Hot water . . . . . . . not quite!

Well, the plumber was here Monday to Wednesday and got most things connected up.  I did think he might finish yesterday and we'd have running water (even hot water) . . . . . but, no.  I was a little disappointed, but he didn't want to connect to the mains at the end of a day and leave it to sprout leaks overnight - shouldn't he be a little more confident than that?!  I guess it makes sense.  Anyway, he should be here again tomorrow to finish off.  We just have to put the solar tubes on the roof (which we can't do until everything else is ready as they don't react well to creating heat and  not having anywhere for it to go) and connect the house to the mains supply.


Want to know how solar tubes work?  Skip this paragraph if not, but we had a lesson yesterday, so I have to pass on my new-found knowledge.  So, the tubes themselves (a bit like flourescent lights) have a bit of special liquid at the bottom (when they're on a sloping roof) and when the sun heats it this it turns to vapour and rises to the top of the tube.  Here the heat is transferred to the glycol mixture that is in the closed pipe system which runs along under the roof and into the leanto where the heat store is.  As the heat is transferred, the vapour cools and condenses and runs back to the bottom of the tube to begin again.  The glycol mixture runs through a coil in the heat store and the heat is transferred to the water in the tank.  When you turn a hot tap on, mains water runs through another coil in the heat store and takes the heat from the water in the tank  and then pootles along to the tap.  Simple really!  Amazing that the heat is transferred so many times before we will actually feel it.  Yesterday the plumber put  water in the system and pressure tested it, then when he was happy there were no leaks he put the glycol in, so it's all primed and ready to go - just need some water in the heat store so there is somewhere for the heat to go.

This is the heat store - quite a lot of gubbins connected
to it isn't there?  The black pipes are to and from the solar
tubes and the white tank is for the glycol.  Then there are pipes
to and from the backboiler and, of course, cold water in and
hot water out.  All connected up - just waiting for some water!

Although he didn't quite finish yesterday, a lot has been done this week and below are some pictures of our new additions.  The electrician also managed to come for the morning yesterday, so he was able to wire up the downstairs shower, solar pump and controller and the immersion heater.




A loo at last - all connected up, just waiting for some water!



The upstairs sink all connected up - just waiting for some water!



The upstairs shower all ready to go - just waiting for some water!
Actually, the glass screen and door may be a good idea
too, otherwise we'll be having a shower in the kitchen too
I think!



Our little cast iron radiator in the ensuite, all connected up -
you've guessed it, just wating for some water.  We're going to put a
couple of hooks on the wall above so we have nice toasty towels.
Can't wait, damp towels is one of the downsides of caravan life.

While the plumber has been here we've been hanging around as usual in case he needs anything and checking things are where we want them, but we have also got some jobs done.  I've snuck in a bit more decorating and all the painting in the kitchen is now done except for a few bits of touching up.  You know when you're painting it's the corners and edges that take the time?  Well, the kitchen is nothing but corners and edges with all the oak posts and beams!  Bob has carried on digging holes for drains - these holes seem to have been there for ages and it'll be good to get the pipes in and cover them all back in again.  We finally put the guttering around the extension after I painted it all, so that is ready to connect to the pipe to the soakaway.  This afternoon we put the closure plate in the inglenook.  This basically blocks off the rest of the chimney.  The woodburner is connected to a flue liner that goes right to the top of the chimney, so you don't need a big open chimney sucking heat away like you do with an open fire.  We had to make the plate ourselves - you can buy them, but only for little square chimneys, not great big uneven shaped ones like ours.  It was a real pain to do and put in place because, of course, the woodburner and flue are in the way.  Anyway, it's done and very glad we are too.

While I was painting the guttering up by our top barns earlier in the week, the chickens were happily scratching around in the woods behind the barns.  Suddenly one of them started making a real noisy fuss.  Usually that doesn't mean anything, but we do go and check just in case.  So I went to see what was what and as I walked round the corner a buzzard flew from a fairly low branch and across the field.  Wonder if it was thinking that the babies might like chicken for tea?  Anyway, the girls weren't too perturbed and just carried on bumbling around as usual.

 Thought I'd do lots of pictures this time and not much words.  So, here's step-by-step pictures for the kitchen sink area:-



It's not easy to do 'random' you know - it all has to be very
carefully planned so you don't end up with lots of one colour
left or the same order throughout 





Doing the easy ones first - I'll think about
cutting the diagonal edge ones later.  They
were actually really tough to cut.



So, who decided to put curved reveals round these windows?!
Certainly didn't make things easy - Bob managed to cut curves in the window sill
tiles and the upright ones just have to sit as they sit.  We did try it without any
upright ones, but it looked a little odd.  Think it'll be alright once its
grouted - that's tomorrow's job.



So, here it is with the sink in place - looks quite posh doesn't it?
Somehow Bob and I seem to be surprised every time we do
something like this,  as if we weren't really sure what it was
going to look like.



We might need another sink in the kitchen so we thought we'd
put this island unit in.  What do you think?  We're aiming for the
'workmanlike look' which I'm sure is going to be next
year's trend . . . . . .



. . . .  then we thought 'Nah, maybe not' and put it in the utility
room instead.  The washing machine will go under the drainer
side and an upright freezer to the right.  I need to put some more
carefully thought-out random tiles on the wall for a splashback.

So, there you go - our life for the past few days in pictures.  In addition we went to a property auction yesterday afternoon.  A cottage and land just down the lane was one of the lots and we thought it'd be interesting to see who buys it, but it evidently didn't reach the reserve price and so they didn't sell it (unless they came to some arrangement after the auction).  It certainly wasn't as 'buzzing' as the auctions we've been to before the 'downturn' and nothing went for much over the guide price.  I've had a girly day today with a visit from three friends from way back when I used to work in a school - 13 years ago, unbelievable.  After a cuppa and a look round the house (including one climbing the ladder in high-heeled sandals!) we went out for lunch - Bob went to the woodyard!

Rabbit wars!

Look, we have a new work bench!  Quite useful really.  We have plugged the washer in (it says 'Hello' on the digital display when you turn it on), just to see what it can do.  Blimey they've got complicated all of a sudden.  You can choose the temperature, spin speed, etc, etc.  I used to just run our old washing machine on the same programme for just about everything.  Mind you, I just used to put everything in the oven at Gas Mark 6 too.  I think Laura and Ben grew up thinking that those were the only settings you could have!  No doubt once we've palyed with this machine a few times we'll find a new standard setting.  It is one of the larger sizes (8kg), but it looks absolutely tiny inside - I've got used to the 35kg machine we use at the launderette . . . . . . must remember not to put a whole weeks worth in in one go!

I was using the washing machine as a work bench while I tiled the surround for the sink in the utility room.  Mmmm, looking at that picture, there's not actually much surround at all is there?  Bob has been building the carcass for the cupboard underneath and that is now put together and has had one coat of paint (it's only plywood, so we can't leave it as bare wood).  Tommorrow we will try it in place and put some battens on the wall to support the bit over the washing machine and then put another coat of paint on it.  We could also attach the sink to the top so that when the paint's dry it can all just pop into place.  That will then be ready for the plumber to sort out the pipes underneath.  The sycamore work tops around the kitchen sink have had their two coats of 'Seal & Finish', so they should be heat, grease and waterproof after tomorrow.  I caught a glimpse of that corner of the kitchen through the hole for the stairs this afternoon and it looked just lovely (I thought) - very cottagey.  I went to get the tiles for the splashback this morning - 20% off, so that was good timing and while I was there I noticed that they also had 25% off Little Green Paint Company's mixer paints (English Heritage approved colours, no less - how posh are we?!!).  They have a colour - soft, pale, olive green - that would look right on the cupboard doors in the utility so that was good too (so long as they still have it when we go back).

WARNING:  The next paragraph contains tales of a violent nature, please don't read it if you are squeamish

The rabbit wars have started.  We have put up with rabbits eating things in the garden for the last two years.  We've put chicken wire around the flower bed which looks lovely as you can imagine.  We've put chicken wire around the hedge and the vegetable plot.  We've clapped our hands at them to scare them off, made allowances for the baby rabbit we found in the flower bed, we even moved their babies carefully to persuade them to live elsewhere.  But, enough is enough and they are really taking the mickey now.  They live inside the wire in the flower bed, they've eaten the tops off all the leeks (they've never even liked them before) and have completely stripped the flowers off a 15 foot length of planting.  Yesterday we decided that the baby rabbit that used to run straight through the small holes in the chicken wire must now be too big to fit through and so it would be safe to plant some veg in the gaps in the flower border.  As we looked at one such gap a rabbit ambled into it, saw us and went and hid under the holly bush.  That was the last straw and Bob got his air rifle and made short work of it.  I know, I know, they're cute, but we have a constant battle with them and they don't seem to understand the rules!  Anyway, it didn't look as though there was much meat on it so I took it up to the clearing at the edge of the quarry across the lane and left it for the buzzards.  An hour later it had gone (and I'm pretty sure it hadn't made a miraculous recovery) so last night I think the buzzard chicks had a tasty rabbit supper.  Unfortunately, I found another blessed rabbit in the flower patch today . . . . oh, why don't they stick to the woods, there's loads of lush greenery?!  hold on, maybe that rabbit did make a miraculous recovery and has moved back in!

UNWARNING:  OK, you can open your eyes now, the violence is over.

We have other wild life which is not such a nuisance.  The family of woodpeckers are around most of the time and the kids do an awful lot of squabbling.  There were three of them on the top of the telegraph pole yesterday making a huge amount of noise.  I think that was two young and their mum - young have a red cap, adult females don't have any red on their heads and adult males have a red patch at the back of their neck.  The young nuthatches have definitely worked out how to get peanuts out of the feeders and we regularly have three around.  You can't tell the difference between the young and the adults except that the young are not quite so 'busy' and spend far more time just looking around.  We had a young jay on the feeder a couple of days ago - they just look huge hanging off the nuts.  Again, the young just look like the adults, but act differently.  Once this once got a peanut out, it didn't really know what to do with it so it went and spent five minutes eating sand from the pile in front of the caravan!  Most mornings we are woken at about 5.30am by the bird olympics on the caravan roof - I think a crow or raven likes the sound of its feet running the length of the van.  This morning though I don't know what was on the roof - sounded like a grizzly bear bumbling around!  It sounded big enough for Bob to get up to have a look, but whatever it was had gone.  A mystery, but I hope it doesn't wake us in the same way tomorrow!

A 'sorting out' sort of week



Oooh! That looks painful



I didn't go up on the roof on Monday - Bob seemed quite keen to do the rufty tufty bit, so I did my usual builder's mate job of passing and holding things (and weeding the garden at the same time).  We had to rig up a sturdy carrier bag on a rope for passing things up and down - or Bob just threw them down and I retrieved.  It definitely looks tonnes better without the big, bright orange rubber grommets for the pipes to go through and it is nice to know that they are sealed properly.  The lime mortar the roofer chap put under the ridge tiles in the middle of the big freeze actually wasn't as bad as we thought is might be and was fairly solid.  Because lime mortar takes a long time to go off, the water in it can freeze in the meantime and that 'blows' the joint and it just crumbles, but it seemed OK so Bob just tidied it up.  Good job done!

Spot the difference - yeah, the bright orange
bit have gone (the bits where the pipes go into the
roof in case you didn't spot it)

We have had a bit of a 'sorting out' week.  The planners insisted that the timber extension should be 'subserviant' to the stone part.  Alright for them, they didn't have to build it and work out all the measurements!  Anyway, that means that the gutter needs a dog-leg in it, but of course you can't just buy them - at least not in cast iron (another planning need).  We got an ordinary right angle bend, but needed to attach another piece to it.  Not many people weld cast iron now, it can be a bit awkward to do I think.  Bob rang around a bit and one chap's name came up a few times so we went round to see him last night and he was quite happy to do it and we collected it today - brilliant.  He was a 'good old boy' with a canal-side workshop that used to be the bone-burning building for glue manufacture in a village about 5 miles away.  He also makes hinges, etc and seems to be able to turn his hand to most things, so he could be useful to know.

We also sorted out the work tops for the kitchen (the brickwork is now done ready for the sink).  Bob rang round all the local timberyards asking about 2" beech.  Can you believe that one had some at the back at their shed and as it had been there for a while they said we could have it for about half the price any of the others were asking - fantastic.  So we went and collected that yesterday.  Bob started on that today . . . . we actually think the piece he started on might be sycamore (it's paler than beech and doesn't have the same flecks in it), but it is a nice piece of wood and there's enough to do all the bit round the sink so we'll be having sycamore there.  We are actually trying NOT to have everything matching so are quite happy to have beech for the other bits.

Tomorrow we are going to collect a washing machine.  Now that will be strange after two and a half years of going to the launderette.  I suppose we could connect it to the outside tap and let it drain into the bath, but I think we'll be patient for another week or so and wait until the plumber has been and we can connect it properly.  It's funny, I used to think launderettes were quite scary places - well the one where we used to live certainly was (I certainly wouldn't go there after dark!).  Doing just one big wash a week and not thinking about it the rest of the time has been quite nice in a way, but I will be glad to be able to do it here.  Just need to get used to an ordinary size machine again.

I have also tiled the floor in the utility room - so we can build the frame for the sink to sit on before the plumber comes.  Because the tiles are the same as the ones in the bathroom and the hall, I had to lay the strip down the side of the hall first so the bathroom floor and the utility line up with the hall.  I haven't done the rest of the hall yet though bec\use we're not quite ready for that to be a 'clean area' just yet.  I did a bit more decorating this afternoon.  I started off just doing the bit under the kitchen sink - before it's in which is just so much easier.  As I had all the stuff out, I carried on and did the whole of that quarter of the kitchen, ceiling and all.  I'd quite happile decorate all of it, but have to stop myself and get on with more important things first, but I'm gradually sneaking bits in!

I did some fruit harvesting yesterday afternoon.  I picked all the gooseberries - a bit green and crunchy and very sour (yes, we did try them raw!), but I'm going to make a bit (a very small bit) of gooseberry and elderflower icecream which needs them to be picked now.  We have loads of blackcurrants, but the blackbird is quicker off the mark at harvesting the ripe ones than me.  I did get some though and they are in a jar with some sugar and vodka - yum, alcoholic ribena!  There was also one raspberry and two little wild strawberries. . . . . I just ate them!  I also made a batch of elderflower cordial which is lovely and refreshing on a hot afternoon. 

Heating for this winter weather

The electrician finished connecting the underfloor heating before he went on Friday.  Luckily for us Friday night was forecast to be really quite chilly, so we set the controls to full to see what happened.  Next morning the house was actually quite warm and you could definitely feel a difference in the floor . . . . . more that they weren't cold rather than that they were warm.  But what a relief!  I don't think I'd quite realised how much at the back of my mind I was thinking that it might not actually work.  For months when we ordered it all, we had real, real trouble with the company with them not being able to tell us what length/type of cables we needed, then sending extra cables/wrong cables/unlabelled cables.  You then lay the cables (and test them) then slap 2" of screed on top (and test the cables again), but it is all a bit of a leap of faith that they'll work at the end of the day and it really would be a major pain if for some reason they didn't!  Last night we left it on full again and again it was warm this morning.  So, we have now turned it all down to about a quarter capacity to see what happens . . . . . hopefully, it either won't come on at all (I think the weather is supposed to warm up tonight) or it'll just come on for a very short time.  Now I'm thinking 'What if it comes on for the full time again?  That'll mean that the controller doesn't work'.  I'm a bit paranoid about this heating, but that comes from the company not giving us faith in their product and their ability right at the start - it'll be fine!?!

We now have all the lights working, but need to do a fair bit of sorting out where light bulbs are concerned.  The move to low energy bulbs and the dictatorial way the industry is regulated now means that it is really difficult to sort out bulbs that actually do what you want them to and it is all soooo complicated!  We have a light in the bathroom that takes so long to warm up that it should just be bright enough to see by when you've finished having a wee, washed your hands and made a cup of tea - useless.  We have a light in the hall which is OK and is bright enough, quick enough but has writing all over the collar which is easily visible and looks horrible.  We have several light fittings which need a nice-looking bulb as part of the overall look, but you are no longer allowed to buy globe-shaped opaque bulbs.  There are possibilities out there, but of course you need to try them out in-situ . . . . at about £7 a go that could work out expensive.  Oooh dear, I've just realised what a moan I've been having, sorry!

While the electrician was here Bob kept out of the way by fitting some of the window catches upstairs which looks so much better than the little blocks of wood we used to have there.  Most of the windows just open on one side, but this is our bedroom window and has to open both sides to provide a fire escape.  This means that the left-hand side needs bolts to secure the window.  This window now makes us laugh a bit - it's a little busy with fixtures and fittings and really looks as though we just ordered one of everything in the catalogue and whacked it on!  I think there's a bit of space in the top corners which I'm sure we could fill with some sort of ironmongery!

I put the silicon around the shower tray and in the corners and as predicted made a real mess of it - I should be able to do it, I can ice a cake so what's the difference?  So, one of my jobs for next week is to try and sort it out.  Luckily I didn't do the bath in the same manner and so should hopefully have learned from my mistakes.

We have had the weekend off again as my son, Ben and his girlfriend, Lucy have been here for a few days.  Ben helped us move the woodburner over a couple of inches which was a great help - it is just so heavy and a real dead weight.  So, it's staying where it is now I think.  Yesterday we went for a good walk around Hawkstone Park which is full of Victorian follies in the shape of caves and pitch black tunnels right through rocks, meandering paths and worn, wonky steps, a tower with over 150 steps leading to fantastic views over the Shropshire Plains and little huts half built into the rocks.  Something different around every corner and a good way to spend a few hours.  We were going to look round the local annual antique show today before Ben and Lucy went home, but it has been pouring down non-stop so we have done nothing at all.  It's not good for you!  We feel shattered after doing nothing but cooking a fry-up and reading the paper.  Back to work tomorrow.  We have a new work schedule for the time before the plumber comes.  Tomorrow involves some roof work.  When they put the frame for the solar panels on the roof they disturbed the ridge tiles and very quickly put them back and pointed them.  The temperature then was way below that recommended for lime mortar, so we need to check the state of all that and re-do it if necessary.  We also need to silicone around the rubber grommets where the pipes go through the roof as you can see daylight through which probably isn't good.  We are also going to paint the bright orange rubber grommets black with some tyre paint to try to make them blend in a bit.  They are all fairly quick jobs, but it'll need both of us - one on the roof and the other passing things and checking what it looks like from the ground.  I did most of the ridge tiles in the first place, so I might do the roof bit if I'm still brave enough to get up there!

I've bought some curtain material

After all this time joking about making the curtains, I actually bought some material for the kitchen windows today.  Now, how exciting is that do you think?  I will make a sort of Roman blind for the window by the sink and curtains for the dining end.  The material is apple-green gingham with little white daisies on it - quite cute really and very fresh-looking.

The electrician has been here today . . . . and the plumber . . . . . and the water tank delivery van . . . . . and a neighbour.  A bit chaotic this morning!  As I mentioned before, the sparky was coming as he had a free day and a half.  So he has now done all the lights and extractor fans and just has the underfloor heating to sort out tomorrow.  The plumber called round unexpectedly yesterday and after much complimenting us on the house, the woodburner, the tiling and so on, looked very sheepish and told us he couldn't come on Monday . . . . . or for a fortnight after that!  He has to go into hospital, so there's not a lot we could say really.  So, the plan was that he'd get the hot water tank (or heat store to be more precise - I'll explain in a minute) delivered this morning and he'd come and position it and the solar tubes controller and pump so the sparky could do the wiring if he had time.  He turned up, a bit later the delivery van turned up and they unloaded the tank . . . . . wrong one!  So that had to go back.  So then the plumber said he'd connect the electric shower so the sparky could wire that up if he had time.  He unpacked the shower only to find that it had been used - it was covered in water marks, there was a nut on the back that isn't usually included and you could see by the fixing holes that it had obviously been attached to a wall.  So that had to go back and the plumber went home.  How frustrating and we'll not see him now until the end of the month!

So, a heat store - because we have solar panels and a back boiler producing hot water we can't have an ordinary hot water cylinder.  We have to have a heat store.  It works in the opposite way to a normal tank.  The fluid from the solar tubes will run through a copper coil in the bottom half of the tank and will warm the water in the tank.  In winter, the hot water from the back boiler goes straight into the tank - that is the same water that the solar coil will warm, but is not the actual water that comes out of the hot tap.  The mains cold water runs through a long coil inside the tank and as it goes through it is heated by the already hot water in the tank.  So the water that actually comes out of the tap is at mains pressure (good for showers) and is freshly heated as you use it.  There will also be a traditional immersion heater for topping-up or for in summer when we don't have the woodburner going and the sun isn't in evidence.  Now, that's all very clever isn't it.  I hope I've got that all right . . . . well, it sounds convincing doesn't it?

Remember I told you about the rabbit hole in the middle of the leek patch that we emptied of baby rabbits and filled back in?  Well, next morning the hole was back again!  So we filled it back in again and next morning there it was again, so we filled it back in again and next morning . . . you've guessed it.  Persisitent little blighters aren't they.  This morning though, no sign of a hole, so maybe they've got the message.  We have lots of feathered babies around - Bob can barely keep up with filling the feeders!  There have been two baby nuthatches around most of the day, the young woodpeckers (at least two) and parents have been in the trees across the lane for the last few days as well as on the peanuts and there have been about 64 baby great tits on the peanuts almost constantly.  I know most people have stopped filling the feeders by now, but for purely selfish reasons we carry on - I just love seeing all these babies!

Drains and very cute baby rabbits

Oooh, I ache!  We had a very slow start today - what should have been a quick trip to the builders merchant took forever because the first one didn't have all the bits we wanted so we went to another who also didn't have everything, but did have the bits the first didn't which meant we had to go back to the first again, but at least we got everything in the end.  After that though we have got on really well as we have laid most of the drains around the extension.  We had to lay a french drain which is pipe with holes drilled in the top half which you sit in pea gravel and the idea is that ground water seeps down through the gravel and into the pipe and then drains away into the soakaway.  You have to enclose the gravel with porous membrane which stops mud and silt getting through and clogging the holes in the pipe.  Next to that is the drain from the utility room and bathroom.  All this had to fit in a fairly narrow walkway between the building and the retaining wall so quite an awkward working space.  Once we'd cut the pipe to length (and drilled all the holes in some of it), fitted all the bends and sorted out the levels so that the water drains the right way, I shovelled gravel into buckets and Bob poured them around the pipes making sure the membrane stayed in place.  That was a lot of gravel to move and hump around - hence the groans from both of us when we move at the moment!

I have now finished tiling the bathroom and grouted.  Just the silicone to pipe down the corners and around the bath - oh dear, that could well go horribly wrong!  It all looks much better without the horrible green plasterboard - much brighter now.  I have to get on with the shower tiling upstairs now.  That needs doing before the plumber can fit the shower.  I thought I had all week, but the electrician has just rung to say he has some time on Thursday and Friday to come back and finish the lights, etc.  That's really good, but does mean I have to try and get a good chunk of the tiling done before then as he needs to work in the en-suite and I don't want to be in his way.  So, guess what I'm doing tomorrow?

We had the weekend off with a visit from Carol, Graham, Sophie and Ellie (sister and family).  As usual when they come the weather was glorious, too hot to do much really.  On Sunday we did some gardening - lots of weed strimming (not sure it really looks any better though).  We also planted several plants we'd been given by various people and also moved the leeks to their growing positions.  You plant the seeds and then when they are big enough you dig them up and plant them individually into deep holes which allow them plenty of space to grown into nice big leeks.  This morning we went to check they were OK and were horrified to see a big rabbit hole in the middle of the patch!   Aaarghhhh!!  On closer inspection we found three tiny baby rabbits at the bottom of it.  Oh, now what were we to do?  No sign of the adults all day, so in the end we got them out and put them the other side of the path in the undergrowth where they snuggled up together and stayed for a few hours.  When I went to check before we came in, they'd gone - no sign of anything nasty happening, so I assume the parent found them and carried them off to a new hole.  No doubt they'll be back in a few weeks to eat the heads off the flowers, chomp away at the tree bark and generally be a nuisance, but they were just too cute to do anything nasty to!  I expect we'll regret being softies somehow!