The Blog Where Not Much Happened

Well, it's been a quiet month from a blog perspective - very busy in work, so not much time for other stuff.

I can offer you another picture of a large deckchair (this one sitting in what was the paddling pool, but which is now a sandpit, but which looks like a paddling pool because it's rained a lot!).



And this photo of the red kites gathering for feeding time at Nant yr Arian on a lovely sunny late October afternoon.

Might have more to say in November!

Autumn Harvest

So as the growing season comes to the end, we've been harvesting the last of the produce from the garden . . .

A small selection here of the apples from our two trees.

Add to that the last tomatoes from the greenhouses, and potatoes and green beans from the veg plots.






The potatoes ('pink fir apple') after a slow start, did particularly well, although they wouldn't win any beauty contests!










Cue lots of peeling, chopping, par-boiling, and freezing . . .

September Travels

With the solar finally sorted it was time for a few days away visiting family - breaking the journey on the way with a night in Warwick.

Had a good walk round the town and outside of the castle, indulged in a couple of drinks, and had a very nice curry - watching (with some bemusement) as hundreds of people in flashing bunny ears went walking by . . .





It turns out there was a charity walk in town - they certainly made for a colourful if rather bizarre sight!

From bunny ears to dragon boats - happened upon another charity event by the river the next day - all the teams dressed up, and obviously having a great time.


On from Warwick to meet up with family - had a good catch-up, and took the parents out and about.  Nice, but breezy trip to RSPB Titchwell - walked down to the dunes, lovely views out to sea and the wind whipping the sand around our feet:

Nice lunch out, then finished the day with a visit to the old Wolferton station - formerly the 'royal' station for Sandringham before it closed in 1969. 


Now a private home, they open the platform area free of charge to visitors in the afternoons - really quite charming, with some interesting displays reflecting the history of the station.

All in all a nice few days before heading back to Wales (and work).

Solar Saga

So, after a number of years debating the question, and what feels like years trying to get quotes out of people, the installers finally arrived this week to fit solar panels to the back roof. 


They turned up about 9am - an electrician and a panel fitter - and were soon busy with the fixings on the roof and wiring stuff up to the junction box in the kitchen / fitting an inverter in the boiler 'cupboard', etc.



It was much later in the afternoon though by the time the panels were actually going up, and gone 7pm when they finally finished - by which time it was getting too dark to initialise the system.

It did all look quite smart when they'd done - but this is where the saga started . . .

• When we came to 'initialise' it all the next morning (having been left instructions) we couldn't get it to work.  Something hadn't been wired up quite right, and we had to wait for the installers to return from North Wales (a couple of days later) to sort it out.
  
  
• We then had one day of nice sunshine, and actual solar generation, before the company were back in touch to say that we'd had the wrong inverter fitted.
  
  
• A day later the electrician was back with us to remove our inverter, and head back to North Wales to swap it for the correct one.  (Somehow, out of four jobs they had the kit in the van for, they'd manage to get all the inverters mixed up!).  By 7pm he was back with the right inverter, and within the hour the saga was finally over.

I'm pleased to report that it is all now working - and we're particularly enjoying the free hot water provided by the iBoost system (which feeds the excess solar power to the immersion heater).

Got there in the end!

Shiny Cosy Kettles

We'd had an old tarnished copper kettle knocking around the house for a while, and finally decided to have a proper go at cleaning it up. 

I'd already tried conventional copper / brass cleaners, but hadn't got very far. 

Having found some suggestions online tried a paste made of vinegar, salt and flour - it soon began to turn green, which indicated that possibly it was actually working . . .

And - voila!

Having washed the paste off and with a bit of elbow grease - we have one nice shiny kettle  :)







On a more utilitarian front, our rayburn kettle also now has a nice new cosy (constructed, as usual, from a set of oven gloves).

Damson Brandy

This year's vintage is now maturing . . .

Glasgow Days

Back to Scotland for this year's ARA conference (having missed a couple of years) - this time hosted at the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow, slap bang on Grand Central Station.

Good conference, some excellent and thought-provoking speakers - and the hotel was nice enough.  Long trek to my room though (the corridors were spookily 'Shining'-like).

Very impressed with the venue for the Conference Reception mind you - Glasgow City Chambers really are a sight to be seen - Victorian bling at its best. 



The Escher-like staircases, all marble and alabaster, were particularly impressive - unfortunately the Banqueting Hall, with its ornate arched roof and mural decorated walls was being used for another event, but I caught a peek on the way out. 

If I'm ever in Glasgow again will definitely book the tour!


Caught up with some old friends, danced the night away at the Gala dinner, and found some time for a wander round Glasgow - rather taken with the murals (the Mural Trail would be another thing to do on a return visit):

All in all an enjoyable few days - although Glasgow is a long way from West Wales - at least catching the train back was easy - out the hotel door and onto the platform!