Month: January 2013

Well, it’s good we don’t need to go anywhere today. Except for visiting the aged FIL of course, because the carers who normally get him out of bed and feed him are unwilling to risk the trip. So LSS has taken over the job for today.

Today was another wood-cutting day. I had pruned some of the branches of the chestnut trees across the road, and these have now been converted into woodstove-sized logs. They were all dead branches, and as a result are fairly dry, so can be used straight away.

The barn roof insulation is now complete, and I have started the next challenge, building the thermal store. However, I need an oxy-acetylene welder to affix the brass pipe connectors to the 500 litre galvanized steel cylinder I’m using (kindly donated to us by our neighbours T&M). Apparently one of LSS’s cousins has one (I’ve looked into the price of hiring or purchasing a set, but it’s way too expensive) so we have to wait until he has a minute to bring it to us – or for a convenient moment for us to go and fetch it.

I do have a mig welder, and access to the aged FIL’s arc welder, and also a brazing torch, but none of these are suitable for the job!

The kitchen electrical upgrade has also taken another step forward; the lighting circuit is now complete which means we have two new light switches installed. This also means there are no more dangling electric wires in the kitchen! I’ve also installed a new kitchen cupboard which we bought at Brico Depot about a month ago. It’s starting to look more like a kitchen now! Next kitchen job: installing our new sink…

A belated Happy New Year to all our readers! The lack of posts recently has been due to my working on some more pages for the main website. (See “Bathroom Facilities” in the menu on the left).

I’ve also been insulating the roof of the adjoining barn, because that’s where the water supply pipes and pressure vessel reside. We would rather not have the pipes freeze when the temperature dips below zero. The task is nearly complete.

Our festive fare comprised (mainly) wild boar and an assortment of home-grown vegetables – although we did of course have a traditional Christmas pudding which we bought last year before leaving the UK.

We also enjoyed lots of different varieties of cheese! Well, I have to keep my strength up somehow…