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Saturday 3rd 19F/-6C (9.30) A cold, bright, sunny morning with snow forecast for after lunch. 60F/16C in the room. 0C/33F in the greenhouse. 40F/4.4C in the greenhouse pond. No more than 1cm or ½" of snow lying locally so far. Elsewhere, in Denmark, up to 24cm or 10" has fallen.
Up again at 9 am after getting up in the night. I was so fed up with lying awake that I got up at 2.30 and stayed up until 4.30. Feeding a small fire in the stove as I watched YT. Both log baskets were empty by the time I went back to bed. I shall restock in a moment and relight the stove yet again.
I am steadily recovering from my Man Cold. For most of yesterday I could feel the improvement. So far this morning I am still trying to clear my nose and chest. I'll try a walk once the stove is going well.
10.00 Stove going. I have run out of softwood kindling but have loads of scraps and flakes of dry beech going back years. A basket full has been brought indoors to dry out further. Providing many days of kindling. Another basket of larger logs will feed the stove all day. I have had a couple of coughing fits. Which left me breathless. It is darker indoors with the snow lying on the lean-to, greenhouse roof.
10.40 Back from a short walk along the road. I wore my Scarpa walking boots for a change. With vague and over-ambitious plans to take a tour along the spray tracks on the prairie. Though I soon realised I wasn't really strong enough for such gallivanting. The road was all but clear. It had been salted but a few white patches remained. Relying on the traffic and blinding sunshine to remove the last vestiges of ice and snow. I returned well warmed up. Having upset the outdoor guard dog. With yet another coughing fit. Myself, not the long haired Alsatian.
The extended forecast for wintry showers. Suggests that any plans for shopping should be made this morning. The roads are perfectly safe until they aren't. There is that special class of moron. Which always drives too fast and makes no adjustments for the road conditions. Tailgating, speeding, cutting every corner. Overtaking to gain a single vehicle length in the grid lock to hell is their ego trip.
Their sickening behaviour is to be seen on every icy surface and flooded road. Their lunacy displayed every time there is a cloudburst on the motorway or dual carriageway. Their insurance, if they still have any, is their get-out clause. And if not, then stimulants are readily available within their vicious circle. Should they need to leave their victims choking on their own blood.
One is constantly reading of the pathetic sentences handed to those who break every rule in the book. Preserving their absolute right to drive seems to be the highest priority of many courts. Regardless of the dangers they represent to society. Miserably low fines for driving at high speed while drunk and drugged. The only serious potential punishment seems to be confiscation of their vehicles. Which may well be hired or leased anyway.
14.30 Back from the shops with reserves of bread rolls and chicken. Fortunately there are two supermarkets in the village. To compensate for poor stock maintenance. To blame the season's holidays is to completely miss the point. Supermarkets are supposed to be restocked automatically. This was true decades ago. The only excuse is incompetence.
Dinner was mackerel in tomato sauce on toast.
8.00 21F/-6C. Clear and bright moonlight. Expected to warm by a degree or two overnight. No new snow so far. 64F/18C in the room. I am warm in a fleece jacket. Usually too warm in bed.
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