Foggy morning, and warm sun later.
This gave me a start this morning.
It was there, on my sleeve as I started to pull my jersey on. I was immediately enchanted. What a wonderful thing to see, it made my day. He’s outside now, birds and bats permitting.
Jess, a friend tells me it’s a Scoliopteryx libatrix (The Herald). They can live in ivy (which does indeed grow by my bedroom window). Possibly, it was looking for somewhere to hibernate, though it seems a bit early for that.
17°C, bright, warm and sunny.
Drawing while I wait for a visitor. Boy, do I feel rusty. That feeling of edge-of-the-seat fear that it will come out badly drives you on.
I need to do this more often.
7°C, clear and still.
Alarm set for 02.50am. Perfect conditions.
Total lunar eclipse
I leant out the window and saw this. It only took half an hour to get the camera and tripod. My lens is limited to 200mm, so here’s the best I could do.
The supermoon wasn’t really apparent. High in the sky with no nearby reference, the size looked normal to me.
I rode Racelite-8 with MapMyRide+! Distance: 52.95mi, time: 03:25:58, pace: 3:53min/mi, speed: 15.43mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1166315675
At the end of every ride, you have to stop the recording and switch off the gps. Today, I caught it just in time, there was only 3% left in the battery!
Anyway, the ride: relaxed and easy to keep the speed up. This time of year is great for mushrooms. Some were as large as dinner plates, amazing.
Bike saddle for scale: and this is one of the smaller mushrooms.
I rode Racelite-8 with MapMyRide+! Distance: 27.47mi, time: 01:47:06, pace: 3:54min/mi, speed: 15.4mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1155933491
Cars can cost a lot of money. Mine has been pretty good for a big car. It’s now 12 years old and has done 112,000 miles. Now I face a few repairs which added to the annual cost of running it, equal the cost of buying and running a new car. The calculations include the assumption that big repair bills will come more often. A new car would cost nothing in repairs, less in fuel and tax. But then, maybe there will be no expensive repairs next year on my old car, it’s down to chance.
My calculation includes supposed fuel economy of the new car. What Car runs tests on fuel consumption and they don’t match manufacturers’ figures. The new Passat is only 5mpg better than the one I have.
Also, I actually feel some sentimental attachment to my current drive. We’ve been places.
Golf Estate, a possible replacement.
Spirit of Turpentine 