21.05.2026 Man Down!

                             *

 Thursday 21st. Overcast. I am finding my way around my phone keyboard as I pretend to be an influencer.

 I suffered from chest pains yesterday evening. The nurse gave me pain killers and blood thinners. She brought in the ECG? and blood pressure machines. With lightning speed she repeatedly unclipped the usual monitor leads and fitted the new. It helps to be colour coded.

 My pulse, on the screen, was the roughest looking wire net fencing imaginable! The spacing was all over the place! From an earlier, more cheerful, BP reading, it was now elevated. 

 I was shaking as if from the cold. Though the air temperature was perfectly comfortable. Thankfully the strange shivering soon passed.  

 As I struck up a conversation in Danish with a fellow inmate. The hospital helicopter had arrived. To provide the evening's only real entertainment. 

The pain stopped as the minutes crawled inexorably towards bed time. Which was a little after 10pm for me.

 It was then I discovered that memory foam pillows may not lie in my future. Though raising the bed head certainly helped. 

 A crosspiece of 2x4 will be tried on my recycled bed at home. Not with the intension of investing in a new pillow. More as a sideline in research into increased home comforts. At minimum cost of course.

 My view through the vast window nearby. Is of  the soaring cliff of another hospital building. Which runs parallel to my own spacious accomodation. The seemingly countless windows gradually lit up throughout the interminable evening.

 I slept quite well. Getting up only three times. Fortunately the toilets were just across the corridor. As I crept about in my hospital issue socks with their  grippy soles. Though I have yet to test the limits of adhesion on the corners. Nor their braking power in an emergency.

 6.30 and a new nurse did the first rounds. My blood pressure was still elevated. At least compared with yesterday's personal best.

 Last night's chest pains may have dashed any chance of a swift exit. Not by the accepted route anyway.

 Back to the necessities of life and the discovery that breakfast does not follow a strict, home timetable. An exploratory jog down the corridor left me bereft of my first fix. Of my organic Arabic coffee. Served black and pre-cooled. 

 Nor was the morning bowl of organic porridge oats forthcoming.  With the mandatory organic milk. Measured to the nearest millilitre to avoid sogginess. Or worse, to dry out. Before the very last, large flake, was carefully scraped from the pristine enamel.

 7.10 and news of the arrival of coffee and assorted juices went around. 

 We are now a man down. As the patient to my left has been released on parole. False alarm! He just had his bedding changed in his absence.

 Yet another update to his status. He was wheeled through the orderly queue at the breakfast dispensing window. With full pomp and ceremony. Something to do with a poor connection to his new pacemaker. They were going to try again. Third time lucky? 

 A new male nurse arrived. We chatted about yesterday's shenanigans. It seems I have been punctured. The catheter was too large to reach the minor plumbing features of my heart. 

 The doctor/surgeon will be around later. To decide if I get time off for good behaviour. Or must continue my enforced incarceration.

 8.25 and I joined the queue for breakfast. Porridge oats with whole milk. With a side order of a crusty brown roll and generous slices of a tasty cheese.

 The weight of the tray caused a leak. Which went unnoticed. Until my thigh and  hospital issue shirt began to look like a rather grisly crime scene!.

 The dressing had lost contact with my wrist.  On the brisk jog back to my bed. Where I sat in the comfortable armchair. Normally reserved for visitors. 

 Two nurses promptly attended to my efforts to discolour the decor. I was marched, hand held high, back to my shared cell. Where a wrist compressing bracelet was inflated. To avoid further embarassment.

 A nice lady arrived to try and extend my enforced stay. I left it to their expertise to decide when to chuck me out. Early release, while still suffering from symptoms, is a bit of a no-no it seems.

 Lunch was a delicious tomato soup with chicken bits.

 The helicopter arrived and departed later.

 13.15 No further symptoms or pain.

                                 *

20.05.2026

 ~?~

  Wednesday 20th 53F/12C {7.00] Overcast with a day of rain forecast.

 Up at 6.30 after a difficult night. I was awake for some of the time. Rehearsing my Danish to the bus drivers. I have traveled on buses an average of once in two years and then only recently. 

I very rarely use cash. So almost never have the right fare available. There is a fair bit of negativity towards using cash. It's all phone apps, for almost everything and has been for years. 

 I need to be on the bus into the village just before 8am. Then change to the bus to Odense to the bottom of the village. There is doubtful overlap between the bus stops.  

In fact I was far too early at the hospital. At least I enjoyed a decent walk between the bus stop and hospital entrance. Then just had to sit and wait.     

 They used a balloon to inflate the narrowed artery. The stent did't take. So I was wheeled to a small ward. With a mandatory 4 hours of monitoring.

 Then I had a recurrance of chest pain. The nurse suggested they might keep me in overnight. They will not let me go home if I am in any pain. Which is potentially boring but there we are.

 They have decided to move me to a ward overnight. To keep an eye on me.

 I am high up with a window view. Pictures tomorrow. Dinner was roast beef with potatoes, veg and brown sauce. The Danish version of gravy.

 I am blogging from my phone.

  ~?~

19.05.2026 + One.

 ~?~

  Tuesday 19th 53F/12C [8.25] Bright overcast. A supposedly damp start. Brighter this afternoon. 68F/20C in the room thanks to the heat pump. I probably don't need it. 58F in the greenhouse.

 Up at 7.20 after several earlier failures to take off. More weird, high realistic dreams. My back was painful when I finally got up.

 I am expecting my visitor later. I will have to drive into the village to collect her from the bus stop. Meanwhile I must tidy. 

 9.45 Back from my walk. Still dry but overcast. The neighbour's cat was sitting in the drive. Just as I approached a tabby dashed out of the hedge. They both rapidly disappeared into the distance. No guard dog today. My walk was uninterrupted. The small bushes planted along the drive embankment are white lilac. They have all just come into flower.

 11.20 My visitor is on the train leaving Kbh. 

 I have been siphoning the gravel in the aquarium. Enough to exchange 50% of the water. Refilled with the hose spray head straight from the cold tap. To maximize oxygenation. I also removed as much of the thread algae as possible. 

 12.00 Vacuumed the ground floor. Hot and breathless.

 12.05 Sunshine. Briefly. 

 I fetched my visitor and returned for lunch. Later we went back to the village to do some minor shopping. 

 I have assembled an overnight bag. Should it be needed following tomorrow's procedure. 

 Dinner was mashed potatoes, sausage and mushrooms. With a pleasant and fruity, Italian red wine. 

 

  ~?~

18.05.2026 Busy-busy!

 ~?~

   Monday 18th 53F/12C [8.00] Bright overcast with sunny periods. Overnight rain starting this evening. 66F/49C in the room with the heat pump off overnight. Greenhouse 57F/14C.

 Up at 7.10 after an average night. Dozing and weird, realistic dreams. 

 My ears are to be drain-rodded at 10am in town. I'll do some shopping while I am there. I have to expand my usual larder for a visitor. Who is coming to keep an eye on me after the hospital procedure. Plus a bit of gentle nagging about the untidiness of the place. 

 11.30 Sunny but windy again. I drove into town to have my ears scraped. A phone call half way there from the hospital. No recent blood tests! Naughty boy! 

 Then onto the bank to get some cash for the bus fares to the hospital. Then I drove straight to my doctor's surgery to have a blood test done. Onto the shops to get some change for the bus fares from the notes the bank machine gave me. Then I did a load of shopping to cater for my visitor. Am I having fun yet?

 The rest of the day was wasted on YouTube. 

 Dinner was a salmon pasty and chips. 

 

  ~?~

17.05.2026 Clearing the yard.

 ~?~

  Sunday 17th 52F/11C [8.15] Bright start expected to cloud over later. Windy again. 68F in the room thanks to the heat pump. 50F/10C in the greenhouse.

 Up at 3am because I was tormenting myself on not knowing the exact bus times. To get to the city hospital on Wednesday. So I got up, searched out the bus timetables online and printed them out. Then I confirmed that, no, the buses drove straight past the vast hospital grounds without entering. Leaving potential patients to cross a six lane, inner city race track. Then walk 3/4 of a mile, or a kilometer, to the Hospitals' main entrance or A&E. Whereupon I went back to bed approaching 5am and slept until 7am.

 8.30 I had just turned off the computer and was about to go for my walk. When I realised I hadn't started my blog. Nor had a cup of tea. So here I am back at the keyboard again. Job done. Now I really can go for my walk.

 9.00 The cacophony of bird song quickly gave way to the barking of the small, hairy guard dog. It's owner had to retrieve the animal. I turned about and retraced my steps. Should I invest in some dog treats? Is that the answer? If so, which? What if I get a bad batch and the poor little mutt keels over? Is it the done thing to bribe another person's dog? To bypass their protective instinct.

 Since I was already upright on my return. I cleared the last of the timber still defacing the parking area. Before returning to the keyboard.

 11.50 More tidying of the yard. I ran the asphalt rake over the granite chippings. Pulled out a few weeds.

 The greenhouse pond seems to be recovering from its serious algae problem. I have changed half of the water. As well as adding the shade net over the greenhouse. The filter pump has also been cleaned twice.The Canadian pond weed is no longer smothered in algae. The leaves [?] are clearly visible as belonging to plants. Earlier, they were completely smothered in dark green, cotton wool.

 The water change would dilute the nutrients on which the algae thrive. The shade reduces the light levels on which it depends. I had noticed the fish grazing on the algae on the ponds sides. Now there is little left for them to feed on. 

 I dragged a recycling bin along the drive. 

 Dinner was cheese on toast with tomatoes. 

 

  ~?~

16.05.2026 More downsizing.

 ~?~

  Saturday 16th 45F/7.2C [7.35] Overcast and windy. With rain until midnight. The trees and hedges are moving. The heat pump is maintaining 68-69F/20-21C. 51F/11C in the greenhouse.

 Up at 7.00. The usual aches. I must make an effort to do some more tidying. 

 9.20 Back from my brisk walk. Grey and breezy but dry. The neighbour's dog was outside. So I turned back without loss of distance. Just to avoid a commotion.

 The image is of an obscuring bank or berm. Raised between a riding stables and scrap man's hoard. The bank has been planted with conifers and some kind of shrub. Which should eventually provide a visual shield again the chaos beyond. Isn't it amazing how one person can ruin so many people's lives? The sky clearly shows today's weather conditions.

 11.00 I had just cleared the trailer of wood chips. Debris from the last load of logs. Then I started to collect the packaging from the new doors. Prior to placing the old door and window in the trailer. Right on cue it started tipping down. A handy pause to catch my breath. 

 12.15 Back from the recycling yard. I got rid of the old door and window. The pallet and packaging for the new. Plus some old, scrap door frames, etc. The rain held off. Mostly just spitting. The parking area looks a lot tidier now. More to be done. After lunch.

 Dinner was a chicken and mushroom fry-up. 

  

  ~?~

15.05.2026 No house points.

 ~?~

  Friday 15th 50F/10C  [8.00] A bright start to several days of rain. Windy too. Peaking at 12C/53F. Gusting to 12m/s. A slightly cool 66F/19C in the room. Heat pump remote set to 16C overnight. Greenhouse at 50F/10C.

 A rather disturbed night. Lower back aching. Shoulders better today. 

 9.30 Back from my usual walk.  I wore my Ventile jacket to protect me from the wind. The Husqvarna robot mower is doing a fine job on the new paddock. Achieving clearly defined stripes and a very uniform appearance in only one day. A far more sophisticated sward compared with the usual tractor and towed mower. Half a dozen starlings were grazing. With wagtails busy too. Only a few swallows overhead. 

 The lilacs are looking well. With many deep purple examples flowering in the area. Fyn has countless kilometers of lilac hedges. Both as field barriers and roadside hedging. It makes an attractive and nicely dense wind stop. With a wide variety of coloured blossom. Seemingly able to tolerate harsh clipping by the tractor flails. I have often been grateful for lilac hedges, While cycling in windy weather.  

 11.15 I need a rest. I have been moving the ladders out of sight. Rather than stacked by the carport. In the open space of the parking area. Now highly visible from across the back field. The ladders were an untidy eyesore. Much like everything else. 

 I had gone out looking for 18mm plywood. For the indoor floor space between the new glazed door and the water pipe. Of course I was side tracked. I couldn't get rid of the old door and window yesterday. Because the bank holiday meant the recycling yard was closed. 

 I'll get another chance tomorrow morning. If I load the trailer. If I make the short journey into the village. Probably in the rain. The whole place is a tip. It is so much easier to go for a ride or a drive.

 The afternoon was spent dozing over YouTube. 

 Dinner was sardines on toast with tomatoes. 

 

  ~?~

14.05.2026 Deary me!

 ~?~

  Thursday 14th 45F/7.2C [8.10] Bright overcast. Dry morning, rain after lunch, sunshine this evening. It is a cosy 68F/20C in the room. Thanks to the heat pump. Set at 18C overnight. Now turned down to 17C. 48F/9C in the greenhouse.

 Up at 7.25 after numerous failed attempts to take off. A rather rough night. With periods of wakefulness and weird dreams.

 My hands, shoulders and back are painful. That will teach me not to lift and carry heavy contractors saws! Silly old whatsit! Use your brains. When your brawn is all used up.

 04.40 A small deer came down the drive and crossed the parking space cautiously. The "night colour" camera's LED lights came on and was reflected in its eyes. It froze for a moment and then walked on. 

 8.30 Sunshine. I feel like a ride this morning. One battery is fully charged. 

8.45 A walk first.

 9.15 A pleasant walk but a cold wind. 

10.50 Going for a ride. 

 13.15 Back from a 43km ride. Taking the narrow lanes to my goal.  It was a religious holiday. So the traffic was affected. Cool but mostly sunny. With an annoying SE wind on the way back. Giant clouds towered in black and white.

 I stopped at a village pond. For a short rest from the 3D saddle. Where a gaggle of baby ducklings came rushing over. No doubt expecting to be fed. The trusting mother followed along later. They soon lost interest when nothing edible was forthcoming. 

 Swallows, wagtails and sparrows provided aerial entertainment. A pair of swans was hiding under the huge willow. I passed a bunch of club cyclists. Waiting for a puncture to be repaired. Lots of motorcycles rode though bearing panniers. 

 Dinner was fried chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes and boiled, new potatoes. 

 

 ~?~ 

13.05.2026 Move that saw!

 ~?~

  Wednesday 13th 43F/6C [6.45] Heavily overcast. With rain forecast all day. 68F/20C in the room. Heat pump on all night set to 16C on the remote. Greenhouse 51F/11C. 

 Up at 6am after an unusually quiet night. Aching shoulders from yesterday's heavy lifting. 

 I should have a run with the trailer to the recycling yard. To get rid of all the debris from removing the door and window. Plus the door packaging. Continuing work on the woodwork over the new doors could take place under the carport. There is little to do. I spent/wasted most of my time moving and setting up the heavy saws. I was also overthinking the job. Trying to saw a deep rebate instead of simply thinning larger material to match the spaces.  

 It was raining lightly as I enjoyed my usual walk along the drives on the back field. The robot mower has been moved to another, flatter area. I shall enjoy monitoring its progress in improving the sward. An interesting variation on watching other people work. Not quite as much fun as actually owning one but considerably cheaper!

 13.00 The doors are finished. Though the carpenter still has to return to  complete the caulking. I had to drag the saws out again. Working under the carport as the sky dripped. Backwards and forwards. Again and again. As I trimmed more off. 

 Then I changed the front wheel on the Morris. I had left the spare on since the puncture was mended. Lazy git! 

 Lunch time but I have run out of bread rolls. I'll have toast and go shopping afterwards. 

 15.45 Returned from shopping. Where only my quick thinking saved me from an inadequate driver in the car park. They reversed without looking. The bread rolls were half price. So I bought two bags of each. The sun was piercing a black sky on the way home. Lifting the gorgeous countryside a couple of notches into truly magical. 

 Dinner was poached eggs on toast. Overdone.

  

  ~?~

12.05.2026 Saws 'Я' Us.

 ~?~

  Tuesday 12th 46F/8C [7.30] Bright overcast but expected to become cloudier. Possibly with showers. Rather breezy. 69F/21C in the room thanks to the heat pump. I was cold in bed and switched on the heat pump. 48F/9C in the greenhouse.

 Up at 6.30 after a rather busy night. Shoulders aching? Possibly due to yesterday's activities while clearing the area of blockwork and mortar under the new glazed door. Back not aching? Probably having a rest day.

 I had been sold old milk at the supermarket. A freshly opened box came out all blobby in my coffee. I checked the date with a magnifying glass. Printed in pale grey on fawn. To ensure total illegibility and continuing profits. It was already two days beyond the 'Best By' date. I poured the full box down the toilet. 16 kroner wasted. £1.85 for a liter of milk! Avoiding food waste? Yeah, right! 

 No visit to my English friend today. He is on his 4th day of suffering from Man Flu.  

 9.00 We had a nice chat via WApp. A quick walk and then I'll get on with fitting the wood above the new doors. I'll have to drag the table saw out.

 The sun is shining on the new doors. Filling the entrance hall with sunlight. 

 9.25 Back from my walk. No back pain.

 13.00 Lunch. What a struggle! Extracting both saws from the shed was difficult beyond belief. I am not as strong as I once was. The shed is far too dark to work in. I lost the power and lights when I demolished the observatory. Once outside I had a lot of dust to remove. Then to fit the dust extractor unit. Which I'd ordered online from the USA and then never fitted it. If not today, then when?

 Meanwhile the sky was getting progressively darker. As if it was about to rain. The birds were chattering away all around me. Several warblers singing away. Out of sight in every corner of the garden. 

 The saws are ready to be used. I am watching the greenhouse roof for the first sign of rain. 

 Dinner was fish fingers, pasta and peas. Guess who forgot the tinned tomatoes again? I washed up while it cooked. For 20 minutes! 

 21.30 It is getting dark. I have just been outside to put the tools away. Talk about breathless! Those saws don't get any lighter! I fitted an axle and two sack truck wheels on the sliding miter saw stand. That was years ago. Without which it would never have moved.

 

  ~?~

11.05.2026 Borrowed light.

 ~?~

  Monday 11th 40F/4.4C [7.30] Cloudy, wet later. Peaking at a miserable 9C/48F at 11am and then falling steadily. 64F/18C in the room. No overnight heating. 48F/9C in the greenhouse. 

 Up at 6.50 after a quiet night. My back was hurting like hell at first but improving. 

 I have to fetch some timber to fill the gaps above and below the new doors. Though they are draught sealed with strips of fiber. There is already a noticeable increase in indoor light levels. The small window in the new entrance door is doing far more than expected in lighting the hall. This light further passes though the glazed door to the living room.

 To improve matters further I would have to remove the opaque overhang of the shed roof. Then lay some clear plastic sheeting there instead. I should gain even more light. At present there is no clear view of the northern sky through the new entrance door. The overhang currently protects garden tools and a small picnic table.  

 Both new doors face north. The view is heavily blocked by tall trees. My felling of one twisted willow had little effect on light levels. The canopy is much higher than the narrow window of the horizon I had achieved.

 All of this is probably a reaction to my wife's habit of hanging curtains literally everywhere. Even over the five [recycled] glazed doors I fitted. No wonder she suffered from winter blues!

 My own fitting of shade net over the greenhouse robs the living room of light. More so when it is overcast. Though I could pull the shade nets up with cord[s.] Possibly through the south facing dormer window.  

 Taking the stairwell [thermal] curtains down again has freed the light from the west. To enter the balcony room, at the top of the stairs and fall down the now open stairwell. Again, the tall trees to the west reduce the light. These are mostly towering willows. Planted by my late wife. 

 Though there is a backdrop windbreak of larch and oak. Which have continued to grow in the three decades I have been here. Increasingly valuable in reducing vehicle noise on the road beyond. Some 120m away. 

 8.30 Time for a walk.

 9.00 Back again. My back improved steadily as I walked.

 12.45 Back from the builder's merchant with some 100x100mm pressure treated timber. They cut the length in half for me. So it would go in the car. Only just!

 16.30 51F/11C. After lunch I used the big DeWalt hammer drill with various chisels. To clear the mortar and blockwork under the new, glazed door. It took some time to make enough room. For the length of timber to slide easily under the door's threshold. 

 17.00 It has been getting noticeably colder but no rain yet. Dropping below 63F/17C in the room. So I have started the heat pump. Remote set at 18C/64F. The outlet air is briefly showing 55C before dropping back to 29C. 

 19.00 I just woke from watching YouTube! It must have been an hour! I hope I can sleep tonight!

 Dinner was tuna on a wholemeal bread roll. The room has reached 69F/21C.

 

  ~?~

10.05.2026 New doors!

 ~?~

  

 Sunday 10th 60F/10C [8.00] Overcast with possible light showers.

 Up from 2-5am after an hour of wakefulness. Back to bed until 6.30.

 8.15 I have had a message from the carpenter. He will be late. By half an hour. 

 12.45 He has both doors installed and is now sealing around the edges. You couldn't ask for a more helpful, friendly, careful, knowledgeable, fastidious and skilled worker. He left at 13.00. Great job!

 I need to buy some pressure treated timber. To seal the gaps at the tops and bottoms of the doors. Until the walls had been cleared of their existing construction it was impossible to guess what might be needed. He will then return to finish caulking them.

 It is Sunday so no timber stockist is open. The new doors look so smart they make the rest of Chez Hovel look even more shabby! White paint in place of the cream I think. With new black paint for the timber framing.

 It was dry and sunny all day after the early cloud had cleared. 

 18.30  I am going to make a Sunday dinner. Baked chicken, roast potatoes, peas, carrots and gravy.  

 I have emptied the indoor containers and taken the recycling bin along the drive.   

Dinner was perfect. 40 minutes in the oven at 200C. The roast potatoes were fluffy inside. The chicken beautifully tender after a rest. 

 

  ~?~

9.05.2026 Mountains out of molehills!

 ~?~

  Saturday 9th 50F/10C [8.30] Last fully sunny day for the moment. Peaking at 16C/61F this afternoon. A modest, easterly wind. 63F/17C in the room. With the stair well now fully open again. I took the heavy curtains down. They had made a useful contribution to keeping the downstairs warm when it was colder outside. 50F/10C in the greenhouse. 

 Rain and a northerly wind expected tomorrow. Just as the carpenter is coming to fit the new doors. On the northern facade. Hopefully the roof overhangs will provide some protection.

 Up at 7.40 after an untidy night. I was awake at four and 5am and then it was suddenly much later. My back is still hurting. Though I still plan to have a walk. 

 9-9.30. My usual loop along the drives. Warm sunshine. Very little wind. I almost walked off the back pain. The upper buttock pain was not noticeable today.

 12.10 Back from the next shopping village to the north. Two people admired the car. The petrol price has dropped a little. The rubber seal in the air pump was shot. Impossible to check the tire pressures. I think my back may finally be improving. 

 14.00 62F/17C. Bright sunshine. I have pushed the mower at its highest setting. Over the minefield pretending to be a lawn. It kept being bogged down on the molehills. I need to rake out these hills but I am already knackered and breathless. I need a rest.

 Dinner was fried chicken, mushrooms, baked beans and chips. 

 

  ~?~

8.05.2026 48km and some gardening.

 ~?~

   Friday 8th 53F/12C [8.00] Another sunny day is promised. Peaking at 16C/61F after lunch. Easterly winds starting light. Gusting to 10m/s by late afternoon. 70F/21C in the room. After feeling cold in the night and starting up the heat pump. I put on my thick jumper but my legs were still cold. 50F/10C in the greenhouse. The Danish news media is talking about a drought.

 Up at 7.15 after a disturbed night with weird dreams. I was awake at four. Then it was five and six and seven. All in the blink of a closed eye.

 I think I'll have a ride to Fåborg via the pretty lanes. Headwind going. Helped home later.

 9.50 Returning from another loop of the drives. It was warm with a steady easterly breeze. I was overdressed. The robot mower was sitting [stuck?] in the same place as before. In a steep hollow around a drain. A few swallows were zooming over the fields. I have seen very few this year. Wagtails were landing on the drive and going again. I followed an orange tipped butterfly for a 100m. 

 13.30 Back from a 48km ride. I never made it to Fåborg. It didn't seem as if I had the range. Despite leaving with a 100% battery charge. I stayed in Tour mode to conserve battery power. Until I headed for home. Taking a major detour along a narrow lane. Which became a gravel track several times. Middle of nowhere hardly begins to describe it.  I saw several birds of prey and a single hare while I was out.

 16.15 I have replaced the line in the DeWalt strimmer with the 2mm gold coloured stuff. Then strimmed most of the western lawn. Which had become 90% dandelions. The strimmer was very effective but hard on my back. So I added a support sling at the handle. Which went diagonally over my shoulder and certainly helped. 

 There are still lots of molehills. Which were hidden until now. I tried the strimmer on the grass already growing through the gravel parking space. Too vicious! The mower was no better. Now I need a rest!

 I should go shopping. I'll see what's in the fridge. Shop tomorrow.

 Dinner was mackerel in tomato sauce on toast with tomatoes. 

 

 

  ~?~

7.05.2026 Hedge? What hedge?

 ~?~

 Thursday 7th 41F/5C [7.15] Bright but rather cloudy today. 64F/18C in the room. 48F/9C in the greenhouse.

 Up at 6.30 after a fairly quiet night. My back was killing me when I got up! Was it the mowing?

 Cooking class today. I have colour recipe papers again. After a long time with black and white. The HP printer would not recognize its own obscenely expensive "economy sized" ink cartridges. So when it stopped feeding paper as well it was quickly replaced by a budget Canon ink jet printer. 

 Now the Canon wants to update its firmware. As I don't have a Masters degree in Canon updating textual nonsense it is likely to remain "unimproved." Fortunately it produces excellent prints as is. So I won't repair what's not broken. 

 Besides, I did not take the option of the accessory Atomic Tunneling Microscope. To be able to read the sub-micro [3 micron] text on the sub-miniature display panel. There is somebody very twisted at Cannon to have let that become an official feature. Nepotism? Probably.

 In fact the updating was only a matter of repeatedly pressing the OK button to prompts on the tiny screen. Read with the aid of my trusty 10x compound, magnifying glass. Job done. Now it will probably start misbehaving. Or displaying adverts on the tiny screen! 😱

 However tempting to ride the 32km to cooking class I think it's a bit risky. I am feeling a bit fragile this morning.

 I have now heard back from the county council about the overgrown, larch hedge. They have decided that it does not present a serious hindrance to normal movement along the drive. I may trim the hedge to ensure free passage but may not damage the hedge. 

 So any plans to take a chainsaw to the trunks at head height is obviously out of the question. The image [top right] shows the towering hedge. The hedge in the foreground is the legal height for a shared, boundary hedge.

 I have discovered the name of the investment company. Which I am presuming is [slowly] repairing the house for rental. One might have hoped the recent run of fine weather would have signaled the arrival of more builders. 

 13.45 Back from cooking class. Where I made beef burgers.

 No dinner required. So I used the time to wash up instead. 😇

 

  ~?~

6.05.2026 A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

 ~?~

  Wednesday 6th 41F/5C [7.15] Bright and sunny all day again. Only 13C/55F maximum again. 63F/17C in the room. No heating yesterday. None overnight. I'll give it an early boost with the heat pump. See what happens. Greenhouse at 48F/9C. 

 7.30 Up at 6am. I felt breathless in the night. Imagination? Dreaming? I'll go for walk in a minute or two. Before I get welded to the computer chair.

 8.00 Back again. Bright sunshine but a rather cool NE wind. I walked the parallel drive loop on the back field. The image shows why I like this area so much. There is a large pond just out of view to the left. The flat area, again to the left, is marshy. A stream runs just in front of the background trees. 

 The entire embankment, along which the new drive runs is less than three years old. It was started in the spring of 2023 and took some months to complete. It was beautifully landscaped and is becoming very natural in appearance. It took hundreds of vast tipper trucks full of soil, rubble, gravel and sand. To lift the embankment over the original marshy field. 

 A huge excavator did all the work in leveling and shaping the banks. With a vibrating, road roller compacting the surface. The excavator driver did a tremendous job of beautifying what could so easily have been an ugly, uniform, railway embankment. An area between the new and old drives was raised and leveled. To become a small field or paddock. Leading nicely up to the newly erected buildings and house at the base of the hill. 

 The Husqvarna robot mower was still trundling back and forth. As I walked back along the neighbours' drive. It was looking almost lost on the huge area of grass it tends. 

 Each day the sward visibly improves. Yet it is impossible to detect any cutting action while the mower is actually moving. The magic must lie in the endless repetition. No weed gets a chance to raise its head. 

 8.30  I ought to have a ride today. 

 10.00 The first bike battery is fully charged. I think I'll take the scenic route to Assens. 

 12.45 And back again after 25km. I visited two DIY outlets and a charity shop but came away empty handed. A headwind coming back. So I found my GripGrab "Aviator" medieval scull cap in the panniers to protect my ears. This greatly increased my comfort.

 The spring countryside was absolutely gorgeous. Particularly the cycle path. Which runs N-S along the western boundary of Assens. It is quite a steep incline but wanders endlessly left and right in blind bends  to provide greater interest. 

 With a dense shelter belt of trees between itself and the main road to the east. A similar wealth of semi-mature trees lies on the other side. To hide and shelter the houses. The adjoining paths are all named after birds.  

 After lunch and some YT I kept dozing off. So I had to have a nap. The computer screen keeps going dark and won't restart. A software update? I tried Restarting the mini-PC. No difference.

 15.15  Back in from mowing the drive. 8 lengths of 100m.  No back pain? Do I feel up to attacking the western lawn? It is very hard work pushing the mower through long, rough grass. The ground is very rough after there being hundreds of molehills earlier in the year. The Makita mower batteries will probably need recharging by now. 

 16.00 I have been filling out an online questionnaire on my heart symptoms. Prior to my appointment on the 20th May. After which there was a link to a very detailed description of the procedure for balloon expansion and fitting a stent. With an excellent video to watch. All helping to reinforce the illustrated text description I have already received and printed out. 

 I have heard back from the kommune [county council] about the overgrown, larch hedge blocking the drive. The piles of builders rubble, toilets, sinks, etc. in front of the corner house are judged not to be insanitary. Nor likely to attract rats. So there's nothing which can be done about that.

 The hedge could be trimmed by the council at the expense of the owners. Though it was advised that discussion between the property owners would be more sensible. Unfortunately there has been no contact whatsoever with the owner. I have no idea who it might be. My nice neighbours would also like to contact them. To discuss the shared drive maintenance or costs. 

  I have just exchanged hand signals with a bunch of eastern European workers. Who spoke neither English nor Danish. Their manners in completely and repeatedly blocking the drive spoke volumes. As does the awful mess they left behind in the turning space. At the junction with the main drive and my shared access drive.  Presumably to save the expense of taking it all to the local recycling yard. 

 Their mess has remained untouched since work was abandoned in the autumn. [September 2025] With no sign of a return so far. The plastic sheeting they used to cover the bare roof timbers after stripping the thatch. Is now ripping itself to pieces in the wind.

 Dinner was poached eggs on toast. No pictures. 

 

  ~?~

5.05.2026 Demolition!

 ~?~

 Tuesday 5th 39F/3.9C [6.00] Another sunny day. 67F/199C in the room.41F/5C in the greenhouse. I left the skylights open out there to shed the heat. I don't want the pond water getting too warm.

 Up at 5.30 after a very busy night at the fire bucket. My back is painful again. I shall be visiting my English friend. 

 12.00 Safely back from my visit. Countryside very beautiful. My friend gave me a pretty copper bird feeder. Further to his requirements. He already has several feeders hanging from his huge, garden trees. I shan't start feeding them. Just hang it up so the birds get used to it being there.

 I was going to go for a ride after lunch but didn't.  

 16.00 I have been rather busy indoors. First I had to empty the glass display cabinet of ornaments and move it aside.

 Then I started demolishing the internal brickwork and block work under the original, indoor window sill. Where the glazed door will replace the antique window. I have posted an image above of Chez Hovel's present ugliness. The distortion is due to the mobile phone camera. 

 I built the entrance door out of thick, recycled floorboards and installed it probably over 20 years ago. It is much easier to enter the house this way. Than going through the lean-to greenhouse. The sliding, greenhouse doors do not readily lend themselves to easy access. Nor is there anywhere to park nearby. 

 The inside of the outer layer of lightweight insulating blocks can be seen in the image below right. I have already removed an inner row of blocks. Which were hidden behind the brickwork. Under the deep, protruding, wooden windowsill. 

 This was the first time the rather beautiful, old window has been opened in three decades. Which allowed me to throw the debris straight into the wheelbarrow. Parked outside, under the sill. 

 Going well so far. The big DeWalt hammer drill made quick work of clearing the last of the adhering mortar on the floor. The work so far has increased the light coming through the window. Though it has always been obscured by a chest of drawers until now. There was always a sense of vulnerability due to the low sill height. 

 The downside is that I have now discovered the mains water pipe leading to the meter. The pipe is literally lying on the concrete floor. Buried within the wall insulation on either side. Being iron, the pipe will not succumb to any attempt at bending.  Which means it can't be lost under the new door's threshold. Which probably means that the door will have to be mounted slightly higher if the threshold overlaps. By about 20mm or nearly an inch above floor level.  

 Still plenty of room below ceiling level. If the pipe runs just inboard of the new door's threshold. It could easily be hidden in some white, boxy electrical conduit. To disappear from view against the overall white of the new door. What the eye doesn't see.. The heart can't grieve about. I may have to move the carpet northwards. To hide the now bare area of floor. Though a doormat might do just as well.

 The carpenter may have a better idea on how to deal with the pipe problem. I shan't do any more now until he turns up. He can decide how much of the window surround/reveal needs to be removed. As well as the ugly block work above the present window. 

 Dinner was a major fry-up. Sausages, mushrooms, tweggs on toast and Heinz baked beans. Toast is healthier than fried bread. I think.   

 I had a "spam" email from Moustache e-bikes. They are offering a 1000Wh battery on specific bike models. The largest battery was only 670Wh when I bought mine. It might help to compensate for the hunger of the Bosch increase in power on specific motors. Progress.

  ~?~

4.05.2026 Progress.

 ~?~

  Monday 4th 47F/8C [7.50] Heavy overcast. Heavy overnight rain last night. Possible sunshine this afternoon. Peaking at a miserable 13C/55F. A bit breezy from the west.

 Up at 7am after a typical night. I was cold in bed at 70F/21C. So I put on a thick jumper. It's still 69F/21C in the room without any heating. The greenhouse is at 57F/14C.

 9.15 Trying a walk. 

 9.45 Back again in bright sunshine. Just the usual loop. I almost walked off the back pain. Not aware of the buttock pain today.

 I hovered to watch the Husqvarna robot mower at work. Having greatly underestimated the large area of lawn near their house yesterday. Despite there being no obvious sign of grass being actively cut. The overall appearance has improved since yesterday. The mower may be set at maximum height. So it is removing only the tips of the grass and any weeds. 

 Robot mowers are ideally meant for lawn maintenance. Not as a weed wacker. The general advice online is to use a conventional mower to get the grass short enough in spring. Then let the robot mower repeatedly trim the grass to taste. It is only the repetition which makes it practical. Because it never exceeds the rather limited cutting capacity.

 All of this discussion is my attempt to decide. If, or how I can continue maintaining the drive and western lawn myself. With my continuing bad back a major factor in the decision. I do not want to pay somebody to come in to cut the grass. Minimum of (say) 500kr [~£50] per trim. 12 trims per year and a 6,000kr robot mower would pay for itself. If, hiring somebody was the only other option. Cutting the grass with the Makita battery mower is proving quite hard work.

 Repeatedly emptying the large grass box is even harder work. It used to mean using a wheelbarrow to remove the cuttings. To the far NE corner of the garden behind the shed. There is plenty of space for compost heaps at the edges of the western lawn. The huge bushes can easily hide a multitude of sins. Few, if anybody, ever visit the western garden. The drive more often. How do you stop occasional vehicles from running over a mower? 

 Local grass dumping doesn't really make life any easier. The heavy grass box still has to be removed [very awkwardly!] from the mower, carried and tipped. A robot mower would not be producing huge quantities of cuttings. At least not once the lawn is safely under its control. Which nicely solves the weight problem. But, which leaves the serious problem of improving the western lawn to manageable smoothness first. Before a robot mower can even be unleashed. 

 12.30 I'll have to go shopping. I have run out of rolls for lunch. 

 13.00 Back again. Warm, breezy and sunny.

 14.00 60F/15.6C. 110F/43C in the greenhouse! I have opened the skylights and end door. 

 I went outside and moved the unused paving slabs away from the house. The plants, pots, furniture and recycling bins also need a temporary new home. All done.  

 I am open for bidding on the Danish "Handyman" website to have my new doors fitted professionally. I could easily do it myself if I didn't have a bad back and didn't feel so old. It now occurs to me that the display cabinets are a hindrance to door fitting activities. While I might take great care others might not. Hundreds of china cats and the Finnish glass collection will have to be moved somewhere else!  

 I have accepted a competitive bid from a qualified carpenter. We had a chat on the phone and his English is excellent. He has completed 20 projects with Handyhand and had glowing reports and full marks. He'll be here at the end of this week. A huge relief not to have to do the job myself in my present state. More so because it will be done well before my hospital appointment. 

 Now I have a fixed date I really do need to start clearing the display cabinets. Though the cat cabinet in the corner could be shielded with plywood. Or a sleeping bag? The glass collection cabinet does need to move but is easily managed and returned to its former state. There being so few ornaments to handle.

 Dinner was the four sausage rolls I put in the fridge last night. With fresh salad. 

 

  ~?~

 

3.05.2026 Grass fed robot.

 

~?~ 

  Sunday 3rd 51F/11C [7.30] Overcast. Slightly misty. A complete change from the recent run of sunny weather. Peaking at 18C after lunch. Rain also starting after lunch. Becoming very wet overnight. With up to 20mm of rain! Heaviest in the evening. Thunder, hail and all sorts of noisy goings on. Though with very modest winds. 21C/70F in the room with the heat pump set to 18C on the remote. Greenhouse at 60F/16C. Pond water at 66F/19C.

 Up at 6am after a fairly quiet night. Back/hip/buttock region still hurting. I haven't considered a walk yet.

 8.40 Back from a walk around the drive loop. My lower back was almost normal today. The hip less  painful. I kept going and managed to increase my speed from a toddle to a reasonable pace. 

 Today's entertainment was the neighbour's robot mower. A modestly sized Husqvarna. It was trundling along at a decent walking pace parallel with my route. Though encumbered by the steep sideways slope. It was all but silent. Except for the moments when it hit rougher ground and rattled slightly. It would never disturb anyone even close to its vicinity. 

 The strange thing was that I was completely unable to see any evidence of its passing. One dandelion clock lay in its path but it only showed some damage from the mower. Certainly not clipped. Nor did the grass show any signs of being chopped. At all! Very odd. I watched while it decided how to mow a hooked area near the road. A couple of turns and it headed back home. 

 The area of grass it has to work on is truly vast. At least 160m x 15m. Heavily sloping away from the gravel drive. Wider at both ends.  If it were really able to tame such an area it would save a lot of time and effort. Not having to mow it with their usual tractor drawn implement. With some considerable risk from the steep sideways slope.

 I have seen quite a number of robot mowers doing a great job on similar sized lawns and even much larger. Schools seem to like them. The can produce a sward far better than most manual or ride-on tractor mowers. Since the robot leaves no strips of fallen grass between its tracks. It can provide really impressive results over time. My western lawn is far too rough for an affordable robot mower.  

  11.30 It has already rained and is still raining lightly. I had a look around the garden. Most of the Buddleias are dead. Only one has survived out of six. My wife couldn't keep them alive either. 

 Now that I have the printer I can decide how best to reach the hospital from home. I can catch a bus at 7am from the end of the drive. This bus goes within a reasonable distance of the hospital. Roughly 1.5km away at 8.15. My appointment is at 9.30 

 Can I get off the bus as close as possible? There is no stated stop. I will have one hour to reach the hospital from the nearest, listed bus stop. That should be doable. Assuming by back isn't killing me.

 Or, I can get a bus into the village going the opposite way. Change to the Odense bus at the bottom of the village. Then be delivered straight to the hospital.

 Sunday dinner was sausage rolls, peas, carrots and boiled potatoes. I should have made gravy!

 

~?~  

2.05.2026 Him indoors.

 ~?~

  Saturday 2nd 67F/19C [9.30] Another sunny day. Expected to peak at 22C/71F. It is already close to that! A bit breezier than yesterday. Mostly S-SW. 67F/19C in the room without any heating. 71F/22C in the greenhouse. 

 Up at 7.30 after several failed attempts. My back is still hurting. No ill effects from yesterday's 95km foolishness.

  No walk. My hip/back/buttock weren't up to it.

 I wasted ages trying to get my security cameras to work on the phone app and mini-PC. The camera passwords were not recognized. Despite them working perfectly well on the same network on the old PC. 

 My new printer worked straight out of the box. I needed it to print the 8 pages of advice and information for the coming heart scan. Sent as a file from the hospital after my old HP printer had stopped working.  

 I spent the day on the computer. Opening the inner doors and windows to gain heat from the greenhouse.

 Dinner was simple and supposedly healthy. Tuna on a halved, wholemeal, bread roll. I haven't used any energy. So didn't need a huge meal.

  

  ~?~

1st May 2026 Happy Birthday Sue!

 ~?~

  Friday 1st 47F/8C [7.30] Yet another sunny day. Peaking at 19C this afternoon. Light SW breeze.

 Up at 6am after a typical night. My back feels slightly improved for the moment.

 Happy Birthday to my sister Sue!  🎉🥳

 I have been wandering up and down the drive. Taking pictures of the next door's overgrown hedge. The white building in the foreground is a shed. The house is lost behind the hedge.

 Then I sent a secure email to the county council asking for advice. With attached images to show the problem. It is a bank holiday today. So it will be a few days before I hear anything.

 A walk should be possible this morning. Followed by a ride. It would be a shame to waste such a pleasant day.

 8.30 Back from a loop around the neighbours' drives on the back field. Warm sunshine and no wind. I even sprinted down the drive! 

 9.00 Bike battery still on charge. The hedges are beginning to rock in the wind. It's only supposed to gust to 6m/s. I haven't decided where to go yet. I might ride to Ringe. Along the old railway cycle path. Gorgeous countryside and very unspoilt. About 36km each way. I had better wear my padded bibs! [Cycle shorts with braces] I will take two batteries. It's a shame the best garden center on Fyn has closed. 

 10.30 Almost ready to go. I have decided to ride to Korinth. To explore the lakes.

 16.15 72F/22C! Returning from a 95km/60 mile ride to Ringe and back via Korinth. I am hot and knackered. Swapped batteries at 70km. Ate three Corny sub-micro chocolate bars and drank three small boxes of organic apple juice.

 17.30 I just had a half hour nap to recover. My neighbour is shredding the branches I cut down last year. He had a lot of material from cutting the face of the hedge which adjoins his field. Which was just left where it dropped until now. Goody! That will save me worrying about disposal of my contribution to deforestation.

 Dinner was a salmon pasty and chips. I washed up while it cooked.

 I siphoned half of the water out of the indoor aquarium. Hoovering the gravel will have helped. The algae build up suggested too much in the way of nutrients. I also added an internal filter to stir things up and remove the disturbed particulates. I had been running a full under-gravel filter but it obviously wasn't enough.

  

 

  ~?~