30.11.2024 Borrowing the light.

 ~o~

  Saturday 30th 34F/1C [9.40] Bright sunshine but a bitterly cold SSW wind. The few clouds are banded and bunched up to the east. Which is quite normal. Often causing the early sun to take ages to break through.

 Up at 7.10 after another quiet night. I'll scribble my blog later to avoid wasting walking time.

 9.30 Returning from a walk to the lanes. I was treated to sunrise over a local mound as I walked along the drive. The builders were absent again. The pretty chickens already foraging over their patch. A bird of prey was resting amongst the gulls and hooded crows out on the prairie. It was the first to leave. 

 I was protected by the hedgerow until I turned sharply into the lanes. To be confronted by the eye watering wind and the blinding sun. The thick gloves, which had protected my hands on yesterday's ride, were not up to the task today. Which is odd considering the much higher wind speed on the e-bike and similar temperatures to today's. 

 I ought to have another ride but, as usual, I am unsure where to go. It doesn't want to be too far. Only far enough to enjoy the sunshine. Logic suggests I avoid riding into the sun. 

 11.15 38F/3C. Bright sunshine. I stayed at home and used a bricklayer's bolster instead. To break away the brickwork below the old window in the corner of the living room. I had previously trimmed back the foolishly oversized, timber window sill. To make room for the grandfather clock. Now I have cut away even more.

 The projecting brickwork and sill has been an irritation for nearly three decades. I have now gained a whole 10cm or 4" of extra room to the left for the new cabinet. Without overhanging the antique, lanceolate, single glazed window. Which neatly and perfectly exposes an otherwise trapped double mains socket on the right. While simultaneously increasing clearance around the end of the dining table. Still not cleared of detritus from everyday living in a hovel. The ugly, naked plasterboard on the walls nicely matches the cream, wood-grained backboard of the cabinet.

 The mirror had also fallen foul of the new cabinet. So that too can be rehung exactly as it was. To match that on the other side of the window. It all helps to borrow light from these north facing windows. To this end, a large horizontal mirror hangs above the [typically cluttered] chest of drawers across the way. Visible in the reflection.

 I added a glass table lamp on top of the cabinet. To spread more light into the area at night. [Top image] I shall probably use an LED strip or two. To illuminate the contents of the new cabinet. This usually adds a real sparkle and makes the contents look as if they are floating in mid air. There are four toughened glass shelves waiting for the cabinet to be cleaned thoroughly before fitting. Yesterday's manhandling has inevitably left its finger marks on all of the glass.

 13.00 40F/4.4C. Still bright sunshine but a horribly cold wind. I swept and vacuumed the dust from the earlier demolition work and put the tools away The stove has been lit. It had dropped to 59F/15C. 

 Yesterday's deflated e-bike battery has been recharged. Just in case I want a ride in the freezing conditions. Which I didn't. One quick trip to each shed to collect and return tools reminded me exactly how unpleasant the wind really was!

 Dinner was pan fried chicken and mushrooms with oven chips. 

   

 

 ~o~

29.11.2024 What a struggle!

 ~o~

  Friday 29th 36F/2.2C [8.25] Grey overcast but no wind. Should be a sunny morning according to the forecast. Peaking at 5C/41F after lunch. Gentle SW breeze all day.

  Up at 7.10 after a fairly quiet night. Though the fire bucket felt heavy this morning.

 Given the likely conditions a ride is indicated. Never waste an opportunity. I've put the second battery on charge. As backup to get home with plenty of reserve. The range will be reduced at these lower temperatures.  

 9.15 Returned from a short walk looping around the neighbour's drives. The sky is only slowly breaking up. There was some flooding on the back field but not as bad as previously. The image above is of a newly leveled and grassed paddock. Looking across the new embankment which forms the drive. Acting much like a Ha-ha from this viewpoint. 

 The neighbour's pretty chickens rush to the fence to see me. This is only half of them.

 It felt rather cold and damp. My hands were soon chilled when I took off my gloves to take a picture. So I will have to be careful what I wear on my bike. With reserve clothing and gloves in the panniers. I often find the gloves feel fine for a while. Then my hands slowly begin to ache with cold after a while. Changing to another, supposedly warmer pair. May not instantly provide the desired level of promised comfort. 

 The same holds true with jackets over jumpers. The cold begins to creep through. Leaving my chest and upper arms feeling distinctly uncomfortable. This is despite the high level of wind-proofing provided. The self-made headwind is pressing the thin fabric onto my jumper. Reducing the normal loft to inadequate levels of insulation. On my trike I would be working much harder on climbs. With the constant risk of sweating. Which rapidly leads to a horrible chill on the next descent. A very fine balance is required between clothing, wind-proofing and effort.

 On the e-bike I automatically fine adjust my pedaling effort, chosen assistance mode and gear to completely avoid overheating. With the inevitably greater risk of chilling. Due to the longer term, wind chill factor at my higher, average speeds than on the trike.

 Looking down the steep embankment at the flooded back field.

 The second battery is almost fully charged. Time to get ready. I'll wear my lined, high visibility jacket and take the Endura cycling jacket with me. My Sorel walking boots will have loop pile wool socks inside. 

 I have thin gloves I can wear as liners to the GripGrab lobster mitts. I shall take the fingered gloves for the greater dexterity where their reduced warmth allows it. Who cares if they are still in the panniers on my return? Weight and bulk are not a problem on a heavy e-bike with panniers. 

 So: Thickest long johns and long sleeved thermal vest underwear. Best Assos bibs over. Thickest racing jersey. Thickest Norwegian wool jumper. Cargo trousers. "Game" lined wind-proof, high-viz jacket. GripGrab pilot, fleece helmet liner. Fleece polo neck sleeve. ABUS helmet. Cheap, wraparound clear safety glasses. I'll take my wraparound sunglasses in their padded bag. Lobster claw mitts. Dayglo ankle bands. I'll take the Endura jacket, a lighter jumper and Patagonia waterproof trousers just in case.

 11.00 Finally ready. Lunch rolls to go.

 14.15 Returned from a 57km ride. Visited three charity shops in turn at ever more distant villages. Found a pretty glass and wood display cabinet at the last shop. So I paid for it to reserve it and then rode straight home. Now I have to drive the car back there to collect it in the trailer. It will have to stand up. So I'll need some padding.

 I have eaten my lunch rolls. So I'll just have a quick cup of tea and go. The bike battery was so close to flat that it only had a couple of km left in the tank. I was perfectly warm throughout the ride. Maintaining core temperature ensured my peripherals stayed comfortable. Even in the fingered gloves.  

 5.20 Back from collecting the display cabinet. The chap in the charity shop was on his own. So could not help me with loading the trailer in the distant furniture hall. Across the road from the shop. I took all my lightweight tarpaulins rolled up for packing.

 The cabinet was much heavier than I had hoped. So it was case of tipping it up and walking it. I laid it on its back in the trailer and ratchet strapped and roped it in. With a considerable overhang beyond the trailer tailgate. I grabbed half a dozen cushions. These went inside the cabinet to lift the glass doors slightly. I was afraid the glass would break if it was flexed by bumps. Luckily I could pay for the cushions with my phone.

 Once back at home I had to detach the trailer to reach the back door. Then I eased the cabinet out a little at a time. Until it would go no further. Then it was a case of lifting it bodily and twisting it by 90º on the top step. Until I could walk it sideways over the threshold and along the hall. It is now in the room. Where I intend to place it. Once the Scottish grandfather clock has been moved somewhere else. Location still undecided.

 The other cabinet has solid sides. It overpowered the room standing just there. The new one has glass sides and is not so deep. I like it. I like the other one too. A lot. I stop to admire it every time I go into the kitchen. Even though it has nothing in it yet.

 6.45 What a day! It is only 59F/15C in the room. So I have lit the stove. I'll have toast for dinner tonight.

 Not just eggs on toast though. A cheese omelette on toast. Which is strange, admittedly. The omelette was very tasty. No idea what the toast thought it was doing under there. I had forgotten about omelettes. The only cooking class my wife ever gave me. While she rested on a stool in the kitchen. She deserved a rest from cooking. And everything else. Looking after me must have been exhausting. 

 9.30 38F/3C. 62F/17C in the room. The stove tried to go out while I wasn't looking. Or rather while I was watching Netflix. As usual the dull glow responded to the air supply being opened wide. It has some catching up to do if the room is going to be warm tonight.

 ~o~

28.11.2024 Hideous Nepotism in Corny Retail Display.

 ~o~

  Thursday 28th 40F/4.4C. In the middle of a heavy rain warning. With the potential for 30mm [1.25"] total rainfall since yesterday evening and up to lunch time today. I haven't heard anything. So it may be  steady rain rather than cloudbursts. Not heard the wind either. It is supposed to be gusting to 20m/s [45mph] but falling slowly.

 A very disturbed night. I kept looking at the clock in case the alarm didn't go off. It finally sounded a quarter of an hour early. Followed by the phone alarm at the correct time. 

 7.00 I have a doctor's appointment at 8am. Ironically my right eye is less bloodshot and my nose hasn't threatened to bleed AT ALL this morning. Am I the victim of white coat syndrome? I've had breakfast, showered and dressed and its still very dark. The wind was roaring in the trees when I opened the bathroom windows to let the steam out! There will be no carefree cycle ride this morning! I just hope the car starts.

 8.40 Only 61F/16C in the room. Stove lit. Back from the doctors. It was dark and raining when I left. There were large puddles everywhere, moraines of wind blown leaves and small, fallen branches. The wind whistling around the Morris. I have to return after lunch. To have another blood test for platelets and clotting. I am taking two blood thinners so that may need to be adjusted. Probably by the heart department, specialist staff at the city hospital. 

I did some shopping while I was in the village. Where I bought some more sub-micro, Corny muesli bars in Dark Chocolate. The sales display design of which is so utterly appalling. That I can only assume this is a tragic case of hideously misguided nepotism. Where the precious infant has barely started at kindergarten for the educationally challenged. Before being thrown in at the deep end as Chief Designer for Corny Retail Display Vending & Packaging.

  No doubt they even have their own labelled parking space at the factory. For their badly battered, pedal car. For which damage, numerous innocent nannies have already been unfairly dismissed. The spoilt infant will inevitably go on to become a scourge to society. Before dying young. From a combination of drug and alcohol abuse. I'll take a picture of the sales display packaging when I am in the village later. You really couldn't make it up! 😂 

 The fields and drive were heavily puddled in every hollow. Tomorrow I shall have to investigate the bæk and its perilous journey through the neighbour's embankment. Just in case. Logic suggests that the field and garden would already be awash after so much rain. If there was any real danger of flooding.

 The absence of a need for waders should surely be evidence enough? If that were true then I would have no reason to go looking. Which would deny me a reason for a short walk. Which would take me past the other neighbour's fluffy, Alsatian guard dog and another neighbour's assorted chickens and goats. All of whom would be denied that special moment in their day when something different happened. Even if it was only that silly old fart. Who talks complete nonsense to them but never provides any treats.

 The builders seem to be back next door after a very long absence. I wonder if this means I'll get some more free rubble? For expanding my parking area. Bøøger! That means I have to move my stack of timber and plywood. No doubt the record rainfall has softened the ground too. It's not easy, being me. 

 Dinner was pan fried chicken, mushrooms and tweggs. I made the mistake of turning the eggs before fetching my phone to take the picture. A tragic error on a very basic culinary level. But, not so bad as actually burning something. Which would mean go straight to old peoples' prison! 

 Talking of which: I am continuing my slow rehabilitation via Netflix. No, not another S Korean romantic fantasy. This is about a chap who goes undercover into a luxury old people's home in the US to investigate a robbery. There are some funny lines but it's mostly educational. It tells me I need a completely new hobby or pastime. One involving mixing with people. I thought of NASA but I'm no good on swings. Let alone going up in rockets. I'll think of something.

 

 ~o~

27.11.2024 New physio class confirmed.

 ~o~

  Wednesday 27th 39F/4C [7.30] A mixed but mostly dry but windy day is promised. Followed by rain from 17.00. Potentially heavy and prolonged overnight. The eastern sky looks clear with a hint of orange.

 Up at 6.15 after a disturbed night. I blame the coffee at 8pm but he will never learn. My right eye remains partially bloodshot. I have been bathing it with cold water using the eye bath. With little or no, observable effect. It feels dry at times. I was dreaming about waiting to start new physio heart rehab classes.

 Just me, showing off my halo in a selfie.

 I'd like to have a ride today. With several villages as potential goals. I have blood tests in the village after lunch. With regards to the physio class, in another village, I have emailed them. Rather than just turn up without an appointment.  

 9.00 Time for a walk? The sky looks clear with no wind. The sun is shining but blocked by the local houses.

 9.45 Returned from a walk to the lanes. The roads were wet. It was cool enough to need hands in pockets. No discernible wind but the local turbines were turning briskly. A few gulls were standing nervously out on the fields but there was little else of note. 

 The nice neighbour's chickens all ran towards me as I paused at their boundary fence. I was not carrying anything edible. So they were inevitably to be disappointed. One of their goats cries pitifully every time it sees me. I don't carry goat fodder either. It's hard enough just to keep the goldfish satiated. The neighbour's black and white cat made a poor pretense of invisibility. By flattening itself on the grass at a mere two meters away. There's hours of fun to be had enjoying the wildlife in these here parts.

 10.30 As it has settled on a sunny morning I shall have a ride. I have to be back by lunch time. So no longer ride today. Strictly a one battery tour. I'll just potter up to the next village to do some shopping. The cold air might stop my nose from bleeding. It has just started again.

 12.45 42F/5.6C Returned fully laden from a 23km shopping ride. Delightful, rural detours added to the distance. My nose ran in the cold rather than bled. It was sunny until 12.00 and then clouded over. Riding home was much colder and into a headwind. I found a Philips beard trimming, rechargeable razor in a charity shop. My last trimmer came from a similar source. It lasted for years before the distance setting combs cracked and became useless.

 13.15 Only 63F/17C in the room. So I have lit the stove. It should keep going while I am at the doctors. I have paid for the spring quarter of 13 exercise classes at the new venue. Jan to May. 

 I rode to the village to have my blood tested. Adding a few more km to make it 36km today. Thick mist was rolling down the hill from the forest. 

 I mentioned my daily nose bleeds and bloodshot eye to the nurse. They are squeezing me in with another doctor early tomorrow morning. Instead of waiting until next Wednesday. I just have to be up early to reach the surgery by 8am.

 Dinner was beans on toast. I poured the whole tin onto the toast but ate only half of the beans. I would not have eaten them if I had put the other half in the fridge. Cut out the middle man. Straight into the food recycling bin.

 

 ~o~

26.11.2024 More logs.

 ~o~

  Tuesday 26th 43F/6C [7.45] Cooler after record warmth. It looks clear in the east. Cloud and possible showers are forecast. Windy again. The sun is still half an hour from rising.

 Up at 6.15 after earlier failures to lift off. Not a bad night. My right eye is sneaking towards bloodshot again. I have rinsed it with the eye bath and cold water in the hope of some amelioration. No nose bleed this morning. At least, not so far.

 8.00 Clouding over. The plan is to visit my English friend. As is my wont. The wind and potential showers puts me off riding there. So the Morris will enjoy yet another tootle. Hopefully the road salt will have washed away or be much diluted. Or the roads even dry enough. Not to spray the Minor's unmentionables. A forlorn hope I fear.

 12.30 Back from my visit and shopping. A huge number of geese were foraging. Out on some large fields on either side of the road. Windy but dry and sunny.

 15.30 I have fetched another trailer full of logs and brought them into the greenhouse. Working on the basis of two baskets per day I had less than a week's worth of logs left. It rained but not heavily enough to harm the logs.

 Dinner was a salmon pasty, organic, frozen peas and boiled, organic potatoes. 😋

 

  ~o~

25.11.2024 Last physio class.

 ~o~

 Monday 25th 55F/13C [7.00] A mild but wet and windy day is promised. 65F/18C indoors this morning.

 Woke early and drifted. Had to get up at 6.15 due to a massive nose bleed! Pinching and half a dozen Kleenex sacrificed to stemming the flow. Finally stopped [?] after 3/4 of an hour.

 Another weather record for Denmark. Warmest night since records began in 1874. Ironically there is talk of the protective currents of oceanic warm water AMOC, commonly know as the Gulf Stream, collapsing. Causing Denmark, the UK and much of Northern Europe to have a minor ice age. Resulting in the collapse of agriculture.

 Last rehabilitation physio class today. Unless I pay to attend a similar class at another village. Still under consideration.

 11.30 Returned from enjoying physio and a following chat. I'll investigate the other physio classes. To maintain or retain my improved fitness. Use it or lose it. 

 The car was being pushed around by the strong side wind off the sea as I traveled in both directions.

 18.00 48F/9C. Dinner will be fish fingers and chips. I ought to wash up first. There are no bowls left for breakfast or lunchtime organic bananas and organic mini-milk. Nor enough cutlery. Buy more bowls and cutlery? Or, do the washing up more often. Is this a realistic option? I must have become overenthusiastic. After washing up I even polished the stainless steel sink with scouring cream.

 

 ~o~

24.11.2024 A queue of roundtoits.

 ~o~

 Sunday 24th 44F/7C [8.00] Incredibly dark this morning! Rain forecast until just after lunch. Windy too. I can make out the absent neighbour's hedge rocking. Overnight rain has removed most of the snow. 

 61F/16C in the room. So more logs will be sacrificed for a little extra comfort. I am getting through two whole baskets a day at the moment. The kindling has not only gone through the roof in pricing but sunk to a new low in quality. I buy it by the sack [or three] from a special workshop for the disabled. So I am not sure whether I dare join the long queue for a refund.

 Up at 6.30 with another nose bleed. Removed a giant, dark red slug from my left nostril. Then plugged it with tissue again. I was up half a dozen times to use the fire bucket in the night. The opposite of last night. When I didn't wake up at all. The latter was a record for me. Guinness said it didn't constitute a "real record." Because I wasn't wearing odd socks. A bit of an oversight on my part.'

 I could feel a breeze on my face in the night. Though it could not be felt on my hand. This morning I attached the TOPDON infra red camera attachment to my phone. The window proved to have a small hole in one corner where the windowsill should have been. Now stuffed with cotton wool roundels. The cobwebs will soon hide this crime against building regs.

 This was just another unfinished job. When the quality of my [unfinished] workmanship was rudely questioned. I had allowed the spray foam to encroach on the newly painted, new windows. Though they represent a fraction of the entire exterior wall surface, the windows are the major heat loss. Even when covered by the lean-to greenhouse. 

 I fitted these newly purchased windows shortly after we took possession of Chez Hovel. Until then these living room "windows" were just bare pieces of glass. No proper frames. Nothing. Just a narrow batten around the edges for show. I bought the double glazed windows from a posh, window display centre. From a now defunct firm in a village not far away. 

 They required some assembly. The panes and glazing bars had to be fitted after painting. My wife did the painting. I did the fitting. We could never agree on suitable sills. Neither inside or out. Several panes have blown over the years. Causing them to steam up. The panes were correctly installed using corner spacers.

 Though described as "energy" windows [of the time] this did not extend to insulated panes. The glass was supposedly reflective. To keep the sun out and the heat in. There was no thermal gap in the aluminium frames between the two pieces glass. Gas was supposedly inserted between the panes during manufacture. To further reduce heat loss.

  If you think the windows are bad then you should peer at the image of the back door. I made this to measure from thick, pine, recycled floorboards. The door is a very odd size. So there was never anything suitable at the architectural recycling yard which we constantly visited. Buying new was well beyond our budget. 

 The rear entrance hall is unheated. Gaining only from leakage through the living room, kitchen and bathroom doors. All of which are kept closed in winter. This the main entrance door form the parking space and is unpainted. The door is hideous as well as cold. Frequently enjoying a layer of frost inside hen outside temperatures are low enough. I fitted sponge draught excluder but it resists the door closing well enough to be locked. Another roundtoit. 

 I would like a glazed back/main entrance door. To let some outdoor light into the hall. Whether this would be sensible from a thermal point of view I can't be sure. The door faces north into the boundary trees. So light infall would be minimal but still desirable. Security? Does it really matter? Thieves need only break a window to gain entry. I'd have to learn to wear a dressing gown to cross the hall. Just in case a solitary visitor should turn up on a shower day.  

 The third image shows the recycled, double glazed, double door I fitted to the front hall. Prior to this there was a solid, paneled, front door. Fully exposed to the elements and blocking any light to the hall. With a four inch [10cm] gap underneath. To ensure easy access for the rats. Or any passing cat, mink or stray dog I suppose. The replacement double door is covered by the lean-to greenhouse and only used for access to the greenhouse. Hall's sliding greenhouse doors do not make a serious point of entry. 

 The infra red image shows how poorly the foolishly expensive, foam draught excluder works. At combating draughts. The front hall feels like walking into a fridge, with a fan going, in winter. It relies on leakage from the adjoining rooms through [normally] closed doors for warmth. These internal doors are left open outside the heating season. For easy movement between rooms. The living room door to the front hall was closed for years while my wife was still alive. Covered in heavy curtains to keep the meager heat in the living room. We lived upstairs. Where it was warmer and there were no obvious draughts. 

 I planned to go for a short walk but the outdoors is is hardly inviting. Dark, raining and blowing. I'll put on my heavy, Ventile jacket and go anyway! It has a proper hood.

 10.45 False optimism! It was hardly spitting as I left. Alas, it could not resist having a token downpour on the return journey. The gravel drives were soft from the double whammy. Of being thoroughly wetted and simultaneously thawing. The stream/bæk was nudging its muddied banks. The neighbour's guard dog was not happy. Complaining bitterly about the weather it must endure year round. Another recent neighbour has gone again. Taking their worldly belongings with them. Empty houses in our hamlet now outnumber the occupied homes. 

 The nice neighbour's mini-goats have made a serious impact on their allotted bit of turf. With multiples of prairie awaiting. To which to next turn their rapt attention. Once released into the recently fenced paddock. A solitary cockerel popped out to check on the weather, sniffed and returned to base. And who can blame him? 

 I have changed my wet trousers and hung my clothes to dry. Three hours of stoking the stove and the room has only just reached 64F/17C.

 I went for a drive to an antique market after lunch. They had two display cases by the same manufacturer as mine but they weren't for sale.

 Dinner was sardines on toast with tomato soup. It eventually reached 69F/20C in the room.

 

 ~o~

23.11.2024 Crunchy.

 ~o~

  Saturday 23rd 30F/-1C [8.45] The sky looks clear but the sun hasn't risen yet. 2-3cm of snow lying. The forecast is mostly dry with some sunshine. 16 hours of rain rain tonight. Starting around 20.00.

 8.45 Up at 8am after sleeping through to 7am. Filled the fire bucket and went back to sleep. My back is aching. Nothing unusual and will respond to a walk.

 9.15. It has just taken me five minutes to open the recycling dustbins. Using a 60cm/2' long batten. Snow had melted and refrozen right around the lids. Making it impossible to lift them. I was afraid of breaking the plastic while using the makeshift lever. Fortunately they responded to careful leverage and whacking the ice locally.   

 9.30 62F/17C indoors. I have lit the stove. There is a mountain of washing up to do. Before I can eat and drink again. The sun has broken through the absent neighbour's hedges. Snow on the greenhouse makes it dark indoors.

 11.00 35F/1.7C Weak sunshine. The room has reached 65F/18C and feels warm. Returning from looping around the neighbours' drives. The snow was crisp and very noisy to walk on. Too stiff to brush away from the back door. Even using a yard broom. I used a snow shovel with little real gain. Tonight's promised rain will wash it all away. The road is now cleared of slush and dry enough not to cause tire spray.  

 12.40 37F/2.8C. Brighter sunshine. I'll have to wash up if I want any lunch. 😱 And did.

 17.30 36F/2C. Despite a mostly sunny day the greenhouse has dropped to 38F/3C. It is not well sealed. The Halls Silverline has an inherent design flaw. The glass retaining clips provide little linear resistance to the long glass roofing sheets sliding downwards. Which pushes the rounded plastic shoulders away from the frame. Causing massive air leakage. 

 Had I known this I would have applied clear, silicone adhesive to the roof glass and frame. To inhibit downward movement of the roof sheets. The clear plastic sheets forming the rounded shoulders are also prone to crazing over time. 

 I would never buy another greenhouse with plastic panels. They are highly prone to sweating inside compared to sheet glass. I replaced some glass panels with polycarbonate after storm breakage. These plastic panels always dew up while the glass can remain completely clear.

 Dinner was chicken, pasta and tinned tomatoes.

 

 ~o~

22.11.2024 Well, that was stupid!

 ~o~

  Friday 22nd 31F/0C. Breezy, overcast and snowing steadily. Perhaps 2cm of new snow lying after it mostly vanished yesterday.

 Up at 7.50 after a "busy" night. Topping up the fire bucket at hourly intervals. My own fault for having a small beer followed by coffee after dinner. Will He never learn? 🙄

 I need to shop but don't want to risk driving on snow again. Not even into the village. The problem is not my driving slowly and carefully. It is being caught by speeding traffic on winter tires. Then being pushed along by tailgaters. As occurred yesterday.

 There were several cars and vans driving at "normal" speeds 80kph/50mph + on snow covered roads yesterday. While I thought 40-60kph/25-40mph was much safer given the minimal adhesion of my Hankook tires. It wasn't the driving but touching the brakes. Or attempting lower gears which quickly found my limits of grip. So I used engine braking and stayed in top gear to minimize the risk. 

 I haven't ridden the e-bike on lying snow.  Though I have ridden in falling snow on my way back from the city. Thus I have no useful data on tire grip. Which is normally superb on wet or dry roads. There is other road traffic to contend with. While I would be riding at a low speed. Increasing the risk to them and myself.

 I could ride the trike but it needs work to put the dropped [racing] handlebars back on. I changed the stem to fit the straight bars but all the cables were far too short. I could ride it, as it was, but that means stretching to reach the hoods. Not insurmountable for such a short ride but uncomfortable. 

 I have ridden many miles on snow but would usually pull off when traffic approached from the rear. Not always easy when the snow ploughs have raised a ridge right in the cycle lane. There are no cycle lanes or paths on the road to the village. So I would be forced out into the traffic lane. With very few options to pull off.

 Or I could walk to the village. It's 5km or three miles away to the supermarkets at the bottom of town. About an hour each way in these difficult conditions. Fifty minutes walk on dry roads. I have high visibility jackets and will give the traffic lots of room to pass safely. As I do under normal conditions on my walks. I'd wear my winter walking boots. No problem walking on snow. As I have done so often in the past. 

 Getting in the way of traffic. Or demanding my bit of the road. Could easily push them beyond their safe driving skills. Particularly on slippery roads. So I need to be able to hop onto the verge. There should be little traffic in these conditions. Even less mid morning. I'll walk along the drive to the road. To check road conditions.

 I don't have a rucksack. Though I could take normal [cloth] shopping bags and hope to find a rucksack in the charity shop. To get home more easily once laden. There are usually kids school rucksacks for sale but larger models are harder to find on a chance visit. I could look in as I pass on my way down to the shops. Then shop appropriately. 

 I have just remembered. I have the yellow PVC duffel bag from the trike. It has a shoulder strap. So would be easier to use for shopping. No, it is heavy and the shoulder strap was removed years ago. To fix the bag more neatly on the trike rack. The tape handles will be filthy after years of being wrapped around the trike. So would ruin my bright yellow/green jacket.

 Now I have found the sports bag. Which I bought to carry my clothes to the city for my visit. Grey, so not high visibility, but my jacket will still be seen. The bag is light and roomy. So I can fit plastic carrier bags in there. To stop things moving about and protect things from the wet. It has a sensibly wide shoulder strap too. I'll probably walk. 

 I walked the 200m to the road. Which  doesn't look ploughed or salted. Only the traffic causing the usual darker ruts in the lying now. The wind was driving the snow into my face. Making it uncomfortable without shielding glasses. I'll need my waterproof trousers too.  I'll leave after morning coffee. I left a 10.30. Just a salting lorry passed. Though it had no snow shovel on the front.

 Walking to the village was one my most unfortunate decisions. Not because of the distance. Or even the weight of shopping I brought back. The problem was that Danish drivers on autopilot don't recognize pedestrians. I was repeatedly sprayed from head to toe with filthy slush. As numerous drivers drove through the ridge of filth. Had they kept to the dark lanes of clear road it wouldn't have mattered. The spray there was minimal. 

 Being splattered by wet slush was an entirely other matter! I retreated to the back of the verge as each vehicle approached. This was enough for most drivers to stay in lane. Too many, however, chose to swerve wide. So that I was splattered yet again! 

 The first time it happened I had my coat open because I was too warm. So my jumper was wet through to my t-shirt. My hands were wet too. So I couldn't put them back into my gloves. So my hands were frozen and getting worse. As the wind blew across the snow covered fields.

 I should have driven there. Or even ridden the e-bike. Two scooters and a moped passed. They seemed to be doing okay. There were no rucksacks in the charity shop. Not that it mattered. I swapped shoulders with the strap at intervals. It snowed, rained and sleet fell going in both directions. 

 Only one in 100 of the houses with pavements outside had cleared them of snow by 11.30. The time I arrived at the village. Perhaps twice that number were cleared by 13.00. It is a legal requirement to keep the pavements clear. Just as it is a legal requirement to keep below the speed limits. If they fitted speed cameras widely in Denmark. They could repay the national debt for most of Europe in under a year. Judging by the vast number of home owners, not clearing their pavement, a hefty fine should be introduced. Presently a measly 150-200 kroner. Somewhere around £16-22 British pounds equivalent. 

 Dinner was cheese on toast. It was overdone trying to get the tomatoes to cook.

    

 

 ~o~

21.11.2024 Snow stopped play.

 ~o~

 Thursday 21st 32F/0C [7.30] Wintry showers promised. No white frost on the car this morning. It took ages to remove the ice yesterday. That was with the engine running, spraying liberally with de-icer and using a sturdy scraper.

 Up at 6.30 due to another nose bleed. I managed to get it under control by pinching. I was breathless from running about by the time I took my first blood pressure reading. 188/113! Then 140/69 after five minutes of rest. So I may yet live.

 8.00 Only 62F/16.7C in the room. Too late to light the stove.

 Physio, then cooking class.

 11.00 32F/0C. It started snowing on the gym skylights during the exercise class. About 2cm or nearly an inch had fallen by the time I left. So I had to drive slowly home with very little adhesion on the snow covered roads. It wasn't worth the risk of driving further. So no cooking class today. 

 Only 60F/15C in the room. So I have lit the stove and put on a fleece jacket. Monday will be my last physio class. I have been given the details of a physio supervised exercise classes in another village. At the sports and culture centre. 585kr [about £60 equivalent] for 13 sessions. With a modest discount for Heart Forening members. I am not a member.  

 11.30 I have been out in the freezing cold greenhouse. 38F/3C. Stacking the new load of logs against the house wall. The last basket, from the previous load, is waiting to be brought indoors. So about two day's worth. Before I have to start on the newer logs. I still have several bags of briquettes to use up. I'll throw a briquette on every so often. They are not recommended as the sole source of fuel for this new stove. 

11.45 The snow stopped after I came home. It has started again but only lightly. The car was plastered earlier but is now thawing. 

 15.00 It has snowed and rained lightly on and off. The drive is now clear. The room has reach 66F/19C. My fleece jacket is still on. I have swapped my habitual open sandals for sheepskin slippers. An unusual occurrence.

 I have been checking for better winter tires online. Many Danes swap to winter tires on steel rims for the colder months. The police report today that most of those who lost control on the snow were not using winter tires. That said, some test reports suggest that all season tires are a fair compromise in winter. The Morris is rear wheel drive. It is fitted with 165/70/14 Hankook tires. 

 It is not recommended to drive these older cars in winter. Road salt and rusting potential suggest they stay safely in a garage. Having scrapped my old car I no longer have any choice in the matter. Dropping my e-bike on ice and snow covered roads could be fatal. 

 My trikes were almost immune to winter conditions. I used to go out in 10cm/four inches of snow on 23mm high pressure slicks. All thanks to Trykit's 2WD [two wheel drive] systems. Built into Shimano style freehubs. It just required that the handlebars were kept fairly straight when climbing. To retain two wheel drive grip. Unlike differentials. Which are always trying to send power to the slipping wheel. 

 Dinner was a fry-up. Chicken, mushrooms, halved cherry tomatoes and a broken egg. I should have had a bread roll but forgot.

 10.00 25F/-4C. The winter's first hard frost. I have just been outside to rescue the rain gauges. From the risk of ice expansion cracking the clear plastic. Another ten millimeters of precipitation were added today. The sky is crystal clear with the stars shining brightly. All the towels were dry on the upstairs hangers. The temperature up there is 67F/19C. Just below the room temperature of 68F/20C.

 

  ~o~

20.11.2024 Y'all couldn't make it up!

 ~o~

 Wednesday 20th 27F/-3C. A thick coat of white frost on everything. Including the car and the greenhouse. Though it's not really a hoar frost. The sky looks fairly clear. With lots of sunshine promised.

 61F/16C in the room this morning. I had a strange night. The new digital clock was great. If you ignore how often I looked at it. I seemed to be awake for a couple of hours in the middle of the night. Though somehow I resisted getting up. Or tormenting myself with memories of my wife. 

 The clock was oddly comforting but is supposed to be wall mounted. It is propped on a box on the untidy bedside table for the moment. I'll think about it before I start drilling more holes.

 My intention is to visit the museum to catch up on their progress. They sent me a nice email suggesting I visit and attend their Xmas lunch. I found some leather bound, Danish farming books and will take those along. I know there are many more hidden in the rows of boxes of books. Which still line the walls of the attic. Accessing them is difficult due to all the storage tubs and clothes rack. I saw much better clothes racks for sale at a big shed, furnishing store in town. I'll have a proper look tomorrow. When I am in town for physio. 

 10.30 32F/0C Bright sunshine. Returning from visiting the museum for morning coffee and a chat. Everybody seemed happy to see me again after a long absence. Shopped on the way home. Snow has fallen elsewhere in Denmark. The stove was still alight. Though only 64F/18C in the room. I have put a large log on to try and boost the temperature a bit more.

It is reported that up to 21cm/9" of snow has fallen in North Sjælland. North Zealand. With wayward lorries causing motorway closures.

  13.00 Overcast. I have been battling with the spin drier. Almost unused for a couple of years. Despite having a stainless steel drum it had rusted at the junction between the side wall and the base. Which stained a fleece garment I spun. I have been scrubbing the drum with a sponge backed, washing up scourer and scouring paste. 

 After numerous attempts it finally seems clean. I have poured gallons/liters of water into the drum to try and rid it of soap. Still it produces suds when spinning without clothes. In winter there is little chance of drying clothes on the outside airer. Spinning and then hanging clothes upstairs makes far more sense. The top loading washing machine does a very poor job of spin drying. The less water I introduce to the atmosphere upstairs the better. Hence the return to spin drying. The Thomas does a great job of spin drying the clothes.

 I had a phone call from the heart department at the city hospital. They want me to do some home, blood pressure tests and forward the results by email.

13.20 32F/0C. Still feeding the stove. Nearly 68F/20C in the room. I had avoided double handling the trailer full of logs. By stacking them loosely in a pile in the middle of the lean-to greenhouse. Having almost completely used up the previous stack. I can start laying the new load neatly against the house wall. Then collect another trailer full from the timber yard.

 13.30 Haircut appointment after lunch. I had better get going. 

  12.45 End of an era. "My" hairdresser is retiring next month. I have been going there for around 25-26 years. Another woman is taking over the salon. 

 I bought myself a new coffee mug in a charity shop. White with a flower painting wrapped right around it.

 Y'all couldn't make it up! <spit> A teacher has told young schoolchildren [6-7 years-old] that Father Christmas and elves don't exist. Just before Christmas too! Yet this <cough>"teacher" <cough> supposedly teaches religion. [Allegedly] 

 I wonder which one of the 4,300 presently recognized and perhaps 10,000 throughout history. This truly tragic person pretends to belong to. Such that Father Christmas goes against their strict, brain washed and freeze dried doctrine? What a very strange world we live in! 🙄

 20.30 29F/-2C. 69F/21C in the room. Dinner was poached eggs on toast. One yolk was already broken in the shell. The other was perfect.

 

 ~o~

19.11.2024 Frost and light snow.

 ~o~

  Tuesday 19th 34F/1C [8.00] Overcast and possible wintry showers. White frost on the grass.

 Up at 7.10 after waking earlier. I need an easier way to see the time. At present I have to switch on a blinding table lamp and stare at a small, shiny clock dial. I have a digital clock with large red digits from my observatory. I'll see if I can find it in the chaos. 

 And did. After searching high and low I finally found it safely stored indoors. The time setting button had stopped working. So I had to open up the case and short out the contacts on the push button switch. It is running a few seconds slow but I can live with that. Anything which demands my attention is likely to wake me far more than a glance. So now I can check whether it is a sensible time to get up.

 The intention is to visit my friend this morning. As the roads are expected to be wet and slippery there will be no ride today. I hope the Morris tires are grippy in the cold. 

 I just checked. The software updated Bosch Nyon computer has been storing my rides for over a month. Without being able to show them on my phone. Or even the Nyon screen itself. Now I can see all the details. My total distance from new is 10,569km.

 13.00 37F/2.8C. Returned from visiting my friend. My voice was going after two hours of chatting. Light rain. Shopped on the way back. The roads were fine. Just a few puddles.

 13.20 Only 59F/15C in the room. I ought to light the stove.

 9.00 32F/0C. There was light snow falling when I went outside to the bins. It can't have lasted for long. Because it looked no thicker than a frost. When I checked again two hours later. 70F/21C in the room.

  Dinner was a salmon pasty. With boiled potatoes and peas. I deliberately overcooked the pasty again to avoid previous greasiness. The mini-oven doesn't get hot enough. So needs a longer duration of cooking for the same effect.

 

 ~o~

 

18.11.2024 85km.

 ~o~

  Monday 18th. Wet start then sunny morning.

 Up at 7.45 after a fairly quiet night. Physio. I had better get moving! 

 10.15 Back from physio and light shopping. Sunshine but breezy. My nose is still trying to bleed but I am avoiding blowing my nose.

 11.20 I have the second battery on charge. Readying for a ride. I'll head north to avoid a westerly headwind on my way home.    

 12.00  Ready to go. Taking lunch rolls with me. 

 17.00 37F/3C. Stove lit. 62F/6.7C in the room. Returning after 85km ride to Middelfart and back. Cold headwind going. Blue-black sky ahead. Ragged showers hanging underneath. The massive dark cloud passed over before it started with stinging hail. Turned to rain, enough to thoroughly wet my trousers. Then went off. 

 It remained cold and miserably windy. I had left my waterproof trousers at home. I did a tour to see what else was available. Nothing in the charity shops or the bike shops. The bike shops are discounting due to changing their stock but had nothing left in my size. M.

 The Contec leather Touring saddle was fine again. Best bibs worn under cargo trousers. Not quite warm enough up top. Thermal vest, racing jersey, medium jumper and Endura rain jacket. Not sure what to add. A thin jumper? Swap to my thickest jumper? Take a medium weight jumper in case I get too warm? 

 My hands were getting cold too in the thick, fingered gloves. So I changed to lobster mitts. Still cold. So went back to the fingered gloves. All by GripGrab.

 The jam rolls worked much better than the previous honey. Which leaked into the poly bag. I enjoyed the rolls much more than stuffing sub-micro Corny bars. Though I didn't drink anything at all despite taking apple juice. It felt too cold for a cold drink. Plenty of room for a flask. If I have one. There should be a stainless steel one somewhere. It hasn't been used for years. 

 Dinner was mackerel in tomato sauce with halved tomatoes. 😋

 

 

 

 

  ~o~

17.11.2024 Bloodbath!

 ~o~

  Sunday 17th bright but cloudy. Squally showers and gales possible. 40F/4.4C.

 Bad nose bleed on blood thinners. I have saturated five tissues and lots of cotton wool but it is still pouring from my nose and down my throat. Typing with one hand while I pinch my nose. Still bleeding after 5 minutes of pinching. Try another 5 mins. And another. And another. Still running slightly but it has finally stopped pouring. Can I ride my bike while pinching my nose? Can I drive?

 9.00 First sunshine and the wind is picking up. I'll sit still, pinch some more and hope my nose behaves itself.

9.45 Nose still bleeding. Sunday, so no doctor or pharmacy. I'll go on pinching while passively watching YT videos.

 12.40 It was quite a sunny morning. With none of the promised rain. It clouded over about half an hour ago but there has been no sign of the squally showers. Only now has my nose become reliable. The wastepaper bin would look more at home in a battlefield hospital! It is half full of bloodied tissues. 

 The room is at 65F/18C. I am just beginning to feel a bit chilly. It doesn't look like I shall safely manage an outing today. So I had better light the stove.

 Dinner was organic sausages with mushrooms, organic Fettuccine pasta and organic tinned tomatoes. 😋 I ate an organic apple for pudding.

 

 ~o~

16.11.2024 Getting the jab.

 ~o~

  Saturday 16th 48F/9C. Heavy overcast and very windy. Gusting to 15m/s [34mph] until after lunch.

 Up at 4am. By the time I was feeling dozy again it was too risky to go back to bed. The alarm might not have gone off. I have a Covid jab appointment at 9.30. I wasted quite some time trying to make my phone to sound an alarm. Just as a backup to my 1970s [?] quartz alarm. 

 A terrace cottage in a side street in Faaborg.

 I managed to set numerous alarm times at intervals but the sound was pathetic and I couldn't seem to change it. The first alarm sounded at 6.15 but the rest were lost when I stopped the first. So basically, about as usable as asking a cockerel to wake me at any specific time. Ironically it has just played an alarm at 8.15.

 I lit the stove at 7.45 to be more comfortable after my shower. 64F/17.8C in the room after 20 minutes. It has hardly changed. The stove seems to be losing its ability to be fine adjusted at lower settings. Fortunately there is no shortage of radiant heat. It just consumes more logs than one would like. 

 Loading more logs at once should provide a slower, longer burn. Than putting the same number of logs on, individually, for the same overall volume. Testing this theory would safely consume some of my empty hours. Though it could be carried out simultaneously with other tasks. 

 Talking of which. I have quite a shopping list. So I'll leave early and have the jab on the way home. 

 10.20 Heavy drizzle all morning so far. The first vehicle to catch up with me, as I accelerated away from leaving the drive, overtook me. On double white lines entering a fast, completely blind corner! With may cars speeding in both directions there could have been a frontal impact at insanely high speed! As soon as they had got past me they slowed to only 60km/hr or 40mph. Thereby holding traffic up all the way to the village. The rural speed limit is 50mph or 80kph.

 I did my shopping and then went to find the vaccine centre. There were never more than about 10-12 people at a time. Mostly elderly. I opted for both flu and Covid jabs. We had to wait 15 minutes afterwards before leaving. Just in case of a reaction. I filled up with petrol and then took the shopping home. Luckily there was nothing frozen. I found some organic sausages. Just as a change from chicken.

 10.30 Morning coffee  over. Now I'll go and collect my e-bike in town.

 11.30 Returning with my e-bike. It was quite misty out across the fields, with drizzle. Several wind turbines were standing still despite the wind. The bike shop proprietor informed me that the chain and cassette were probably good until next year. He had made an update on the Nyon computer. It had no problem pairing with the phone. After failing as late as yesterday. 

 I wasted the rest of the day away on YouTube.

 Dinner was sausages with fried egg and chips. 😋

 

  ~o~

 

15.11.2024 Moustache FS27 e-Bike 10k Service.

 ~o~

  Friday 15th 48F/9C [8.45] Grey and misty.

 Up at 8am after a quiet night. I have a wet cough with a nasty taste. It started at breakfast time yesterday. I was also more breathless than usual on the exercise bike, stress intervals. We simulate climbing a hill by increasing the bikes braking load and simultaneously increasing our cadence. Then sprinting flat out for ten seconds at the simulated top of the hill. 

  A tiny building in a field near an ancient home and farm. [Østrupgård] The chimney and windows suggest it was intended to be habitable. Rather than an animal shelter. On the delightful, Trentemølle [Trente Mill] Trentevej lane leading to Ny Stenderupvej above Fåborg. [Images captured yesterday.] 

 Østrupgaard (Sydfyn) Website i Danish.

 Though I didn't notice any chest problems on my 74km e-bike ride yesterday. Probably because I use appropriate gears and assistance modes to avoid excess breathlessness. Even on the longest and steepest climbs. Which I certainly came across yesterday. On the Håstrup road [lane] out of Millinge. Chosen deliberately because I remembered the route on my trike. I'd be climbing that hill as often as possible if I was a keen, young racing cyclist in this area. It is not only steep and twisting but keeps going upwards. When it seems impossible for lowly Fyn.

 I am supposed to deliver the e-bike to the bike shop in town for a routine service. It has reached 10k kilometers since purchase. Though the Nyon computer hasn't communicated with my phone for over a month! It must still be counting distance internally. Even though it doesn't show any statistics or route maps. Not even on its own screen! I have tried repeatedly to pair it but without success. The Nyon keeps asking for a service on every start-up.

 I know the chain is tired. Because gear changes are longer and noisier than usual. Instead of effortless and snappy. The chain suffers due to the amplified effort being transmitted in the highest gears. While I may be a relative weakling at my age. [77] The motor is providing assisted speeds well beyond my physical capabilities. 

 Sport mode increases my own power by 260%. Turbo by 320%. Though I use Turbo only rarely and usually only for hill climbing. Or to get home at the end of a longer ride over the undulating, local landscape. I tend to use Sport mode almost constantly. Except when trying to conserve battery range. With average speeds around 30km/hr the chain must be experiencing similar loads. To a fit young racing cyclist on hard, training rides. 

 The smaller sprockets on the 11-40 SRAM cassette always suffer the most. Thanks to the power assistance modes. I rarely need to venture into the lowest 50% of the Shimano XT, 11 speed gears. Though I hardly ever use top gear. Not even in Turbo mode. It just feels over-geared.

Østrupgård [farm] on Trentevej dates from the early 1400s. A fascinating combination of building periods. The central white building looks medieval but has added wings in timber framing.[Bindingsværk] Tall windows show high ceilings. A rarity reserved for the wealthy. When most timber framed buildings had low ceilings. They were warmer and cheaper! The rich had servants and vast forests to feed their fireplaces.

 The outbuildings [at left] show Dutch influence in the arched gables. I have seen several Danish farms and churches with these curved gables. Skilled thatchers could and can easily manage the elegant curves. Rigid, modern roofing elements cannot.

 Østrupgaard (Sydfyn) Illustrated website in Danish.

 The cassette had to be replaced on its last, 5k km service. So the chain and cassette must be well overdue for replacement again. I have to admit the gear changes have been excellent from new. Far better than I ever achieved with my Campag Ergo/Shimano cassette hybrid set-up on the Trykit trike. It was said online at the time. That the physical sprocket spacing on all 11 speed cassettes, was standardized. 

 It seems nobody told Campagnolo. I played with different sprocket spacers but was ever able to get really clean gear changes across the entire range. The Campag cassettes have smaller freehub diameter and wont fit on Trykit's 2-wheel drive freehubs. So fitting a Campagnolo cassette was never an option.

 I have just had an SMS to remind me of my Covid jab tomorrow in the village. Telling me not to turn up early. Presumably this is due to limited car parking facilities at the site. It is Saturday tomorrow. So the nearby industrial estate will be empty. So easy parking there. Oh dear. I shan't be able to ride there on the e-bike. Unless the bike shop can manage the service the same afternoon. 

 12.00 50F/10C. Overcast. I have just given the e-bike a thorough wash with washing up liquid and warm water. Then rinsed off with lots of clean rainwater. The bike is safely on the Morris with the Buzzrack bike carrier on the tow hook. Secured, double locked and ready to go. My wife used to check all the trailer rear lights were working before I left. Now I use a convex traffic safety mirror instead. Another charity shop find. It saves a lot of running back and forth and I can check all the brake lights are working. 

 I am having early lunch. Before driving into town to the bike shop.  

 13.30 Returned from the bike shop. It is the season for ploughing the fields. So all my careful work in cleaning the bike was wasted. The Morris' tires had sprayed it liberally with mud from the lanes!   

 I have had a message to say the bike is done already. I can collect it in the morning. After my Covid jab. I have left the bike carrier on the car. 

 Dinner was sardines on toast with halved tomatoes. I experimented by using cold tomatoes. It would have been much better if they had been baked for a while.

 

 ~o~

14.11.2024 Ride to Fåborg.

 ~o~

  Thursday 14th 43F/6C [6.45] A sunny day is promised. Northwesterly wind falling slowly. Peaking at 9C/48F after lunch.

 An unusually huge and long, thatched and timber framed [bindingsværk] barn at Østrupgård [farm] above Fåborg. The building extends for a considerable distance along the lane. Such buildings have little utility in modern farming. Where vast machines rapidly cultivate enormous fields. Most modern farms have vast steel barns to house these costly machines. 

 Østrupgaard (Sydfyn) Website in Danish.

  Up at 6am. I was woken by one of the goldfish gobbling the water surface. It sounds like mice in the ceiling! It's not a lack of oxygen. It's an irritating habit. The daft thing constantly imagines food is floating there. In the light or the dark!

 I had an email from the museum volunteers. Urging me to visit them.

 Physio exercise class this morning. I ought to take advantage of the sunshine and go for a ride afterwards. 

 10.30 Back from physio. I don't have many more sessions left. I am enjoying morning coffee as I decide where I want to go for a ride.

 It is already 11.15.  So I ought to take lunch with me. I will ride to Fåborg to look in the charity shops for furniture.

 11.45 Ready or not!

 16.00 Returned from a 74km ride. The sun was just setting on the last leg. I mainly kept to the narrow, rural lanes. Lots of amazing hills around Håstrup! I saw three kestrels and two buzzards. The latter were soaring above a copse and calling. I avoided several pheasants wandering in the road.

 I took my cheese and honey rolls for lunch. So I didn't need to eat the sub-micro Corny bars. It was very pleasant eating them on a park bench by the water. I threw a few bits of crust to an immature, black headed gull. Mostly because it was small and didn't shriek at me.

 I ran the battery down to minimum allowable charge again. Stopped in the last lay-bye before home to fit the second battery. Just to avoid having to climb the last few hills without power. The saddle wasn't too bad again. Just a bit of an ache towards the end.

 16.45 Another amazing sunset! Though it was lying about tomorrow. Because the forecast is grey again. Snow is possible next week!

 Dinner was chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes and chips. 

 22.30 The bright, full moon is almost overhead. Lighting up the greenhouse. The room has reached 67F/19.4C after four hours of the stove burning.

 

~o~