12.01.2026 Keep on spinning!

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  Monday 12th 30F/-1C [8.30] Overcast and windy. With bands of snow crossing slowly from the west. 60F/15.6C in the room. 37F/3C in the greenhouse.

 8.30 Up at 7.30 after a fairly quiet night. 62F/16.7C in the room already. I was able to keep the stove going with short, but large diameter logs each time I got up. Though I had to relight it this morning the stove was still hot. Far too hot to touch the soapstone cladding. Now I need to bring in more logs. I don't like to disturb the fish in their pond in the dark. It is light enough to see now. Without using the greenhouse lights. The fish are just dozing at these low temperatures.

 I have a problem today. There is a widespread black ice warning. Which may make the roads treacherous even before any new snow falls. Or afterwards if it goes over to rain. There is also a warning for snow drifting. An unhappy combination when I need to go shopping. 

 I have only two, perhaps three days worth of logs left in the greenhouse. The trailer has another three to four days worth of dry logs. So I am hoping to be able to reach my supplier on safe roads very soon. The Morris is limited to a smaller trailer. Compared to my previous, family car and builder's trailer. So I need to think in those terms from now on. I must keep a larger reserve in case of a run of bad weather. Simply because I cannot obtain lots more logs in a single journey.  

 I keep looking at the possibility of a heat pump. However they are still ruinously uneconomical in a poorly insulated home. I fitted underfloor heating hoses in the bathroom and kitchen years ago. An air to air system would do nothing for this option. 

While an air to wet system costs as much as a decent secondhand car. Because it uses a huge and expensive water tank and miles of visible plumbing. So neither type sells itself. Taking forever just to cover the cost of installation of a wet system. Adding hugely to the electricity bills in the case of a dry system and probably both. There is a house beside the road on the way to the village. It has SIX heat pumps installed. You can see the fan units dotted around the lower walls. With conduits for the heating fluid pipes going up the walls. Yet it is not much larger than my place. 

 9.30 The stove is going well. Going for a walk. Just to see what the road conditions are looking like. I'll wear my Scarpa walking boots. It is too uncomfortable to go far in the short wellies.

 9.50 Back again. The roads are 95% fine. The Morris started instantly after I checked the oil and water. I'll change into more suitable footwear for driving and go shopping. 

 11.00 64F/18C in the room. Back from the shops. Just as the first snowfall begins. The DMI shows a band of snow just reaching us now. I had to burn my way up the gentle slope of the drive in third gear. Then got stuck right on the far end of the drive. 

 My front wheels were on the road but the Morris is rear wheel drive. I had to rock the car in reverse and 3rd to finally pull away. The exit is right on a tight, blind bend. So one can't just roll out and hope for survival. 

 I came back with two carrier bags stuffed to the gills. The price of all meat goes on rising. I have run out of instant Arabic, organic coffee. Neither supermarket in the village stocks it. Or anything like it. I needed more tablets from the chemist too. 

 I spent the rest of the day browsing. The snow never amounted to much visually. Though it still coated the car quite thickly.  

 Dinner has to involve chicken. It is three days beyond its Best By" date. The last egg was a whole week past. So I cooked it well and turned it over. Just to make sure. 

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