January 2013 Back to December
One of my New Year Resolutions is to put more pictures on this site as it has been rather boring for the last few weeks. So from now on I shall take some pictures every few days and break these up with the usual short report for each day.
Tuesday 1st
1 to 6 to 4°C 2.55kWh 800W max. Bright and sunny most of the day. Quite a change from recent weather. Perhaps 2013 will be a better year?
Wednesday 2nd
2 to 10 to 7°C. 338Wh 70W max. Mild and cloudy with a few showers.
I decided it would not be much more expensive to buy a new chain-saw rather than get the old one fixed. It is quite old and has cut down and chopped up a lot of trees and hedging over the years. The new one arrived today (I only ordered it on Monday afternoon). So we will soon have the wood store brimming over (see below)
I decided it would not be much more expensive to buy a new chain-saw rather than get the old one fixed. It is quite old and has cut down and chopped up a lot of trees and hedging over the years. The new one arrived today (I only ordered it on Monday afternoon). So we will soon have the wood store brimming over (see below)
Building Work
The scaffolding has been up since December 16th but no-one has turned up yet to start removing the old rendering and replacing it with insulation blocks and a new outer coat.
Jan 3. They are intending to start next Wednesday 9th Jan. The weather looks as it may be kind to them. If so it should take around 2 weeks to complete.
Jan 3. They are intending to start next Wednesday 9th Jan. The weather looks as it may be kind to them. If so it should take around 2 weeks to complete.
Thursday 3rd
9 to 11 to 7°C 683kWh 250W max. Overcast and mild with only a gentle southerly breeze.
Quite a nice day despite the lack of sun. They said on the news last year was the wettest ever. I can certainly believe that!!
Quite a nice day despite the lack of sun. They said on the news last year was the wettest ever. I can certainly believe that!!
Early flowers
Some flowers, like primulas, never completely stop flowering even in the middle of winter. Others start very early in the new year
Friday 4th
6 to 9 to 7°C. 1.96kWh 900W max
Quite bright with thin cloud and a cold breeze.
Quite bright with thin cloud and a cold breeze.
Winter Fuel
We spend quite a lot of time cutting up wood for the log stove in winter. Nearly all of this comes from our own trees and hedges. As you can see we have a large store of already cut wood and plenty still waiting to be cut up in various parts of the garden. An old saying say 'Wood warms you thrice. Once when you fell it. Once when you cut and split it and Once when you burn it'
Saturday 5th
6 to 9 to 7°C. 1.35kWh 600W max. Overcast with a few brighter spells in the morning. Stayed dry. Cleared after dusk.
The New Hedge
The new privet hedge we planted last winter is growing really well
Sunday 6th
5 to 10 to 8°C. 517kWh 200W max. Overcast with a light southerly breeze.
Drove down to Kirstin's to see the whole family.
Drove down to Kirstin's to see the whole family.
Winter Treescape
Most trees are bare of leaves in winter but they still have beautiful shapes against the winter sky
Monday 7th
7 to 10 to 8°C 746Wh 250W max. Mild but overcast.
Rain followed by brighter colder weather are forecast for later in the week
Even so the birds think Spring is on its way. We have already had a mini dawn chorus on several days in the last week, the woodpecker is busily hammering away in the distance and a pheasant is calling and flapping his wings in the nearby field.
Rain followed by brighter colder weather are forecast for later in the week
Even so the birds think Spring is on its way. We have already had a mini dawn chorus on several days in the last week, the woodpecker is busily hammering away in the distance and a pheasant is calling and flapping his wings in the nearby field.
Tuesday 8th
10 to 6°C 105Wh 50W max. Very wet dull day with the temperature falling from the dawn high.
The workmen came to fit the new (to us - it is actually second-hand but only 12 months old)log stove. Having workmen in the house inevitably made my asthma worse. They should finish tomorrow and hopefully the chemical irritants from their laundered clothes will slowly disappear after they have gone. Tomorrow another set of workers at starting on the wall render but this is all outside.
The workmen came to fit the new (to us - it is actually second-hand but only 12 months old)log stove. Having workmen in the house inevitably made my asthma worse. They should finish tomorrow and hopefully the chemical irritants from their laundered clothes will slowly disappear after they have gone. Tomorrow another set of workers at starting on the wall render but this is all outside.
Wednesday 9th
-1 to 6 to 0°C. 1.37kWh 400W max. Cold foggy start, brightening with a few glimpses of the sun in the afternoon.
Finally got the stove working after a couple of false starts. Just after the fitter left it sprung a leak and we had to get him back but he couldn't fix it so he needed to fetch a plumber. I hope he doesn't charge us extra for the additional time.
Finally got the stove working after a couple of false starts. Just after the fitter left it sprung a leak and we had to get him back but he couldn't fix it so he needed to fetch a plumber. I hope he doesn't charge us extra for the additional time.
Thursday 10th
0 to 1 to 2°C. 522Wh 100W max. Frosty start and remained cloudy and cold throughout the day.
Still having trouble with the hot water from the stove. It isn't circulating through the two upstairs radiators so there must be an airlock somewhere. The water in the cylinder though is a lot hotter than it has been for many years!!
Still having trouble with the hot water from the stove. It isn't circulating through the two upstairs radiators so there must be an airlock somewhere. The water in the cylinder though is a lot hotter than it has been for many years!!
Friday 11th
0 to 4 to 3°C 2.21kWh 800W max. Cold misty start but the sun was shining above the mist generating quite a lot of electricity. Managed to bleed the air out of the hot water pipes so we now have the radiators working just in time for a forecasted cold snap. Still feeling very unwell from having workmen, with their laundered clothes and aftershave, in the house for two days. I have been continuously below 25% respiratory function since Tuesday afternoon and woke up both Wednesday night and last night with very bad asthma. I have finally convinced myself I need to buy a salbutamol nebuliser for these occasions.
Saturday 12th
-1 to 3 to -2°C. 1.01 150W max. Cold foggy start brightening in the late afternoon to a clear frosty night. An easterly wind made it feel even colder than the thermometer suggested.
Sunday 13th
-3 to 1 to 0°C. 2.04kWh 800W max. Clear sunny start clouding over by mid afternoon. A few flurries of snow in the evening.
Monday 14th
0 to 4 to 0°C. 1.04 kWh 800W max. Heavy rain and sleet with a few sunny intervals. The rain formed large muddy puddles on the frozen ground. The builders were due to start today. I can't really blame them for not turning up; not a day for working outside on a scaffold.
Tuesday 15th
-1 to 1 to -3°C. 1.38kWh 500W max. Cold misty start but cleared to a brighter afternoon, feeling quite pleasant in the hazy sunshine. the temperature in the polytunnel rose to 8°C.
Wednesday 16th
-4 to -1 to -3°C. 938kWh 600W max. Cold and crisp with hazy sunshine. More easterly breeze than yesterday making it feel colder. Kept warm cutting up more wood for the fire. Still no signs of the builders but who can blame them in this weather? Even so what do they live on when they can't work in winter? Snow is forecast for Friday.
Thursday 17th
-2 to 1 to 0°C. 594Wh 80W max. Light snow showers most of the day.
A man turned up to extend the windowsills and fit new gutters and drainpipes to the house in preparation for the insulation and rendering starting next week (weather permitting). The insulation is 600mm thick so this is why these need to re-fitted. Also a skip turned up without warning which was a bit of a nuisance because it is now almost impossible to get the car out of the garage. We did manage, but only by driving partly on the garden, so that Pat could go into Wem and buy enough food to last us for the next two weeks while the work is going on. I am afraid a few primroses might have been squashed under the wheels but I can replace them later if necessary.
A man turned up to extend the windowsills and fit new gutters and drainpipes to the house in preparation for the insulation and rendering starting next week (weather permitting). The insulation is 600mm thick so this is why these need to re-fitted. Also a skip turned up without warning which was a bit of a nuisance because it is now almost impossible to get the car out of the garage. We did manage, but only by driving partly on the garden, so that Pat could go into Wem and buy enough food to last us for the next two weeks while the work is going on. I am afraid a few primroses might have been squashed under the wheels but I can replace them later if necessary.
Friday 18th
-3 to 0 to -3°C. 294Wh 50W max. Light snow overnight then some heavier snow for a couple of hours in the morning then back to light snow, though it could have just been that which fell earlier being blown around by the very cold strong wind. Only about 4 or 5cm altogether; nothing like the 30 to 40cm reported in some parts of south Wales.
Saturday 19th
-3 to 1 to -1°C. 402Wh 100W max. Another wintry day but with only a few light showers of snow and less breeze (from the south east!!) so it felt slightly less cold.
Sunday 22nd
-1 to 1 to -1°C. 6007Wh 300W max. Continuous light snow all day apart from a short brighter spell in the late morning.
Monday 21st
-2 to 1 to -1°C. 167Wh 50W max. Cloudy and cold but with only a few light snow showers. The builders came to start on the walls. A large lorry carrying the supplies they need to do the job turned up and the driver insisted on reversing up the drive despite the lorry being too wide. Not only did he drive over nearly all my beautiful primroses which I have spent years getting going but then got stuck. By the time they had dragged the lorry back down the drive (including borrowing a tractor from our farmer neighbour) they had walked on most of the rest of the bed and churned deep furroughs so probably bulbs will be damaged as well. I am not pleased; it will take days of work to put this right and it could be two years at least before it looks right again.
Tuesday 22nd
-3 to 0 to -1°C. 383Wh 150W max. Clear cold sunny start but clouded over by mid-morning. Even so went for a walk in the afternoon to get away from the sound of constant drilling.
Wednesday 23rd
-2 to 1 to -1°C. No electricity generated as the panels were covered with a thick coat of snow which was falling most of the morning. The man came to fit the new flue for the log stove. During the time it was disconnected the temperature inside the house fell below 7°C. We can't light the stove again till tomorrow and the temperature is now around 10°C. This is despite the walls now being mainly insulated but of course without heating there is no heat for them to keep in. They will start the rendering tomorrow.
Thursday 24th
-2 to 2 to -5°C. 19Wh. Cloudy start but came sunny in the afternoon, feeling quite pleasant with still air and some sunshine. The men finished attaching the insulation board and started to prepare for the first render coat.
Friday 25th
-6 to 2 to 0°C. 42Wh. Very cold start warming up slowly throughout the day. Started snowing steadily, but not heavily, after dusk. Despite the cold the two workmen continued to work on the house, applying the first coat of render with a fibreglass mesh embedded in it.
Saturday 26th
-1 to 5 to 3°C. 2.51kWh 1.45kW max. Heavy but wet snow overnight so soon started to thaw when the sun came out in the morning. There was still a lot of lying snow by evening but it shouldn't last long tomorrow. The men applied a second coat of render to the outside of the house.
Sunday 27th
4 to 6 to 1°C. 2.52kWh 1.25kW max. Heavy rain overnight melted the rest of the snow and cleared by dawn to a sunny day with a few showers. The men applied the base PVA coat for the outer skin of the render. Unfortunately the solvent for this penetrated the house and caused a bad asthma attack. Only one more coat to go. Hopefully this will be tomorrow though heavy rain forecast in the afternoon.
Monday 28th
0 to 9 to 8°C. 447Wh 150W max. Clear to start but started to drizzle by late morning and then light rain for the rest of the day with a strong gusty wind, the temperature slowly rising. So they only managed about 2 hours on the wall, but what they did do looks really good. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow.
Tuesday 29th
5 to 12 to 8°C. 540Wh 500W max. Overcast and windy but no rain and feeling very mild for the time of year. The walls are nearly finished. Only the front one still to do!! A bonus; the three pallets the materials for the walls came on were to be disposed of in the skip. What a waste. We rescued them and broke them up for firewood.
Wednesday 30th
7 to 9 to 3°C 3.63kWh 1.25kW max. A sunny day but feeling cold in a very strong south west wind. The house walls are finished apart from the new gutters which will be completed early next week. The scaffolding also needs to come down and the skip, full of builders rubbish, is still here. It is a good job we can manage without the car because is very difficult to get it out while the skip is partly blocking the door.
Thursday 31st
3 to 9 to 4°C. 3,11kWh 1.25kW max. A very similar day to yesterday but feeling slightly warmer because the wind has dropped. The telephone rang while I was out in the garden and the outside bell sounded very muffled. It was glued up with some of the rendering cement and needed a good clean. Something else we have noticed is that some of the windows won't open. Something else for site inspector when he turns up.
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