22.03.2026 50 chilly km.

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  Sunday 22nd 1F/-1 [6.45] An overnight frost. The sun is just rising over the hill to the east. The forecast is for a misty start with early cloud. Peaking at 10C/50F this afternoon. Sun from 10 o'clock. It seems nobody told the sun. 64F/18C in the room. It was 72F/22C last night. 36F/2C in the greenhouse.

 Up at 4.25. I woke at 4am for the first time to use the fire bucket. Only to descend into a spiral of negative memories. Sleep did not arrive to end the misery. So I got up to escape. Not with any irritation or remorse. It happens. So why torment myself further? Life presents a series of unfortunate events which alter one's path. Once I am upright the memories of those events can be set aside. Peace returns. 

 Overall I think my life has been a reasonable success. Despite the many hiccups along the away. I have created so many peculiar things. It would cover an A4 page if I listed them all by my own illegible hand. Fame was never my goal. Wealth might have been once but it always managed to swerve effortlessly around me. 

 In absence of abundance I was forced to make the things that I wanted. Each new project provided new skills and knowledge. Often involving new tools. Which could all be shuffled along to the next project. Usually with the need for more tools. More knowledge. More research. More reading. The steady, or unsteady accumulation of skills and flexibility in thinking. I am no artist and have the musical skills of woodlouse. My skills at math are so poor as to warrant mirth. Yet I get by. 

 I have been extraordinarily lucky in being able to find "stuff" throughout my long life. The basic building materals needed for the construction of the latest obsession. For I am certainly obsessive. Once the latest butterfly flutters into view. I blame my innate intelligence for much of my creativity. Curiosity has been my main driver. Being unable to turn my intelligence into anything resembling a career was almost beneficial. A computer without a memory is a pitiful thing. Though never to be pitied. 

 I have inbuilt resources and can call upon them when the plumbing needs fixing. Or many other practical needs around the house. Like a new roof. Or insulation, woodwork, drainage, plumbing, windows, doors and tiling. The enormous savings over the long decades have probably allowed me to find the funds for my endless projects. 

My late wife referred to me as a "butterfly." Because I would become so engrossed in a subject or construction. Only to completely lose interest once something was achieved to my own satisfaction. The countless books in my library are witness to my fleeting and flitting nature. I am a perfectionist in my drive to succeed with a project. Dismissive of my unwillingness to compromise. 

 YouTube keeps suggesting videos on "manifestation." The subtle control of one's personal universe by conscious power of will. Which makes me think. That my remarkable luck is often my simply having a positive attitude. Not deluded longing. Not a belief in some higher authority. No castle in the sky nonsense. Just a belief that what I need is simply waiting to be found.

 Take a recent example: I needed display cabinets for my late wife's glass collection. Suddenly they were "coming out of the woodwork." So to speak. Yes, it is true that I was deliberately searching for these cabinets in charity shops. Searching for inspiration in online furniture sales websites. 

 I have to ask: Was this all that it required? To have a need. Then to find so many cabinets, so quickly, at such very modest expense. All in the same period style by probably the same manufacturer. Yet I have no memory of these cabinets being available beforehand. None were ever for sale before I needed them. They are so distinctive that I am sure I would have noticed. 

 I wanted to find an affordable Morris Minor. Something to suit my slower pace at relatively low cost. So I could get rid of my aging Japanese car. Which we had owned for years and was reaching the end of its affordable life. Hey presto and abracadabra!  A chap in the nearest village was selling a nice Morris for an elderly owner. Less than a kilometer away. Then I needed specialist advice and expertise. A supplier of unique spares and skilled repair of these old vehicles. There is a specialist restorer within a short bike ride from Chez Hovel. 

 8.00 33F/+1C. It has misted over on the back fields while I was scribbling. Time for a walk.  

 8.30 36F/2C. Bright sunshine. Back again. I used the thick mist as a cover for a loop around the spray tracks on the fields. The overnight frost promised firm soil. My hands are freezing despite the gloves. Traffic very quiet. 

 The temperature doesn't climb much until lunch time. So an afternoon ride makes most sense. I should stay at home this morning and do something useful. 

 12.00 52F/11C. 67F/19C in the room. 95F/35C in the greenhouse. I have opened all the internal doors and windows to share the warmth. 

 13.00 Lunch. 68F/20C indoors. I have sorted the indoor containers into the recycling bin and dragged it along the drive. Made progress with dismantling a heavy old telescope mounting. For packing and dispatch. Watered all the indoor plants and retied the Monstera. 

 13.45 53F/12C. I am going to get ready for a ride. 

 16.55 51F/11C. 68F/20C in the room. I opened the greenhouse skylights before leaving. Currently 77F/25C out there. Returning from a rather chilly 50km/31 mile ride. I explored the still closed and newly opened roads on the new railway route. Took lots of pictures with my phone camera. I was getting saddle sore and tired from about 40km. So I used Turbo mode to help me get home. 

 A pair of storks flew low over the road just in front of me. Right out in the middle of nowhere. A tractor was ploughing. With a tail of hundreds of gulls. Several birds of prey wanted a free lunch too but were being attacked by the gulls. 

 Sunday dinner was chicken, mushrooms, peas, carrots and roast potatoes. Mostly in the baking tray. I boiled the peas in a pan. Bisto gravy to follow. After half an hour at 220C, with fan, in a pre-heated oven, I allowed the chicken to rest for five minutes. It was the most moist and tender I have ever tasted. 

 

 

  

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