4.07.2025 No, I am not lost.

 ~o~

  Friday 4th 57F/14C [7.00] A bright start but becoming cloudy with possible showers. 20C/68F peak.

 Up at 6.40 after an odd night. I was up from 3.15-4.15. Otherwise quiet with strange dreams.

 It would be a waste not to have a ride this morning. I can tidy upstairs when it rains.

 One of my new fish is lying dead on the gravel in the greenhouse pond.

 I thought I'd killed the large, golden Cornus in the front garden. After cutting it almost down to the ground. The main branches were mostly dying back. So it badly needed pruning. It has suddenly exploded into leaf from nothing. Far larger leaves than I remember.

 8-9.10. No, I didn't get lost. I walked to the village. Then up to forest via the main  track. Through the overgrown woods and back down via the field edges. I haven't walked that route for years. The main track has been resurfaced with finer gravel since I last passed this way. I disturbed a deer. Which dashed off for 20 meters before stopping to see if I posed a serious threat. Then bounded off out of sight. I don't blame it.

 The Assens county council has obtained the old railway track. Closed to passenger traffic in 1966. Goods traffic ended in 1996. It plans to use a 60% government subsidy to open an 18km cycle path along the old track to Glamsbjerg. Cost is likely to be around £2 million equivalent. 

 What a shame it has no immediate plans to extend it all the way to the city of Odense. Or at least as far as the village of Tommerup. The intermediate countryside is gorgeous. There is an excellent cycle path from Old Tommerup to Brylle. Which is on the way to Odense.

 13.00 71F/21.7C. Windy with sunny periods. Lunch over. I stayed at home. Tidying and changing half the water in the goldfish aquarium. In the afternoon I assembled one of the new shelving units. Then arranged tool trays on the stage.

 Dinner was fried chicken and chips. 

 

 ~o~

3.07.2025 Tidying continues.

 ~o~

  Thursday 3rd 55F/13C [7.00] Bright sunshine again but much cooler than yesterday. Peaking at around 18C/64F and windy. Gusting to over 13m/s [30mph] from the WNW for most of the day.

 Up at 6.15 after a busy night at the fire bucket. 

 My beautiful, dappled willow collapsed to universal brown. Before new green growth unexpectedly pushed through. The combination of heat and strong winds kept blowing it over. The latter was solved by a sturdy, ceramic pot. 

 Now I try to keep a centimeter of standing water in the bottom of the blue pot. I am waiting to see if pruning is necessary. It is also badly root bound. I am waiting before I re-pot it. As I don't want to stress it any more than necessary. While it still clings to life.

 7.30 Clouded over. Time for a walk. 

 8.10 59F/15C. Back from my walk. Sunny periods and a gusty wind. It was like stepping into an oven coming back indoors. [74F/23C] A goldfinch was singing at the top of a tree. As I was standing watching it from below. It was joined by another, colourful male. 

  I might drive into town to buy some more steel shelving. I desperately need to start tidying upstairs. Lots of random containers with tools and assorted other stuff. Is spread over a wide area of floor space. Think about it in terms of a blast radius! 

 The balcony room is no tidier than it has ever been. The 45º sloping ceilings don't easily lend themselves to shelving. I could do with more IKEA storage trays too. They are tough enough to take tools. Without forcing me to search below the visible surface. 

 When you own over 100 different screwdrivers and half as many assorted pairs of pliers this is important. Having immediate and effortless access to specific tools. Is vital to avoiding serial roundtoits. There is no mental hurdle too low. Not to cause a complete standstill.

 12.20 Back from town. With two sets of steel shelving. Which are separated, as standard, into two 90cm [3'] high, vertical halves. Allowing four useful units to stand under sloping ceilings. The shelves are 45cm deep x 90cm wide. 

 Which perfectly suits the sturdy IKEA storage trays. I have two further half, shelving units in the bedroom. Which will soon be moved to the balcony room. Or onto the stage.

 I also bought a lot of cheap, storage, plastic baskets. On special offer in two different heights. The translucent tubs all had locking lids. Which are a pain in use. The tubs are also far more fragile than the baskets. I bought white baskets. Which are far more useful in poor light conditions and do not readily absorb heat from the sun. 

 I spent the afternoon sweating as I tidied upstairs.  

 Dinner was cheese on toast with halved tomatoes. 

 ~o~

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~