5.09.2026 29km and pushing the boundaries.

 ~?~

  Saturday 5th 56F/13C [7.50] Bright overcast. The last wet day of a series. Peaking at a  low 16C/60F. Westerly gales building to 16m/s gusts this afternoon. Possible sunny periods. 20C/68F in the room. 13C in the closed greenhouse. I shall take the shade net down if it has a chance to dry out.

 Up at 7am after a fairly quiet night. The water lily has produced its first new leaf. Now five.

 I have just collected the recycling bin from the junction with the main drive. Proving that five days is not enough time. To trigger any interest in my longevity. The ponies were curious and looked up from their breakfast table at the shuffling old fart. They were too far away to be tempted. By handfuls of grass from no man's land on this side of the fence. Petit far gras? Suit yourselves. 

The forecast is not remotely conducive to a sneaky ride. Heavy showers coming in from the west. May contain hail, cloudbursts, lightning and fierce gusts of wind. Nice! I could potter to my usual shopping destinations in the Morris. Which would save me having to think about doing anything about the hovel. Or its excess of contents. 

 There has been no interest in the lathe. Secondhand Myfords are being listed. At more than twice what I am asking for my "proper" engineering lathe. 

 11.50 Back from a drive to the next shopping village. Just as well I didn't go by bike. It started raining as I crossed the parking space. Continuing on and off during my outing. The roads were saturated on the way back. With wide and deep puddles dragging the car sideways. This was on a main road that has recently been resurfaced. 

 I dropped in on the garden centre for a 50L bag of potting compost. Plus a nice thick bamboo cane for my rubber plant. Which is showing signs of needing a giant killer before long. The three lengths of dowel in the pot at the moment do almost nothing to support the towering edifice.

 13.45 61F/16C. 93F/34C in the greenhouse. I had to open the skylights. The radar now shows much smaller, more isolated showers, racing in from the west.  Though it is still windy at 16m/s gusts. I'm going for a ride. I'll take my waterproof trousers, just in case and wear my waterproof jacket anyway.  

 16.00 Back from a 29km ride. I was fighting a fierce headwind all the way to Ebberup. Where I discovered more fine gravel had been laid towards the east. Though possibly not finish rolled. The stretch towards Assens was still not navigable. Despite my wide tires and full suspension.

 Having joined the path I managed to ride all the way to Glamsbjerg. With only one deep puddle preventing my progress for a few yards/meters towards the end. So I simply circumnavigated it. Perhaps one third of the new cycle path was still bare and bumpy soil. Though I still managed a steady 16kph or 10mph. 20kph on the fine gravel. 

 It started tipping down just as I reached home! After remaining sunny for most of the afternoon. I could see the sky ahead was black. So I timed it, quite accidentally, to perfection!

 Dinner was cheese on toast with boiled eggs. 

  

 ~?~ 

4.09.2026 Largely absent.

 ~?~

  Friday 4th 59F/15C [8.40] Heavy overcast. Yet another rainy day and more to come. Gales tonight. 20.6C/71F in the room. 15C in the greenhouse.

 Up at 7.40 after earlier waking and drifting.

 9.30 I have had my morning, online chat. 

 The rest of the day was largely wasted watching videos online. 

 I watered the indoor plants. 

 Oh, and washed up. 

 Dinner was a salmon pasty, pasta, peas and tinned tomatoes. 

 

  ~?~

 

3.09.2026 Glass back on display.

 ~?~

  Thursday 3rd 58F/14C [8.00] Heavy overcast as yet another wet day grinds on. Windy, starting southerly, going westerly. 21C/70F in the room. 15C/59F in the greenhouse.

 Up at 7.40. As the pattern of waking early then drifting continues. I think it's a much better sign than getting up at some foolish hour in the night. Lying awake in the dark is no longer a problem. I just relax.

 I spent some time bringing the glass items back downstairs. They had been removed for safety during the demolition around the doorways. I used the corner cabinet which had housed the cats. Segregating the nominal colours on each shelf.

 The corner cabinet has larger shelves than the rectangular ones. Though the twin bars supporting the glass sides and the hinged glass door. Do obscure the contents more. Than the more conventional, rectangular wall standing cabinets. My eyes can easily see past these glazing bars. The camera cannot and makes it worse by distorting the angles. 

 The sheer weight of these glass items is always a worry. When they are placed on what seems like very thin glass shelves. I reserve the wooden bottom of the cabinets for the very heaviest items. Only the four glass shelves are shown here. The bottom of the cabinet has been cropped away in the image. 

 I was extremely dizzy after a few trips up and down the stairs. Carrying baskets of glass ornaments. My vision was as if the brightness had been turned up to full! Fortunately this passed after a few minutes. Google suggests that it is probably a sudden drop in blood pressure. After lunch I lay down for an hour. 

 I have now filled the bottom of the corner cabinet with a range of white glass ornaments. There are some large and heavy, coloured pieces left. They can remain in the kitchen display cabinets.

 It is ironic that few of these pieces ever saw the light of day when my wife was alive. There was literally nowhere to display them. So most of them sat in cardboard boxes wrapped in newspaper. A couple of dusty, red glass vases sat on a windowsill. Yet I find the mostly Finnish, vintage glass interesting and attractive. So that I really enjoy having them on show. Unlike her teapot and cat collections. Both of which left me rather unmoved. 

 I was told that some people like to have a simple shrine to a loved one after their passing. My shrine to my wife has become four, huge, glass display cabinets. Their contents a beautiful reminder. Of our endless years. Of visiting Danish charity shops, car boot sales, antique and secondhand markets. Over a very wide area. Probably over a fifty mile radius. 

 It all started by having neighbours from hell. Who used an un-silenced chainsaw 24x7. To produce illegal firewood in another neighbour's back garden. One immediately adjacent to our living room and bedroom windows. We were forced to be absent as much as possible. 

 So collecting became our hobby. At the time I hadn't a clue how much we had actually accumulated. I donated many trailers full to charity shops. Until, they told me to go away. They didn't have the staff to cope with it all. The rest I am slowly selling off. 

 Chat GPT is threatening to add adverts to my extremely rare visits to their universal index. Nothing like AI. Even worse than that, they have defiled my PC. By sending an email which cannot be deleted nor binned. 

 Moreover it won't let me close the email page. Even after repeated attempts at deletion. So their mail is essentially immortal. Corruption plays out as corruption does. Will the email magically disappear when Chat GPT goes bankrupt within the next few months? 

 Dinner was mackerel in tomato sauce on toast. With halved, cherry tomatoes. Sæby quality is falling faster. Than the expensive copy tins they sell via Rema 1000. 

  

  ~?~

2.09.2026 More Downsizing.

 ~?~

  Wednesday 2nd Overcast. Rain forecast for the next three days.

 Up at 7.20. 

 Tipping down. Off to see my friend.

 13.10 Back from my visit. With shopping on the way home. It has rained and poured and generally tipped down, on and off.

 I have finally listed my old metal lathe on a Danish small ads website. I have owned the lathe for over 35 years. It started my clock restoring business in Wales. Later used for my telescope making activities. It holds many happy memories. But, I must downsize. 

 Dinner was fish fingers and chips. It stuck to the baking paper. Oh, the shame!  

  ~?~

 

1st September 2026 Autumn.

 ~?~

  Tuesday 1st 61F/16C [8.45] A bright, sunny morning with a risk of showers. A westerly wind gusting to 10m/s. 21C/70F in the room. 16C in the greenhouse.

 Up at 8.20 after failing to take off at 6am.

 I might sneak in a ride this morning. 

 9.50 Had my morning online chat and now it is tipping down! 

 The showers continued on and off. Heavily at times. 

 I did nothing all day. Except sit on the computer. I brought down the dry laundry from the clothes horses upstairs. Put the pile of washing up away.

 Dinner was thinly sliced, fried chicken on bread rolls.  

 

  ~?~