9°C, showers, clammy

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You can work out what's wrong with the title.
Fine morning to unblock a stinking drain.The overspill left a layer of slimey mud below the window which must have been teeming with life. My guess is there were algae living in it along with the inevitable fungi. Further along the food chain were a growing family of slugs, looking like miniature gherkins. They were so happy. The fungi spent their time making the rotten newspaper smell, and the jelly-like clear slimes- what were they.. Or maybe not; times like this I need an expert in microscopic-smelly-lifeforms.
All wet and shiny clean now.

A day to be confused by stuff that people write. Go away, sit in a quiet dark room and and think really hard.

15°C, sun & some soaking; Cycle 71 miles

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In lanes like these:

This was the scene, nearly home, only 10 miles to go in Seckington.

13°C, light & daubs of orange. 70 miles cycilng

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wearing the same clothes again.:
Off to see Devon Sproule later.

17°C, brightening

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Made it half-way home before remembering something left behind. The ride back then added 8 miles to the total journey. But contrary to expectation that made the ride home easier. It's all about the benefits of a good warm up. I can only conclude that cycling to work would be easier if work was further away.
Morning briefing & a bit of assembly.

17°C, westerlies continue. Cycle 36 Miles.

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Better start packing again. Cycled slowly to start with- combine harvesters only do 12 mph on a single-track road, no room to pass. But after 6 wheels rolled over along 3 tracks, a perfectly unharmed frog flopped several times to the verge.Lucky damned frog: there go the quick, here are the dead. He was too fast to catch on camera. May your luck contine..

20°C, clearing, breeze.

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In a break with tradition, we didn't go to Flying Legends: Duxford. Shame really, it would have been good- They have a FW190 taking part in the show.
5 Signets, gone- to join the bigger flocks I expect.
Heracleum mantegazzianum: "Giant Hogweed" found at the edge of a drainage ditch near Market Bosworth.

It stands about twice my height, and is furiously poisonous I am told. It has this strange property where the sap, if it gets onto skin is toxic in the presence of daylight- phototoxicity. The scarring can be permanent or even lethal.

25°C, sunny_ish; a few showers C50

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Cynet reports: Looking strong, but one fewer. Oh well, that's why the pen laid six I s'pose.

I done got me a tent too, yeah!

27°C, & some rain. Close.

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How the weather chages the way people drive- I got annoyed crossing lights (on green) to be startled by a car shooting out from the right driven by a woman who jumped a red light. I shouted out as two cars blasted their horns too. After another incident caused by driver arrogance (the car blocked the traffic while turning onto the main road) it was then fairly conclusive that the heat is making folks feel rather bad tempered. Me included- these kinds of thoughtless driving incidents happen a lot in Walsall.
I suspect that habits spread in towns so that drivers copy each others' bad habits. In Walsall it's jumping red lights; in Cannock, Signalling right to go straight-on at a roundabout; Lichfield, crossing the opposing carriageway on corners. Bad habits appear to be infectious rather like apostrophe abuse.
[/end of rant]

24°C, milky grey, then bright C64 miles.

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Compared to last week, today's ride was fine. The difference- food.

No camera on the ride today- I thought there would be heavy rain, so a picture of some sunny furniture instead.

25°C, uninterrupted sun, Sth winds

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On the commute to work: I went through a speed trap at 34 mph, but it didn't trigger the camera- no flash. Was the camera set just a bit higher- say 35mph, or did I not reflect enough for the radar? Perhaps if I put s length of baking foil up my cycling jersey, then the camera will trip at that speed. I don't want to be a stealth cyclist.

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Lost: I lost Rosie tonight.Out for a 40' walk in the woods and then an hour to search for my missing dog. By the time she came back she was obviously stressed and relieved. And so was I.
She's back home now, worn-out and thirsty. I blame the rabbits, and they look so innocent too.
Now what has happened to my voice, it's all hoarse & dry.

22.5°C, clearing, not like this morning.

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That empty-legs feeling: a conversation has confirmed what I suspected was the reason for this. Occasionally, cycle rides need ot be cut short because there just isn't enough energy in my legs (my whole body really). Now I am willing to air my suspicion. This weekend, I simply haven't eaten well enough, noodles just aren't good enough to cycle on. This evening, I had pasta and suddenly the energy game gushing back.

23°C, sunshine, SP15, C=73 miles.

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Two photos from today's cycle ride.
Remember that swan nuclear family I posted a few Sundays ago. Well, haven't they grown?
I got resolutely hissed at by this swan. I don't blame her, so I backed off.. She was guarding the same number of cygnets that I counted two weeks ago

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The 48-tree. Taken from the road overlooking the Staunton Harold estate. Can you see it, or am I just stretching my credibility.

25°C, light winds, no clouds, C=60 miles

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Cycling, have you ever bought an artwork while cycling. I have, or may have if I can pull this one off. I spotted an art sale when riding through Repton, two pictures stood out and the price seemed reasonable.

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25°C, summer, light winds. C=54miles

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Here is one very poorly looking rape field. Some patches were normal looking but acres & acres look dry, brown dusty and quite dead.

14°C, the showers are less heavy than yesterday.*, C=55 miles

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This is rain I can live with, it is interrupted by bright sunny spells while the dark clouds brew up on the horizon. Stygian.
I ought to comment on the 19/20 politicians who have been fiddling the books in Parliament and the House of Lords too. It all seems too obviously corrupt to be worth mentioning. I can only hope they are treated in the way we would be if it were us in our jobs doing the same thing. But wait, only a few are suspended pending an investigation.
Cattle: here are the cows that chased Rosie & Bess last week. They look nice enough...

13°C, brisk wind.Sunny. C=50 miles

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Seeen near Abbost Bromley, Staffordshire, they had their backs to the wind.

15°C, light SSE wind, clear sky, Cycle 69 miles

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LPs: William Fitzsimmons- in vinyl is stil at work, I can't carry LPs on the bike. Looking forward to hearing that album in its entirety.
Work: going back has been a bit of a start; like a shock but less so (I'll reserve that word for things like seeing a pheasant getting run-over on the A515). Wednesday cracked it though, after some days feeling terrible, I went to bed before 22.00. You should do that too sometimes. Now I feel normal.
Normal: actually, I don't. Today's 70 miles was harder than it should have been. Perhaps I didn't eat enough yesterday to feel normal today. I was too tired and desperate to get home to shoot some photos of blooming rape against darkening cumulus clouds. I missed a pearl there (not in a knitting sense.

14°C, warm summer-like rain.

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Cycle- shortened by heavy rain showers, not a problem themselves, but the two punctures in one day is teetering on annoying.

Headaches: another approach to dealing with them is reading glasses. I almost forgot that I had them, so out of the habit of wearing them am I. So I can beat them with reading glasses, less caffeine and better hydration.

8°C, light cloud, sunny bits

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I laughed at a van today, normally they are not very funny, especially the dirty silver ones with company logos all over them. This one had on the back door:

10°C, NE winds, clearing, c=51 miles

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I have:a fridge, it will take some installing- it was origonally part of a fitted kitchen- you know the sort where you can't tell which door has a refrigerator behind it. On its own though, the fridge is quite industrial looking, so I'm going to use the cupboard thing that it came in. However, it will need some wood-work to install it. Recycling.
Seasonal: I am sneezing and have itchy eyes. The only plants doing anything right now are some harmless flowers and the willows are sporing. They will have to take the blame.