Sunny Days

Daily Generation May 2020

Our highest solar generation day for last year was on the 28th of May when we made 24.24 kWh of electricity.

Perhaps the trimming of the Yew Tree has helped, but, May 2020 has seen our generation record beaten nine times with 14th of May generating 26.13 kWh.  

Maybe not that surprising now the Met Office has confirmed that May was the sunniest calendar month on record in the UK!

Given the fantastic weather we have had at the start of this year, March and April also proved to be considerably better than 2019:

Monthly Generation Comparison

Hoping for more sunny days to come - will update later in the year with the annual review.

Bonfire #2

It's been a while since our last bonfire, and in the interim Martin had dug out a proper 'fire pit' which we've been filling with garden debris for the last year or more.

With the tip closed due to the lockdown, and more hedge clippings etc. accumulating - decided it was time to light it and create some capacity.

Chose a nice warm still evening - emptied the pit first to make sure that the local wildlife hadn't set up house in the bottom - and here we go:

The hose was readied in case things got out of hand, but all went to plan - we even sat there for a bit watching it, enjoying a beer / cider by the heat as the evening cooled.

It burnt well enough to get rid of some of our more fresh clippings as well - although that did create a lot of smoke, and amazingly it was still smouldering a day or more later.

We now have an empty pit, ready for re-filling for next time . . .

Adventures in Sourdough

Earlier this month (having finally got our hands on some bread flour) we decided to give sourdough a go. By day 3, the starter was bubbling nicely . . .

. . .  and we were soon on to the baking stage.  Here's the dough:

And the final product . . .  it did come out a bit of a funny shape, with big air holes inside, but tasted nice enough!

Apparently there are other things you can do with the starter as well - as a first attempt we tried sourdough cheese scones - not bad if I do say so myself.  Watch this space for more!

A Reasonable Excuse?

Away from home for a few days after a family emergency - hoping that travelling away from the place where I live is allowed under The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (Wales) Regulations 2020 regulation 8(d):

I suppose 'providing care or assistance' to family, after a fall and hospital stay, might count . . .

At least they are on the mend.