingers and chips. 

~o~

19.01.2024 A bit more snow.

 ~o~

 Friday 19th 30F/-1C. Rather cloudy but brightening in the east. Wintry shower promised. Strong gusts later. Storm force north of my location. Up at 7.40 after a reasonable night. 

 8.30 I really should light the stove. It's only 58F/14C in the room.

 Sales of the Hovding inflatable cycle helmet has been banned and the Swedish makers have gone bust. The helmet was worn like a thick collar and was intended to inflate in an accident. To protect the cyclist's head from impact. Unfortunately there were many returns and complaints by buyers. Hovding was a clever play on the Scandinavian word hoved for head. 

 9.00 Stove going well. I had better have a walk.

 9.25 Returned from a short walk. Looping around the drives. About an inch of new snow overnight. A cold westerly wind and bright sunshine. Roads clear. Now 60F/15C in the room.

 15.00 It is snowing. I have brought lots more logs indoors.

 20.00 67F/19C in the room. Since I did not much enjoy the mince the other day I decided to hide it in a curry. Too much rice, too much meat and not enough sauce. Too much of everything in total. Making it hard work to get through it  all.

~o~

18.01.2024 Thursday cooking class.

 ~o~

 Thursday 18th 21F/-6C. The forecast is below freezing all day but with some sunshine. From what little I can see, by the outside light, there has been no more snow overnight.

 7am. Up at 6am after earlier awakenings. 58F/14C in the room. I lit the stove first to get some heat into the place. It should be the first Thursday cooking class today. Weather permitting. As soon as it is light enough I shall walk along to the road to check conditions. I badly need to shop. Which might give me a wider choice of shops on my route. Otherwise it will have to be the local village supermarkets as usual.

 8.15 I had a shower first. To kill some time as I waited for it to become lighter. Then I walked along to the road on about 3"/75mm of snow. Traffic seemed normal and the road was clear and salted. So it seems I am going. 

 The old car started and is presently de-icing itself. Refrozen snow did not respond to the spray on the windows.  The police are looking out for idiots who don't clear their glass before driving. The eastern sky has a pretty tobacco filter. Promising clear sunshine when it rises. It felt very cold. Particularly when walking into the light, westerly wind.  

 8.30. I have a quarter of an hour before I should leave. Milky coffee and a biscuit? No butter for my usual marmalade on a toasted bread roll! I brought in three more baskets of logs and one of kindling. Give them a chance to dry further before use.

 14.00 Returning from cooking class. Where I made a vegetable based chicken dish. Using ground cauliflower as rice. Shopped on the way home.  The roads weren't too bad except in the villages. 22C/71F in the greenhouse after continuous sunshine. 63F/17C in the living room. The stove would have gone out within an hour of my leaving.

 Thee was no need for dinner because I had eaten well at the class.

~o~

17.01.2024 A bit chilly!

 ~o~

 Wednesday 17th 32F/0C. Some new snow but too dark to see properly. The north and western areas of Denmark have had a snow storm with drifting. The roads are treacherous again. With the police advising all drivers to stay at home!   

The north west corner of the garden this morning. Taken through the balcony window.

 Up at 7.15 after a restless night. I woke at 3.15am feeling a distinct draught on my face. The room temperature was a quite modest 60F/15C. So was not directly to blame. I was still perfectly warm and comfortable under the summer down duvet. 

 I got up and checked every door and window was closed. The cause must have been the strong SW wind. There was quite a draught around the living room door to the front hall. This glazed door was very secondhand as bought and is now distinctly warped.  

 The louvre over the kitchen extractor fan is flapping in the wind. Which sounded quite loud. The gravity closed louvre is very poor at resisting direct gusts. I may need to fit a fixed louvre over the automatic one. 

 7.30. The room is now at 55F/13C. Which is much cooler than it has been. While the outside temperature is hovering around zero. This can't usually be blamed for the indoor chill when the wind is light. I had better light the stove and wait for daylight. To check round again.  

 The old, horse chestnut stump and logs.
Taken through the balcony windows.

 The kitchen has dropped to 52F/11C overnight. While the exposed kitchen window is plastered with thin snow. The other window lies within the greenhouse. Those who follow my blog may remember that I fitted a small extractor fan into a replacement polycarbonate pane. 

 I was delighted to find a small louvre which fitted over the fan. Without increasing the footprint of the fan's baseplate. Alas the small, hinged, plastic blades of the louvre are all too prone to lifting in the wind. I shall have to come up with an external wind screen. The fan set-up is obviously causing far too much heat loss. An external 90º elbow might work to block the wind blowing directly on the louvre. If I can find a way to fix it.

 8.00 57F/14C in the room. It is just light enough outside to see that everything is liberally coated in snow. Even the north facing windows have snow adhering to the glass and frames. No point in going to the museum today. Even if the roads are passable. Which I doubt. The trees are rocking in the SW wind. Which is presently gusting to 20m/s or 45mph, but falling quite rapidly. Any new snow showers should be over by 10am.

 9.00 A large, black and white cat was caught red handed. Sniffing near the front door as I opened the curtains. It paused for almost a minute, staring back at me, before slinking off. High stepping away through the snow.

 9.35 60F/15C in the room. I'll leave a walk until after the wind drops. Morning coffee first to help me warm up.

 13.30 I had beans on toast for lunch having run out of butter. Weak sunshine has lifted the greenhouse to 44F/7C. Enough to cause the snow and ice on the roof to slide off. I have been getting through an awful lot of logs to get the room up to 65F/18C.

 9.45 25F/-4C. I never did go for a walk today. Just another day wasted hiding from the winter weather. After a day of feeding the stove with logs it has just reached 66F/19C. The overnight snow has been cancelled. Tomorrow promises to be sunny and hovering around zero. With light, westerly winds. No idea if the roads will be fit for the drive to the Thursday cooking class.

 Dinner was salad. With poached eggs and tuna. I poached the eggs in a small, water filled, frying pan. Needs more practice I think.

~o~

16.01.2024 More snow.

 ~o~

 Tuesday 16th 22F/-6C. A dusting of snow. The sky is fairly clear. Risk of sunshine? Up at 7.30 after waking earlier. 

8.15.  58F/14C in the room. 31F/-1C in the greenhouse. Which is almost opaque with frost. I should light the stove. 

 8.30 Stove lit. As soon as it is going well I shall have a walk. Sunrise is supposed to be 8.36.  It was nearly 20 minutes later. By the time the sub broke free.

  9.15 21F/-6C. 60F/15C n the room. Back from my walk. It was cold but not unpleasantly so. With just a breath of a wind from the east. Even so it made a huge difference to my perception of the temperature. Walking with the wind my bare hands were almost comfortable. Walking back it meant keeping my hands in my jacket pockets. Just the extra velocity of swinging my arms felt unpleasantly cold. A heron drifted over in slow motion. Bullfinches were foraging in the hedges. The roads were clear and damp from salting. No slipperiness at all. 

  I spent some time tidying the awful mess which is/was my computer cabling. While searching for something else I found a 6-way socket in black. Which quickly hid the worst eyesores of multiple sockets in white. I still need two more sockets for table lamps. So I am searching online for an 8-way socket in black. The low demand from each socket should not add up to any risk of reaching the 10A limit. White cables/flexes are particularly offensive to the eye. While black remains all but invisible in this particular setting.

 The forecast is for overnight snow. Somewhere between 2-3" or 5-7cm.

 Dinner was chicken, mushrooms, baked beans and a fried egg. The new frying pan is  revelation for non-stickiness! A shake of the handle and the contents slid freely. I shall have to use much less oil in future.

~o~

15.01.2024 Frying tonight! 😋

 ~o~

 Monday 15th 32F/0C. A dusting of new snow. Temperatures will remain just below freezing or a few more days. Just as the last lot of snow had vanished. Up at 8.15. I must bring in more logs while the weather allows it. I need to go shopping. The fridge and larder are bare.

 9.30 60F/15C in the room. I ought to light the stove. The new logs are 20-23% moisture content. While the earlier stock are just below 20%. Bringing in a rack full helps to reduce these numbers significantly. After a couple of days near the stove the logs are down to 5% and even lower. So I ought to fill the rack from the earlier stack. The air humidity is high and temperatures low in the unheated greenhouse in winter. It takes time for the raised moisture content to fall in the occasional bright sunshine.

 10.30 Periodical, weak sunshine. Having a rest for morning coffee. 63F in the room. The rack is full again. A freezing cold, northerly wind outside is making my eyes water. The corner of the greenhouse under the kitchen window is now full. It took three heaped barrows. 

 The logs remaining in the trailer are mostly shorter and squarer than average. Meaning they will need far greater care in stacking to remain stable. There isn't much rubbish this time. I try to keep most of the small sticks and flakes to use as kindling. It all helps to save on the expensive kindling. Of which I have now started on the second bag of three.

 12.30 Mostly bright sunshine. The greenhouse was showing 74F. So I hung a piece of white card in front of the insulation block containing the thermometer sensor. The indicated temperature dropped to 64F. 

 Only the rubbish wood is now left in the trailer and covered.

 19.15 Returned from the shops with five large bags of groceries. The village backstreets were still coated in snow and ice. I took a chance and looked in the upmarket kitchen shop for a frying pan. 

 They were doing a half price offer on a Jamie Oliver extra deep pan by Tefal. So I bought one. It would do as a baby bath and even fits the ridiculously large ring on the hob. Finally I can use the fourth ring! If I put wheels on it, the huge box would pass as a cycle trailer. Except they aren't allowed on "45s." 

 There was a half price offer on Philips LED downlighter, outdoor, wall lights in another shop. So I bought two for the greenhouse. The old lights disintegrated in the UV years ago. So it has been dark out there, in the winter,  ever since. Not that it mattered until I started keeping the logs out there.

 Dinner was beef mince, with onions, peas, carrots, boiled potatoes and gravy. I must be doing something wrong with the mince. I gave it 20 minutes at modest heat. I think it needs a higher heat and a shorter fry. The same thing happened last time. 

~o~

14.01.2024 Stack 'em up!

 ~o~

 Sunday 14th 36F/2C. A dry morning followed by rain is promised. Up at 5.50. 63F/17C in the room.

 6.40 Stove lit. Another idea has arisen to bring the logs into the greenhouse from the trailer. I have inherited lots of strong plastic baskets. If I fill several of those each time  Then I can carry logs in batches. Without having to open and close the greenhouse doors so often. This will mean I am working on more than twice the capacity of the wheelbarrow each time. 

 The baskets will be much nearer the logs in the trailer and the greenhouse. So the operation should be more speedy. I will get more exercise this way but I have missed cycling and walking during the winter. The sheer volume of logs makes it a time consuming process. Which I would rather reduce to a minimum. 

 I can fall back on the wheelbarrow if it proves too much like hard work. Many labourers around the world have worked with baskets. Useful where the ground conditions do not suit wheels. My journey is short but repetitive. Logs don't slide well. So an incline wont work. Nor do I have a transport belt.

 Moving existing stacks is time consuming and best avoided. I still have a surprising reserve of logs. Thanks to the car full I brought home recently. So space now has to be found for the heaped trailer full. The alternative is to have a reserve left in the trailer. Which usually means I will find another use for the trailer within a short period. The main drive is potholed again. Which means fetching more gravel! 

 08.30 Heavy overcast. 68F/20C in the room. 42F/6C in the greenhouse. I have been shuffling the existing log stack in the greenhouse to the left. To raise it and make more room. It started raining as soon as I opened the greenhouse doors. To bring in the new load. 

 10.30 71F/22C. I am having a rest. The showers eventually gave up as the overcast moved on. The wheelbarrow proved it could carry several times the volume of half a dozen baskets. It also allowed relaxed filling and stacking. I have now raised the stack to windowsill level. About half the contents of the trailer has been moved into the greenhouse. This includes some rubbish and lots of slightly shorter logs. 

 The rest will have to be stacked at the far end under the kitchen window. Which I have just cleared to make room. This is where the wheelbarrow scores best. Heavy loads can be trundled effortlessly the length of the greenhouse.

 It was a day of showers and and brighter periods. Dinner was fish fingers and chips. It had snowed lightly when I looked outside at 22.30.

~o~

13.01.2024 Thirteen is just another [prime] number.

 ~o~

 Saturday 13th 36F/+2C. Up at 7.20. Possible showers and a westerly wind.

08.15 60F/15C in the room and feels cold. I should have lit the stove an hour ago. It seems I have some work ahead of me. There is a large trailer full of logs to bring into the greenhouse. The logs. Not the trailer. I have them covered with the fitted PVC tarpaulin. 

 The trailer is parked close to the greenhouse doors. I normally use a wheelbarrow to reduce the number of journeys. I will have to time moving a fixed number of logs from the trailer to see what works best. The wheelbarrow has to be loaded and unloaded. Which takes time which might be better spent walking back and forth with armfuls of logs. Though this would mean leaving the greenhouse doors open for a long time. The double sliding doors provide clearance for the barrow but are a bore to open and close every single time. Which all adds to the total time per barrow load.

 I try to reduce the incidence of wildlife gaining access to the greenhouse. Where they could hide amongst the logs and then enter the house during log movements indoors. Rodents have never gained access to the house because we never left the outside doors open. As is common practice amongst many others.

 Hinged doors would rarely be as wide, in normal domestic scale greenhouses. They are prone to catching the wind if they open outwards. The greenhouse manufacturers miss the market for a potential, inexpensive porch/airlock in modest, lean-to greenhouse sizes.

 Sliding doors just don't work IME. Not if it means they block the main access to the house door while carrying "stuff." Otherwise I would have fitted a lean-to greenhouse over the north facing, entrance door years ago. That would have allowed a glazed house door. Allowing light in but without the exposing the hall and beyond, to quite the same degree. It would seem strange for my back to be visible, while working at the kitchen sink, seen from outdoors. 

 09.30. 37F/+3C. I didn't get far before it started raining hard. Driven by the westerly wind. Which made it feel even colder. The ice on the ground was covered with water. Making it very slippery in places. So I turned around and came home again. 66F/19C in the room. 

 The weather put me off log movements for hours. The heaped load in the trailer helps to shed water. When the trailer is empty the tarpaulin cover sags into a huge puddle. I have a support pole to brace the cover into a hump but that just causes two puddles to form. One on either side of the pole. 

 I never went shopping either. So it will have to be toast for dinner. And was.

 

~o~

12.01.2024 Logged in.

 ~o~

 Friday 12th 31F/-1C. Another day of frost until temperatures rise slightly tonight. No sign of fog so far. Up at 6.15.

 7.30 57F/14C in the room. Stove lit. Otherwise too cold to sit about after a shower. Haircut at 9am.

 8.00 59F in the room. Shower over. The car started easily despite being white with frost. I'll let it warm up a little. Another load of towels have gone into the washing machine. The log rack need to be filled again. Done. Another five baskets full brought in. I still need to collect a trailer full. 

 10.00 I now look like a Greek god or a King! 

 The roads have improved after yesterday's slight thaw. So I'll go and fetch a trailer full of logs while I can.

 11.00 Returning from a trip to the timber yard with a very generous trailer full of dry beech logs. Now leaving to visit my English friend.

 15.00 Returning from my visit. Free cooking lessons and a pan poached egg! 😋 Must order a non-stick frying pan! Or find one in a shop. I'd like to feel the weight and comfort of the handle before buying. These things are important! 

 16.00 Time for a nap.

 Dinner was salad with tuna and pan-poached eggs.

~o~

 

11.01.2024 Hint of a thaw?

 ~o~

 Thursday 11th 34F/+1C. Slightly misty and overcast but threatening to clear up and brighten. Up at 8.20 after another restless night. 

 9.15 58F/14C in the room. I could not put off lighting the stove any longer. I had logs but had run out of kindling indoors. 40F/4C in the greenhouse. It felt a bit chilly out there.

 9.30 I had better think about having a walk. My chest is a bit bunged up, my nose is slightly runny and I have occasional, light nose bleeds. I expect it's terminal. 

 10.00 The snow on the ground is thinning. Ice still clinging on. Roads almost 99% clear where it matters. Still messy beside the verges and in the middle of the traffic lanes. The smudgy grey clouds are thinning to blue patches. 

 I was going to loop around the parallel drives but a giant agricultural sprayer appeared on a nearby field. A neighbour's flag was pointing my way. So I beat a hasty retreat. I need to shop this morning. No bread rolls left for lunch. Now up to 60F/15C in the room. As the first glimpse of sunshine lights the greenhouse. [42F/6C] The outside temperature could hit +3C/37F later. The last of the snow is sliding off the southern side of the roof. 

 12.00 35F/1.7C. Back from the shops in continuing sunshine. I dumped the bag of plastic waste at the recycling yard. They had no clue what to do with it. So it went for burning. 

I bought a grey, plastic basket/tub as a recycling container for plastic in the kitchen. This will save some sorting in the wind and cold outside. Separating paper from plastic foil often causes things to fly away. I made an appointment for a haircut tomorrow at 9am. 65F/18C in the room. 60F/15C in the greenhouse. The roads are much improved.

 Dinner was chicken and chips. With peas and small, fresh tomatoes. It is official. The Tuesday cooking classes have been cancelled. 

~o~