Wednesday 24th July 2019

Two years ago, we went to Yellowstone National park, and we brought back two jars of huckleberry jam, we used the small one straight away, but I was loath to use the larger, second on things like jam sandwiches, so we kept it, and so the jar got edged to the back of the fridge.

The Jools bought some Scottish oatcakes to go with the cheese, and there was some left over.

So out the two together, and you have a very pleasant mid-morning snack to go with a good strong brew.

I have gone from having no mid-morning snacks to really be looking forward to this treat. Huckleberry jam is different from other kinds of jam, is sweet and has no sharpness. I like it, so much so that after buying some on my west coast adventure in 2005, I seriously thought of importing a few jars at the cost of $36.

Those were the days.

Meanwhile: work.

I slept long and deep, despite the crazy high temperatures we have at the moment. So much so, it was Jools making coffee that woke me up at quarter to six.

Someone say "coffee?"

Indeed.

And it was going to be another very hot day.

I enjoyed the coolness of the early morning, the clear skies and bright sunlight away to the east. The air was full of insects already, busily feeding deeply from the good stuff in our garden.

I make a second coffee once Jools went for work, have breakfast and settle down to work.

By nine it was too hot, but this was just the start. Temperatures would climb and climb antil four in the afternoon when the heat and humidity reached their maximum.

Phew.

For four hours I work at the desk, then take my work laptop to the sofa to watch Lycra-clad athletes cycle through the French countryside in temperatures even higher than we have here.

How is that even possible?

I drink iced squash as they cyclists go up and down mountains, or what count as foothills in the Alps.

I reach for some more ice as they increase speed on an un-necessary sprint.

Work s slow, what with the project in the next phase and the ongoing summer holiday. I monitor mails and phone calls, the afternoon wears on and this stage of Le Tour comes to an end.

Yay.

I am stuck to the sofa, so peel myself off and prepare dinner after putting the work computer and screen away.

I am tempted to have a beer, maybe a large beer, but resist until Jools comes home, and we eat and drink beer/cider.

Over halfway though the week already.

We listen to the radio through the evening, waiting until dusk enveloped us. I stay up to watch a pass of the International Space Station at then, by which time it was nearly dark.

I see the moving point of light, coming from the west. It passes overhead then away into the east where it gets lost in the haze of summer pollution.