Thursday 29th September. Woodburning us into our early graves!

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Thursday 29th 62-64F, 17-18C, gales, rain and heavy overcast.  The dark and threatening sky is literally flying over. Gusts possible to well over 35mph. September has been close to an equal record for temperature, sunshine and low rainfall so far. All spoilt by a little [secondhand] storm.

10' high x 30' wide Japanese knotweed in flower, on an abandoned , roadside, demolition site, running wild and rapidly spreading to neighborhood properties. Is that green enough for you?

I see the Danish news is finally and fairly blaming my neighbour for producing toxic smoke. Countless Danes die early due to poor air quality and most of it is HIS fault for burning demolition timber for water heating.  [Even during heatwaves!] The ludicrous irony is that the Danes think of firewood as cheap and <cough> environmentally <wheeze> friendly <cough> because of the 17 Danish taxes on electricity bills.

What the manual wood burners completely ignore is their unpaid wages while they are annoying their neighbors with their chainsaws and circular saws. Plus the felling and the transport of said timber from the distant woods back to their wood splinter littered yards and gardens. Not to mention the time spent lopping, handling and stacking and splitting the countless logs. Most of this goes on for countless hours and consumes oil, petrol and electricity over decades.

A people-trafficked, immigrant, Eastern-European slave worker would not work for the wood burner's quarterly savings from burning wood instead of [imported coal]-fired electricity!

Yes, Denmark make lots of electricity from coal and oil. Then gives away its wind power electricity to the European grid when it exceeds national demand.

Myths about Danish Wind Power: Why 39% Wind Is Not Enough | Worldwatch Institute Europe

Every Danish tax is a double-edged sword. Add umpteen taxes to electricity bills and what do you get? Rural air and noise pollution, literally thousands of early deaths and the need for many more, long stay, hospital beds.

Welcome to "a greener" Denmark! Where your <wheeze> taxes are working for the <cough> environ-mental <cough> delusion of a safe place <wheeze> to live and bring up your children. <cough>  Don't even get me started on the 180% Danish tax they add to electric car prices. Then reduce taxes and drop city center restrictions on diesel fueled vehicles and pollute the air with toxic black dust particles. More early deaths.

Terrorism is back in the news: The police are appealing [?] for witnesses to a possible, elderly grey Volvo 240 estate car seen in the vicinity of the motorway  bridge. This was where the infamous, 65lb concrete block attack and murder [and attempted mass murder] on the local motorway took place, now well over a month ago. My morning walk was interrupted by rain. Not a great day for a ride even when there was a glimpse of sunshine at 17.00 gales were still bending the trees.

Friday 30th 52F, 11C, already breezy but still a threat of early brightness. Showers throughout the day with 30mph gusts promised. I really ought to make an effort to get a ride in on the last day of an already poor month for mileage. I had a 20+ mile ride planned but it kept bucketing down between longer sunny intervals. In the end I went in the car and was treated to a free power car wash for 5-6 miles. It stopped dead on the road just as I neared home. Nul points all around.

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26th September 2016 Last day of the Indian Summer?

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Monday 26th 57F, 14C, calm, heavy overcast. Possible early showers should brighten to another warm and sunny day. My legs are aching a little after yesterday's foolishness. A long swig from my quart pot of steroids should easily solve that little problem. I fixed a nice little TUE deal with The Head Gardner for a multiple TUE provided I eat plenty of organic broccoli and spinach on my whole grain sandwiches to cure my silicone glue, lung problems.

Dwarf deer silhouetted against a pheasant feeder.

With the weather about to change the long summer of constant toxic smoke from our easterly neighbour's water heater [even during heat waves] should finally end for this year. It will make a nice change not coughing, clearing my throat and sneezing all day while I am at home.

I wrote a whole page of text about my morning walk only for Google to lose it between updating and viewing. Late afternoon ride for 20 miles.

I spotted thatching beside the road and stopped to take a photograph to the bemusement of the two young men involved. I haven't seen thatch laid with the heads downwards before. Most thatch materials are imported from Poland. Though I have seen harvesting on the wetland, Danish coasts.

Tuesday 27th 45-65F, 7-18C, clear, still and bright. A little mist earlier when I looked out. Sirius was a huge fuzzy blob, flashing on and off like a car indicator. Early walk in dead calm conditions with the wind turbines motionless. Lots of agriculture going on. With huge trailers taking away chopped corn and ploughing and sewing going on. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Short afternoon ride for 7 miles. I nipped into several farm entrances to let tractors, buses and articulated lorries pass unimpeded.

Wednesday 28th 62-64F, 17-18C, very windy, heavy cloud, rain possible. Though it could clear up later. Short walk interrupted by several large drops of rain. The only drops which fell all day and they landed on me! Spent the day working on a project in the garden. It brightened up nicely but was still blowing hard at times. Rest day.

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25th September 2016 One day at a time.

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Sunday 25th 53-68F, 12-20C, bright start, a light wind fidgets in the bushes and trees, impatient to run free. It is expected to be rather windy but mild and sunny again.

A great wave rears up, ready to break over the sandy, stubbled foreshore.

It was a still, quiet morning walk along the lanes and my views largely peopled only by birds. The occasional jackdaw sounded the alarm before launching into another peaceful day. Eight geese passed swiftly and silently over. Obviously intent on reaching some goal further to the southwest. Gulls stood out brightly on a brown, almost featureless desert dune. Skylarks still abound in some numbers. Coming out of the stubble to chase each other in some ritual which disturbed and bemused their quieter fellows.

The Sunday morning traffic was fortunately light as tabby cats skulked along behind long, over-tired and scruffy hedges. A thin, chill wind wicks between gaps in the hedges. There are still butterflies and dragonflies on the wing. Perhaps made clumsy by the slight overnight chill, a Red admiral needed to be carried gently from the foot of the shadowy gate to the budlias to recover its composure.

Many leaves still hang on in expectation of next week's storm. All longing to be rid of their already thinned burden for this year. The colours are fading to autumnal at an almost glacial melting rate of motion. Another record warm month passes. To be ticked off by meteorologists and climatologists as another brick in their heavily graffitied, wailing wall of evidence in support of AGW. The garden trees have grown listless as the breeze rises. Almost as if they resented the growing pace of change.

Will our hero risk a tricycle ride in 25-30mph gusts? Did I mention that my front wheel Q/R had been loosened again? Some oaf has it in for me. I noticed the front wheel twitching on the way back from the shops and feared it might suddenly collapse to pitch me over the handlebars. Much as I hate stopping I eventually had to pull off and check the skewer. The lever had been returned to normal but there was no tension. Had I lifted the front wheel it could easily have fallen out. Probably one of the teenage school kids who were milling about outside the shops on Friday. As I am not averse to pulling the occasional wheely when sprinting away from a stop I shall have to keep an eye on the problem.

I foolishly chose to ride into the headwind to reach the end of Helnæs peninsula. I was having an unofficial race with two others on the causeway crossing. A chap on a carbon racer  eventually went past and I tried my best to stay with him by using the tri-bars. Meanwhile, a younger chap on an MTB was slowly catching me. Both paused soon after cresting the approach hill to the Helnæs "island" while I kept going. We each crossed each other's paths later on. I was down on the tri-bars and continuing to fight the wind and a painful quad right across Helnæs. One might have hoped for tailwind coming back but it was more often a crosswind. Later I was about to stop and photograph some tractors when a gorgeously marked bird of prey flew over. Its shallow V-tail and light coloured head were clearly visible as it rode the wave above a farm's long avenue of trees. I'm going to have to call it a Red kite until proven otherwise but it really didn't look large enough. The Marsh harrier is similar but has a squarish tail without the V. A rather exhausting 35 miles.

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