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~