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~