6.07.2024 It's absolutely persisting!

 ~o~

 Saturday 6th 55F/13C. More rain today. Heavy showers but with a possible break late morning. 

 Up at 6.45 after waking much earlier and drifting. 

 No walk because of the weather. Another day on the computer.

 15.20 Thunder and torrential rain. There could be storm force winds later this evening. Even a tornado is possible due to the weather conditions.  

~0~

5.07.2024 Monsoon season continues.

 ~o~

  Friday 5th 52F/11C. Sunshine and showers. 

 Up at 6.30 after waking and drifting. The power is going off at 8am. 

 Rosebay Willowherb towering above the flower bed. 

 9.30 Power is restored.

 10.30-11.00  I drove to the village. It started raining on the way home and became heavier by the moment. I was stuck in the car for five minutes as the rain hammered on the car roof. In the end I made a dash for it. There were several rumbles of thunder and more cloudbursts as time passed.

 The afternoon was the same. Sunshine and heavy showers at intervals.

 Dinner was mackerel on toast.

  ~o~

4.07.2024 Mark Cavendish makes T de F history!

 ~o~

  Thursday 4th 54F/12C. Very dark overcast, wet and windy. It is unbelievably dark this morning. The trees are thrashing about. Thundery showers are possible over the next two days.

 Up at 5.45. I almost filled the fire bucket early on. Where did it all come from? Then slept through.

 Mark Cavendish has finally done it! More stage wins in the T de F than any other rider in history. Nobody knows how he has suffered in the mountains. He is just not built for climbing. So to remain near the front and still competitive. At the end of a long stage. Is all the more remarkable. 

 The new DDK saddle. Its interesting shape lifts it above the bulbous competition. The shiny areas on top appear to have memory foam padding. Firm to the seat but soft to pressure applied by the thumb.

 I shall be visiting my English friend this morning. Any foolish plans to ride there have been scuppered by the weather. So the Morris will get another outing.

 I was looking at the route I took yesterday on my 86km ride. To realise that the image in my head did not remotely match reality. When I thought I was heading true north I was actually traveling NW at 45º to the map. And, 45º to the wind. 

 Returning with the wind [supposedly] behind me I was really traveling ESE. The only section where my direction matched expectations was the final, southerly stage. When again I was fighting a crosswind. Made all the worse by my own forward velocity. No wonder the westerly wind affected me so much all day.   

 13.00 Returned from visiting my friend. It absolutely tipped down on the way. With the roads covered in sheets of rainwater.  I kept my speed well down and continued. A couple of unfortunate cyclists were standing on the cycle path looking rather overwhelmed. 

 The sun came out for the return journey on dry roads. Only for it to rain again as I neared home. The forecast is for more rain this afternoon, overnight and tomorrow.

 Dinner was fried chicken. mushrooms and eggs. Followed with a bread roll.

 

  ~o~

3.07.2024 ARLA organic milk carton opener.

 ~o~

  Wednesday 3rd 54F/12C [7.30] Overcast with sunshine. Dry with sunny periods promised. Light rain this evening.

 Up at 6.45 after an unusually quiet night. I had gone to bed at midnight after drinking only a little mini-milk after dinner. I woke from another strange dream. There was a large brown bear in the living room. Which coincidentally was back to its previous state of being packed to excess. I am trying not to jump to obvious conclusions here. My wife was telling me not to worry. The bear was tame.

 Arla should sell a special tool for opening their super-glued, organic milk cartons. I know they want to phase out organic milk but older people could actually die from dehydration or even starvation. Simply from being unable to open these cartons. 

 I was thinking of something along the lines of an ice pick. It would have to be very strong but light enough for older users. Hygienic of course. There would have to be guidance in the advertising breaks on national TV. To avoid nasty accidents. Arla wouldn't want to lose too many customers to "pink milk." Would they? 

 Perhaps a hooked form of carton opening tool might be safer in unsteady hands?

  8.00 I should have gone for a walk by now but was delayed by another Arla milk carton opening fiasco.  It ended in tears. Of milk sprayed the length of the working surface! I needed a rest after cleaning it all up. Perhaps I should talk to the physiotherapists at the hospital about this problem? They might have some advice. Millions of pensioners could be suffering in silence! I feel I owe it to them, as an influencer, to unburden their lives!

 9.00 61F/16C. Mostly sunny. I had walked to the lanes. The traffic was light. The sun shone. The wind blew. Bits of me ached but nothing serious. Another ride is very tempting. The westerly breeze isn't life changing but would be a nuisance coming home from an easterly destination. Best avoided. So north is best. The damned Brooks B67 is putting me off. Nothing I try makes it any more comfortable. Though it works best with the nose high. Suggesting that it was never designed for an upright rider despite the width.

 10.0 Overcast. I have the bike on charge. Using the frame port for the first time since I bought the bike. I usually remove the battery and charge it indoors. Thought I'd give the frame option a try. Just for once. While I decide where I am going. 

 10.30. North!

 17.15 Returned from an 86km/53mile ride to the north west. The Brooks B67 saddle was uncomfortable despite wearing padded racing shorts. So I sought a replacement in three charity shops and three bike shops. The last had a range of DDK Comfort+ padded, vinyl saddles and I chose the one which looked about right. The truth is the widest looked too rounded for my taste. The "touring" version cost me all of 200kr or about £21 in olde money. 

 It was that or walk home! I couldn't stand another km on the Brooks! The new saddle was very different. Like balancing on a small, rather firm cushion. I soon settled to the new feel and at least it didn't hurt. Which was a miracle considering the damage the Brooks had already done! Tipping the nose up helped to keep me perched in the right spot. I still tended to want to shift backwards at intervals. It got me home without further torture. It will stay on until it gives me a reason to desist.

 The wind was a nuisance all the way until I finally turned for home. Then I used it to push me east for as long as possible. Before turning abruptly south. I needed to swap batteries after the first dropped too far to continue. 

 I had missed lunch but consumed four sub-micro Corny chocolate and seed bars. Washed down with several micro cartons of organic apple juice. It was daft not to have taken lunch with me! I wasn't hungry but increasingly tired. After essential shopping in a village I made it back to Chez Hovel. Where I had a roll with marmalade and a cup of tea before falling into bed.

 7.00 Up again. It is raining lightly. My phone has turned itself off after hitting 1% charge! Luckily it responded to charging. It was 56% when I left this morning. So should have been fine. 

 7.45 I shall have sardines on toast and a cup of tea. I am headachy so probably dehydrated. The sardines are in brine so that should help. I added a banana and an apple. Still have a headache. I'll have some milk.

  ~o~

2.07.2024 Keep on Blocking.

 ~o~

  Tuesday 2nd 56F/13C. [7.15] Heavy overcast and a wet morning is forecast. Expected arrival around 10am. So an early walk would make most sense.

 Up at 6.15 after a difficult night. I had coffee at 8pm last night and this triggered plagiarism of Disney's Sorcerer's Apprentice "Fantasia" but without the mops. The fire bucket seemed about half full as I staggered, half blind, to the bathroom this morning. 

 No plans so far. I had readied the e-bike for local shopping yesterday but never achieved liftoff. Perhaps I need Chinese rocket power? Their latest firework showed unusual eagerness to be elsewhere. And who can blame it?

8.15 Back again. I turned left today. Instead of taking my well worn, usual route to the lanes. The grey skies were depressing. Memories of countless walks flooded back. Plans to climb up to the forest were dismissed. If anything happened to me nobody would find me for ages. Not that it mattered. Though it might spoil somebody's day to find my smelly corpse. 

 The birds did their best to cheer me up, but failed. As I snapped away at flowers in roadside gardens and fluffy crops overflowing their untidy hedgerows. New trees were growing everywhere they probably shouldn't. Mostly ashes but there were many others. 

 12.30 Returned from the shops in the Morris. I found two kinds of plant based spread to replace butter. Not sure how spreadable they are from cold. About to find out. 

 I renewed a prescription on a tablet that was running out. There is no need to get the doctor involved each time. A standing order for renewal is maintained at the chemists. My complete lack of long term medicine taking. Meant that I did not know how the system worked. 

 The city hospital has sent me an appointment. For a Physio monitored stress test on an exercise bicycle. In a week's time. That should be interesting.

 16.30 Returned from a 25km ride to another village. Crosswind and headwind on the return journey. Sunny periods but a bit grey at times.

 The Block vegetable based spread doesn't taste any different from butter to me. It spreads well from cool. I have tried it alone on a roll. Plus jam, cheese, honey and marmalade so far. The raspberry jam is 60% fruit. The orange marmalade 45%. I now spread them all very sparingly to reduce my sugar intake.

 Dinner was salad. With tuna, tomatoes, boiled eggs, Cheddar cheese, carrots, cucumber and heart lettuce. There was lots!

 

  ~o~

 

1st July 2024 Did I miss anything?

 ~o~

  Monday 1st 57F/14C.[7.45] Bright overcast.

 Up at 6am after waking at 5.00. I managed to go back to sleep. Lower back pain is probably from too many hours sitting at the computer. It soon passes as I wander around making breakfast. 

 I had to sort my tablets out for the coming week. If I didn't use the daily dispenser I wouldn't have a clue whether I'd taken them. It's all a bit confusing anyway because the packs hold different numbers of tablets. Which means renewing prescriptions at very different intervals.

 8.15-45 62F/17C Bright sunshine. Returned from my walk to the lanes. I even jogged on the way back. To test my lung capacity. The reality was that I needed the bathroom. No ill effects.

 A long day watching YouTube videos about goldfish keeping. I might have a pond in the greenhouse. Just a matter of finding a suitably large, rectangular tub. I've looked online but those available in Denmark  are rather shallow. The water would heat up or chill too quickly. Depth increases the volume significantly.

 Dinner was poached eggs on toast. I am getting rather good at this! 😋

 

 ~o~