29.08.2025 99km

 ~o~

  Friday 29th 58F/14.4C [7.10] A promising day. Dry, with some sunshine and light SW winds. Going southerly then from the SE later. The threat of early mist seems to be lifting.

 Up at 6.30 after another quiet night. No coffee. Just a small apple juice with a sub-micro Corny, dark chocolate, nut and seed bar for dinner. I had eaten well at cooking class.

 A good day for a ride. Both batteries are fully charged. Always the same problem: Where to go? 

 7.30 A walk first. 

 8.15 Back from my walk. It was warm and sticky due to the high humidity. The rain had brought out the killer slugs. To die in their thousands on the asphalt. Aided and abetted by the verge slashing tractor. Which was busy lowering the wildlife corridors. No more safe haven for the wolves, brown bears and wild bores. I am joking of course. The wolves haven't reached Fyn yet.

 I was met with a container at the end of my drive. Four men had come to strip the thatch from the abandoned house. Wearing white suits and light industrial masks. 

  A huge harvester beside a gorgeous agricultural building. The rotor was twice the length of the visible half.

This once beautiful house has been empty for years. After being bought by a property investor. The foreman suggested they wanted to renovate the house. After all these years? They should have started five years ago! Before the rodents moved into the roof. Leaving gaping holes. 

 After overnight rain it was too wet to take my post-harvest route out on the fields. I satisfied myself with a tour up and down the neighbour's drives. Where a lady with face like a sour prune drove past. I wasn't wearing a hat. So I couldn't raise it to the local nobility. I no longer have a forelock to touch at my age. Though I was sorely tempted to pretend. Perhaps she was still mourning the small, bent and damaged tree I had felled. To open up the gap for the first time in 25 years. Have a nice day Dear! Count your blessings! 😏

 8.35 Time to prepare for a ride. It has become quite dark. I shall be cross if it rains. 

 15.40 Back from a 99km ride. About 60 miles. I went to Bogense via Søndersø. Returning by a more direct route. I had to do a battery change near Harndrup. The antique flea market I was going to visit had closed down. Standing outside were half a dozen display cabinets. With glass sides. Just like the one in the living room. Somebody was carrying one into their flat nearby. 

Before leaving I swapped saddles to my old Brooks B17 from the trike. Well broken in and the skirts tied with a lace. I began to notice the saddle at around 50km. Though it never became painful. I had applied the Assos chamois cream before setting off.  

Hypericum "Miracle Night."

 The workers on the thatched roof have made excellent progress. However, they have added another container in the drive. Which makes my exit in the car rather difficult. I have to go shopping as soon as I've finished a very late lunch. I added another dark leaved plant to my collection. A Hypericum. 

 I took a picture of a dark bronze Hortensia/hydrangea on the way home. Google Lens doesn't recognize it by name. Only displaying varieties. None of them with dark "oak leaves." The garden centre had some supposedly dark Hortensia but only in early spring. A variety called "Black Diamonds." Which turns green in summer apparently.  

 There are several very dark varieties with the flowers I like. Black Diamonds "Angle Red" is spectacular! The only Danish stockists are out of stock. "Teller after Midnight" is even more difficult to find. "Eclipse" is nice too. I have found one of those. Click and collect. A tour in the car is now planned for tomorrow. 

 17.00 I completed my shopping trip. One of the workers checked I wasn't going to damage the paintwork. As I squeezed between the huge containers.[Eng: rubbish skips.] They have now covered the stripped roof with tarpaulins.

 Dinner was a fry up of chicken, mushrooms and tweggs.

 

  ~o~

28.8.2025 How big is the gap really?

 ~o~

  Thursday 28th 55F/12.8C [6.45] Thin clouds. An easterly wind. The forecast is sunny but rain after 6pm.

  Up at 6.45 after a very quiet night. No afternoon nap. I was in town. Only a tiny apple juice after dinner. No coffee.

  My cooking class restarts this morning. I had better go in the car. Just to make the traveling time more realistic then the e-bike's. The e-bike route is more direct but consists of narrow lanes. With all the sharp corners, humps and hills. While I use the main roads and lawful cruising speeds in the car. 

 The gap in the trees continues to entertain me. The consensus is that the perspective provided by the human eye tends to match a 50mm lens on a full frame camera. Though some suggest a slightly wider [shorter focal length] lens. My 4/3 G9 sensor suggests I aim for a 25mm focal length. [2x crop factor] 

 The image shows the view using a 25mm focal length from inside the dining table window. You'll have to ignore the debris from the observatory and the carport roof. 

 The fact that I have to resize the resulting image for the blog further complicates matters. As does the complexity of the human eye/brain interface. I have no difficulty concentrating my vision on the nearly invisible, distant trees. Just to the left of the much nearer trees in the middle of the image. Similarly I can mentally "zoom in" on the gravel in the foreground. The "mind's eye" is full of such optical tricks. 

 The size of the image on the screen directly alters the perceived image scale. Depending on whether you are using a mobile phone, the camera focusing screen or a 32" PC screen as I do. Then you may "expand" the view on the screen. By whatever mechanism is provided by your own tech. 

 My own "naked eye" view is completely unlike the image above. The view appears much larger, wider and brighter to my [two] eyes. For example, to match the central tree size, on my camera screen, requires a 150mm focal length. With the 2x crop factor that becomes 300mm full frame equivalent! This, however, is image scale, not perspective. The field of view has shrunk to match the much longer focal length. 

 8.15.  I had better have my shower and stop waffling.

 13.30 Back from cooking class. Where I made a carrot salad with melon, raisins and lemon juice. This was to be added to a chicken and potato meal with gravy. 

 Dinner at cooking class. 

 Interestingly, we had a new face. To replace another chap who had given up the cooking class. This new gentleman, of similar age to the rest of us, had great difficulty understanding my spoken Danish. He would lift his hand to his ear and claim to be deaf. Whereas he had no difficulty hearing my spoken English. He, himself, could speak English. He showed no difficulty hearing spoken Danish from the rest of the group. I could detect no malicious intent in this slightly odd behaviour. 

 He was friendly and even chatty in English. Obviously reasonably intelligent and confident. Often leading conversations and telling jokes to the group. Which is quite unusual in a new boy. If I spoke in Danish he was deaf. In English he was not. 

 I have never come across this situation before. I talk for hours, in total, in Danish, to some people. They never show the slightest difficulty in understanding me. Despite my known, poor grammar and dodgy pronunciation. Those who struggle usually show limited intelligence. They cannot fill in the gaps and errors in my speech. These people are usually in the minority. 

 Many Danes enjoy speaking English. They take the chance to practice their school English on a living Englishman. Their spoken English is often shockingly good. Far, far better than many born in the UK. With a purity which denies the listener the ability. To define their geographic origin from any known accent. Or to detect their education and class from distinct speech behaviours. Sometimes an American, Canadian or Australian twang creeps in from their having worked abroad. 

 I always encourage them. Thanking them warmly for having made the effort. It usually saves me having to dredge up. Or even invent a whole new vocabulary to fit the situation. Which often crops up where I know the name of a tool or material in English. While having to resort to description. To discover its given name in Danish. Language uniquely defines us in so many ways. I am under no illusion that I started much too late. To learn to speak Danish well. 

 What I missed most was not listening to spoken Danish on TV. The Danish government made it it increasingly difficult to access Danish via the TV. Despite having paid for the license for nearly 30 years. At first were poorly placed to receive terrestrial transmissions. Then they changed the technology. Which again denied us the ability to enjoy spoken Danish. Our supposedly modern series of TVs did not have digital receivers. 

 Even now it is a rigmarole to register for Danish TV online. Long term exposure to a language is vital to absorbing pronunciation and figures of speech via osmosis. Ordinary, informal conversation contains many twists and turns. Which have absolutely no meaning in direct translation. I used to listen to Danish on the "serious" programmes on the radio. Via ear defenders while working in a noisy, workshop environment. That stopped when I no longer worked there. 

 No dinner tonight. I have already eaten well. 

 

 ~o~

27.08.2025 Normalcy.

 ~o~

  Wednesday 27th 61F/16C [7.40] A grey start with a chance of some sunshine later.

 Up at 7am after dozing away earlier attempts to start the day.

 I have a visitor from the Kommune [County Council] later. Just to prod me for signs of life. I must message her. To say that the car parking and turning facilities have been upgraded. So she can drive all the way here. Rather than parking in the main drive and walking. Now I have four hours to spring clean and tidy. Minus the duration of my walk of course. Fortunately the visible parts of Chez Hovel remain reasonably tidy. Following the recent stay of my sister. 

 8.15-40 Another walk on the harvested fields. Via the spray tracks. It was mild and rather breezy. I had to take my jacket off to avoid overheating. Then I had a chat with a pony. Complimenting him on the great job the pair were doing.  

 10.15 Vacuumed, mopped and vacuumed again. Two more laundry loads hung to dry or or put away. Bathroom and kitchen tidied.

 My visitor arrived on time and was truly astonished by the changes I have wrought. The gravel, the gap in the trees, my plants. I took her on a conducted tour of the kitchen, the greenhouse pond, the increasingly open and tidy living room. She is always so positive about my changes. My climb from the darkest depths of despair. To what passes for a balanced human being. Living quietly and in reasonable comfort in Chez Hovel. 

 16.30 Back from Assens. Sunny and warm but windy. I found the heavy duty wall lining paper. Not cheap but it is available in up to 130g/m^2 pre-painted white. Wide too. So it will cover two narrow plasterboards. I'll do more homework before investing time and money in repairing the ugly walls. I must thank my sister for her insight and suggestion. All my previous ideas were too overwhelming. I can do this.

 The gap in the trees is like a stage. Foolishly unreal and strangely posed. The light artificially bright against the dark, foreground trees. The static background seemingly painted. The foreground an unrealistic, backdrop cartoons of leaves. At least eight layers of superimposed scenery measuring the illusion of great distance. No, I am not using some illegal substance. The effect is still fresh, half imaginary and really rather magical. 

 As a child I found stages truly magical too. The made-up actors extraordinary creatures. The lighting unbelievably pretty and sharp. The gap in the trees recaptures some of that. The problem is that I can't see it from my computer chair. And if I could. Would the magic soon fade? Would familiarity cause it to tarnish? It cannot change like a sea view. Its transformations must be wrought by light, season, weather and the crop being grown. Currently golden stubble following the recent harvest. Soon to become bare earth.

 I got up to renew my memory and a tiny tractor took to the distant, middle stage. Running across like a radio controlled toy. Cutting the grass of a newly formed lawn. Only recently hewn from weed and bumpy waste.

 As if it gave birth to the need for a gap in the trees. Or the gap caused it to take form. On a once, badly unkempt field. No buildings are visible unless I go closer to the gap. Which greatly adds to the view. There is nothing solid to latch onto. The scene is restful and largely unchanging. I like that. 

 6.50 Dinner beckons. What is it to be? It could be cop-out toast. 

 How to make toast a non-cop-out? Make it a meal. Cheese on toast with boiled and poached eggs. I boiled them but they wouldn't peel. So I dropped the soggy boiled eggs back into boiling water for five minutes. When they were firm I could cut them [roughly] into slices.

 ~o~

26.08.2025 58km. Don't swallow!

 ~o~

  Tuesday 28th 50F/10C [7.30] A cloudy start but some sunshine is promised. The wind has dropped and gone random.

 Up at 4.30. Wide awake. I can't blame a nap because I was in the city in the afternoon.

 No Tuesday visit to my friend today. A good day for a ride. 

 7.40 Time for a walk first. 

  8.20 Back again. I walked the wrong way. Just for a change. A solitary hare was watching me from a roadside field. It lolloped across the field to hide behind a gentle mound. Two moorhens were sitting beside a large pond. Then decided to take to the water. A beautifully landscaped garden now. Taking advantage of the existing trees and woods.

 None of the wind turbines was turning due to a lack of wind. The traffic was extremely intermittent. Nothing for minutes on end. Then half a dozen in convoy. The neighbour's cat was sitting on the gravel as I came home. Then decided to leave in a hurry as I went indoors. Was it expecting me to emerge with a shotgun? I might have been fetching cream! Now it will never know.

 8.50 Getting darker. I have the spare bike battery on charge.

11-14.15 A 58km ride. A headwind on the return leg. I saw three young deer near the road and a hare. I was heading to a charity shop at 37km with a large stock of furniture but it was closed on one of its few open days. A lack of volunteers in such a large village? The roads which were closed for the new, high speed railway track are open again. Some with naked, concrete bridges standing like modern sculptures in the landscape. 

 I'd gone about ten kilometers when a wasp or bee flew right into my mouth. It felt hot and tasted gingery. A sharp jab inside my bottom lip had me worried I'd been stung. I kept spitting and stopped to wipe my mouth with a fresh tissue. My lower lip felt slightly numb but became no more painful. So I pressed on. While planning a detour to the only pharmacy I knew of in the area. 

 Several drivers brushed past me with no oncoming traffic. I mean well within a meter of my handlebars. They obviously haven't heard of the 1.5m rule. Even if the law didn't exist there is no sane. Nor any reason to drive that way. Callous disregard for their own paintwork? Senility? Drugs? Drunk? Sociopath? Registered blind? Driving while banned? All of the above? Why do these educationally challenged morons all life in the same village? Inbreeding? So many questions. So few answers.

 I rode down a flight of steps. I had taken a different turning to reach the invisible cycle path well below road level. There were signs that no cycling or walking was allowed on the bypass I was approaching. So I turned first left. To be met by the steps. The next turning was a gentle slope. The steps were the easiest option of the moment. To save me backtracking. It went without a problem.

 A late lunch and then dozing on the computer chair. Meanwhile, I ran a load of laundry.

 Dinner was chicken, mushrooms and halved tomatoes fried in olive oil. With oven chips. 

  

  ~o~

25.08.2025 Fish salad.

 ~o~

  Monday 25th 55F/12.8C [8.15] Uniform, grey overcast. A cloudy start and windy. With sunshine this afternoon. With even more wind.

 Up at 6am after a "busy" night.

 8.15 Overdue time for a walk.  

 8.25-9.00 Returned from my walk. The fields are not yet tilled after the harvest. So I have enjoyed walking the spray tracks. It is still overcast and windy. It was roaring in my Oticon hearing aids. Not an ideal day for a ride. I took more pictures to remind myself of the gap in the trees. It is surprisingly wide from some angles. Though not from the living room window.  

 I ran a hose to the greenhouse pond and topped up the 4"[10cm] lost to evaporation over the last four months. I checked: The temperature of the cold tapwater was within 0.5F of the pond water. 60F:60.5F. [~15.6C]

 5.25 Back from Odense [city] in the Morris. I needed several things not available elsewhere. Including a nice selection of water plants. Two of which pretended to be hot air balloons. The goldfish had eaten all the previous plants. Which I gave them for decoration and cleaning the tank. Which, being goldfish, mistook them for salad.  Hopefully their absence will allow the plants to thrive. Though I am tempted to net and bring the two tiniest goldfish in for the winter. They will keep me company. Who else I am I going to talk to?

 I also bought two new, modestly sized, Tefal frying pans. To replace those which were no longer non-stick. Inexpensive, in a large shed. Still pretending to be a department store.

 If we live in woke times.. why isn't ageism as bad as racism? Globally available products all have sub-microscopic, printed text in their instruction manuals. Are they trying to kill us?  Why do huge sheds, pretending to be department stores, not provide tricycles, scooters or Segways to get about? It takes ages to walk their length! Then twice as long to walk back to the checkouts where you came in!

 Dinner was sardines on toast with halved tomatoes. I forgot to take a picture.

 

~o~ 

24.08.2025 Mind The Gap!

 ~o~

  Sunday 24th 46F/7.8C [6.5] Clear. Waiting for sunrise. The forecast is a cloudy morning. Clearing to sunshine. Peaking at 18C/64F at 16.00. Rather windy with 12m/s [27mph] gusts. Building from early morning and then plateauing. 

 Up at 5.30. Wide awake. Because I had an afternoon nap yesterday? I had been deliberately staying awake all week while my sister was visiting. We were usually our on a trip in the car. Which made my napping habit easy to break. 

 Any plans for a longer bike ride are on hold given the likely wind speeds. 

 Seen from the dining table window the gap I made in the trees is full of light. With the gentle curve of the distant stubble field punctuated by the row of trees. These are seen end-on in the middle of the gap and are situated on the border between two very large fields. The mixed trees have been there for many years. Long before the change of ownership of the roadside fields.

 The view though the window from the dining table is surprisingly enhanced. Which was really quite unexpected. Giving me a good reason to sit there now. Instead of watching Netflix with my dinner on my lap. 

 The Morris will be over to the right in the carport. If the latter ever gets finished. The dark, central tree on my own border could be usefully removed. The one sticking out of the roof of the Morris in the image. The houses on the old drive are safely obscured by my own trees. Which gives the impression that I enjoy only a rural view. I see no point in widening the gap. It just needs to be tidied up. 

 8.30 Back from my walk. With pictures on my Lumix G9 of the view back towards the house through the gap. I have spent the last two hours trying to update the camera firmware. This involves using an SD card with the downloaded updating firmware. I formatted a fresh card to save the pictures on the original card. 

 The Replay button just says No Valid Picture. I have reformatted the card several times in the camera. Copied the update to the card and reinserted it. No joy. The pictures on the original SD card are unavailable unless I can get Lumix Tether to work. What a palaver! Why can't the camera be updated using the USB cable?

 Back to work. I felled the left hand tree in the gap. The horizontal branches were sagging into the gap. Which, having been cleared, have really opened up the view. It looks strangely like a 3D card from the early 20th century. Cars traveling along the "embankment" seem to float in mid air. It is really quite odd.  

 The central tree now looks much more prominent. The trunk is at least 25cm [10"] in diameter. Almost perfectly upright. So no guarantee of it falling safely into the field. Not from a simple notch and back cut. 

 The 16" [40cm] DeWalt chainsaw is far too near its maximum capacity. What happens if it gets stuck half way through? Which it often does. I still have to clean the field of fallen branches and untidy twigs. Then throw the bigger logs back into the garden for potential firewood. 

 16.00 Back from the village just for the ride. My neighbour from behind came over to discuss the gap I had made in the trees. I am not sure he was too happy about it. Saying it was his boundary too. Though there is nothing which can be done about it now. I explained that the estate agent had recommended I open it up. Now I have a view beyond the garden. 

 After four years of his living there I wasn't even sure who he was. He has never called or contacted me. His new build house faces this way. While his vast new buildings are not visible from my house. Not unless I walk down to the gap. So there is no real loss of his privacy. I never objected to his original building plans. His buildings [black sheds] can be seen from miles away from most angles. 

 I believe the general rule is that rural hedges may be not more than 2.5m high where there is disagreement. Or lower by agreement between the adjoining owners. I just checked my early photographs. That boundary was just a few spindly trees. It was completely open in winter. My wife planted many of the trees.

 Dinner was sausage in batter. Or a sausage omelette. Three organic eggs and organic milk whisked and poured over fried, organic sausages. 

 

 ~o~

23.08.2025 And there she was, gone.

 ~o~

  Saturday 23rd 49F/9.4C [7.00] Bright, but waiting for sunrise. Another, mostly sunny day. 

 Up at 6.15 after a quiet night.

 My sister is leaving today. I shall run her up to the local train station later. A successful stay I think. We go out and about every day. Apart from my unexplained dizziness on Thursday. The weather was exceptional. Warm, dry and sunny. Though rather breezy at times towards the end. Particularly yesterday at Egeskov. 

 My sister has suggested I try heavy duty, so-called "smart lining paper" for my scruffy, bare plasterboard walls. After some filling to remove any depressions. The adhesive is applied to the wall. Not the paper. Hence the "smart" identification. The great advantage of this is its application in stages. Much like wallpaper. Rather than an overwhelming demolition of the existing, insulated plasterboard wall. To be renewed completely from scratch.

 7.20 Time for my walk. 

 8.00 Back from my walk. Very little, Saturday traffic. An almost cloudless sky and low, blinding sunshine. Three deer were grazing on the prairie again. Much closer to the road than before. A doe and two young. No antlers. 

 They eventually took fright as I advanced slowly down the road. Taking pictures with my phone at intervals. Then they dashed off for the distant horizon. At least 500 meters to cover beyond the nearest low undulation. 

 I could then safely take to the fields. To repeat my familiar rectangle out on the spray tracks. The neighbor's invisible activities of yesterday. Proved to be completion of another paddock fence. Running around the edge of the freshly mowed field. Just beyond the impenetrable but towering line of trees. Forming the boundary of the absent property developer's wildlife sanctuary. 

 The distant, black roof is not mine. It belongs to another absent property developer. Who is slowly restoring the former dump. Over an increasingly, extended period. Self seeded trees now tower over all the local properties. Felling many of them, so very close to the houses, would now require a skilled, climbing, tree surgeon. 

 11.30  Returning from the station after delivering my sister. I was sad to see her go. We seemed to get on well.

 I saw plants for sale beside the road on the way back. So I have now added a Aeonium "Velour" succulent to my dark leaf collection. Google Lens suggested it is an easy, fast growing  plant for beginners. Not winter hardy but I have the greenhouse or a sunny windowsill. I shopped for essentials on the way home.  

12.00 Did I ought to have a ride after lunch?

 17.30 I have been out there for hours. Making a gap in the northern, boundary trees. Horizontal branches up to 10cm diameter had to be sawn off. Using the DeWalt battery chainsaw. Some of the branches were completely out of reach. Except from my tallest, tripod stepladder. I am dripping with sweat again. 

 There are still sagging branches crossing the gap on a diagonal. Which need the stepladder again. To be in the field to reach high enough. This is considered very unsafe. For unskilled chainsaw use. 

 The central tree could be felled too but it is very tall and wide. Any mistake and it could wreck the shed or the carport roof. There is nowhere to fix an anchor in the field. So that I could use the boat winch to pull it down. 

 Dinner was organic sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes and an egg. Helped down with a buttered bread roll and a non-alcoholic pilsner. 

 My sister has made it home safely. It was lovely having her here. We had a good time on our outings in the beautifully polished Morris. 

  

  ~o~

22.08.2025 Egeskov.

 ~o~

 Friday 22nd 54F/12.2C. Light, even overcast. A cooler, more cloudy, much windier day is forecast.

 Up at 7.15 after a "busy" night at Bucket Stations. I deliberately went back to sleep at 6am. I am feeling much better now. 

 8.30 The neighbour's cat is admiring my sister's handiwork in taming the garden. Time for a walk. 

 The image shows my late wife's flower bed. Which I roughly hacked down with hedge clippers. It was completely choked with weeds, thistle and nettles. I have made  a start on the overhanging brambles beyond. They are overflowing a rose hedge. 

 9.00 The last bales had been removed as I walked along the spray tracks on the harvested fields. The wind was strong. The wind chill enough to make my hands feel cold. 

 11.15 Readying for a drive to a stately home with an excellent transport museum. Egeskov. [Eng. Oakwood] Near Kværndrup.

 17.15 Back from Egeskov. The motorcycle museum is well worth a visit. Lots of old cars and other vehicles. Lots of other things to see. As are the extensive gardens.  It is quite a walk and takes several hours to cover everything. 

 Having enjoyed another heavy, cafeteria lunch at Egeskov we had no need of dinner. So we dealt with producing fried eggs of finished size to match the bread rolls. This was settled with scissors to trim the overhangs. We agreed that sliced bread is probably a more suitable medium.

 Egeskov Palace. 

 It felt cold in the evening despite the 68F/20C in the room. So I lit the stove and closed all the windows. Which I had inadvertently left on the catch to air the house. Not ideal on such a windy day! The stove managed to warm the room by 4F to 72F/22.2C by bedtime at 10.30. With its soapstone cladding nicely hot. To slowly release its stored heat for hours to come. All on the equivalent of one log but using only scraps of beech wood from the last trailer load. 

 

  ~o~

21.08.2025 Sick note.

 ~o~

  Thursday 21st 47F/8.3C [6.45]  Bright but cloudy start. Expected to be cloudier, cooler and windier.

 Up at 6.00 after a quiet night. Feeling a bit dizzy. Hopefully a walk will help.

 Trimming back the overgrown shrubs and trees. The former flower bed, to the left, is swamped with weeds.

 It didn't help so I went back to bed for half an hour. That didn't help either. I may have mild food poisoning. Which is a nuisance while I have a visitor. I can't drive us onto the next planned outing.

 We sat and reminisced for most of the morning while I rested. I had a nap but it offered no patent improvement.

 Rolls for lunch. 

 Then out to the garden. Trimming back the black elder, cotoneaster salicifolia, hawthorn, et al. 

 My sister suggested I cut down the flower bed and expand the lawn. A solution which had not occurred to me. It needs no hiding the fact that I lack the skill, knowledge and determination. To make a go of a dedicated flower bed. I am not a gardener.

 So I used the hedge clipper to lower the area to a more manageable height. I managed to save the four buddleias. Which were in flower but completely swamped in weeds. Mostly rosebay willowherb. 

 Dinner was goulash soup and boiled potatoes. Which made a change from my usual diet and was very pleasant. I still feel a little dizzy and headachy. Hopefully I shall be back to normal tomorrow.

  

  ~o~

20.08.2025 Extreme garden repair!

~o~

  Wednesday 20th 59F/15C [8.00] Bright with sunshine all day.

 Up at 7am after a good night.  

 We shall be visiting the museum. Followed by a tour to my English friend.    

 Secma Fun buggy. Seen outside a supermarket. 

 8.50 62F/16.7C.  Returning from a brisk walk looping around the stubble fields. The wind was stronger than in recent days. Though it wasn't cold. Bright sunshine and quite a lot of traffic.

 We enjoyed a walk around the farm museum where I was a volunteer. We met several of the volunteers still working there. The weather was perfect.

 After that we drove on to my friend's place. Via the village bakery to collect three spandauer. A round flaky pastry cake with custard like cream in the centre. We sat outside in the warm sunshine to enjoy the cakes and coffee while we chatted with our host. Whom suggested the Faldsled marina cafe for a fish and chip lunch. 

 The fish proved to be kuller [haddock in batter] and the portions generous. As were the wasps. Our choice of ginger beer, rather than alcohol free beer proved to be a wasp magnet. We soon collected three drowned wasps in one, half full bottle. They were extremely persistent! 

 There followed another tour of a marina as we freely wandered the pontoons. Yet again there was no obvious security and very few boat owners present. I noticed a small feature, common to many boats,  which temporarily eluded my resident boating expert. This required some later, Google searching for the correct term: Anchor chain locker drain covers.

 Finally, I selected a wending, scenic route to return home. Where my sister launched into extreme garden repair mode. She had soon made serious inroads into the sad state of my late wife's flower bed. 

 The beautifully polished and detailed Morris Minor drew admiring glances throughout the day. The owner of a pretty, MG Cyberstar liked the Morris.

 Having already eaten well. We enjoyed cheese rolls and shared a bottle of alcohol free beer for dinner. 

  

 ~o~

19.08.2025 Japanese Gardens.

 ~o~

  Tuesday 19th 58F/14.4C. Overcast and breezy. A little cooler each day. Sunshine and 22C/72F expected.

 Up at 6.15 after another quiet night.

 8.00 Time for a walk. 

 The Japanese Gardens at Vøjstrup, Broby. 

 8.40 Returned from a much cooler walk around the fields. The farmer had been breaking up the spray tracks to aid ploughing or sewing.  Still a few bales lying uncollected. There was quite a wind at times. So my jacket was far more essential than merely decorative. No deer visible today. Flocks of perhaps one hundred sparrows moved about nervously. 

 11.00 We visited the Japanese Gardens. Not far from where I live. These were incredibly well done. Cloud formation trees soaring high above us. Tens of thousands of plants, shrubs and trees.   

 Followed by visits to Assens and Haarby. In Assens we had a pub meal on the pavement. 

 Later we came across a collection of half a dozen Puch mopeds in as new condition. Being minded by one of the club members while the others shopped. We chatted with the watchman. Then onto Haarby for petrol and more shopping.

 Then home with my sister enjoying more polishing of the metalwork on the Morris. Dinner was fish fingers, peas and chips. Followed by more polishing while I washed up.

 

  ~o~

18.08.2025 Middelfart & Fredericia marinas.

 ~o~

  Monday 18th 58F/14.4C. Bright sunshine. Another sunny day and 24C is promised. Steadily more cloudy and cooler over the next few days.

 Up at 6.30 after a very quiet night.

 8.00 Time for a walk. 

 8.35 Back again. The traffic was much heavier this morning. I was glad to get off the road onto the harvested fields. Where I spotted three deer. A very unusual sight. They were grazing out in the middle of the stubbled prairie. My pet name for the 1000x1000m field. Which leads up to the forest on the hill. 

 The deer were almost in line with the distant radio tower. None of my futile attempts at telephoto images on my phone were worth sharing. I must be doing something wrong in the settings. My pictures are heavily pixelated. I dragged the now empty, recycling bins back with me. Closely watched by the ponies. Which are finally beginning to lower the average height of the grass on the front field. Even given their amazing efficiency this is no mean feat. 

 The plan is to go and look at another marina. This time to the north. Middelfart beckons today. A town on the strait between Fyn and Jylland [Jutland.] Joined by two bridges. An early 2th century girder "old" bridge and a much later motorway bridge. "Fart" in Danish means speed or haste. The town name probably refers to the crossing by earlier boat or ferry of the strait. 

 18.00 Returning from a drive to Middelfart and Fredericia. My sister is an expert on boats. So we visited two more marinas and I was brought me up to speed on the finer technicalities. 

 Again we enjoyed lunch under the umbrellas at an outdoor pub restaurant. Crossing The Old Bridge was beset with delays. Due to temporary traffic lights. We shopped on the way home.

After rapid re-hydration with non-alcoholic beer we started on the car again. This time with polish and trim and tire reviver. The result was remarkable. Dinner was more alcohol free beer and a Cheddar cheese roll.

 

  ~o~

17.08.2025 Fåborg.

 ~o~

  Sunday 17th 48F/9C [6.45] Bright, but still waiting for the sun. It is promised to reach 22C/72F this afternoon. Peak temperatures falling slowly, but steadily, over the next week. Night time temperatures are already lower.

 Up at 6.15 after a fair night. 

 6.50 Almost time for a walk. 

 7.20-7.50 A brisk walk along the road in quiet, Sunday traffic. The low, blinding sun providing the rural atmosphere. 

 A pretty side street in Fåborg. 

 11-ish. We are going for a drive to Fåborg. A coastal town some 30km away.

 15.20 72F/22.2C. Warm sunshine. Returning from a tour of Fåborg and a spot of lunch. 

 20.00 The Morris has just had the most thorough clean since I brought it home. My sister actually enjoys cleaning cars. So that's what happened. Rinsed with the hose, shampooed, rinsed again, wiped dry. Glass cleaned inside and out. Vacuumed the carpets. Cleared the glove compartments. 

The car has never looked so shiny. No doubt it would further respond to a polish but I couldn't find the bottle.

 Having eaten so well at lunchtime we just had scrambled eggs on toast for dinner. I can now add scrambled eggs to my diet. My attempts at scrambled eggs so far were merely untidy omelettes.

 I took the recycling bins along the drive while my sister washed up. The neighbour's cat was hunting outside and looked very cross as I rumbled past.

  

  ~o~

16.08.2025 Arrival.

 ~o~

  Saturday 16th 54F/12C [6.30] A sunny day is promised with a NW breeze. Reaching 22C/72F after lunch. High cloud is presently hiding the sunrise. 

 Up at 5.50 after an average night. Tidying and cleaning continue. In preparation for my visitor's arrival this afternoon. 

 The marshy field to the north of my garden. 

 7.15 Time for a walk.

 7.30-8.00 57F/14C. Veiled sunshine. A brisk walk around the harvested fields via the spray tracks. It was much cooler than of late. With the gusty wind slightly uncomfortable at times. A girl rode past on her racing bike. With a huge lorry refusing to overtake her.

 9.15 Finished vacuuming, mopping and sweeping downstairs. I'll have morning coffee and a rest. Then start vacuuming upstairs.

 10.30 Vacuumed upstairs. Cleaned all the downstairs windows inside and out. Many of them are punctured. So they have streaks and mist inside the double glazing units.

 15.15 An update: My sister's flight from the UK has been delayed by an hour. So she missed her connecting flight from Holland. A long delay before she is put on a plane to Denmark. Which means her travel arrangements. From the Danish airport to Chez Hovel. Are also delayed by several hours. 

 19.15 My sister arrived by taxi. 

 Dinner was beans on toast.   

 We chatted until 22.30. Then bed.

 

  ~o~

15.08.2025 Tidiness is not in my job description.

 ~o~

  Friday 15th 64F/18C [7.30] Bright overcast. Mist clearing. Sunshine expected with 26C/79F forecast for this afternoon.

 Up at 5.30. I was bored with lying there awake. 

 7.30 I need a walk. My lower back and hips are aching. 

 The mist was still lifting off the forest. Up on the hill. 

 7.40-8.10. A pleasant tour around the newly shorn fields via the spray tracks. The constant whine in the background a reminder. That the bumper harvest is not yet over. 

 The neighbour's cat was guarding the drive but refused to be petted. It treats my property as a private resource for tasty snacks of rodents. Why should I lower myself to its level? It's a long way down!

 I need to shop for some depleted essentials. Get away from the serial tidying for a while. Recover a sense of proportion. Some of us are not born to sort and compress. With anything remotely approaching efficiency.

 10.20 72F/22C bright sunshine with a gusty breeze. Returning from the shops with four, well stuffed, carrier bags. As usual, the Morris attracted many stares, admiring glances and smiles.

 14.15 76F/24.4C sunshine. Back to tidying.  

 Dinner was cheese on toast with halved tomatoes. 

 

  ~o~

14.08.2025 Carry on Tidying!

 ~o~

  Thursday 14th 65F/18.3C [8.00] Fairly bright overcast. Sunshine expected later and 26C/79F.

 Up at 7.15 after failing to lift off earlier. I shall continue tidying. 

 11.00 76F/24.4C weak sunny periods. No walk. I have been tidying. 73F/23C indoors.

 12.00 80F/26.7C Sunnier. Still tidying the living room. Trying to tidy the cabling for the computer and all its accessories. Laptop, tablet, fiber-box, router, POE switch, screen, assorted lamps, cameras and all their many power supplies. 

 15.20 78F/25.6C Brighter sunshine. I moved upstairs to assemble steel shelving. To stack trays and tubs more efficiently. At least, that's the theory.  

 Dinner was an omelette. With chicken chunks and halved cherry tomatoes. It looked okay in the frying pan but a mess on the plate. It tasted fine.

 

  ~o~

13.08.2025 It's hell out there!

 ~o~

 Wednesday 13th 61F/16C [7.00]. Bright but rather cloudy. Peaking at 26C/79F. They are calling this a heat wave? Quite breezy from the east. 

 Up at 6.00 after a quiet night. I should stay at home and continue tidying. It's all my own fault for moving stuff around. It has caused a domino effect. 

 7.20 Time for a walk. 

 Our hero raking trimmed hedging in the drive. My property stops at the gateposts in the foreground.

 8.00 And back again. Warm enough for a T-shirt again. With a nicely cool, easterly breeze. The traffic was busy again. Nervous gulls drifted across the newly shorn landscape. A few stacks of bales still hanging forlornly on. Like forgotten luggage. The bare ground had completely changed the acoustic. I kept looking around for the traffic. Which seemed to be approaching but was merely the sound. Carrying across from the main road. 

 A tractor passed with a vast, open trailer. Decorated with bands stretched between V-shaped, hydraulically operated arms. So that the bales could be held tight. Instead of relying only on weight and friction. To remain safely in place.

 10.10 Paused for a rest and to put several flat batteries on charge. I have mowed the drive and attacked the western lawn. Followed by strimming the sides of the drive. It's not my job. The drive adjoins private property. It is the absent property investor's job. To clear the weeds and massively overgrown hedges and trees. If I don't do it then who will? Nobody. Without my intervention access to my own home would soon end!

 11.00 74F/23.3C. Hot sunshine. Dripping with sweat. My arms are tired. I have been clipping the front hedge inside and out. Strimming and clipping along the drive. Brambles have taken over the front hedge. Two more batteries are flat. I need a rest!

 14.15 80F/2.7C. Hot sunshine. Dripping with sweat. I have strimmed the western lawn again. Then repeatedly mowed and raked the grass. The Makita mower couldn't cope with lying grass. It just stalled. So I kept raking and mowing. I ran the mower repeatedly along the edges of the drive too. After strimming and clipping the hedges some more. It is too hot to continue.

 18.40 I went out later to rake the drive. It still felt hotter than indoors. [73F/22.8C in the room]

 Dinner was beans on toast. A whole tin!  

 9.20 67F/19.4C. I have been clearing up outside. Putting the powered garden tools away. Getting very breathless!

 

  ~o~

12.08.2025 53km + 12 Minutes.

 ~o~

 Tuesday 12th 58F/14.4C[7.20]  Overcast. A cloudy but dry day reaching 22C/71F. Very light wind. Ideal for a ride.    

 Up at 6.30 after a typical night. 

 The "back field" to my north is quite marshy. The much neater horse paddocks are now advancing downhill.

 8-8.30 4F/17.8C. Sunshine. My usual walk. It was comfortably, T-shirt warm. Lots of traffic. Most of it on semi-comatose autopilot! I had to take to the verge several times. When drivers did not see me despite the road being perfectly straight. The Reolink Elixir of Youth hasn't worn off yet. I am still a sprightly septuagenarian.

14.00 Back from a 53km ride to visit my English friend. I called in on a village bakery to buy some Danish pastries. To enjoy with our coffee. Somebody was shopping for 35 cakes. Presumably for a birthday celebration at work. Anybody with half a brain would have sent in a list and picked it up later. But no, half a dozen mugs had to stand and watch while this chump choose each cake individually. There was only a single member of staff serving. Though we could all hear voices from the back room. It took over 12 minutes before I was finally served. The cakes were dry again. They have lost at least one customer.

 It was pleasantly warm and sunny most of the time. So my friend and I sat and chatted outside. There was a light sprinkle of rain. So we retreated to the orangery.  Though the shower was short lived. There was a similar sprinkle as I started my ride back home but it soon stopped. 

 There was almost no wind on my way there. I was averaging 30-35kph. Rather less on my way home. 25-30kph. Mostly in Sport Mode. With burst of Turbo mode on the climbs to maintain my speed. I had to swap batteries to the spare on the way home.

 A red kite lifted off from hunting on a roadside field as I approached. At first it turned away but then changed its mind. Swooping low over my passage along the quiet lane.

 I had a chat on the phone with my sister. Who is coming to visit me at the weekend. She will be staying for a week. Which is why I am trying to bring some tidiness to the present chaos upstairs.  

 Dinner was an organic pork chop, mushrooms and chips.     

 

  ~o~

11.08.2025 The Reolink elixer of youth!

 ~o~

  Monday 11th 53F/11.7C [7.30] Bright.A sunny day though with some cloud. Winds lighter.

 Up at 6.40 after an unusually quiet night. I only got up twice. 

 The "back fields" to my north.

 I am expecting a pair of goatskin, TIG welding gloves today. Hopefully these will allow me to clear a lot of thistles in the garden. None of my industrial/builders gloves provide remotely enough protection from the spikes. I was tempted to ride the 40km to the stockist but the wind wasn't encouraging. So I ordered them online.   

 Which kept me at home to make an even worse mess! The fish tank now needs to be refilled. In its new home at the bottom of the stairs. The inside is covered in ugly algae. So it needs to be scraped. At least I have much better access now. With no fish to hamper progress. 

 I'll have to provide power for the filters and lights at the new site. Probably from upstairs. Only an extension lead with a multi-socket to an existing outlet. The electricity demand is very low. 

 8.10 I ought to go for a walk. 

 Purple loosestrife on the marshy field.

 Half an hour's walk in lots more traffic. The holidays must be coming to an end. My lovely young neighbour was exercising one of her beautiful horses and gave me a wave. 

 The paddocks are being steadily expanded downhill. Towards the lowest point. Planting and mowing grass to provide a smooth lawn on the newly raised ground. New fence posts have been erected along the edge of the field. It's a shame I can't see the horses. Due to the dense tree growth in the abandoned garden next to my parking space. The marshy area in the back field is currently decorated by pretty, Purple loosestrife. Lythrum salicaria.

 The dustbin man obviously couldn't be bothered to check that the recycling bin was empty. It wasn't. It was still half full of waste paper! He wouldn't have lasted long in the good old days. When heavy metal dustbins had to be lifted onto their backs. Often being carried across the street to the lorry. Up steps and down if necessary. Before being tipped manually. Then returned to its owner. 

 Set aside with sunflowers on the front field. 

 Now they only have to move the bin a few inches before it is hooked, lifted and tipped automatically, The neighbour's cat was unnerved. By the racket the bin made. As I trundled it back. The cat was hovering in the drive but made a run for it as I approached.

 10.30 The aquarium is refilled. It is so easy with a hose and cold water from the kitchen tap. I bought an adapter which is fitted in place of the aerator. No need to match temperatures from a pumped container in the bath. The water will soon clear and match the room temperature. The ugly patches on the wall are from numerous heating systems over the years before our purchase. It was hidden my a ceiling high, display cabinet. I should have painted the wall white before placing the tank there. Perhaps I should paint around the tank? 

 10.50 I've just had a notification that my welding gloves parcel has arrived in the village. I need more groceries but have been waiting for the parcel. To avoid duplicating journeys. I might as well go now in the car. Then I can do more tidying before lunch.

 11.45 Back from the village. 

12.00 The gloves work a treat on thistles.  Though it is tiring pulling them up by the roots. No punctures so far. I haven't dared to try them on brambles yet.

 Reolink has just updated its security camera app. It magically made me 20 years younger! I am no longer moving in slow motion. Like some 100 year old survivor of an unimaginable holocaust. Which made me look utterly decrepit! I wonder if the next update will give me more hair? Then I can continue building my career as a [mature] babe magnet.

 Dinner was poached eggs on toast. I tried to do something else at the same time and the eggs were hard boiled. Silly old wotsit! 

  

  ~o~

10.08.2025 20 km in a gale.

 ~o~

  Sunday 10th 58F/14.4C [7.50] Bright start to another mostly sunny day but with a westerly wind and lower temperatures. Reaching 20C/68F at 15.00.

 Up at 7.10 after being up in the night. I got up at 2.30 and returned to bed two hours later.  

 The flower garden is lost in weeds! 

 Stay at home and continue tidying? Or go for a ride? Eeny, meany, miny... go? 

 11.00 I was glad that I hadn't committed to a longer ride today. The wind was unpleasantly strong and shrieking in my hearing aids. Turning down the volume rather defeats the point of them. I rode to the village to shop. 

 Then took a farm track on the way home. Where I had seen people walking dogs and cycling over the years. Without ever having explored it. After turning right near the farm buildings I had the wind behind me now. It was a very reasonable rough gravel track. Which first wandered across a prairie and then dived into the forest.

 I eventually arrived at the back of the golf course. Just as I had expected. The mature trees and greens made a gorgeous sight in the bright sunshine. As I filtered slowly between Sunday golfers. To reach the familiar forest road. 

 A trolley from the greenhouse supporting some of my dark plant collection. 

 Where I turned left and took the usual route home. Involving negotiating the vast cobbled yards of the stately home. Before undulating through more woods. Until the "straight as a die" descent to the last village before home. It was here that the headwind was at its worst. I saw several cyclists on my ride. 

 The choice of 70PSI in the forks, to match my weight in kg, is proving ideal. I think the pressure was set too high prior to my purchase. Now the bike seems to float over most bumps and hollows. Instead of jarring.  

 I have recovered a large, catering trolley from the chaos in the garden and parked it beside the dark leaved plants. Which allows the shorter specimens to be off the ground until they grow too tall.  

 15.00 Yet again I am dripping with sweat. I have moved the large chest of drawers from the bottom of the stairs. To allow the aquarium to take its place. The oak chest is now in the NE corner beside the TV. I was tempted to lift the TV onto the chest of drawers but it would then be 30cm/12" higher. Which would make it even more dominant. 

 I have been struggling against the weight. To adjust the fish tank and its cupboard stand to be perfectly level. Moving the aquarium across the room required patience and two furniture trolleys. Plus lots of wedges, levers and scraps of timber. I had to lift the stand enough to wind the screwed feet upwards. So that they did not catch in the carpets on the journey.

 There isn't room for the fish tank anywhere else on the north wall. It would block all hope of having dining chairs on the ends of the table. Not that I think it likely to be entertaining more than one unfortunate soul at a time. I had better have a rest now. Do I dare to have a nap after being up in the middle of the night? Probably. 

 I made a Sunday dinner with Bisto gravy. An organic, pork chop, mushrooms, peas, carrots and mashed potato. The gravy was a smidgen too wet. 

 

  ~o~