12.10.2025 Belated activities.

 ~o~

 Sunday 12th 54F/12.2C [7.25] A grey morning is promised. Followed by a sunny afternoon. The wind slowly reducing by tea time tonight.

 Up at 6.15 after another difficult night. Weird dreams and lying awake. Interrupted by visits to the fire bucket. Talking of which: It is 69F/20.6C in the room this morning. The soapstone cladding on the stove was still slightly warm when I got up. The still unheated kitchen was at the familiar 64F/17.8C. There wasn't enough sunshine to raise the temperature of the lean-to greenhouse yesterday.

 9.10 Back from my walk. Veiled sunshine and pretty, high clouds. As the low overcast cleared. Like mist lifting off the landscape. There were several pheasants in the drive again. Near the road this time. So I advanced only slowly. To avoid them being run over. The final slacker had to take off in the path of a speeding car. Though it made it safely into the opposite field.

 I had taken my wide angle zoom lens today. Instead of the default telephoto zoom. This gave me far more opportunities for photographs. Where I am usually unable to get enough distance. To capture the immediate neighbourhood. I took 90+ pictures today.   

 It was windy enough to make me wish I had pockets free. I just persisted instead. Becoming more comfortable on the return with a tailwind. I was wearing my new [recycled] jacket. It was warm, windproof and better fitting than any of my other jackets. The others tend towards voluminous.

 12.00 Back indoors for a rest and to cool down. I have been fitting aluminium flashing to the upstairs, bedroom window reveal. I never completed the job after fitting the new window. Not the window itself. The window area is inset relative to the upper gable end. The immediate surrounds needed a new application of tar paper. Before being covered with exterior plywood. 

 13.00 That's next. After lunch now. The sun has just come out. 

 15.15 60F/15.6C. A pleasant afternoon. The weather paper [vindpap] is done. Meanwhile a thorough search proved fruitless. In finding suitable plywood from the observatory demolition. None was salvageable. A trip into town tomorrow is indicated. To fetch a fresh board. Which will be about the correct size when sawn down the middle. 

 The whole gable end needs recovering in the same, exterior, cladding plywood. That's a lot of work for an old fart at such a height. While I am sure I am capable of doing it. I'd have to be sure the nice neighbour's can check I survived. Which won't be possible if they are at work. 

 As the gable is triangular I'd have to do some careful measuring. To organize the rectangular panels accurately. With minimum wastage. It is important that the grooves run neatly from top to bottom. Any lateral offset stands out like a sore thumb.  

 I ca hardly believe I installed the window back in 2022. It has been three years! No wonder the old tar paper was looking rough. 

 Sunday dinner was mince, mushrooms, peas and ... Bisto gravy. There was so much gravy it was more like a stew. I adapted. And used a spoon.

 

  

  ~o~