Igenlode Wordsmith

I have resolved that from now on my cycling gloves shall live in my front bike bag rather than my jacket pockets; this will reduce carrying capacity in the bag, but at least makes it still more or less possible to repeatedly take them off and put them on again during a long trip, which tends to become necessary as my body overheats and then cools. And it should mean that they are always available when cycling.

Meanwhile I have unearthed my old home-knitted mittens (knitted at least twenty years ago, I think), with the very thin inner 'liner gloves' that I purchased from a fishing tackle shop that no longer exists, in order to substitute for my heavy cycling gloves in my jacket pockets. The double thickness is reasonably warm and reasonably windproof, and because they don't have the stiff cuffs they squish down better into the pockets and should be less apt to fall out. (Although I just found one lying on the floor of the hall on the first day of wearing, which is not a good omen! I think I probably let it fall after taking it off to put my key in the door, then stooping to pick up the post...)

I left my front light on low beam for over 24 hours, and it was still on when I got back, albeit showing the low battery warning -- and despite that warning, I was still able to switch it off and then switch it back on again. So leaving the light switched on inside my bag when I'm not on the bicycle is probably a safe solution, albeit a slightly bizarre one!

---

My final batch of windowsill spring onion stubs are all dying off after being planted out despite having initially sent up new shoots; it is presumably either too cold or too wet for them to establish outdoors. The two survivors from the original set are fine, albeit slightly nibbled by snails...
The winter purslane is living up to its name and continuing to produce new salad leaves that I can harvest, although I think the sorrel and rocket have slowed down a lot, if not stopped regrowth altogether. The mint has died down to dry sticks, which I need to remember to trim when I get the opportunity, or they will get in the way of picking the new shoots next year :-p
The garlic that I planted is thriving, and the second clove that I put in nearby, which initially had its shoot emerging almost horizontally in response to conditions in the vegetable rack, has now miraculously straightened itself out and is heading for the sky.
And I did eventually get round to rigging up a new washing-line, having had the inspiration of taking *three* turns around the railing before making the half-hitches instead of the standard two, thus making it much easier to keep it taut while completing the knot!

My front bike light started reporting low charge and then went out altogether on my way home tonight, although it can't have been on for more than a couple of hours; most USB-charged lights are normally rated for at least three hours on maximum beam, and for what I knew was going to be a long journey I was deliberately using this one on what should have been its lowest power consumption, the slow flash mode :-( ( Read more... )

I really do need to empty out my trunks of winter clothing now, especially the thermal underwear and warm dressing-gown (currently wearing my silk one as the warmest of the available summer options!)
The heating came on last night for the first time this year, and I have been having a hot-water-bottle for the last couple of days, which is an unforeseen pleasure that I always forget about; it really is very nice to slip down into a blissfully warm bed in a cold room :-)

I have just been going round resetting all the clocks and watches, including the central heating timer (not supposed to need resetting, but it had accumulated ten minutes' gradual error since I last changed the battery) and my cycle computer -- I hope that is all of them! Of course it helps from that point of view that two of my clocks are still stopped...

Current elapsed cycle mileage: 414 miles, namely 151 miles in the eight weeks since the end of August, or my normal average of eighteen miles a week.

I went back to the market this morning and was accosted by one of the stallholders I had questioned fruitlessly about my missing luggage strap; he had a very grimy bungee cord in his hand. Apparently it had been there all along, exactly where I assumed I must have lost it -- they found it underneath their van, presumably when they came to pack up and drive off. (And very kindly hung onto it for me in the hopes of seeing me again.)( Read more... )

I managed to get mixed up in an English Pride demonstration while cycling up in Town -- my own fault since I hadn't grasped why the road was closed and just saw a large crowd of people on the pavement (they filled the carriageway further along). Fortunately for once I was not in a tearing hurry, having set off early in the expectation of having to stop and put on rain-gear at some point, and they were very nice about it and allowed me to cycle very cautiously through despite the fact that I was going completely against the flow of the 'traffic'. I suspect it helped that I was very respectably and conservatively dressed, and manifestly "English"( Read more... ) it's probably just as well they didn't know the very un-English thoughts behind *why* I was smiling so much...

( Oliver Reed's careless fencing )

---

On my second expedition I successfully managed to purchase a new slide buckle of the right size to fit my secondary clothes line, thanks to a very helpful Indian lady whose haberdashery stall turned out to be well-stocked with all sorts of components as well as the glittering sari fabrics and accessories. I tested it out this afternoon on a batch of washing, and it seems to function exactly as effectively as its predecessor (which is to say that it is no longer bar-taut after a few hours when you take the washing down again, but doesn't sag enough to cause a discernable problem while the weight is on it).


( New cycle computer )

( Documentaries in Russian )

What I *haven't* done, having been submerged in documentaries, or at least having had them playing in the background while engaged in other things, is actually finish watching "Twenty Years After", which I have already encountered 'spoilers' for in places ranging from TV Tropes (yes, the Soviet Musketeers have their own TV Tropes page...) to random Aramis fanvids and AU fan-fiction. Although I did, on my first (pedestrian) expedition to try to buy buckles, manage to start that third "Twenty Years After" Porthos-fic of my own...

Apart from anything else I got caught up in rereading the earlier parts of the book in the French version to see what else was missing in terms of detail, which turns out to include little scenes like the one in which d'Artagnan gives Raoul a fencing-lesson during his visit and praises Athos on the boy's swordsmanship (C’est déjà votre main, mon cher Athos, et si c’est votre sang-froid, je n’aurai que des compliments à lui faire) -- this entire conversation being omitted from the English edition, which cuts straight to Mazarin's recall message!

I acquired three and a half pounds of windfall plums, picked over 2lb of blackberries (and gathered some windfall apples to go with them) and paid £3 for a box with 8lb or so of overripe cherries -- so I have been drowning in fruit! Preserves: bramble jelly (2 1/2 jars), plum chutney (2 half jars), roasted savoury cherries and cherry-stone cordial. I have also made plum soufflé, German plum streusel cake, boiled cherry vareniki, and other desserts, and still have a fridge full of the least squishy plums and cherries, not to mention a summer pudding waiting to be turned out...

Contrary to my belief, the upper trusses of the Roma tomatoes did in fact set some fruit; the first and largest truss is now pretty much ripe and will need to be picked and cooked with.

( Flat tyre and mileage )

( Clock started again )

( Fic progress )

( fanfiction.net spam ) :-(

I accidentally reset the odometer on my cycle computer to zero this morning, while fumbling about upside down in an attempt to zero the trip length counter before starting off on a journey to market which (due doubtless to sleep deprivation) turned out to be entirely pointless, since it was not in fact early on Saturday morning but early on Friday morning and there was no market! I could have had several hours more sleep, and shall now have to repeat the entire exercise tomorrow...

Unfortunately I really have no idea what the old reading was, since though I mentally noted it a number of times over the last few months I never remembered to actually record it once I got indoors :-p

The cycle computer had been giving extremely erratic results (speed obviously under-registering, recorded mileage about half what it should have been) for some time, despite repeated attempts on my part to reposition the transmitter unit correctly and make sure the sensor was close but not actually physically striking it in passing.

I eventually decided that the problem must be due to battery expiry in one or other of the units, and that the balance of probabilities favoured the wireless transmitter down on the front fork rather than the actual cycle computer on the handlebars, given that all the other functions on that appeared to be working. I managed to get the battery cover off again with the unit still in situ, although it's a fiddle, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the necessary small-but-not-watch batteries were available over the counter at the local hardware shop, and that replacing this battery did in fact seem to have cured the problems. (So this unit has a battery lifespan of only a year or so under relatively light use -- not great!)

( Read more... )

I have also been having a lot of trouble with my digital camera, an HP PhotoSmart R607, which was a very nice piece of equipment when it was new (circa 2004), and perfect for my needs when I first acquired it second-hand ten years or so ago. ( SD card )

I got up early on Saturday and walked around town looking for cable ties so that I could safely cycle to market (which was obviously not an option with an electronic sensor dangling off my front fork by a single tie).

I eventually obtained some at the fourth shop I tried, although to be fair when I got them back and opened the bag they turned out to be somewhat smaller than the snapped cable ties I'd taken with me for comparison, and in fact the slots in the sensor were large enough to allow me to use *two* ties side by side for security. So I could probably have got away with buying the noticeably oversized cable ties that I rejected in the third shop I tried, for fear that they wouldn't go through the slots provided. (The first two shops simply didn't have any, although the second shop thought they did but couldn't find any on the shelf!)

So I now have a new cycle computer reasonably securely fixed -- the magnet is loose already, and of course almost impossible to tighten properly with its recessed hexagonal nut -- and just have to learn how to use it. ( Read more... )

---

My first evening primrose opened unexpectedly this evening; they didn't flower at all last year, being biennials (although I'm surprised there weren't any seedlings that had started themselves the previous year), and weren't showing any sign of growing flower stalks this year either until a couple of weeks ago. But one of the many crowded rosettes of leaves has now asserted sufficient dominance to throw up a stalk, and although I didn't think the buds were anything like mature, I looked out tonight and found one in full bloom.

(Not particularly scented, unfortunately, although you can smell it if you bend very close...)