2.07.2025 Fish.

 ~o~

  Wednesday 2nd 72F/22C [7.45] Bright sunshine and breezy. On its way to over 30C/86F. The whole of Europe is baking in record heat. Expected to end in local thunderstorms tonight.

  Up at 6.30 after numerous failed attempts at lift off. A fair night.

 The greenhouse and its pond water are at 70F/21C this morning. After leaving it open all night to cool off. A comfortable 73F/23C in the living room.

  7.45 I ought to go for a walk before it gets unpleasantly hot. 

 8.30 75F/24C. Don't laugh, but the sun is already oppressively hot! It was delightful walking in the shade of the roadside regrowth. Where a playing field was converted to just another field. All the mature, roadside trees were cut down to the ground. To be replaced by dense and impenetrable natural [?] new growth of poplars. Which were already present by the roadside. The breeze added to the pleasure of this cooler corridor. The birds enjoy the nesting opportunities. Though it deprives the humans of a clear view of the forest perched decoratively on the hilltop. 

 A steep, nearby hill had been harvested and baled. Giving a renewed sense of scale to the landscape. This hill is regularly favoured by soaring birds of prey. Which, no doubt nest in the adjoining plantation of larch. The prairie in the foreground has yet to be harvested. 

 9.30 Cloud. A long chain of thunderstorms is sneaking past our location towards the NE. The tail should just miss us at around 10.30.

 11.20 82F/28C. Rather cloudy with sunny periods. The sky was dark to the north when I left. Humid and hot when the sun comes out. I disturbed a red kite in the lane. It was standing on the side of the road but took off immediately. 

 I am returning with six tiny goldfish for the greenhouse pond. I am floating their poly bag in the pond. To equalize the temperature. The dealer gave them a squirt of oxygen to ensure safe travel. 

 The moment they were released, after 20 minutes, they instinctively formed a shoal. Even though they came from three different tanks and were three different varieties.  

 13.15 85F/29.4C. Bright overcast and breezy. Highest temperature expected around 15.00. Pond water only 71F/21.7C. The great outdoors never became any hotter.

 Dinner was fried chicken, mushrooms and boiled potatoes. With a  few small tomatoes.

 9.15 Flashes of lightning started and rain. I closed up the greenhouse because the logs were getting wet. 

 

  ~o~

1st July 2025 Carport wheelies?

 ~o~

 Tuesday 1st 53F [4.30] Bright sunshine all day. Reaching 27C/80F. Higher still tomorrow. When it could go over 30C/86F as the record breaking heatwave spreads north. Not only Europe but the USA is suffering from record breaking heat. 

 If this becomes the norm then a few million more people will be dying early. The architecture of most houses and commercial buildings is badly designed for resisting external heat. Most are designed to trap heat for warmth in winter. Using heat pumps for air conditioning is hideously inefficient and therefore expensive. The electrical grids can often not cope. Many Danish homes have been fitted with black roof tiles. The heat in loft conversions will be a killer.  

 Wide awake and up at 4am. My English friend is driving over to my place later.

 I have been lying in bed and working out how to move the carport roof aside. To allow me to dig the holes for the foundation blocks. I was going to move the roof forwards but sideways is much better. To keep the parking space clear. 

 The gravel is so resistant to movement. That I shall lay scrap plywood on top. I still have loads stacked in heaps from the observatory. Then I'll use industrial wheels/rollers to reduce the friction further. These can be temporarily clamped to the carport gutters by their frames. Or fixed to scraps of plywood and then clamped as needed. I have lots of these wheels left over from the dismantled, observatory dome, rotation system. 

 I went back to bed for an hour and then started tidying and cleaning. 

 My friend arrived and we enjoyed a cup of tea with Danish pastries. As we put the world to rights. 

 15.00 81F/27C. After lunch I clamped the industrial wheels/rollers to the carport gutters. I used a simple plank and block as a lever. To lift the roof corners far enough to slide the roller frames underneath. 

 Each needed some packing to reach the bottom of the gutters with the screw clamps. I then easily rolled the carport roof to the left. It is slightly downhill. So I used stop blocks and metal brackets to prevent any risk of overshoot.

 First it required my lifting each end of the roof. To place the rollers onto the scrap, plywood tracks. I can simply add some smaller, scrap plywood sheets to move it further. In order to expose the entire area where the foundation blocks will go. Which will requiring some digging. 

 The sun's heat was fierce and I was soon dripping with sweat. Back indoors now where it a more comfortable 74F/23C. Keep drinking the water! 

 Dinner was an omelette. Consisting of sausages and mushrooms. I flipped it onto the warmed plate from the frying pan.

  ~o~

30.06.2025 Shoeing the carport.

 ~o~

  Monday 30th 54F/12C[7.00] Bright sunshine. With four more days promised. Peaking at 31C on Wednesday. The wind had dropped. Making it feel much warmer. After an unusually windy June.

 Up at 6.30 after a night of weird dreams. 

 I keep running away from various projects. The carport has not progressed.  Having completed the construction of the carport roof I needed to move it aside to dig the foundations. Of course it proved far too heavy to move when working alone. 

 I had various ideas of using inverted rollers from the observatory. This would require that I lift the carport roof far enough to slide the rollers under. Though it would require some sort of timber frame for stability. I have a farmer's high lift jack. Which I used to remove the 24 concrete foundation blocks. That will do it.

 My "clever" idea was to use some of these blocks for the carport. It seemed logical. However, the single top fixing screw does not match the square base of the carport feet. A simple square plate, with a central hole would adapt them together quite easily. Finding a strong, square plate eludes me. It would have to be a minimum of 18cm square. With holes on the corners of a 13cm square. I can probably do the drilling.

 Then I have to ask: Would a single foundation block per carport foot meet the anchoring requirements? I could use two blocks per foot. With a rectangular plate joining the two. Easy! Except that I have no suitable plates. Preferably in galvanized steel. Wood won't do. It will rot so close to the ground. Use pressure treated? Hmm. It would have to be thick enough but might still have a fairly short life from rain splashes. 

 Anything borrowed from my heap of scrap aluminium. Intended for telescope and observatory building. Might suffer galvanic corrosion in contact with zinc. It is a variable, but the risk can be much reduced with isolating [spacer] washers. Do I have any suitable aluminum strip 18cm wide? I don't think so. I have 10mm thick strip but it is only 15cm wide. [From distant memory.] 

 I can see a strip buried in the stack but it needs to be dragged out. Before I can measure its width. I cut some of it narrower for my huge telescope mounting. The 10mm strip proved to be long but only 15cm wide. The fixing holes for the carport feet would barely fall within the edges. I am not aware of any readily available products which would match my needs. If only by coincidence. So I'll have to keep searching for a solution. 

 A bit of searching online produced several businesses offering 6mm steel plate cut to order. 6 x 175 x 175mm = 151kr per piece in ordinary steel. [About £17 GB] Five times higher price for stainless steel. I'd have to drill five, rather large holes in each. One company offers drilling to order. I have sent them a sketch to get their price for such work.

 7.45 Time to walk [not run] away from these problems. I am getting slight cramp in my legs. Which is very unusual for me. A walk will probably fix that.

 8.30 60F/15.6C Back from my walk to the lanes. Bright sunshine but the wind was was stronger than promised. Lots of warblers in the hedgerows and trees. A black kite [?] and a red kite were soaring low over the fields.  A series of huge, farm tractors went past. Each towing an earth moving trailer. 

 Perhaps they are contracted to the gas pipeline. Or even the new, high speed, railway route. Though that is further away. There is a lot of field leveling going on. Thanks to all the "waste" soil available from these huge projects. There is also the district heating expansion between various villages. 

 The excavated soil all has to be disposed of. There have been news headlines in Denmark. When mountains of soil were stacked on farmland. To the consternation of neighbours. 

 12.30 Back from the shops. In time for lunch.

 18.30 I have threaded a new cord through the second shade net and hung it over the first. It has been getting too warm in the greenhouse with only one layer. The weather forecast is adding a couple of degrees per day. With Wednesday a proper heat wave at over 30C/86F. One forecast was for 34C/94F for Fyn! We'll be the hottest part of Denmark. 

 Dinner had better be salad. I didn't have any eggs for salad yesterday. I cannot tell a lie. I forgot I had salad cream again. Until I sat down. So I added extra after the photo session.

 I had left the doors and windows open in the greenhouse. To more quickly shed the heat that builds up during the day. It matched the indoor temperature just now. At 73F/22.8C. The pond water rose to 76F/24.4C earlier. Which is why I finally added the second shade net. I had been putting it off. Until we had a run of warm and sunny weather.

 

  ~o~

29.06.2025 Range anxiety! 😱

 ~o~

  Sunday 29th 63F/17C. Full sun all day after earlier cloud. Without the heatwave. A high of 20C/68F after lunch. Come to sunny Denmark. 😎 With a pleasant westerly breeze. 

 Like it hot? Denmark could see 30C/86F on Wednesday. That will make some [Danish] headlines. The media ignores the vast numbers of real people. Who die unpleasantly from heatstroke, every year. Estimated at 175,000, per year on average, for Europe alone. According to $oogle. Thank the assorted 10.000 [current] gods it's only "weather" and nothing to do with "Climate." You can't have climate AND Defense against a handful of tyrants. Does not compute. 

 Up at 6.30 after several earlier failures to lift off. I ought to have another ride. If I can get past the road closures for the new railway. I haven't been to that big weekend flea market for a while. Gorgeous, undulating countryside. Going both ways. 😊 

 Whoops! Both batteries are only half charged. I have put the better of the two on charge. Currently 73%. Oh dear. It might be useful by the time I have had a leisurely morning coffee. It would be silly to take two heavy batteries just to get home safely. Bosch claim the 625Wh weighs 3.5kg. It feels like 10! 

 I can feel my bike wagging its tail sometimes. When I put the spare on the rear rack. It feels too heavy to keep in one of the Ortlieb Classic panniers. Even if I spread the load with padding underneath. As I do with my ABUS Dreadnought U-lock. So I strap the spare battery to the rack inside an Ortlieb top tube bag. Though I never leave it out of my sight. 

 Bosch keep releasing new motors. Simply because these make the sales headlines for the EMTB crowd. What they really need is new chemistry batteries. With twice the range for half the weight. The 625Wh battery is limited to around 70km in warm weather. That's only 35km each way on an out and back ride. 

 Barely 44 miles round trip. That's not remotely a serious touring ride! Then what? If you don't carry a spare battery? Do you book into B&B? With the battery on charge overnight! This  is not serious cycling by any stretch of the imagination! 

 This range is using my Bosch Performance Speed motor in Sport Mode on a 40kg bike weight + 70kg rider. I'd like at least 100km range [in Sport Mode] to avoid carrying the spare battery. Tour or Eco Modes would give me more range but then I'd be slower than a manual bike. [Or trike!] 

 Sport Mode only raises the performance to that of a fit rider on a very ordinary, lightweight bike. The electric motor has to overcome the serious weight disadvantage of dragging a very heavy e-bike uphill. Including the battery! You could only sell a 40kg manual bike to an ignorant fool. Even if it was fully suspended and carrying panniers. 

 I really think that we are still in the drooling infancy of e-Bike technology. Fancy websites and annual motor cosmetic upgrade marketing. Don't make up for the piss poor, battery capacity! Remember that a noisy IC "moped" can be fully recharged at ANY petrol station. The equivalent of infinite range! More importantly, the noisy IC "moped" doesn't need to be pedaled furiously. Just to keep going forwards! Moreover, you can get a 45kmh IC moped [scooter] for much less than an e-bike.  

 9.30 68F/20C. The 73% battery is still charging! 

 10.15 Just finished charging to 100%. I have been weighing my Moustache FS27 Friday "45" 'Speed' e-bike. 35kg + spare battery [4kg] plus anything going onto the panniers. Food, drinks, spare clothing, etc. 

 10.30 I had better get changed and go. It's 25km each way. I might just make it. 

 13.30 Back from a 55km ride in the strong wind.  The flea market had closed down. I had left at 11am. Stopping for a sub-micro, Corny bar and an apple juice at 12.00 and 1pm. I wore my best bibs. Hardly any saddle discomfort. 

 Dinner was a salmon pasty, peas, pasta and tinned tomatoes.

 

  ~o~

28.06.2025 28km in a gale.

 ~o~

 Saturday 28th 63F/17C [7.55] Bright but expected to be rather cloudy all day.

 Up at 7.15 after a quiet night and dozing off again earlier.

 I'll have a ride to the next village for the Saturday flea market. They have other supermarkets there as well.

 11.00 Back from a 28km ride in a gale. Mostly sunshine. I caught up with my shopping.

 The afternoon became cloudy and remained so. I added some Azolla floating plants from the outside pond to the inside pond. I collected them first in a stainless steel strainer. Then flushed them well with a powerful shower spray of cold water. After which I carefully checked the contents of the strainer with a magnifying glass. 

  The tiny leaves of the Azolla are a fraction of the size of the Salvinia. Which I added yesterday. Both plants float on the water surface. With bare roots hanging down below to take up nutrients. The Azolla [arrowed] has spread evenly over the water surface of the pond. While the Salvinia seems to clump together.

 Dinner was three poached eggs on toast. I had eggs which were ta fortnight past their Best By date. They had been in the fridge all the time. I managed to overcook them. So they weren't quite runny. One broke as I tried to separate them in the saucepan. So I gave them an extra minute they didn't need. It rained while I was in the kitchen.

 

 

 ~o~

27.06.2025 Testing-testing.

 ~o~

  Friday 27th 59F/15C. Heavy overcast and breezy. Should slowly brighten up.

 Up at 5.45 after a very busy night at the fire bucket. 

 The greenhouse pond remains crystal clear at 67F/19.4C. Though with a mass of bubbles still adhering to the inside walls of the container. Dissolved gasses? There is no chlorine added to Danish consumer water. Though it is filtered. It comes from deep wells and is considered clean enough not to need disinfection. 

 Though there is a constant increase in reports of traces of agricultural pesticides. There are rules about farmers spraying in areas of drinking water extraction. This hasn't stopped the need to end the use of some boreholes. Where contaminants exceed the allowed levels.  A recent report stated that half of Danish tapwater is contaminated with pesticides. Sometimes above agreed levels. 

 7.15 It is brightening. Time for a walk. 

 8.00 And back again. Glimpses of the sun were too brief. The wind localized and only slightly tiresome. Birds singing cheerfully. Traffic modest. One in five were Teslas. 

 A short trip in the car to do some shopping. Some sunshine.

 12.00 Going out again. 

 14.35 Back from the city. With water test kits and floating plants for shade and cover and hopefully some ammonia absorption. The surface texture on the leaves suggest this is Salvinia. I rinsed the plants in a J-cloth and dropped them on the surface of the pond. Despite the 100F/38C temperature in the closed greenhouse the water has reached only 73F/23C. I have now opened the greenhouse skylights and end doors. The air temperature dropped by 10F in only a minute or two. 

 The Tetra "6in1" water test strip result was interesting. The test strip is waved gently in the pond water and the resulting colours read against the coloured scales printed on the metal, strip container. 

 Zero Chlorine was expected. pH was alkaline at 8+. Again expected from deep wells filtered through rock. Similarly hardness: KH was just under 8. GH15. Water permeating through rock will produce hard water. Which is clearly visible around plumbing fixtures and kettles. 

 Nitrates and Nitrites were both 0. A wild guess is that these haven't arisen yet. Because there is no Ammonia conversion by beneficial bacteria. The Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate cycle has yet to start. Because there is no bio load in the water from the breakdown of plant material, waste food or fish droppings. My dosing the pond with "dirty" filter material was probably diluted beyond measurement. In the approx. 1400 liters of fresh tapwater.

 The separate Tetra Ammonia NH3/NH4 test is much more complicated. It requires counting drops from three separate reagent bottles. Into a plastic test tube containing 5cc/ml of pond water. I'll try that test after dinner. The reagents all sound quite nasty! I'll have to dig out my hazmat suit and positive pressure respirator.

 Dinner was bangers and mash. With an egg.  I washed up while it cooked.

  ~o~

26.06.2025 59km.

 ~o~

  Thursday 26th 56F/13.3C [7.50] A bright morning but rain, possibly heavy with thunder, after lunch.

 Up at 7.00 after waking at 5am. I nodded off and two hours had vanished in a moment. 

 The greenhouse pond is crystal clear and almost perfectly still this morning. A few plant remnants are taking a leisurely tour around the surface. The water temperature has dropped to 67F overnight. From a high of 70F yesterday in sunshine. 

 The wind is much lighter today and turned southerly. So there ought to be a ride this morning. I'll potter around. Watering plants, charging batteries, morning coffee and then it will be time to go. To reach the first charity shop. Just as it opens at 10am.

 12.50 Returning from a 59km ride. I left at 9.15 and found myself in need of time killing before the first charity shop was opening. So I enjoyed several detours I hadn't ridden for some time. Arriving just as the staff were putting out the flags to welcome me. The weather held so I continued well beyond my planned second target. Alas, none of the three shops had anything enticing for sale. 

 I tried a supermarket's own label substitute for my usual Corny bars. Not bad, but I still prefer the Corny dark chocolate bars. When available. Though usually at three times the price. I wore an old pair of DHB padded shorts and suffered almost continuously from saddle discomfort. What is the answer? Try some narrower saddles?

 I had to go grocery shopping before dinner. Having run out of essentials. Like food. 

 Dinner was sardines on toast with tomatoes. 

 

 

 ~o~

25.06.2025 Slow bend.

 ~o~

  Wednesday 25th 57F/4C [7.30] Bright, with a sunny day promised after early rain. Windy from the west, gusting to 12m/s. 

 Up at 6.15 after a busy night. Apple juice and coffee with/after dinner.

 I have borrowed a well used filter from the indoor aquarium. To start the chemistry cycle of the greenhouse pond. The used filter had been left uncleaned for months to ensure a heavy bio load and hopefully, lots of beneficial bacteria. I dropped it into the pond right beside the Oase filter pump and plugged it in. 

 This way both pumps contribute to even distribution of bacteria throughout the pond. My new plumbing parts should be delivered to the village, parcel pickup point today. These should help to increase the pump water flow and movement throughout the pond. The fountain/waterfall tap must causes considerable water flow reduction due to its circuitous internal arrangements and restrictions.

 In the absence of ceramic plant weights. I am using stainless steel washers to hold down my new plants. It seems the former lead strips are unavailable in Denmark. Not even made from the substitute metals used for roof flashing. The water plants from Plantorama have ceramic weights in the bottoms of their pots. Albeit  in a very noticeable brick-red. 

 8.00 I should have gone for my walk by now. 

 8.30 Back from my walk. Rather windy. Two red kites and a black kite were soaring low over the fields. Though not together. Two hares were playing on the neighbours' embankment. They started running towards me but swerved away and dashed to the top of the hill. Lots of traffic today.

 I have dismantled and cleaned the smaller aquarium filter in the pond water. To accelerate the mixing of the beneficial bacteria with the water. Most of the green-brown gunk will probably end up in the big pond filter material. Where it will work continuously on the water passing through it. 

 The rest will settle on the gravel, walls of the container and plants. Within a minute the pond water was slightly cloudy. A good sign of even mixing of the water. The cleaned filter was returned to the indoor aquarium.    

 10.30 I have now cleaned and rinsed the filter sponges in the second aquarium filter. Again using the pond water. The pond is now very murky. [Image right] It will be interesting to see how long it takes to clear with the only the pond filter working. 

 The Oase Filtral 3000 is rated at about 1200l/hr maximum. So will achieve one complete water change per hour in my pond. The container is listed at 1500 liters capacity but the water is only 72cm deep. Rather than the full 80cm to the brim. 

 It is unfortunate that the greenhouse roof is reflected so clearly in the pond surface. It is not to obvious to the naked eye.

 12.45 GLS has confirmed the arrival of my parcel at the pickup point.  I can't use their phone app because some drooling moron at GLS has fixed an advertising screen. Precisely where one might have hoped for information. 

  It has an irrevocable demand box for manual entry of email and other personal details. All to take part in some utterly meaningless twaddle. Who needs hackers? When a suicidal company management is so utterly determined. To undermine its own customer service! 

 The new plumbing fitting [above] provides a smooth bend. To allow the pump water to flow without resistance. Nor is there any reduction in cross section to increase resistance. The Oase filter has a 1" male PVC thread. The 90º slow bend has been fitted onto a PVC  adapter 1" female to 32mm male. 

 While the Oase fountain/waterfall switch is clever it has very sharp bends and narrow passages. Which must inevitably slow the water flow. Or make the pump work much harder for the same throughput. Water is much denser than air. So suffers from demands to change direction or pass through a smaller diameter.

 13.30 I have unscrewed the Oase fitting and replaced it with the new bend. I can only just reach the top of the filter without getting my T-shirt sleeve wet. The water is clearing nicely. 

 16.30 The water continues to clear. My slow bend, plumbing mod is producing greater water movement without physical disturbance of the surface. A few bits of floating plant are rotating around on the surface. Still much too early to add any fish.  

 The hideous unvarnished truth! The view through the double glazed door in the front hall. The pond still surrounded by the debris of installation and planting.

 I have to say that I am very pleased with the size and proportions of my indoor pond. Its scale and depth are very satisfying. I am glad I went to the trouble of digging a hole and partially burying it. 

I chose the 1500 liter model because it only just cleared the greenhouse's open doors when tipped on its side. None of the large containers would go through. That said the rest of the dimensions were coincidental. Though thoroughly checked and marked out with battens.

 The Cemo rectangular industrial containers comes in many different sizes. Though I had to wait a couple of months for delivery from Germany.  

 The pond after tidying away the bricks. 

There is plenty of space to move around the pond within the greenhouse. With the view into the water perfectly placed for comfortable viewing. Particularly from the green plastic, garden chairs. Which I bought quite recently but haven't used until now. I need a smarter, low garden table for holding drinks. Those I have now are "recycled" very tatty and decades old. I'll keep looking.  

I am considering covering the sides of the GRP container with grooved plywood. The tapered sides will allow 50x100mm [2x4"] timber to be used at floor level. To support vertical plywood panels. Some sort of rigid insulation board can be hidden from view behind the plywood. 

 There is still a lot of tidying to do. The stack of lifted floor bricks and the scrap timber are an eyesore. I used the timber pieces for packing while comparing container heights. It all has to be disposed of somewhere. I have had no practice at keeping the greenhouse tidy. It was never my space when my wife was alive. More of just another storage area for junk. It was years earlier that she grew delicious, cherry tomatoes. 

 I cleared the floor bricks into a heap outside.  Along with the scrap timber. 

 Dinner was fish fingers and chips. After which the lady from the village turned up unexpectedly. She stayed chatting until 22.00 

 

  ~o~

24.06.2025 Wet and windy.

~o~  

  Tuesday 24th 54F/12C. Another wet one.

 Up at 5am after a fairly typical night. A deer bug has caused an itchy swelling on my leg. It had already buried itself. So I had to dig it out with my nail.

 Visiting my English friend later. He has guests after lunch.

 No walk this morning. It is already raining hard. In fact the rain lashed down as I drove there. With fierce gusts of wind. It reduced to showers and then finally stopped. To allow a stroll outside. In the gardens of his pleasant, rural home. I shopped on the way back.

 Not much to report about the afternoon. My usual nap. To catch up on my foolishly early start to the day. Back to researching various subjects online and on YT.

 The pond water has risen to 66F/19C. Too little sunshine and lower temperatures have not allowed much warming effect yet. I had an email to say my new plumbing parts are on the way. 

 Dinner was a fry-up of chicken, mushrooms, tweggs and baked beans. A wholegrain, bread roll soaked up the remaining egg yolk and sauce from the beans.

  

 ~o~

 

 

23.06.2025 Stormy weather.

 ~o~

 Monday 23rd 60F/15.6C. Overcast with more rain on the way. Heavy with thunder possible. Better after lunch.

 Up at 5.45. I am fighting another nosebleed as my nose runs and stings. 5 minutes of uninterrupted squeezing seems to have stopped the blood. I keep sneezing like I have hay fever. 

 The greenhouse pond is still there. The water has risen to 60F/15.6C overnight. The dome shaped fountain is entertaining but much noisier than I would have liked. Lifting and lowering the spray head makes no difference to the noise level. It just stretches or flattens the dome. Some people find tinkling water relaxing. I find it irritating.

I forgot about an electricity supply to the filter pump. It has a nice long lead. Which easily reaches the front hall. Unfortunately this is my recharging station for my various batteries. With only one socket.

I have run out of another tablet. I foresee a visit to the pharmacy in the village. 

7.00 7.10 My walk had better be now. Before the rain arrives. 

 7.30 It was grey and rather threatening but failed to produce a single drop of rain. It seemed as if every tree and bush held a talkative warbler this morning. A Robin lay dead on the road. The traffic was busy and noisy. Even though most were electric. They haven't solved the tire roar problem yet. Did you see that the Chinese use green number plates for electric vehicles? Simple and clever. In the West it would just make the retarded paint scratchers lives even easier. And we wouldn't want that, would we? 

 7.45 It is becoming incredibly dark indoors. 

 8.40 It is raining and blowing. I have been experimenting with all the components of the Oase fountain set. The most satisfying and probably most efficient result can be obtained with no fitting at all. Maximum outlet diameter achieves maximum water flow. With minimum surface disturbance, lowest resistance and zero noise. 

 Does this necessarily mean maximum filtration of the body of water in which the pump is immersed? I need to find an object which can remain submerged with neutral buoyancy. So I can watch water movement at depth throughout the entire volume of the tub. I'll use a bit of plant uprooted by the fish. This moves effortlessly as the current sends it.  

 No lateral water movement. The plant drifted very slowly to the far wall and stayed there. I added a slight bend to push the water sideways. Instant movement throughout the whole tub. Though at the cost of a smaller orifice and much higher jet velocity. Which disturbed the whole water surface. When I wanted it to remains steady. I need an elbow with the correct thread for the Oase pump without loss of diameter.   

 9.00 Pouring with rain! The greenhouse leaks like a sieve! My tomato plants have come up. They were planted by my guest.

 Well, that was easy. Oase provide a splitter and regulator for a fountain and waterfall. This screws onto the pump and the horizontal flow instantly provided movent throughout the body of water. The bit of plant moves constantly at about 1cm second. As did a floating bit of wood. No surface disturbance or noise. I have placed the pump in a corner of the tub to make it invisible from most viewpoints.

 All of this may seem utterly trivial and even pointless to many. While I see it as exercising my brain to make physical changes to maximize results. That it costs nothing to try. Makes it all the more worthwhile and amusing. 

 I dropped the new plants into the pond. To try and get them going before the fish arrive. I have ordered more PVC fittings to experiment further with water movement and reduced friction. 

 16.15 Back from the village shops clutching three carrier bags and a refill of tablets. It lashed down on the way home. With strong gusts of wind. Stopped again by the time I had to carry the shopping in. 

The pond has cleared dramatically since before lunch. Currently 65F/18.3C. 

 Dinner will be toast. Cheese on toast with halved tomatoes. I forgot to photograph it.

    

  ~o~

22.06.2025 Pt. 2 Playing with water.

  14.50 80F/26.7C. Humid and becoming overcast. Eight 15kg bags of gravel washed and deposited in the greenhouse pond. Hose dropped in and turned on. This is going to take some time! Perhaps just as well to avoid alarming the water supply company. A sudden, unusual demand might suggest a leak. Though it would be a slow leak which amounted to 1.5m^3. The tub's physical level remained unchanged by 120kg of wet gravel. Plus my own 70kg addition. 

15.00 Ten minutes and the water is now 3cm deep over the 5cm of gravel. 8x6=48cm per hour. 80cm pond/tub depth. So it should be fairly full in about two hours. 

 A mouse has got into the greenhouse while I was ferrying gravel. I usually have the doors sealed with fine mesh doors. It came from behind the stack of bricks. I can't close the house door because of the hose. So, as usual, I have a painted, steel shelf standing up across the doorway. Being smooth and vertical its 42cm height should present a difficult climb.

 15.10 14cm water depth. 

 15.20 20cm. 

 15.30 25cm. 

 16.00 The water depth reached 40cm on the hour. Halfway. I dropped the Oase Filtral 3000 filter and fountain unit in to see its effect. Without any pipework it really disturbs the surface but completely silently. With twice as much water above it when the tub is full I expect a reduction in surface disturbance. We shall see. 

 16.20 45cm and the surface disturbance has reduced as predicted. It is much more localized. This is not a trivial matter. Water movement means the fish are less visible. I still have to experiment with the fountain accessories. Image right. I can easily see the pond through the windows from indoors. From the living room, the front hall and the kitchen.

 16.30 80F/26.7 outside as it gets steadily darker with increasing cloud. 85F/30C in the greenhouse. 72F/22C in the room. It feels pleasantly cool indoors after sitting out there for a while. There is a band of locally, heavy rain approaching from the west. Time for afternoon tea.

 16.50 65cm. Fairly heavy rain has just started. And soon stopped.

  17.15 I turned off the hose at 72cm depth. A margin of tub wall above the water surface might give the fish pause. Before they practice their Fosbury Flop. The water in their tank is 24C or 75F. It will take a while for the greenhouse pond to reach that temperature. From 56.7F/13.5C. 

The chemical and biological changes in a new tank are supposed to take at least a couple of weeks. Some say months. I have two filters in the aquarium. Both well stuffed with beneficial bacteria to prime the new filter.

 Sunday Dinner was chicken, mushrooms, peas, chips and Bisto gravy! 😋

The rain fell as showers with thunder rumbling in the background. It stopped ages ago. So I could take two heavy recycling bins along the drive. My guest had ensured there was plenty to throw away. A fox barked in the field as I walked back.

 10.25 Thunder and cloudbursts. 

 

  ~o~

22.06.2025 51km + 72cm.

 ~o~

  Sunday 22nd 59F/15C [7.00] Bright, with sunshine until 18.00. Then rain at 20.00. It could reach 27C/80F or even higher in the late afternoon.

 Up at 6.15 after a very quiet night. I deliberately avoided coffee after dinner. Organic apple juice and a glass or two of water throughout the day. 

 Cast concrete for a railway cutting close to the motorway. The main road will pass over both.

 7.05 Time for a walk. 

7.40 64F/18C. Back again. I was comfortably warm in a t-shirt. Having looped around the spray tracks on a field. Perhaps not a good idea. My bare forearms are itching like mad! I have rinsed them well and applied cornflower water. 

 I have a choice now. Do I wash the gravel or fill the tub? I can't do both with only one hose. Or do I go for a ride? It's not as if I need the exercise. I've had plenty over the last few days. Rain is forecast for the next week. Which will certainly dent my desire to ride my bike. I can wash gravel and fill ponds regardless of the weather. Or because of it. If it's to be a ride then where do I go? There's a modest SE breeze.

 Some serious shuttering for casting concrete. Taken from the south side under the motorway. Which means the railway passes over the top of the new construction. Which must mean it is a bridge.

 As I don't feel like a longer ride I will explore progress on the new high speed railway line. There are lots of road closures. With staggered dates. Presumably nobody will be working on Sunday. So I can take a few pictures of the earthworks and new builds. Without being a nuisance. 

 I have printed out the project map and closure dates. To take with me. The new line runs close to the motorway and requires lots of new cuttings and bridges. The road closures are a real nuisance for those traveling north-south. With several shopping villages closed off to normal traffic for several months. 

 Shuttering on the north side of the same cutting. 
The motorway embankment is visible on the left.

 Made worse by simultaneous, long term, district heating, road closures. The latter all the more irritating for road closures remaining in place despite no work being done at the weekends. 

 A detour by car is not remotely the same thing as by bike. Sitting for five minutes at temporary traffic lights is no fun in the rain! Though not today. When everything was dust dry. Much of the area is very hilly. Though only of modest heights and drops. Sparsely populated by farms and small villages.

 9.30 Morning coffee over. Phone recharged. Off we go.

 Footpath tunnel under the motorway. Accessed from steps at the top of long narrow lane climbing a hill.

 12.20 28C/82F Warm, sunny and breezy. Back from a 51km ride. Perfect conditions spoilt only slightly by the increasing wind. I reached both sides of some road closures.  I am glad it was Sunday. There is a huge amount of earth moving going on. So the narrow lanes would probably have been busy with tipper lorries. On a normal, working weekday. There were hundreds of bikers in convoy on the motorway. 

~o~

21.06.2025 Sixteen tons and whadya get?

 ~o~

  Saturday 21st 55F/12.8C [6.30] Continuous sunshine. Reaching 24C/75F. 

 Up at 6am after a quiet night. I am trying to control another nosebleed. Not helped by a runny nose.

 The back-filled tub seen from the front hall.  

The pond in the greenhouse needs some gravel. The village gravel man has nothing suitable. So it looks like a drive into the city. Where the fish keeping shop sell sacks of the stuff. At ten times the price of the local sand and gravel man. What is worse is that it still has to be rinsed. As it still contains a lot of dust from the machines at the quarry which bags it.

 I also need a hose adapter for my kitchen mixer tap. It is only a few meters to the pond through the internal kitchen window. I could rig up a length of plastic guttering. Straight from the tap to the pond. Or a gutter down pipe and bend. A hose would be easier, more efficient and safer in the longer term. There are still about a hundred floor bricks to move and stack somewhere else.  

 8.00 Returning from a 36 minute walk to the lanes. A cool start but too warm at the end. The weekend traffic was very light.

 9.30 Leaving for the city in the Morris. To buy some gravel. I researched online and found a wide range of opinions on the use of gravel. For and against. I prefer gravel. 

 12.30 Back from the city laden with bags of gravel. Which looks almost identical to the stuff I bought yesterday. I also managed to find a fitting for a hose to my kitchen mixer tap. At the third attempt. Two chain outlets either hadn't any stock. Or were too technically inadequate to know what I needed. 

 13.00 75F/24C. Lunch over. I just have time to go and buy a hose. 

 14.00  Back again. Clutching a hose and spray nozzle. I already have a pair of quick connectors.

 The new gravel is much more closely sized than the sandman's. 3-6mm rather than his 6mm to dust. Or thereabouts. 

 18.00 I found a large builder's bucket and rinsed one bag of gravel using the hose. It proved to be quite time consuming and wasted lots of water. The stated 15kg of gravel, per bag, was now much heavier. So it needed adequate transport from the parking space around to the greenhouse. 

 The stack of bags on the sack truck weren't readily volunteering to give up their territory. So I'll have to lift each wet, bucket full into the wheelbarrow. Should I tip the contents into the wheelbarrow? Or should it remain in the bucket? So many decisions! I decided to put it off while I pondered further.

 Dinner was mackerel in tomato sauce on toast with halved "Sugar Drop" tomatoes. I managed not to burn it.

 21.00 A hot air balloon just went over. Perhaps the second I have seen in 30 years in Denmark. They used to be commonplace over Bath in England.

  

  ~o~

20.06.2025 Going down!

 ~o~

  Friday 20th 53F/11.7C. Sunshine and it is expected to continue for two days. Breezy again.

 Up at 6.45 after a quiet night. My back and wrists are acing after yesterday's foolishness. Though not much more than usual.

 The strange, large, grey blob is still hiding in the greenhouse. It looks more the part this morning. As if newly settled into its role. I shall remove one layer of 2x4 timber packing from the bottom of the hole. Just to check if lowering the tub slightly. Would bring a dramatic improvement on the cosmetic front. 

There is a lower point at which a trip hazard might arise. Having the old fart take an involuntarily dip into cold water. Might be considered as taking the hobby a little too seriously. 

 7.30 A walk is already overdue. 

 8.00  I didn't go far. A nosebleed. Safely plugged with tissue. There were literally hundreds of sparrows moving about between the trees. It must have been a good year. 

 Back at home I removed one layer of 50x100mm timber packing. From the bottom of the hole. The tub seemed much more at home at that level. It didn't seem quite so domineering from the kitchen and front hall. 

  The apparent height of the tub is very dependent on how close I stand or take photographs. It seems to improve its appearance with each lowering. The top picture was taken with even less packing underneath.

I need to make a decision. Then fetch some fine, round gravel to line the bottom of the hole. On which the tub can safely rest.

 9.30 No morning coffee. I have run out of milk and rolls. Water will have to do. I decided to deepen the hole even further. Only to hit a layer of rocks, cement and concrete. I brought out my builder's levels to avoid confusion over levels. Larger crowbars to separate the rocks from the soil and each other. 

 The hole is somewhere around 40cm/16" deep now. Half the depth of the tub. Which means the hole needs to be slightly larger. So I have been digging away at the edges too. Needless to say I am dripping with sweat again. One rock is large and heavy enough that I can't easily lift it. I had better make a ramp. Or wait until I have recovered.

10.20 The big rock was removed by rolling it up a sloping 2x4. The loose soil was cleared from the bottom of the hole and levels checked. Then I shoved the tub back into the hole. And, it won't go all the way down! Still 50-55cm showing. The sides of the hole need to be cut back even more. Grr?

 11.00 Two more barrow loads trundled away. I cleaned the sides and bottom corners of the hole. The tub is now down to 45cm exposed to the top of the curved edges. The outer edge is now level with the bottom of my kneecap. A safe height to avoid accidents in the dark. I sense it is still jamming slightly. It rocks by a few centimeters when I lift either end.

 There is a large area of concrete come to the surface in the hole. Digging any deeper there will require strength and patience. I think I have had enough. I'll drag the tub out again and clean the sides and corners of the hole. To avoid any direct pressure points and to ensure it is actually resting on its flat bottom. 

 There will be a layer of fine gravel. To ensure a flat surface for it to rest on. The manufacturers labels are multi-lingual warnings to users. To provide a flat and firm surface under the tub.

11.35 Finally! The tub dropped in with a bang and can now be moved in all directions by a few centimeters. It will be slightly higher by the time the gravel is added as a bed. 

 11.45 I can't put off the shopping for any longer. There will be no lunch without rolls.

 12.30 Back from the shops. The village gravel man had very little fine gravel suitable as a bed for my tub. Should I use sand? I'd prefer fine gravel to inhibit the ants.  

 15.30 70F/21C. Returned with half a trailer full of fine gravel. I had to shovel it myself from the small heap. Under the blazing sun! Wot a hero! 😊

 16.30 I have been ferrying fine gravel to the hole in a wheelbarrow. Hopefully my leveling will result in a level tub. 85F/29C in the greenhouse. 

 Ideally the tub wants to be lowered while horizontal. If it drops at an angle then it will dent the gravel at one end. Should I lay some plywood on the gravel? To ensure it is level and well supported all over. Lowering the tub onto the plywood will not displace the gravel. 

 I solved the problem by pulling the tub quickly over the hole from the far side. It dropped straight down. I then wriggled it around to ensure it was settled. The long builder's level suggested it was level too. 

 I shall backfill the space around the tub with more gravel. So that the bottom half is well supported against the internal water pressure. The gravel will support the floor bricks too.    

 Dinner was a salmon pasty, pasta and peas. With tinned tomatoes. 

7.45  I shall now go back out and start backfilling the gravel around the tub.

 8.45. Just finished backfilling around the tub. 

  ~o~

19.06.2025 When you're in a hole..

 ~o~

  Thursday 19th 52F/11C [6.00] Bright. Expected to be sunny all day.

 Up at 5.15 after an overactive night. 

 7-7.25 A short walk in a slightly chilly breeze. 

 I was planning on a minimum two hour drive to the other side of the island. To buy some specialist plumbing parts. For draining the greenhouse pond. Then I realised I had submersible pumps. Which would remove water just as efficiently via common hose pipe. So there is no excuse not to start digging. To sink the pond to a more attractive height/level. Unfortunately the tank dimension grow the deeper it goes. Due to the tapered sides.

 Several YT videos suggested pea gravel. On which to rest heavy water tanks. Such gravel is easily accessible. It will also deny the ants such easy excavation as in the present sand. On which I had laid the herringbone pattern of bricks with an angle grinder. All those years ago. 

 8.20 I have lifted most of the bricks where the tank will sit. Though the herringbone pattern is working against me. I cut hundreds of corners off to make them fit back then. I have no idea where the brick off-cuts went. They'd be quite handy now to fill in all the empty triangles. Or I could lay wood around the base of the tank to hide the gaps. 

 Logic suggests I push the container nearer the greenhouse front wall. Where I laid a pattern of normal brick bond. This will move me an easy brick's width away from the "teeth" in the foreground. It might still not be enough. The jagged edges to right and left will need local brick removal. The next step is to cut away the polythene and start digging. Which means barrowing soil away. 

 More rearrangement of the remaining contents of the greenhouse required. To make a clear path. I already shoved everything along to the east end. To allow the tank to be moved away from its intended resting place. 

 I had better keep going while the greenhouse temperature is tolerable. It will soon be roasting out there! Currently 67F/19C. I am already dripping with sweat. The end doors and skylights are open. The breeze is helping.

 9.30 Back in for a rest and morning coffee. Four barrows of clean sand have been trundled to the car park. Where it was dumped onto plywood. I have almost reached the bottom of the sand. With the excavation having reached 17cm in depth. Measured up to the straight edge bridging the hole. Whatever depth of pea gravel I choose to have under the tank. Must be added to the required depth of the hole to be dug.

 11.00 I am hot a tired and need a rest. Down to 30cm below floor level. Though it's not very even yet. I ran into my own hardcore under the sand. Which meant I had to use a garden fork to make any headway. I had better remove more bricks. To avoid damaging the container during trial fittings in the hole.

 13.00 Lunch. I had continued to dig in 90F/32C temperatures out in the greenhouse. The bottom of the excavation is slowly approaching level. Not helped by buried rocks and bricks. I removed another row of floor bricks on three sides. To ensure safe clearance with the sides of the hole. 

 I just hope I am strong enough to lift the tub back out of the hole afterwards. There won't  be room for levers. What if it jams? I had better lay some lengths of timber in the bottom of the hole. To simulate the correct depth.

 14.00 I am keeping my bouts of digging to short intervals. Because of the heat. The single layer of shade net seems to have almost no effect.

 15.00 Reached a satisfactory depth and level. Stacked some timber packing in the bottom. Ready for a trial fitting of the tub. Having a rest and taking some time to cool down. My t-shirt is glued to my bod.

 18.15 It is till 80F/27C out there in the greenhouse. The length proved to be the problem. It wasn't simply the geometry of the tub being tilted. The hole was far too short and the corners not clean cut right angles. Three more barrow loads and I was able to lower the tub into place. With cushions at both ends to protect the finish. 

 The tub isn't sitting quite as deep as I had originally planned. Largely due to the timber packing underneath. I feel it looks better than sitting nakedly on the brick floor. [Image below]

 Though losing a bit more of its depth might be beneficial to its appearance. It is a very large object to have indoors. Hiding it deeper in the floor costs nothing but a little more effort. 

 It looks slightly odd having the bottom of the tub below floor level when I look inside. The intention was to have the apparent depth the same as the floor. Once it is filled with water.  

 Manhandling the tub was no real problem. I just ensured the cushions were in place to protect the tub. Moving it was simply a matter of overcoming its inertia. It slides nicely on the cushions. 

 I had no difficulty lifting the tub back out of the hole. With more cushions hanging over the angular, brick edges for protection.   

 I keep getting electric shocks in my wrists and hands. Probably from overdoing it. I was getting shocks in bed last night. While trying to go to sleep.

 Dinner was poached, free range eggs on toast. The eggs were small. So I used up the last four. I'll have to go grocery shopping tomorrow. Having run out of most of my regular items.

 

 

  ~o~