It's what we've been waiting for . . . . .

. . . . so, how's this for running water?

What an exciting moment.  This is, as far as we can make out, the first time there has been running hot water in this house.  It was last lived in in 1977 and we could only find evidence of the one cold tap in the scullery.  The range we took out had a water compartment and you would have to scoop hot water out of it to use.  The loo was up at the top of the garden in a brick privvy - just a platform over a bucket.  The bucket was still in there and, yes, I have scrubbed it and kept it!  Not to use for its original purpose I hasten to add!  It is a little hard to believe - 1977 isn't that long ago (I was still at school so, obviously, it's not that long ago!).  I think us townies had a soft life - we were impressed when someone got a remote control for their telly at that time, not when they got an inside loo!

I know you can't see the steam rising, but Bob is actually
washing his hands with hot water here!  Amazing!!

The solar tubes look a little glaring here (sorry) they actually look quite dark.  It is strange, but when it was just the frame on the roof it looked like a bit of a monstrous carbuncle (to quote HRH Charlie), but now that the tubes are fitted it looks much better and even looks a little smaller.  I think it is because it now looks as though it has a purpose and an eco one at that.  So, all in all, we are quite happy with them.  Yesterday afternoon they managed to raise the temperature of the water in the heatstore by 10 degrees - that's 260 litres of water, so not bad.  There is a control unit in the lean-to (or plant room as the plumber calls it) and you can get it to display the temperature of the water at the bottom of the tank, top of the tank and on the roof.  It's a bit addictive (but I'm sure the novelty will wear off).  Good job it is too, because when I went in there this morning there was water all over the floor - turned out to be glycol actually from the pipe coming in from the solar panels where a joint is leaking.  Bob tried tightening it, but instead of a fast drip it turned into a spout and the pressure in the system (yep, we have a dial that tells us that too) dropped quite a bit.  What do you do?  What happens if all the glycol leaks out?  Will it all overheat/burn out?  WE DON'T KNOW!!!  HELP!!!!!!  And, the plumber's away until Wednesday!  Now, I don't like to disturb people during their time off, but we could make a very costly mistake here.  So, we switched the pump off and phoned the plumber, leaving a message explaining.  Luckily, he picked up the message and rang back, because switching off was the wrong thing to do - it could all overheat and do damage.  So, we switched it back on, managed to get the joint to just drip slowly and then wrapped plenty of PTFE tape around it to slow it down and it seems to be ticking along OK.  Then we discovered another small leak on one of the other pipes going into (or out of) the tank - also got that to a very slow drip.  Oh, and the stopcock joint under the utility sink has a bit of a drip too.  The plumber's coming back on Wednesday morning!

The other problem we had was with the immersion timer - no power going out of it to the immersion itself.  So, a phone call to the electrician to make sure we weren't missing anything stupid and he said he'd call round this afternoon.  Bless him - a Saturday afternoon too (I made some tiffin for him to apologise to his family for dragging him away).  Bob went and got another timer in case ours was faulty, and it was, so the new one was installed.  The electrician brought his wife with him for a look round and we had a nice leisurely cuppa sat on the beer bench in the sun with them before they went.

Now, I know for most of you a working washing machine is far from exciting, but this really is an historic moment for us and for this house.  Never before has a washing machine worked here.  There was a copper in the lean-to (plant room).  The copper tub had gone when we bought it, but the brickwork, fireplace and chimney were all there (once we'd cleared away the three feet of poronographic magazines and videos from the floor of the lean-to of course!).  For us this marks the end of two and a half years of launderetting - wooohooo!  So, we've done the initial wash where you're not supposed to put anything in so it can clean the muck out of the pipes - I did put the cloths and towels we use for cleaning up in the house in, well it'd be a waste to not put anything in.  Then we did a normal wash with clothes in.  All good so far.  Now I have put the towels in and set the delay timer so it should come on at 4am (Economy 7 electricity), so fingers crossed I've set that right.  Then we're all up-to-date with the washing.  Hee hee, this is a real novelty!

Oh, I forgot to take a photo of the woodburner plumbing last time, so here it is.  We haven't tried lighting this yet, so that's a test for another day.  Another oh, we did do another test today - simultaneous loo testing!  Bob downstairs and me upstairs - all went well you'll be pleased to know!