-1°C & dropping.
The night will warm a little towards dawn. It’s dry out there so a ride in tomorrow could be done. Bitterly cold yes, but there is no water to freeze in this high pressure atmosphere. Rain is coming down the Northern Approaches in a few days. The ‘S’ word was mentioned in forecasts by the weekend. I will prepare the bike now.
-1 to 3°C. Clear, CA:43 miles
Three hour ride today. I really needed this one for its de-stress effects. The start was hard though, legs felt empty and riding hills was a disproportionate effort. I don’t really know what caused that so I rode along puzzling over plausible causes. Was that the stress causing the weakening too? I will never know, but it’s possible. It’s also possible that last night’s supper was guilty- too much cheese and not enough of the usual carbos.
Here we are, a new week. This one comes with a dark cloud hanging over it however. Maybe that will clear on Thursday.
Maybe not.
9°C, drizzle. CK:40 miles
I normally hate riding in the rain so this ride was remarkable. The mild air, relief from strong winds and a strong desire for a good ride drew me out. The route included High Moor from Parbold up that steep climb which I have been up before. I have not made it to the top on the single-speed though, but for some reason today I ground on. There is a slight relaxation of the incline about half way up so I stared at that. Once I passed it, the effort didn’t reduce, but it did cease to increase, which was good enough. The last part just before the crest involved pulling on the pedals in addition to weaving. Weaving does decrease the incline slightly.
It seems a double victory to get to the top without any foot-down stops- I am heavier (14st 9), the wet, and my ankle problem which decided it was a good day.
I now have feet that feel considerably better than before. A very good day out in the rain.
There is a fly in the house- what are they doing here in early January?
8°C, clear, light W winds
Look what they’ve done to this door release button. How naughty?
5°C, clear with westerly wind. CA35 miles.
Sales are on, here I have picked up some glitzy ceramics for the kitchen. The glaze on these stoneware pots is flawless, more like polished glass than gold. Opinions vary- some are polite, others thought “kitsch”.
I have an idea for that storage jar. What about not using it for food? What about putting in some ash from the fire’s ash bucket? Perhaps leave an old, burnt pair of glasses, or false teeth semi-covered inside. It’s an image isn’t it? I wonder how any new lodgers would react.
You have to admit, it’s a better idea than keeping couscous in there.
10°C, getting windy, dry
No new year’s resolutions, new year is not a good time to make them. I have hopes though. I hope to sort my career out, I hope to have fewer sleepless nights but in the meantime, I have hurdles.
My garden is confused. There is broom in flowers along with a solitary rose and the budleah is happily pushing out new leaves.
8°C, rain
Rosie is on watch. She sits on this step as it’s the only one she can see out of the front door’s small window. she may, if very lucky, bark at a passer-by.
4°C, rain.
I want a new TV. the one I have drives me nuts- there is a high pitched whining noise (even when the sound is muted)from my CRT set. New TVs are currently cheap, between £300 & £.silly, but the problem is choice. There are too many to choose from.
Plasma screen: heavy, good colour gamut, less contrast ratio very fast re-fresh rate.
LCD: cheapest option, light, sharp but poor flicker. Thicker screen, but the sound is better in the bigger box.
LED: (backlight is an array of LEDs), fast re-fresh rate is expensive, but sharp, bright and better gamut than LCD. Screen can be very thin, but once it’s set up, you won’t see that.
TechRadar
I can only hope I succeed in getting one today.
10°C, sun & strong wind. CK:57 miles
Good Christmases have to include a good bikeride, this one was despite the wind. It was warm (relatively) so much that I sneaked into a farm to use a standpipe to replenish my water bottles. Several recent rides have been spoilt by dehydration so I’m keeping on top of that. Using a 42×17 gear felt just right too. My troublesome tendon is not noticeable when riding without overshoes. Those things put too much pressure on that achilles tendon. A good day followed by deep sleep.
10~6°C, rain
This plan: Bent the flashing under that window to help it drain over a roof tile. Temporarily shoved a wad of plastic in front of the point that the water seems to get in. Let’s see how it goes, today brings rain, lots of it. The wood will take so long to dry out though, but at least we’re heading towards a slightly less wet part of winter. I put the heating back on up there and am running a de-humidifier to grab what is probably condensation.
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