11.05.2026 Borrowed light.

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  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.

  

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