6th June 2023 - Solar, Boxes, gravel, and another day at the coal face

Thought for the day :" There was a Roman Emperor who never aged after 19... his name was Constant Teen"

Tuesday, and the opportunity for a more settled day after the sudden arrival of solar team yesterday.

However, it has been really interesting to watch the Solar app and try to work out what is happening.

It seems that last night the batteries were fed from the grid until they were full - and therefore it cost us some money 

but then I look at the app today and see that we have drawn NO power from the grid all day - and I found the strange new experience of seeing the wheel on the electricity meter going backwards!!

And so it is as I take the 8pm picture - we are 16 kw less than this time last night !

Okay we are not being paid for these units but each is one nit that we do not have to pay for - so is worth the current rate that I pay - ie 18p until July - whatever the rate is after that time 

I understand that Barri will be coming back on Friday to set up the default areas that get fed when the battery is full - ie the immersion heater and the option on a storage heater which will be central to the house in the office  ...   I shall continue monitoring what we are getting and how much...

So - this is the installation - the inverter and the battery 

In other news - this huge box gets delivered and to be honest even looking at the label I could not remember what I had bought !!!

When I opened - it is of course the plastic grids for the pathway 

And later today .. We get the next ton of pebble stones delivered - I suppose I have no excuse now !

And also - the new gate is delivered and needs to be put in place..

May have to check that it is horizontal , and will have to dig in the pathway a little bit to allow clear access. 

Walked the dogs. Bought layer pellets and poultry mixed corn. Dropped the empty barrel back to Mantle and ordered for Father's Day Weekend.  The windscreen wipers have failed on the Vectra so Tom is getting the parts  for repair... 

Managed to get the solar panel and water pump working - am thinking that as it has to have a battery in the circuit - I may get a proper leisure battery and then use an inverter to keep the fairy lights working 

Task in progress...

Susie under the weather today - hasn't happened for about 6 months 
Hoping she is feeling better tomorrow after an early night 

Work progressing on our Event for the end of the month - plot managing and new ideas...

No spoilers here - they can appear after the event - to show what we though may happen and what really happens 

Cheers !

5th June 2023 - Solar Panels Installation

Thought for the day :"According to Japanese legend – when you cannot sleep at night – it is because you are awake"

INteresting start to the day 

Got up early as I needed to get my battery Bosch strimmer collected and the label said any time between 8am and 6pm ..
only to find that I had a text at 7am from Barri Davies the solar electrician saying that we were scheduled for today !!

And that they would be with us by 6.30am and they were not far off.

So at the end of the day we have a full roof of solar panels and apparently everything working - though I have no idea what is actually happening 

But I will take a daily not of the meter for the next month to see if there is an affect 

I have an app - but have no idea what it is telling me and no idea if I can adjust anything 

Hopefully tomorrow they will give me a storage heater and set up the hot water feeds ..
We shall see

Very hot again and with the solar panels coming in - did not really achieve anything else...

Cheers,

4th June 2023 - Pathways not completed - and a stroll around

Thought for the day :"I know someone who cremated his family inheritance. He urned his money."

Sunny Sunday - a real heatwave - so hot that we decided not to walk the dogs but rather to put them into the river instead...

 

And Fabio was flexing his stuff - Zsa Zsa has given us three eggs so far ..

But the walkway did not get finished - sadly was a bag short of 20 mm stones so will have to order again tomorrow 

Also still short of 20 plastic grids so have ordered them as well..

Will hope to get it finished before the weekend 

So, a couple of shots about the estate ..

Chilean Flame Tree

Fabio

Fox gloves on the fallen tree

Sadly I think that the nasturtiums have mainly failed due to the heat 

Gin and Tonic in the setting sun and a glass of Wino 

Cheers !

3rd June 2023 - Fun around the grounds

Thought for the day; "There are two types of people in the world.. avoid both of them"

Saturday - day of rest ....
Well - not if you are in Ffynnon Wen ...

Decided that the lawns needed doing again - they are growing fast at the moment.

Looked at the grid pathways and decided I needed to check whether they would go flat with the larger 20mm pebbles..

The rest to be done tomorrow 

Finish the evening on the pontoon with an Amstel and a gin and tonic

There be dragons here

Clematis is flowering beautifully 

Lower quarter has a lot of wood ready for splitting 

But managed to get the John Deer down to cut the lower quarter today 

Can't finish the bluebells as they are not at the seed stage yet ..  but coming closer

Nasturtiums coming close on the lower quarter bed..

 

General area clear

And the roses are out on the doorway

All in all a good day ...  

Cheers 

2nd June 2023 - Attacking the Island

Thought for the day :"Met an incompetent virologist. Couldn't tell his SARS from his Ebola..."

Another sunny day and so it was down to strimming again 

the pontoon is looking much neater 

and this is the island - had to covert to the wired strimmer as the battery one failed - looks like I will have to try to see what the warranty is - though it has had some hard use..

Seems to be a continuing task - but we are getting there 
all Himalayan balsam is being culled before flowering so should  make life easier for future years 

Cheers !

1st June 2023 - New Freezer - Clear the back passage

Thought for the day :"My local church stopped ringing bells due to pressure regarding the noise, they received the no bell peace prize"

 

Early morning and the delivery from Curry's was just at 9am - did not expect that but had got up reluctantly anyway and just as well really 

So today was spent re-arranging the back passage and putting place for the new freezer.

The main purpose of this is of course to find room for the new solar batteries which means taking out the old single freezer and taking it down to the chicken run as a feed store 

Quite pleased with this 

And this w

as the Office for today - Walking the Dogs 

Cheers