Raising Dust.

I declined the invitation to be back marker on today’s cycle run as, for some unknown reason, I seem to be below peak fitness. It did allow me to look for suitable Blips, but a day that had dawned warm and sunny soon deteriorated into cold, dull and windy. I did notice a possible shot of a working quarry but was past it before I realised its potential so made do with making a mental note of it. There were several farmers out raising dust in their ploughed fields, I believe the technical term is “harrowing” and wondered how much topsoil the exercise costs them. There is a section of the environmentalist community which believes in a “no-till” regime but, whilst I can see that there may be some substance in their arguments, I am not sufficiently qualified to pass judgement.
 
My lack of fitness encouraged me to make an early coffee stop in the afternoon, along with a couple of other renegades who assured me that the community cafe we were passing served good coffee and cakes; they were wrong. There is a class of coffee shop that believes that the amount of coffee grounds that go into making a cup of coffee is dependent on the amount of water used; it isn’t. It is instead the total amount of fluid that determines the quantity of coffee required with the proviso that, if the drink is a latte, the moderating effect of the milk means that there is some benefit in increasing the amount of coffee further. The other essential feature of a cup of coffee is that it should be served hot.
 
I could have, and should have, continued to the preordained watering hole; their scones may be a little dry, but the generous helping of cream does counteract the failing somewhat.