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~