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I have a lot of cleaning and tidying to do before I tackle the tree again.
The overhang on the right of the sink is proving useful as a storage space for crockery. Though it probably needs a leg [or legs] to avoid it sagging over time. Or, I could use an industrial scale shelf bracket to get the "look no hands" effect. Pretend I am an architect. Which would also maintain air circulation in the corner far better than a cupboard. Old houses, like mine, have inferior construction methods and materials. So they have incredibly poor insulation in the exterior walls.
I am still waiting for the "paint on" insulation for buildings. Adding 8" of insulation on the outside is absolutely pathetic in 2022. Adding any insulation internally worse still. Since it robs the home of internal space and makes the fabric much colder. Which damages the structure by frost.
But guess what? "They" can charge a fortune for doing the work. Which puts it out of reach financially for most. Still, they can always build more giant wind farms. So they can feed all those completely unaffordable heat pumps!
We need "hardening" of the energy sector. By compete democratisation of energy. Local production and use on every building. With no transmission losses. Who will be able to pay for mega-project "Green" energy when the robots take over all the work? There wont be any workers. Which means no taxes. The population becomes a net drain on the economy.
A non-customer is a disposable unit. Will the entire world become a part time, middle class, Tesla commuter? Living in self sustaining, gated, rural bliss?
6.45. 60F. Swept and vacuumed the kitchen and hall floors and surfaces. Re-stacked the shelves after removing the sawdust from drilling joists for new cables. Currently enjoying breakfast. Porridge flakes with cold, low fat, organic milk and organic raisins. Then I will get back to re-organising the kitchen.
I thought I'd better trim my beard before I was arrested as a vagrant. I made a mistake on the setting dial and now have only a stubble. Some might argue that this signifies my raised status as an interior designer. Or, more realistically, a box shifter.
9.20 67F. I am enjoying morning coffee. Having just returned from an hour and a half walk up to the forest by the sides of the fields. Returning via the [busy] road. There seems to be local Red kites and Marsh harriers at the moment. They are both curious and rude. I swear that Red kite stuck its tongue out at me after gliding very close! It did the same when I was on my trike the other day.
I was locked out of my [1996] car yesterday. The key would not turn. Fortunately I had left the windows slightly down because it was so hot. Thanks to my thin [cyclists] arms I was able to reach the lever on the passenger's side. I sprayed the lock with chain lubricant when I came home. The only spray I had with a "straw" to reach the internal lock parts. No idea if this will help.
I have been dismantling my old plumbing system. There was never any access to it when the airing cupboard was full. I want to get rid of the radiator upstairs. It is an old iron thing with 11 fins bought from a flea market. It has never been used due to a lack of heat from the old stove. The same with the underfloor heating pipes.
10.45. There was a short but sudden cloudburst with thunder. It became very dark so it seemed like rain was coming. I must have missed the wet forecast when I was half asleep this morning.
11.20 The radiator and all its iron piping from the airing cupboard has gone outside. I completely forgot to bring in my towels at the first sign of rain. While I was working on the plumbing upstairs, I discovered that I have a load of magazines in a hidden bookcase. A stack 4' high! Old Hifi magazines. Hiding in plain sight! Never looked at again after first reading.
Does that make me a hoarder? Or a hypocrite? Can I have both for the same price? What an embarrassment! 🙄 Oh the shame! I had to get rid of them. So I drove to the recycling yard with them in the boot. Where they have a modest container for such things.
Then I spent half an hour sawing larger branches with the DW chainsaw. The battery is flat again.
So I looked at the sticking car lock. Lots of oil later it finally freed but is still "sticking." The ignition key is all but worn out. The other door doesn't open with the key. Nor the boot. I don't want to be locked out somewhere.
I completed lopping the twigs from the chestnut branch pile over on the right. I am wearing mountaineering gaiters to keep the flying sawdust off my woolly socks. Then I took the leafy load to the recycling yard. Followed by brief shopping. I took the non-functional, quartz wall clock back. It promptly started at the checkout! I still had my money back.
We/[now I] are still using quartz [alarm] clocks from the 1970s. Still going strong as marvellous little cubes. They replaced multiple and noisy, clockwork, alarm clocks when I was working shifts. My wife would get up first [at 4.45am] and make me a cup of coffee and breakfast. I would never hear alarms and would need repeated waking despite long afternoon naps.
18.00 70F. Grey overcast. No wind. I fell asleep at the computer several times. So decided on a lie down. Where I slept for an hour. I have just finished afternoon tea and a toasted roll.
I could finish lopping the long branches on the right before thinking about dinner. [Washing up first!] I went on to saw up a lot of the larger branches. Including those which had fallen towards the fence.
22.00 61F I am finally going to do the washing up. The temporary set-up is leaking somewhere. So I used the water on the floor to mop the kitchen floor clean. Then the bathroom floor. If the plumber turns up tomorrow he/she can have a look at the sink. If they are willing.
I haven't connected the cold water supply to the mixer tap yet. Because it needs different fittings to reach the new tap position. I'm not quite sure whether it is acceptable for me to make completely new cold water connections.
The old stopcock is just a cheap ball valve. It may require an authorised stopcock tap. Though the water meter is a second line of defence. Only if there ever is a serious leak. It has large, high quality, stainless steel ball valves on both sides for isolation. The dirt cheap ball valves are a waste of money. The ball soon rusts and locks solid when you try to close [or open] the valve.
23.00 Time for bed.
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