21.02.2026 The great thaw!

 ~?~

 

  Saturday 21st 36F/+2.2C. Overcast and misty. Invisibility beyond 200m. Possible early showers. Perhaps clearing to sunshine. The thaw begins! Still lots of snow lying. Though I can see dark patches on the drive. Room at 61F/16C. It was 68F/20C at bedtime. I have turned on the paraffin stove for a quick boost. I'll need to bring in more chestnut logs to light the wood stove.

 Up at 7.10 after a typical night. I have just organised my tablets into the dispenser for another week. I put 8 lots into the hospital dispensers. That way I always have a spare lot of tablets to take. When the daily/week's dispenser is empty. I am currently on seven tablets per day. Plus two multivitamins.

 9.45 62F/16.7C in the room. The paraffin fuel tank had emptied and turned off the stove automatically. Grey skies. Back from another walk down the road. The main drive was slightly blocked by drifting again. Watery and icy in many other places. The roads were clear. A fair bit of traffic. 

 A pair of Great tits came down from the roadside trees and hedges. To complain about the weather. A dead Redwing lay beside the snowy verge. There had been several moving about in the hedges recently. The car was moved into a clear gap and left there. I'll let the thaw do more before attempting to escape. No real pressure to go shopping. Though I could go for a ride. 

 10.00 I have lit the wood stove. It needs more logs. Two more baskets of logs brought in. The snow feels firmer and wetter. The melt water is pouring off the shed roof. I have made quite a dent in the layer of logs next to the shed wall. These were hopefully the driest. Thanks to the roof overhang. The bark appears damp for the first time. Possibly due to the thaw. 

 11.15 Presently 38F/3.3C. It is supposed to peak at 4.3C/40F just after lunch. A comfortable 67F/19C in the room. Wearing a fleece jacket over my jumper. The wood stove is just idling on one log. Still no sunshine. 50F/10C in the greenhouse. The brightness must be doing something. The distant fields are turning green!

 11.30 The dropper post on the e-bike has been getting unreliable. So I extended and cleaned the post, Before applying a smear of silicone grease. This lubricated the rubber seal of the housing. In which the inner pipe slides up and down. This has fixed the problem of sticking. I'll wait a little longer before going to the shops on the bike. This will give the ice on the drive a better chance to melt. 

 14.00 Getting ready to ride into the village. I have run out of rolls. Well, it's an excuse for a ride. I just need to reach the end of the drive with the e-bike.

 15.00 38F/3C. Back from the shops. 10km. There was a cold and strong crosswind on both legs. I managed to fill a carrier bag full to the brim. The roads were very wet as the ridge of snow produced by the snow ploughs melted onto the asphalt. The drive was a horrible mess of puddles, ice and snowdrifts. I had to walk, balance and push the loaded e-bike. The room is at 73F/23C! 

 19.45 Dinner was chicken, mushrooms and chips. 

 

  ~?~

20.02.2026 Cabin fever [Day113]

 ~?~

  Friday 20th 25F/-4C.  Overcast start to a promised sunny day. 64F/18C in the room. No oil heater and the last log went in at 22.00. 36F/2.2C in the greenhouse. Yesterday's sunshine lifted the indoor temperature to 75F/24C. That was with the wood stove going all day. I had turned off the oil heater early on. Intending to use it overnight. 

The big thaw starts tomorrow after an extended winter. Plus temperatures and rain may cause flooding and risk of damage to some homes. 

 Up at 6.45 after a busy night. 

 10.00 30F/-1C. 66F/19C in the room. Back from my walk. It was blowing a fierce gale from the south. Roaring in the trees and even smoking the snow along the road. Filtered sunshine needs to get clear of the clouds. If it it is to warm the greenhouse. Little sign of any thaw so far. Overnight rain tonight should make a dent. 

 The heavily frosted Morris is still on the main drive. There are patches, just outside my gateposts, where it could be parked on bare ground. To give the vital traction needed to escape if needed.

 11.00 The last of yesterday's logs has burnt down. So I have fetched two more baskets from the stack outside. Completely breathless again. The wind is roaring but the snow is firm on my path to the stack. Relighting just needs enough air. To ignite new logs from the hot ash bed. Once burning well I just need to turn down the air supply. 

 All fairly obvious but novel with a new fuel supply and remote storage. It is proving to be easy to maintain 66F/19C in the room. The sun raised the kitchen to 68F/20C yesterday. Unfortunately it is much more cloudy today. 

 Mid afternoon: It tried to snow. This was forecast for later before turning to rain. 

 Dinner was mackerel in tomato sauce on toast. With halved cherry tomatoes. Plus a whole tin of Heinz tomato soup. I suspect there is a tomato theme running through this meal.

  

  ~?~

19.02.2026 Give me sunshine!

 ~?~

  Thursday 19th 20F/-7C [8.00] 65F/18C in the room. 0C/32F in the greenhouse. Overcast. A sunny day is promised after the early cloud clears. It will peak at just below freezing. A thaw is promised for Saturday. With plus temperatures and rain! Probably causing flooding where the snow is really deep. Mostly up in the north.

 Up at 7.30 after an even weirder night than usual! At 3.30 I couldn't remember if I had turned the lights off on the Morris. Which was parked on the main drive 100m away! It was far too misty to see the car from an upstairs window. So I quickly dressed and headed off up the drive in a 10F/-12C frost clutching a small LED torch. The car was completely frosted over. Thankfully I had taken the keys and could open the door to check the light switch really was off. A few stars were visible as I crunched my way back home again. 

 The oil heater had stopped working earlier that evening. Presumably from a lack of fuel. So I did my first refill at 03.30 from the full container. Kindly provided by my friend. With the tank safely reinstalled I switched it back on. After a pause I was rewarded by warmth. It was 63F in the room at the time but felt colder. This morning it is at 66F. Which is much more comfortable. 

 I am still trying to work out where I can turn the car around. While remaining on level ground. Or at least clear of snow. The car is currently facing east. After my trip to the shops. While the very dangerous exit to the road faces west. I will have to take a shovel and clear the exit. The Morris is rear wheel drive and can't get a grip on the hard packed snow and ice. Which left me dangling half in and half out of the exit yesterday. With traffic bearing down on me and my being completely unable to move! 

 I managed to rock the car in third gear until it finally found the asphalt with the rear tires. Which took over ten minutes of noisy wheel spinning! Something really must be done about this exit. It is not helped by the unchecked hedges of the abandoned restoration/building site. Which blocks the view to the left and approaching traffic. Right on a blind corner! Where traffic is usually cruising on autopilot at 50mph/80kph. While totally ignoring their braking distance. The council hedge slasher never touches the mixed and badly overgrown hedge. Presumably because it is considered private property. 

 09.30 I have delivered a bottle of wine to the neighbour. Who cleared the drives of snow with his digger. 

 Then took a steel shovel to the solid ice on the main drive's exit to the road. Now I am dripping with sweat. It took me at least ten minutes. Just to reach the asphalt over two narrow tracks. Where I could see where I struggled to pull out yesterday. 

 All the while the traffic was mimicking a Hollywood, presidential security convoy. Nose to tail, 50mph/80kph. Not a chance in hell. If the leading car should meet an obstruction. On the completely blind bend. Collective suicidal insanity!  

 10.10 27F/-3C. First sunshine. I have been sprinkling more salt on the drive. The small boxes of table salt don't go far. Nobody local has any stock of sacks of salt for winter. Called "vejsalt" or road salt in Danish.

 A mostly sunny day. Though not always a clear sky. It really helped to lift temperatures. I had turned off the paraffin stove. It reach 75F/24C in the room with just the wood stove going.

 I went up the drive at dusk to check on the Morris. Still frosted over. There is now a clear space in my section of drive where I could park. Then accelerate enough to get out again. The two boxes of salt were a complete waste of time. No sign of it having any affect at all. It was quite chilly. A fine crescent moon hung in the west. A few bright stars too.

 8.15 22F/-6C. 73F/23C in the room. Dinner was a fry up. Chicken, mushrooms, tweggs and fresh cherry tomatoes. I washed up while it cooked.

 

  ~?~

18.2.2026 I don't believe it!

 ~?~

 

Wednesday 18th 20/-7C [8.45]Overcast, sunshine promised, new overnight snow!?!?! The car is stuck in the drive and now plastered in new snow! 20F/15.6C in the room. I had set the borrowed Zibro oil heater to 16C to hold the room at a comfortable temperature but not hot. Reset to 18C and it is already 64F/18C. It must be the fan which raises the temperature so rapidly. It is rated at 3kw! Fuel consumption is still an unknown.

 Up at 8am after several false starts. 5, 6, 7 & 8? Must try harder!

 I need to bring in more logs for the stove. Currently getting through two baskets full from the stack outside. Then I have to explore the snow depth in the drive. My back is killing me! Probably all the snow digging.

 9.05 Still 64F/17.8C in the room. Stove lit with flakes and scraps of logs.  

 9.20 Two more baskets of logs are in. Totally breathless again. It looks like at least 5cm or 2" of new snow. My numerous, earlier footprints to the log stack were erased. 

 10.00 26F/-3C. The snow on the drive wasn't much. I tried for ages to move the car. Then placed a dirt cheap [discarded] car mat under the spinning back wheel. It started forward and I kept it in third gear to the top of the incline. The car is now parked on the level in the main drive. Noe I need to find somewhere to park it where it won't obstruct the drive. In case of a return to the empty properties. 

 10.30 After lighting the wood stove the temperature has shot up to 70F/20C! Whew? 

 11.00 Time to go shopping before my list runs out of paper. 

 12.30 31F/-1C. Back from the shops in bright sunshine. Nobody has any road salt. So I bought several boxes of cheap salt. Which I have spread one of on the drive. That was after putting away three bulging carrier bags of shopping. 

 Hopefully the sunshine and slightly warmer conditions will help to cut through the remaining snow. I left the car on the main drive safely on the level. Which meant carrying the heavy bags over 100m. Wot a hero! 😇

 Both my plywood snow scraper and aluminium snow shovel have vanished. 

 Dinner was poached eggs on toast.  

 

  ~?~

17.02.2026 Still snowed in! [No more!]

 ~?~

  Tuesday 17th 25F/-4C. [10.30]  Overcast and snowing lightly.

 Up at 7.00 after a reasonable night. 

 9.30  I wasted half an hour trying to get the car up the gentle slope to the main drive. My 100m of snow clearing hadn't helped. Mostly wheelspin. Even in third gear. Once I finally reached the junction to the main drive I discovered it was drifted over. The tire tracks left by an occasional neighbour were gone. I managed to reverse back down to the house but no further. The car is stuck at the boundary. I was too exhausted to do any more digging.

10.30 It is snowing steadily. The car is already white. 62F/16.7C in the room. My English friend is now coming to visit me. Instead of my going to him. I have lit the stove, washed up, mopped the kitchen floor, brought in two baskets of logs and had a shower. 

 12.00 My visitor has arrived. Bringing cakes and an oil fan heater. The temperature immediately soared to 74F/23C and climbing! He is parked half way along the main drive because drifting has blocked it beyond that point. It must be 30cm deep over most of its length! We had to do some digging so he could turn around. It is exhausting to walk on it. At first there is some resistance but then my boots sink deep into the snow.

 The temperature outside won't get above freezing until Saturday. So the snow will hang around. I am going to ask the neighbour on the back field, with a JCB [digger] if he can clear the drive for us. 

 13.00 My friend has left. Time for some lunch. 

 My neighbour, at the rear, has promised to come around with his digger later to clear the drives. 

 And has! My nice neighbour came around for chat about setting up something permanent. For drive maintenance and snow clearance. We had a nice chat about everything under the sun. His English is excellent.

 Dinner was fish fingers, pasta and peas. I only discovered the lack of tinned tomatoes once committed. The larder needs attention.

 

  ~?~

16.02.2025 Mouth breather!

 ~?~

  Monday 16th 23F/-5C [7.45] Overcast and very windy. Sunshine forecast but it's still grey. Gusting to 13m/s possibly causing drifting. Serious drifting elsewhere has caused severe traffic problems. 57F/14C in the room. 1C/33F in the greenhouse. I must light the stove!

 Up at 7.30 after a fairly disastrous night. I woke at 1am with awful heartburn and nausea. Caused by my silly omelette I presume. I tried to go back to sleep but it kept getting worse. So I got up and had a glass of water with bicarbonate of soda. That did not help immediately. So I got up again, dressed and sat on the computer for a couple of hours. I was cold when I went back to bed. Eventually I gave up and dragged the heavy duvet over.  

 8.00 Stove lit and going well. I must fetch more chestnut logs. The drive looks unchanged from yesterday's efforts. My right wrist has been hurtig ever since. No doubt caused by the shovel digging repeatedly into a frozen lower layer.  

 8.50 I waded through the deep snow on the western lawn to reach the chestnut log stack. Bringing back a basket full had left me completely breathless again. I have to go right around to the back of the heap. Where there is easier access to mixed logs from 50-120mm diameter. 

 The heap was added to as I cut down other trees and saplings. Never intending to use the chestnut logs as a serious fuel. So I threw long branches on top. To become covered in snow. Just as I needed this vital resource. I haven't been able to get out in the car. Let alone drag a trailer to the road on lying snow. Once the snow has gone I can easily access the heap. To bring it into the greenhouse in bulk. Using the western end door of the greenhouse. 

 Having dismissed the chestnut as an inferior fuel to beech. I had discarded the notion of using it. Yet it turns out to be fine. It catches light and burns as readily as the dried beech. If not better. I even thought it might smell but haven't noticed anything. It has had nearly four years of natural drying. Though without serious covering. Just leaning up against the shed wall in an untidy mound. To make the heap all but invisible. 

 It is now proving to be vital to my survival. Though raising a red flag to long term, continuous heating. Particularly as my fitness can no longer be taken for granted. Every basket full makes me breathless. Though the exercise involved is valuable. It is certainly quite a workout. It doesn't keep the room warm at night. 

 I have been mulling over getting a heat pump for years. An air to air would be affordable to purchase. Even if the electricity bill would probably skyrocket. It wouldn't take advantage of the under floor heating hoses. Which I installed myself years ago. The cost of a wet system is complex and astronomical in installed price. The government would rather hand untold billions to vast, international companies. To erect windmills and fix energy prices. Than to reduce energy consumption at the consumer level. 

 I won't need a walk today. I have just cleared two tire paths to the car. To join up with the two paths I made yesterday as far as the junction. Then I improved the route to the chestnut logs. Absolutely breathless again. 
 

18.30 23F/-5C. I had to bring in another basket of chestnut logs. 64F/17.8C in the room. Dinner will be something on toast. Sardines!

  

 

  ~?~

15.02.2026 Manual snow clearing.

 ~?~

  Sunday 15th 23F/-5C. Overcast but another cold, sunny day is promised. 59F/ 15C in the room. 36F/2.2C in the heavily frosted greenhouse. I'll have to light the stove. Using chestnut logs. I am pre-drying them on top of the stove. It is clad in soapstone so isn't a fire risk. I didn't keep the stove alight overnight due to a lack of fuel.

 Up at 7.30 after a typical night. I woke from another dream about wandering another city I didn't know. Trying to find my way back. Presumably to my parked car. A familiar subject matter. Incredibly detailed. Even the "extras" in the dream had characters, relationships and moods. 

 It must all have been imagination and often completely illogical. Or completely at odds with reality. It seemed every place, surface and item had texture and meaning. I was even discussing tools I had just found with my late wife. They say that dreams are sifting through memories. Perhaps to sort, or to discard overfull memory banks. Where they no longer have value. 

 Perhaps these dreams are suggestive of dementia? I seem able to remember far more images of my childhood as time passes. Often just random glimpses in picture form. If this were true, then I must, quite literally, have remembered everything which has ever happened to me. Albeit at random in usually involuntary flashes of incredible detail. 

 Which is ironic given my appalling memory. Sitting in exams and not being able to remember the simplest of things. A whole lifetime of collecting hundreds of text books. Just to remember Pythagoras Theorem. I tried to write in my youth but couldn't remember my own character's names!

 Being sent to buy salmon and coming back with spam. With a completely blank memory of the sole purpose of my trip to the local shop. Until I started writing full lists. Otherwise I would stand in the shop or supermarket without a clue what I was supposed to buy. 

 More recently I can move freely through the village supermarket and pick items on my way purely by habit. Which probably explains my lack of imagination when it comes to diet. Even then I am often leaving my basket by the checkout. To fetch the vitally important item I had walked blindly past twice or three times. 

 Intelligence and creativity, without a functioning memory, is a torment. It often feels as if everything I do has to be reinvented from scratch. Every single time. I spend countless hours rehearsing what I'll do or say. Then completely forget everything in the meantime. Yet I am fairly good at remembering places. Though never by name. A lifetime of fascination/obsession with astronomy. Yet unable to reliably recognize more than three constellations. Or the dimensions of the members of the Solar System. It's no wonder I made observatories and telescopes instead. 

 9.00 It is brightening. Blue sky visible. The chestnut logs seem to be burning well. Even without the pre-heating. That's a relief! I can go for a walk now. No point in coming back to a cold stove and colder house!

 9.30 27F/-3C. Back from my walk. Just a loop of the neighbours' drives. Bright sunshine with a cold breeze. Still only 59F/15C in the room.

 10.30 I am going to try and clear a path along the drive. So the car can reach the main drive. Where the snow has been flattened by vehicles coming and going. Except for the junction. Where is all ploughed up by somebody reversing into my section of drive.

 10.50 29F/-2C. Bright sunshine. I  have made a track on one side. Just under 100m. Using a large plastic snow shovel. Taking the snow down to about 5cm from at least 15cm. The snow is crunchy and becomes stiffer the deeper I go. Now I am completely breathless. 

 I may be able to use another tool to reach the ground beneath the snow. A garden rake? That will warm the ground in the sunshine and help the snow to thaw. Despite the frost. My breathlessness has already passed. So I'll go out and work on the other side of the drive in a minute or two.

 11.40 A second path is cleared. The snow was even stiffer than the other side of the drive. I am not only breathless again but my wrist is hurting. It is also blowing a gale! My eyes are watering and it is freezing. The wind has gone more southerly. So it is blowing straight down the drive. 

 So I went to the other end and worked with my back to it. At least I didn't get hot. I'd like to clear more snow in the middle of the drive. If I have the strength. That would help to accelerate the thaw. It is very heavy work. With the snow lifting as slabs. Rather than powder. I need a rest before I do any more. The parking area is still covered to a depth of between 15 and 20cm. 

 At thetop of the page I have posted a picture of our hero. Busy tidying up the last of the second path along the drive. Captured by a security camera. I'm 79 you know! 😉

 I keep hearing sirens. I hope it isn't unfit people having strokes and heart attacks while clearing snow.

 18.15 25F/-4C. The snow has been sliding off the house roof and out over the greenhouse roof. A very noisy business! I cleared some snow from around the rear entrance to the house. There was a distinct double layer with the upper snow lifting in slabs. I can't make any progress on the under layer. Then I dragged a recycling bin along the drive. Made slightly easier by my earlier work in clearing. 

It is still blowing a gale and freezing cold out there. I brought in more chestnut logs. Several chances to get completely breathless. 

 I have sausages and eggs to use up for dinner. One of my silly omelettes? Why not? I made it exotic by adding cheese.

 The chestnut logs are burning well. 

 

  

  ~?~

14.02.2026 Visitors in the sunshine.

 ~?~

  Saturday 14th 21F/-6C [8.00] A cold but sunny day is promised. Peaking at -1C with lighter winds. Still waiting for the cloud to clear. Expected to drop to -10C/14F around 7am tomorrow morning.

 Up at 7.30 after a busy night. I was waking at 1-2 hour intervals and using the excuse to feed the stove. With some difficulty in catching the very large logs alight from the glow in the ash bed at times. Too much air and the log burnt too rapidly. Filling the room with bright, flickering light. Too little air and it just smoldered. 

 Despite everything I managed to maintain 60F/15.6C in the room overnight. The stove is going well after a new and last log went in before breakfast. I'll have to start searching for more fuel!  The snow has prevented me from fetching more logs from the vendor. There is a large stack of chestnut logs outside but it is not very accessible. The snow is deep from drifting just there. 

 8.30 It has reached 62F/16.7C ad I can feel the heat from the stove on the back of my neck. 

 9.00 22F/-5.6C. 63F/17C. Thinking about a walk but I would prefer some sunshine. 

 9.15 Finally some golden light on the trees and blue sky. 

 9.45 Back from my walk. Mostly in bright sunshine. The drive was even more difficult as the snow had frozen harder. I had to use my own footprints to make steady progress. The neighbour's drives had been partially scraped. Allowing me to detour. There were waves of drifting at intervals some 30cm/12" high. 

 My nice neighbours came around to check on me after lunch. Which was kind of them. Bringing their pretty little pony with them. And their cat. Which had followed them. Then complained that it wanted to go home again. I see the cat going back and forth almost every hour on my security cameras. It doesn't like the snow. So I haven't seen it for a while. 

 I brought some  of the chestnut logs in from under the shed roof overhang. They measure 20% moisture content. on average. I had hoped it would be lower. They had a little snow on them but I don't think that has affected the reading. I think they will dry out further if they are indoors near the stove. At a safe distance of course. 

 I could fill the circular rack. Which I haven't used for the beech logs. Due to their large size. It was a nuisance to keep filling the rack so often. So I just used the plastic baskets for storage. I'll mix the chestnut with the last of the beech logs.

 The snow is at least 8" deep over the western lawn. So I had to wade through it going both ways to reach the far side of the stack of logs. Where access to useful sizes is easiest. Returning with a heavy basket full of logs on the way back. Which made me a bit breathless. Though I soon recovered. 

 The first chestnut log went in behind the beech and is already burning well.

 I am making sausage rolls for dinner. Boiled potatoes and tomatoes. First I have to thaw out the pastry from the freezer.

 20.15 Frost: 11F/-12C. 66F/19C in the room. It is supposed to be colder later. Not this early.

 

  ~?~

13.02.2026 Friday 13th.

 ~?~

  Friday 13th 28F/-2C [7.30]  Overcast and breezy but expected to remain dry. 57F/14C in the room. 41F/5C in the greenhouse. I had better light the stove! The footprints and e-bike tire tracks have been smoothed over by new snow. Or drifting.   

 Up at 6.50 after a busy night at the fire bucket. The sky to the north was lit up all night. Presumably streetlamps reflecting off the snow. 

 7.40 Stove lit. Another ash pan full needs emptying. The greenhouse roof has refrozen. There is a risk of sunshine around lunch time. Which might lift the temperature in the greenhouse. Perhaps enough to clear its roof again. Though unlikely to contribute any extra warmth to the house.  

 9.15 Going for a walk. 

 8.40 59F/15C. And back again. The snow is about 20cm/8" deep over the parking space. More variable in the drive. It seems I lack the skill to manage a proper catwalk stride in a single width tire track. A small bird of prey flew over and complained about the weather. I found myself in agreement. 

 The traffic was light. The road only messy where roadside hedges were lacking. There are massive icicles hanging from the shed. Where I failed to replace the gutter after shortening the overhanging roof. Another roundtoit.

 11.00 The room just broke the 60F/15.6C barrier. 

 19.30 25F/-4C. 62F/16.7C in the room. Dinner was fish fingers and chips. 

  ~?~

12.02.2026 Snowstorm?

 ~?~

  Thursday 12th 31F/-1 [8.30] Heavily overcast, breezy and snowing lightly. A snow storm is forecast for 24 hours from the early hours of this morning. 59F/15C in the room. Stove lit.

 Up at 7.10 after lying awake, dreaming and clock watching. I was trying to decide whether I should go to cooking class. With the police warning against unnecessary travel. I can't get the car out through the existing snow from a week ago.  

 Had the trike been road ready and I was at least five years younger and much less wise. Perhaps. I rode though blizzards and traveled hundreds of kilometers over lying snow in the past. 

 Ironically the trike would have been the best bet of my various means of transort. Had I been fit enough. Amazing stability with countless tens of thousands of miles of riding experience. Two wheel drive to climb hills on snow and black ice on narrow 23mm HP slicks. Happy days! 

 These old images [from 2010] show shopping expeditions to the local village. Going the wrong long way through the forest by the very hilly route. Just for the sheer fun of it. I think the second picture was taken in -8C/18F temperatures. Both pictures show my old Higgins 'Ultralite.' Which I recently donated to a keen tricyclist over here in Denmark. Though I haven't seen any pictures on Facebook of it in use.

 Could I ride to the cooking class on my e-bike? As I do sometimes in warmer weather. I decided that walking 20km home on uncleared roads. Pushing my bike through slippery snow. Would not be very sensible. One fall on hidden ice and I could lose my independence.

 Living out in the sticks does not provide a useful bus service between random and widely spaced villages. [20km apart.] Assuming there was a normal bus service today. There are bus stops nearby but connecting the dots on the map is the problem.

 9.15 Time for a walk. I'll wear one of my day-glo, hi-viz jackets as a nod to the traffic. To make myself a clearer target. 

 9.45 Back again. A large, tipper truck with snow blade went past. Clearing the road on the opposite side. The hard packed snow was quite slippery on my uncleared side. I moved well back on the verge with each approaching vehicle. To avoid sudden changes of direction. Fortunately the traffic was much lighter than yesterday. 

 These two pictures are from this morning. Looking both ways along the snow covered road. 

 The same truck returned on the other side. Just as I reached the drive on my way home. There were the usual problems of drifting where there were no roadside hedges. Even after scraping the road conditions were completely against my riding my e-bike. Perhaps I should fit an electric motor to my Trykit trike? 

 10.00 While accumulation looks modest so far. It is reaching levels where it is spontaneously sliding, in slabs, off the lean-to, greenhouse roof. Which has quite a gentle slope and was clear earlier this morning. This saves me going out to use my squeegee on a long pole. To get more light indoors. While large quantities of snow are blowing repeatedly off the north side of the house roof. This is falling past a northern widow. Something I have never observed before. 

 11.30 32F/0C outside. The greenhouse is at 44F/6.7C. The snow is not only sliding off the greenhouse but dripping rapidly from the overhanging slabs. Which seems illogical given the outside temperature. There seems to be a hiatus in the snowfall. Which has hardly been impressive so for.  

 14.30 Still snowing lightly but dripping heavily from the overhanging snow on the greenhouse. The weather maps show solid snowfall over our area. With a large area of sleet to our south.

 It continued to snow lightly but is still accumulating.

  Dinner was a chop, mushrooms, peas, carrots, mashed potato and Bisto gravy.

 

  ~?~

11.02.2026 Cabin fever continued.

 ~?~

  Wednesday 11th 1F/-1C [8.15] Overcast with easterly winds and local wintry showers. 60F/15.6C in the room.

 Up at 7.20 after earlier clock watching. 

 8.50 Stove lit. 

 Tomorrow's snow storm is now centered in an E-W band on my location. Earlier forecasts placed it further north.  It will snow from early morning on Thursday to the same time on Friday morning. With easterly gales leading to drifting. Thursday morning should have been cooking class. Which I missed last time due to a flat tire. Even if I can reach the road through the snow on the drive. The roads may be in poor condition. By the time I head home again after lunch. 

 While I could cycle, the same problems arise. Avoiding the narrow and very hilly lanes of my usual route. Involves mostly high speed main roads. With no protection from cycle lanes or cycle paths over much of the distance. 

 The main road route is 21km. About 13 miles. The main roads are much more likely to be cleared and salted. Than the delightful, rural lanes I enjoy on sunny, summer mornings. The chances of any cycle lanes being cleared is even lower. Since it requires specialist, small and slow moving machines. 

 10.25 Returned from my walk. The usual resistance to forward motion on the crunchy snow on the drive. It is too heavy for me to shovel away over a 100m length. It will probably be joined by more snow tomorrow. 

 Meanwhile the road was clear and just damp. With lots of traffic. I stepped onto the snow vovered verge as most vehicles approached. A few waved their appreciation. A bird of prey was calling as I arrived back at home. Not so breathless today. Perhaps yesterday's ride cleared something.

 Dinner was an organic chop, mushrooms, an organic egg on toast and Heinz baked beans. 

 

  ~?~

10.02.2026 11km ride.

 ~?~

  Tuesday 10th 32F/0C [7.45] Heavy overcast and risk of local snow showers. 61F/16C in the room. I shall have to fetch the last of the logs from the trailer.

 Up at 7am after another busy night. The fire bucket is heavier each morning following increased water consumption. The weird and illogical dreams are just as realistic.  

 8.50 I have been struggling to bring in the last of the logs from the trailer. The snow is very resistant to wheelbarrow trundling. Particularly when loaded. I brought in all the beech flakes and waste wood as well. The snow in the drive near the greenhouse must be over 6" deep. 15cm. As much as 8" in places. 20cm. I am completely breathless. My chest is as bunged up now. As it was during my recent bout of cold/flu/Covid. Now I can finally light the stove.

 11.00 64F/18C. Once the stove was going well I checked the chestnut log. After 24 hours indoors the moisture content had vanished. It caught light instantly and is burning well. Probably being consumed much quicker than the usual beech logs. This means I need not panic about my rapidly reducing reserve of logs. I can bring in some of the huge pile of chestnut logs. 

 11.15 I can go for a walk now that I have recovered from fetching and stacking logs. I didn't get tired. Just breathless. 

 11.45 Back from my walk. The drive is still hard work. While the road is clear and just damp. The verges covered in firm snow. Yet again I was breathless. From just plodding along. A few short years ago I read that becoming breathless was desirable while walking. So I tried to walk fast enough to become breathless. I had to trot before that happened. Walking wasn't hard enough. Even on the hills.

 A new forecast claims a snow storm will now affect the whole country. The weather system is moving south. Bringing snow with it. Snow from early morning on Thursday. So it doesn't look like the cooking class is likely.

 13.20 Getting ready to ride into the village. To restock the larder. It will probably take some time to get rid of the next batch of snow. 

 That was odd. The chestnut log long outlived the beech log. Which went in at the same time.  

 14.30 Back from the village supermarket. Two bulging carriers bags full. Riding on the drive was difficult. Resistance and self steering of the broad tires on the stiff snow. 

 The roads were fine. The cycle lanes filled by the snow ploughs clearing the roads. A number of homeowners in the village hadn't cleared their pavements. As is required by law. They may be old farts.

 The supermarket cycle parking area and rack had not been cleared. The dropper saddle post is misbehaving. It may be the extended cold affecting the gas cylinder. My hands were cold. Even in the skiing gloves. I was not breathless at all during the ride. Which is at odds with my earlier walk and log transportation.

 The Thursday snow storm may change. They aren't showing any precipitation on the charts. So there is still hope. [Not really!]

 19.30 Dinner was mackerel in tomato sauce on toast with halved tomatoes. 

 

  ~?~

9.02.2026 A log by any other name.

 ~?~

  Monday 9th 30F/-1C [7.30] It looks like a dusting of new snow. Or hoar frost. The hedges are thickly coated in white. Overcast, with possible light wintry showers. Though mostly dry. Hovering around freezing. Modest east to SE winds. 62F/16.7C in the room. 40F/4C in the greenhouse. Coldest winter in 15 years. 

 Up at 6.50 after an odd night. A normal number of visits to the fire bucket but greater quantities. As expected from drinking numerous glasses of water during the day. This is the whole idea. To flush out the plumbing.

 7.30 It is already becoming lighter in the mornings.  Despite the heavy overcast.

 8.20 Stove lit. Last of the logs brought in from the greenhouse. Plenty for today. There are a few more in the trailer. 

 Even if the roads are clear. I doubt I can get out with the car and trailer for another load of logs. Not with this much snow on the drive. There is the possibility of more snow on Thursday. Though it could turn wet. Thursday is another cooking class. I missed the last one due to a flat tire.

 I have just been across the yard. To empty the ash pan. There is at least four inches. Or 10cm of snow on the ground. I checked and there are just enough logs for a couple of days in the trailer. Perhaps I should bring in some chestnut logs to dry. 

 I just tried this. The one I brought in came from under the shed roof overhang. It measured 20% humidity all over. While subjectively weighing half that of a beech log. I have set the chestnut log aside. To see how quickly it dries indoors. 20% will burn but is on the damp side.

 9.30 Back from my walk. The road was slushy. I went to the back of the verge with each passing vehicle. To give them room to drive safely without a detour and to avoid being sprayed. The wind was cold where there were no hedges. The snow on the drive had stiffened. Which made walking on it even more difficult.

 Another day of encouraging cabin fever on YouTube. 

 Dinner was chicken curry. I had no mushrooms. So I added some oversized raisins. I am fairly sure that Ben's curry sauce used to contain sultanas.  

  ~?~

8.02.2026 Beware of tiny elephants!

 ~?~

  Sunday 8th 30F/-1C [7.30] Heavily overcast. The snow is still there. Light showers of snow, sleet or rain. Easterly wind gusting to 10m/s. 61F/16C in the room.

 Up at 4.50 after a quiet night but then lying awake for hours. I finally lit the stove at 7.30.

 YouTube keeps showing me two minute adverts for Tai Chi. Are they trying to drive me away? They know my inside leg measurement and probably what I think on most subjects. They also know my age and health conditions. Intimately! 

 I know this because they keep sending me spam for anything I merely mention in passing. Some things I merely think about. Without ever putting pen to virtual paper. They should also know, by now, that I will never buy anything which steals my precious time on this Earth. By telling me about some commercial product or service. Not without my previous, written permission. I also value advertising and advertisers at the same level, or below that, of rapists and scammers. So, is this strange advert choice predatory behaviour by the idiot AI? 

 Brought in another basket of logs from the greenhouse. 

 10.00 I can see a woodpecker attacking the huge willow tree in the corner of the garden. I am going for a walk. 

 10.30 64F/17.8C. Back again. There was about a centimeter of new snow. Which had caused slush on the roads. Where they were clear but only wet yesterday. Lots of pheasant tracks and several birds exploding into the shrubbery. As I passed their hiding spots behind the hedges. The squawk like mad as they fly away!

 A strange set of prints going to the post box. I am settling on a small elephant. Nothing else fits. A small camel would be less likely. Only five footprints and they weren't going anywhere. I suppose it could have been a baby mammoth. Given the weather conditions.

 13.00 Lunch over. I am already on my 5th glass of water. Having no difficulty in drinking the water. Once it is no longer freezing cold from the tap. 

 I had chicken. So I made Sunday dinner. With mushrooms, peas, carrots, mashed potato and Bisto gravy. 

 I think I am on at least my 7th glass of water. Just over a liter. In addition to my tea and coffee intake. Now I just need to keep it up. Or rather down.

 

  ~?~

7.02.2026 Light rain and a slight thaw.

 ~?~

  Saturday 7th 32F/0C. Overcast. No new snow. Possible snow showers or sleet during the day. Icy roads. Hovering around freezing point. 60F/15.6C in the room. 42F/5.6C in the greenhouse. 

 Up at 7.45 after a fairly quiet night and some later clock watching. 

 8.30 Stove lit. 

8.55 61F/16C. It's snowing! Big flakes. 

 The snowfall was short lived. 

 12.00 65F/18.3C. Just back from a late, short walk. The snow was dripping from the shed roof. My earlier footprints looked dark as I returned. I scraped some snow away from the stretch between the door and the drive. To make a cleaner path. 

 The snow was no longer light and fluffy but much wetter and heavier. My clothes were wet from light rain on my return. My glasses were wet too. Hopefully this thaw will clear the snow more quickly. 

 20.30 67F/19C. Another afternoon on YouTube, forums and elsewhere. Dinner was sausage rolls, Heinz sugar loaded and tasteless, baked beans and chips. I haven't developed a strategy for economical use of sausage and prepacked plates of pastry. The beans were excessive. There was no room on the plate and no real need. I regret having bought so many tins of the damned things.

 I have been keeping a glass of water nearby. Now on my 4th today. I much prefer it without the icy chill.  

 

 ~?~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.02.2026 Statins are okay!

 ~?~

  Friday 6th 31F/-0.5C [7.45] Overcast with new snow lying. 60F/15.6C in the room. 41F/5C in the greenhouse. New snow is sliding down the greenhouse roof. I haven't been outside yet. As it is still half light. The hedges are covered in sticky snow. The drive smoothed out by new snowfall. It was all but clear yesterday morning.

 7.45 Up at 7am after a very busy night servicing the fire bucket. Weird dreams and repeated disturbance is no fun at all. Yesterday's dizziness has reduced but not completely gone. My vision at the computer is back to slightly fuzzy again. I am feeling more positive. Even cheerful. It wont last.

 The right nosepiece, of the only pair of prescription, reading glasses I've bought in 40 years, has gone. Lovely! £200 wasted on complete tat! The screws in the earpieces are constantly loosening too. I wonder if I can find a screw and nosepiece. From one of the many supermarket pairs of glasses in the drawer? They lasted forever but slowly became scratched over time. 

 Most cost between £5 and £8 equivalent. They did not correct my astigmatism but I never noticed. The prescription glasses constantly lose the left lens as well. It usually falls out in my jacket pocket while I am driving. Or even on the ground when I am walking. Lovely! 

 I am determined to hydrate properly from now on. I started the day with small glass of water. Drunk in gulps rather than straight own. It was icy from the tap. Which is typical for winter here. With kilometres of plastic pipe subject to deep ground frost. I measured my milk addition to the dry, porridge oats. It was only about 3/4 of the small glass, if that. A bit disappointing. Now I need to measure the volume of the glass for reference. [150ml] 

 The small glass is easy to drink from. Without my feeling overwhelmed by ice cold water. To which end I shall seek out a glass coffee jug. To have on the coffee table beside the computer desk. So I can sip a known quantity of water throughout the day. I would prefer a covered, bulk container. In case a fly gets in. A rare occurrence but not unknown.

 Some good new on statins. Which I take for my heart plumbing. After having four stents fitted in a hurry. Statins are supposed to reduce fatty build up in the arteries. A study has found that side effects are often purely psychological. There were just as many complaints from those on on a placebo. Often strongly so. The Nocebo effect. 

 The opposite of placebo, but worse. Where the expectation of side effects forces the patient to stop taking the tablets. They really do feel the side effects. Sometimes as if they were intolerable! While taking a pill with no medicinal content whatsoever. Bad publicity and even the required warning notes in the manufacturer's packaging, put people off. 

 There are a number YouTube channels hosted by [claimed] US cardiac surgeons. Warning strongly against statin use. The latest study of 120,000 shows the risks are actually very low indeed. Suggesting increased statin prescriptions all around. They say that many lives could be saved by statins. Heart attacks being the major cause of death. Particularly for the elderly. As a fully rubber stamped, old fart I certainly qualify for that group. [Currently 79¾, not out.] 

 My own, vocal negativity against statins. Resulted in my doctor halving my daily tablet to 20mg from 40mg. Now I wonder if I should follow his advice and take the 40mpg. Further discussion will follow. Next time I see him. Meanwhile I will continue with the 20mg.

 8.15 I had better light the stove. The ash pan badly needs emptying. I was excused boots yesterday. So there was a considerable build up. Now I shall don my ankle wellies and check snow depths. On my way to the compost heap. I am going outside. I may be some time. 

 8.30 It took me only a couple of minutes. To wade through the new snow to the northern boundary of Chez Hovel's rolling acres. It was averaging 3-4" of lying snow on the parking area. Let's call it 75-100mm. I didn't even notice the wind today. I may even have a walk.

 The stove's ash bed was still hot with many red blobs. Which made life more difficult in clearing the ash in the firebox itself. I needed my special oven "stove" glove to handle the grate and wood burning plate. Both far too hot to touch with the Mk1 [non-AI, non-robotic] hand. 

 I usually use two sticks of kindling as manipulators but lost control of the plates in the depths of the ash. Finally, a few bits of dry kindling. A sprinkle of paraffin based, non-smelly, firelighter block and off it went. Now I just need to build up to a serious log. Which means bringing in more logs from the greenhouse. Work is never done for the hard pressed pensioner! "Nobody knows the troubles I've had, tra-la."

 9.20 Logs in. Breathless again. Time for a walk! 

 9.55 64F/18C in the room. Back from a walk. The wind was intermittent. The undisturbed snow was about 4-6" deep on the drives. Which was quite hard work.  I became quite breathless until I reached the road. Which proved to have been scraped and probably salted. There remained a bed of hard pressed frozen slush in the traffic lanes. Which was quite slippery. The traffic was moving more slowly than usual. I crossed the road to avoid oncoming traffic. Then back to the usual side after they had passed. I didn't go far. Because I knew I had to manage the drives again. I stopped to chat briefly with my nice neighbour. Who was attending to his chickens, ponies and goats. 

 Once I was safely home again I used the squeegee on the long pole. To clear most of the snow off the greenhouse roof. To let more light in. The snow on the parking space proved too heavy. To be pushed aside with the gravel leveling rake. Pulling it wasn't much easier.  I have assorted snow shovels but that would be hard work too. The forecast is for slightly above freezing temperatures and even some rain or sleet. That might help.

 9.10 Time for morning coffee. Got to keep up the fluids. Another 200ml + 150ml glass of water. I found a glass coffee jug in the cupboard. My wife and I weren't really coffee drinkers. Usually just organic Arabic instant. The jug/pot will need to be washed and de-scaled before I can use it as my bulk water carrier. 

 13.00 Cup of tea with lunch. 200mls. Small amount of milk with a sliced banana. 

 17.00 64F/17.8C. Afternoon tea. 200mls. Glass of water 150mls. 

 Dinner was an organic fry up of sausages, brown mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and tweggs. 

 Followed by a small mug of coffee 150mls. Not good enough! 

 

  ~?~

5.02.2026 In the absence of hydration.

 ~?~

  Thursday 5th 28F/-2C [9.15]  Overcast but slightly less windy. 58F/14C in the room. Snow expected after lunch.

 Up at 8.10 after a typically disturbed night. Feeling dizzy and slightly nauseous. Struggling to see the computer screen clearly. My vision is really fuzzy. I am having to be careful while moving about.

 10.00 60F/ 15.6C. Stove lit. Just sitting with my eyes closed and hoping my breakfast stays down. 

 12.00 62F/16.7C. I dozed for an hour in an armchair. Which was uncomfortable. Then for another hour in bed. Until I had a strange dream. About receiving a phone call from an elderly builder in Danish. Who kept repeating hulmur! Which means "cavity walls." I don't have any. In order to reply I had to get up to put my hearing aids in. It was only then that I realised I had been dreaming. 

 I have a slightly upset stomach but haven't been sick. No idea what might have caused it. I am always so careful about hygiene and thoroughly cooking everything. Probably overcooking meat if truth be told.  It was lucky that I managed to light the stove with beech flakes and fire lighters. So I could relax and add logs as needed.

 16.30 62F/16.7C. I have spent the day sitting and watching YT videos. Still dizzy. I've had nothing to eat or drink until now. I am going to have a cup of tea and a digestive biscuit. A lack of fluids is considered poor behavior.

 It has ben snowing for some time. Very fine, like frozen rain. It is blowing off the shed roofs and traveling horizontally. I doubt there is more than a centimeter or two lying on the ground so far. The DMI shows the snow clouds at my location are clearing northwards. While reforming on the rear skirts. A wide, yet stable band of sleet lies over the most southern parts of Denmark. With more snow over Germany to the south. While TV2 shows our area as lying well within the range of a snowstorm. Due to the snowfall and high winds. The latter are expected to reduce overnight.

 Some trains, buses and public transport has been cancelled. In anticipation of heavy snowfall and icy roads. Some schools are closed too. Pictures of the frozen sea are appearing in the media. Including within Copenhagen. The ice on many lakes and ponds is now considered safe for public access. Thanks to increased thickness from continuous sub zero temperatures.  

 The large whale, which stranded and died on the cost of Denmark, at Albæk. Died due to a fishing net stuck in its throat. The poor thing had slowly starved to death! TV2 showed a specialist vet who carried out the autopsy. With his arms literally full of the 12kg of net. The video audio is in Danish.

https://tv2.dk/reel/2026-02-05-kaskelothval-doede-af-sult---fiskenet-blokerede-spiseroer-6388807084112  

The link simplified in English: TV2. The kaskelot [sperm] whale died of hunger. A discarded fishing net had blocked its throat.

 20.00 63F/17C It is still snowing. I had another cup of tea. Still no appetite. I think I'll  have a coffee with added milk. Riveting stuff, eh? 

 22.00 63F/17.2C. Gurgle suggests 15 cups of fluids per day to maintain normal hydration. 15 x ~150 = 2250mls. That's about one cup per hour! Eek!

 Today's unpleasant symptoms exactly match one online description of dehydration on all listed points. Another Eek!

 My daily intake of tea and coffee amounts to 6 x 200 ml mugs spread throughout the day = 1200mls. It really doesn't vary. I am a creature of habit. That's almost half the recommended daily total of fluids!  

 It was suggested by my doctor that I drink at least 1.5 liters of water in addition to my daily beverages. I don't like drinking water. It is freezing cold at this time of year due to frost penetration of the rural ground. 

 I do drink milk on my morning porridge oats. Though I have never measured the volume. Perhaps I should? I have a drop of milk in two cups of coffee per day but that doesn't alter the total liquid volume. I don't have milk in my tea and haven't since childhood. I don't drink juices or sugar bombs. Nor take sugar in any of my drinks. 

 I ought to have a covered jug or container to refill a glass near the computer. This will ensure the chill is taken off and [hopefully] become more palatable. It will also measure the volume of water I consume. Leaving no doubt. Nor room for cheating! That should increase my daily exercise running back and forth to the bathroom.  A win-win situation.

 22.45 I may not sleep but I still feel unwell. So I am going to bed anyway.  

  

  ~?~

4.02.2026 Stocking up for the snowstorm!

 ~?~

  Wednesday 4th 28F/-2C [9.00] Heavily overcast after a clear night with a high moon. A grey, windy day with possible snow showers this afternoon. Blowing to 18m/s from the east. [~40mph] Snow is expected over the next three days. 59F/15C i the room. The stove wouldn't light from the warm bed of ash. The kindling glowed but no flames.

 Up at 7.50 after an odd night. Got up four times until 3am in bright moonlight and then slept for hours. I had better light the stove properly. 

 I need to shop in case I get snowed in.

 10.00 63F/17C in the room. Back from a 20 minute walk along the road. The wind was roaring and cutting my face into icy rashers. The hedge slasher had been along. Perfect timing, to ensure a lot of twigs are blown out onto the asphalt. On both sides of the road! The usual, wind blocking hedge was worthless today. The wind completely ignored it. I was being buffeted as I walked in both directions. No, not simultaneously. There are limits to my legendary abilities. 

 12.00 64F/17.8C in the room. Back from the village supermarket. Three bulging carrier bags full as I stocked up for the coming snowstorm. Up to 30cm could accumulate over several days. We were south of the threatened snowstorm but are now well within it. 

20.00 63F/17C. Still no new snow. Yet another day spent on YouTube and feeding the stove. Dinner was a salmon pasty, with organic peas, Fettuccine pasta and tinned organic tomatoes. I should have used a whole tin of tomatoes. Strained to reduce the water content. I washed up while it cooked. I have more to do.

 

  ~?~

3.02.2026 Democracy for sale! Dirt cheap!

 ~?~

  Tuesday 3rd 26F/-3.3C. Cloudy start becoming sunny later. Even more windy from the east. 10ms base. Gusting to 20m/s. 45mph! That's the equivalent of 6F/-14C with wind chill. 59F/15C in the room. 38F/3.3C in the greenhouse. 

 No thin logs or kindling to light the fire until I raid the trailer. Which is currently at the far end of the carport. Trapped behind the car. Without any lighting other than a hand held torch. I need a [much] better storage system! Or the motivation to empty the trailer before it becomes so critical. It is supposed to snow again tomorrow. So all the remaining firewood needs to be in the [lean-to] greenhouse! 

 Up at 6am after what felt like hours of wakefulness. My back hurts from yesterday's repeated struggles with the heavy mattress! 

 7.30 I sprinkled the still hot ashes in the stove. With the last of the small flakes, rubbish wood and bark in the bottoms of the log baskets. Then laid the smallest, but still oversized log on top. Five minutes later it ignited and the log is burning well! It needs maximum airflow to keep it going. I searched for more logs in the greenhouse and have enough for this morning. All larger than I would normally burn. 

 Now it is light enough outside I can see the trees and hedges are all rocking in the wind. It is roaring around the greenhouse. Which is unfortunate. Because the eastern door is the one I need for emptying the trailer. The wind continues tomorrow as well. Only slightly reduced from today's unpleasantness but with the added burden of snow. I think the best thing to do is to use the wheelbarrow as usual. To dump loads of logs onto the greenhouse floor. Get as much in as possible without leaving the doors open. I can fill a basket with some flakes for kindling.

 08.30 Still only 59F/15C in the room. Job done. Three well filled wheelbarrows full of mixed logs into the greenhouse. One basket stuffed with beech flakes for kindling. Cold and rather breathless. I fetched the recycling bins from the end of the drive while was out there. Both had blown over after being emptied. 

 The temporary roof covering on the stripped, thatch house is coming apart. It is being ripped wide open by the wind. The house was abandoned again months ago. With tons of debris, bathroom fittings and rubble from the house piled untidily, outside the house on the drive. 

 No visit to my friend today. No walk either.

 The day passed peacefully on YouTube. Where I learned that a brutal, child rapist is still treating the world as his own, personal toy. Evil can only exist. When other, evil men do nothing. Or praise the perp. To ensure their own gravy trains do not derail. Democracy is just another currency in many parts of the world. To be bought and sold to the highest bidder. 

 19.30 64F/17.8C in the room. Dinner was my very first, cheese omelette. It was excellent!

  ~?~

2.02.2026 Bedding down!

 ~?~

  Monday 2nd 19F/-7C. Overcast, colder and windier. Gusting to 15m/s. 59F/5C in the room. 33F/0.6C in the greenhouse. 

 Up at 4am as my recycled bed collapsed! The slatted mattress support they supplied was too narrow for the frame. So I had to insert slats either side. To keep it central on the battens at the edges. Unfortunately this failed at intervals. I should have bought bigger battens and glued and screwed them into place. Unfortunately the risk of collapse seemed low at first. The bed has only collapsed under me once. That was while I was sitting on the edge of the mattress and getting dressed.

  Last night the thin slats had slipped through the gap. I could hear creaking and then the mattress dropped.  So our hero was left with a non functioning bed in the dark. In the middle of the night. I attempted repairs by the light of the table lamp. However, the sheer weight of the massive sprung mattress was too much for me. Access to the lifting loops was  all but impossible within the wooden frame. 

 In the end I had to drag the furniture away and drop the mattress onto the floor. Followed by the bedding. I spent the following two hours dreaming about possible fixes. Most of my ideas were too vague to have been conscious.  

 Up at 7.30 after hours of clock watching. Made worse by my newly sunken viewpoint. The mattress is now too close to the stove to risk lighting it. Not good after the coldest night so far. It is not supposed to climb above -4C/25F all day.  I will have to drag the mattress away and get some warmth into the place. 

 A journey to the builder's merchant is on the cards. To find suitable battens to make the bed safe. The original side battens are really rather mean. For such an expensive bed at Danish retail prices. The bed is 91cm wide inside the veneered chipboard sides. The slatted base is only 88.5. That's a 25mm or 1" difference. If the sides should bow under load, or over time. Then the slatted base can drop between the puny battens. And, did! There are no cross ties between the bed sides. My guess is that the slatted bases were mixed up somehow. Between donation and joining the other beds at the charity shop.

 8.40. It has dropped to 58F/14C in the room since I lit the stove. I have dragged the mattress away to a safe position. There are very few logs left indoors. Half a trailer full out in the carport. Another trip to the log merchant is vital. 

 9.00 60F/15.6C indoors. It is 51F/10.6C upstairs. This is following closure of the open stairwell with curtains. The sky is breaking up to blue and weak sunshine. I don't think I need a walk. I have already had enough exercise!

 9.50 The sun is bright now but it feels bitterly cold out in the wind. I brought in a 2m straight edge. To confirm the sides of the bed are bowed outwards. By at least 10mm each side. So there lies the catastrophic clearance. I don't have any battens long enough for the bed sides. [2m] So I shall have to go to the builder's merchant. I'll fit a cross piece too. To keep the sides from bowing. It's a nuisance. I was in the same village shopping yesterday. [Sunday closed] Now I'll have to make the same journey again.

 11.00 64F/17.8C. Back from the builder's merchant. Noisy wind shrieking in the car. Blinding sunshine dead ahead. The roads are weirdly white from all the salt. It is invisible when the asphalt is wet. Over £40 equivalent for a few meters of 15x40mm softwood batten.     

 I have fetched one on my 1m clamps. To pull in the bowed sides of the bed. I have plenty of batten to make two crossbars. I need to decide how best to fix them. Without making dismantling the bed impossible or unnecessarily difficult. The side battens aren't stiff enough to pull the bed sides in.

12.30 66F/19C. Greenhouse at 57F/14C! No crossbars were necessary. The width of the new side battens. Is more than enough to ensure the slatted base could not escape. I used enough screws to hold the new, wider battens onto the originals. The mattress is now 15mm higher. Slightly more than half an inch. Which is meaningless.

 14.45 Constant sunshine. 69F/20.6C in the greenhouse. I let the stove go out.

 15.20 I had a timed nap. To catch up on missing sleep in the night. The bed feels very solid and quiet now. Which it never was in the past.

 Dinner was sausage, brown mushrooms and mashed potato. All organic. Plus Bisto gravy. Plate warmed to 100C. I was feeling inspired. It was excellent.

 

  ~?~

1st Februrary 2026 Don't tell anyone, but..

 ~?~

  Sunday 1st 20F/-7C. Overcast, cold and windy. Not expected to rise above -5C/23F all day. SE winds expected to gust to 13m/s all day. 60F/15.6C in the room. Greenhouse 31F/0C. The pond thermometer has stopped working. Probably a flat battery in the cold. It was showing 36F/2C yesterday.

 Got up at 7.50 after a difficult night. I felt I was awake from 1-3am. Staying in bed seemed like the best thing to do. I had dreampt I was searching for my wife. She was in the shed for some reason but had changed into somebody I didn't recognize. Nor would she talk to me. She just walked off behind the shed. Which upset me. When I finally got back to sleep I was having more, weird dreams. 

8.15 Stove lit. Brought in more logs from the greenhouse. I shall have to unload the trailer into the greenhouse soon. Which will make me breathless. My chest is still bunged up after my recent bout of Man cold/flu/Covid. I am getting breathless even on my walks. It seems like ages since I had a ride.

 9.30 64F/18C in the room. Back from my walk. Cold, but no worse than yesterday. I wore my Ventile jacket over the pile lined fleece. This was much more windproof than the Patagonia, down sweater. Worn over the same, fleece jacket. 

 I was going to make sausage rolls. Just for a change. However, the ready-made pastry, which my wife used to use. Was not always readily available. I was always having to ask the staff if they had the correct make. The variety most often seen in the supermarket freezers was sugar laden and tasted strongly of vanilla. Now I can't remember which was the correct one. It must be five years since I last bought it. I know I will be disappointed. If I buy the inferior crap. Which is obviously aimed at the low hanging fruit market.  

15.30  24F/-4.4C. 66F/19C in the room. Back from the shops in the next shopping village to the north. Catching up on shortages. From my last grocery shopping spree in the village. I can no longer trust some supermarkets to have stock of the most ordinary items. I bought some flaky pastry. Fingers crossed. A horribly cold wind in the car parks. 

 19.00 My first sausage rolls are in the oven. Nearly ready. I washed up while they cooked. And filled and dragged two recycling, wheelie bins along the drive. In the freezing cold and a headwind. My wife reminded me regularly that I couldn't multi-task. 

 I had nothing to go with sausage rolls. Google suggested chips and beans. I've had two days of baked beans already. They are supposed to be monitoring my blog. So they should have known better. 

 20.00 I have a confession. I had taken two slices of pastry out of the box. One half of the sausages made six pieces. Two slices made four wraps. I would have had to add another slice of pastry but I was too mean and impatient. Having already given the pastry half an hour to thaw. So I glued some short lengths of pastry strips together with beaten egg. A cosmetic failure but I shan't tell if you don't. 

 

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