6.06.2024 If it ain't broke..

 ~o~

  Thursday 6th 50F/10C. Very heavy overcast, showers and windy. Up at 6.15 after searching for important legal papers in the middle of the night. I thought I'd lost them but found them all. I have an appointment this morning. I am making a will in case things go badly  at the hospital on Monday. Or shortly thereafter. 

 An image from yesterday. With cloud shadows crossing the ripening fields. Four deer are grazing against the dark hedge in the middle background.

 It is ironic that I should have "heart problems" after my immense mileage on my trike. Not to mention all the physically demanding work over the years. I was shoveling literally tons of compacted gravel only a few short weeks ago. Then all the hard work at the museum. Lifting and moving all those 150kg paving slabs! 

 I have cycled 200km this week alone. It could have been more if the e-bike was available and the weather kinder. My weight/BMI is in the middle of the recommended range. Hardly any belly fat despite my crappy diet. Since I had to learn to cook and fend for myself.

 No walk due to rain.

 11.30 Returned from my appointment and shopping. It rained on and off. The MM electrical fault continues. I did due homework online but can't delve under the bonnet until it stops raining. Best advice is dry or corroded contacts on the fuse holder. I can check the fuse for continuity with my DMM.

 It stopped raining. So I had a look at the car. Just as there was a rumble of thunder!  It proved to be an intermittent fault. No, not the thunder! Fuses okay. No dry fuse clips. So I went around waggling wires and connectors and everything came back to life. A dry or oily joint somewhere. What ain't broke: Don't mend it! 

 Had a call from the hospital. I need a fresh blood test before Monday. So I drove to the surgery in pouring rain with no wipers. Just to see if they could manage a quick test. For some reason they were closed today of all days. I'll have to try my luck again tomorrow. 

 The electrical problem seems to be an aftermarket, inline fuse holder. Outside the surgery I turned on the wipers. Then braved the deluge sheltered only by the bonnet. The moment I touched the white fuse holder the wipers started working again. They kept working all the way home. As did the indicators.

 The hospital contact tried to arrange transport for me to get to the hospital. I could get a 6 o'clock bus locally to reach the city station. That would leave me only 20 minutes to get all the way out to the hospital. Which would be impossible without an intimate knowledge of the city buses. So I told them not to worry. I'd drive there. 

 If they can arrange a drive home on Monday that would be good. Though I'd have to catch a bus back to the city to collect the car later. No driving allowed for at least two days. Four days if certain procedures are required. Their latest letter says that I have three clogged heart arteries according to the previous scans.

 Dinner was fish fingers, pasta and peas. I still need a sauce for the pasta. The tinned tomatoes are awfully wasteful and not nearly spicy enough. Not even with a hefty dose of pepper.

 

  ~o~

5.06.2024 Vegetarian fish food.

 ~o~

  Wednesday 5th 52F/11C. Heavy overcast. Early rain should turn to sunshine. Remaining cool at 15C/59F max.

 Up at 6am. 

 Morning walk. to the lanes. Traffic unusually light.

 13.20 Returning from a drive to the city in the Morris. The petrol gauge has stopped working. 

 I was looking for plants for the fish tank I bought yesterday. Unfortunately goldfish are vegetarians. They will happily chomp many plants. I tried feeding the goldfish with the tiny food balls first but they don't seem interested. One even sucked in the fish food but spat it straight out again. 

 The fish are very active. Exploring their rather small tank. They were initially intimidated after being bombed by four tiny plant pots with attached plants. Back in the dim distant past plants came bare rooted. They were weighed down into the gravel base with strips of lead. 

 The filters are all mechanical these days. No under-gravel [bubble powered] filters were visible. I am not keen on the huge, black, filter boxes taking up so much space in the tanks. They also consume expensive refills. Under-gravel filters don't need such spares. It is suggestive of relying on aids to overcome fish overstocking.

 The fish eventually caught on that the tasty little balls were food. Then it took them only ten minutes of desperate chewing. To be able to swallow one! 

 Dinner was poached eggs on toast. The preheating in the Pyrex cup in the saucepan works well when the time is taken into account. Perfect! Stop laughing at the back of the class!

  ~o~

 

 

4.06.2024 Fishy!

 ~o~

  Tuesday 4th 53F/2C. Overcast. Wet afternoon promised. Up at 6.15 after lying awake in the night.

 I am to visit my English friend today. To inspect his new greenhouse. I'll probably go in the Morris. Though I am recovered enough from saddle soreness to attempt the ride. The gorgeous countryside certainly deserves my best shot. Better now, than live to regret it.  

 8-8.45 58F/14C. A brisk morning walk to the lanes. Leaving behind a wall of birdsong and half hidden flowers. I yanked up a horse chestnut sapling. Trying its luck in the unkempt lawn.  

 Brief sunshine was only teasing. Busy traffic had me walking on the verge at times. Commuter insanity and miles of double white lines. Had chains of cars locked together. All less than a vehicle apart at 50mph/80kph. Only a nanosecond from another bloody headline and life-changing injuries. 

 A smallish bird of prey circled low over the road before leaving. Probably a Marsh harrier. It didn't speak English. So rudely ignored my quiet greeting. Skylarks, warblers, a Chiffchaff and blackbirds provided the familiar soundscape. The wind turbines up on the low hill were at a standstill. A very unusual sight. Distant figures attended to their quiet horses. 

 The crops are fading from dark green swards to the horizon. Ripening to lighter shades of deeper softness. Broken only by the unlikely geometry of the wandering spray tracks. A solitary black cockerel poked its head out of its hatch and quickly retreated. Perhaps unconvinced by my bold attempt at chookspeak.

 9.30 I have been topping up the compost in china pots and watering. The sun is showing off between clouds. As a new breeze stirs the trees. I still have time to ride there.

 And so I did. 28km in one hour and 10 minutes. Including stopping at the bakers for Danish pastries. Mostly a headwind.

 14.10 Safely back home again after another 28km. I stopped at a charity shop. Where I found and bought a small aquarium for pocket change. A Superfish30 holding 25 liters. Including a free heater-thermostat, fitted lights and an internal water filter. Plus fine gravel and fish pellets. 

 I went out in the Morris after late lunch to fetch the fish tank. I could hardly bring it home on the bike. Then I bought two small goldfish at a pond specialist on the way home. I should have left it longer but will be careful with water quality.

 17.00 The aquarium is set in place and already half full. I'll let the water mature for as long as possible. Before acclimatizing the fish with small water additions. Danish water is not chlorinated. It comes from very deep wells and is so clan that it does not need chlorination. The dealer filled the large poly bag with oxygen. So they won't be stressed if left in the bag for quite a while longer. Google says up to 48 hours. I will keep a close eye on them. The bag is laid flat for maximum surface area.

 I kept fish for most of my life until we moved to Denmark. Here I dug yet another pond. Where the goldfish grew quite large. Then a heron discovered the pond and decimated them! A net over the pond only made it sneak underneath. Then get trapped! So I had to risk life and limb to rescue the damned bird. Their beaks are as sharp as they look! Fish are useful pets. When a cat or dog would be too much to care for. Fish do not eat the furniture in one's absence. Nor spray it with chemical warfare toxins! Nor howl nor bark.

 Unfortunately, a 25L tank is tiny compared with goldfish needs. They grow large and are messy. So need large tanks. Ironically I have seen neighbours throw quite large fish tanks out into the yard when they moved out. The aquaria lay there for months before new tenants moved into the house and tidied up. 

 Dinner was organic Fettuccine pasta with tinned tomatoes and fish fingers.

 

  ~o~