10-12°C, dull & still to start but it cleared to bright sun with cold westerly.
Spring Magnolia.
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Tag Archives: spring
The ides of March.
14°C, cloudless sky and light wine.
A fine spring day. Large numbers of plants have burst into bloom this week. Warm weather has sped them on and I’ve seen the first bumble bees.
Brown-field site.
12°C, dry with white cloud and weak easterly.
I love this time of year. My fascination for the inner city wasteland is greatest now until June.
Here is the first shoots of artimesia absinthium, (or is it vulgaris). This plant still holds its spell, not just because Chernobyl day is soon. The photo was taken in Walsall on the site of a demolished factory near work. They like sandy, slightly acidic soil and are most easily found on brown-field sites.
If only they would grow in my garden. The soil is too rich after all my efforts to feed it with compost.
The continuing recession should give these plants a chance to flower and set seed. That patch of land is for sale but there are no indications of a buyer yet. I expect it will be bought by a developer who builds tiny flats as “affordable homes”.
For me, there is always a little disappointment when these plots are dug up.
One more mile.
I rode fixed with MapMyRide+! Distance: 58.3mi, time: 03:37:10, pace: 3:43min/mi, speed: 16.2mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/913645993
Spring ride no.1: and it was a good one. With the summer wheels fitted and fresh brake blocks, the bike was ready. And, so was I.
There seems to be less gyroscope effect on these wheels. Out of the saddle, the whole bike is easier to thresh side to side while climbing or adding speed.
Only wish I added a few extra miles to make sixty.
New season.
Cycling, Distance: 63.23mi, time: 04:25:43, speed: 14.3mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/535495432
First ride on the racing bike this year. It’s running as I left it, apart from new cables and bar tape. Though this tape looks all “retro”, it’s rather slippery compared to the spongy type on the other bikes.
The bottom braket still creaks, and the gear cables are a bit too short. Still, it was a great to ride; I always say that each spring.
Finally, there was no sign of the tendonitus that was a worry as recently as yesterday. Does that suggest that there is something about the winter bike that aggravates it? I have exercises to do which seem to help quite the problem with quick results.
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Posted from a mobile.
Burnt Magnolia.
6C, cold day with hard frost.
Poor magnolia was burnt by the hard frost on Tuesday morning. Cold weather waited for spring before visiting us.
This is quite an early flowering variety, so it’s vulnerable really.
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Posted from a mobile.
Hazel.
7°C, no wind, clear.
Spring is just starting, ontime for the first of March. The garden is coming alive, and I have over 100 bulbs for a more colourful summer.
After a decade, I cleared the lockup (where I keep the bikes) in three corners was evidence of mouse nest building, they must have collected seeds from the bird feeder. To make themselves comfey, they made beds of dry moss.
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Posted from a mobile.
Horsetail verdentification.
18°C, clear.
A decaying school near home. I dropped in today for a gander. There used to be a lot of work done on their garden, lots of fine plants surrounded by clambering wild plants. One cracked and mossy concrete area has hundreds of horsetail plants thrusting up through unseen gaps.
Lovely, eery place.
70 miles again.
14-18°C, clear, no wind.
To repeat last weekend, rode 70 miles late a slightly better pace and far more comfortably. The saddle didn’t tilt this time. That careful work with a jewelry file on the ferrule worked as intended.
Picture of the day is a young oak tree that has grown in the time I have lived in this town.
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Week off.
14C, lighter wind.
I need a holiday. With a week off, this empty feeling should recede. A week is not enough to get everything done- domestic re-arrangements, hiking, visiting, (not least) marking.
Anyway, I have been to a wedding. Of society’s demands, this is my least favourite. No, I hate weddings, please don’t make me go to another.
Micycle 