10.05.2024 Such a busy life!

 ~o~

  Friday 10th 52F/11C. Overcast.

 In breaking news: I woke earlier but didn't bother to get up until 7.30. I'll ring the surgery for an appointment as soon as the telephone lines open. The new dropper post should be delivered today. I have to deliver the e-bike to the shop in town for a longer hydraulic front brake line and possibly a cable. The result of fitting swept back "granny bars." Having given away all my bike spares I can no longer experiment with different handlebar extensions. That might have been an alternative. I'll ask the bike shop staff for advice.   

 10.15 35 minutes waiting on the phone to get through to the surgery. I was on the mobile via my hearing aids. So I could move about the house and sort the laundry. Then I put in a load before I left. 

 They gave me an appointment in half an hour. Had a quick shower and then drove into the village. The doctor was sympathetic and said I had an infection deep in my lungs. Gave me penicillin with a very long name. I picked it up from the pharmacy across the road and then drove home. 

 Now I had only an hour to load the trike on the rear carrier of the Morris and get into town. Where I left the bike at the workshop. A phone call later said that they had no hydraulic fittings for Magura brakes. It might be early next week before they can finish the job. I am in no fit state to be riding anywhere at the moment. I told them to relax and get the job done. Then send me an SMS when I can pick up the bike.

12.00 Heavy overcast. 56F/13C. I bought several new towels in town. Most of the bath and hand towels are holey rags. They are worn so thin it is hard to dry myself after a shower. I removed the laundry in the washing machine and hung it outside on the rotary airer. I hadn't a single thing to wear when I had to go to the doctors. So I had to wear a proper shirt. 

 12.30 Now I have to do the washing up. Four days worth. I was having to rinse single items before I could eat or have anything to drink. Silly old wotsit! 

 13.10 The new XLC 125mm dropper post has arrived. Now no e-bike to try it on.

 Did the washing up, had lunch and then had a nap. Oh, the excitement!

 18.00 The earlier load of laundry brought in.

 My extracted tooth area was hurting. So I needed something soft for dinner. I went with fish fingers, pasta and tinned tomatoes. I had some pasta frozen in the freezer ages ago. So I decided to use it all up. Which meant I needed more tinned tomatoes. Which left me with far more than I could manage. The first time I have wasted cooked food in a long time.

 

  ~o~

9.05.2024 Bank holiday cooking class.

 ~o~

  Thursday 9th 50F/10C. Bright but very cloudy. Up at 6.45 after a slightly better night. I lay there dozing instead of getting up at 6.00. 

 Cooking class today. It is a bank holiday but we were offered the [closed] school kitchen anyway. I had better go in the Morris. Not sure how I'd manage a ride.

 The new dropper post is still sitting at the first sorting depot. It hasn't moved since 7pm last night. This, despite being promised next day delivery by the dealer. Bank holiday?

 14.20 Returned from cooking class and a wasted journey into the village surgery. Yes, it really is a bank holiday! 

 No dinner required today. 

 I have belatedly discovered that I have literally given away everything related to cycling. So I no longer have alternatives to try from my [once] huge stock.

 My wardrobe increasingly embarrasses me. I have a few old t-shirts which are barely passable. A dozen which are literally rags full of holes. I wear them as pajamas. Worthless, disposable rags even for cleaning. They would only last for one go at dusting or furniture polishing. Whatever that is!  Even with my very limited and shrinking social life. I still have to be basically presentable at times.

 

 ~o~

 

8.05.2024 Spring sunshine.

 ~o~

  Wednesday 8th 41F/5C. Another bright day with some sunshine promised. My absent neighbour's trees are blocking the early sun. 

 Up at 5.30. Another awful night! Endless trips to the fire bucket. A ticklish cough hurt my wheezing chest over and over again.    

 13.00 63F/17C. Full sunshine. Returning from visiting my friend. His garden has a lovely show of bluebells and tulips at the moment. Burrowing animals [probably bank voles] keep eating his bulbs. We had a very pleasant stroll around his large garden. I envy him his ride-on mower but cannot justify the cost for the area of grass I have to deal with.

  I have opened one end door and two skylights in the greenhouse. Then opened all the internal doors and two windows out to the greenhouse. This helped to raise the indoor temperature to 68F/20C from 64F/18C. Which also helps to air the house without heat loss. Once the sun has gone around behind the trees I shut the windows. Then the greenhouse doors and skylights. Followed by the internal doors. The kitchen always warms a couple of degrees more than the living room.

 Dinner will probably be a salad. I bought a non-organic heart lettuce.

 Not impressed. The lettuce was already limp.

 

  ~o~