2023 - What I did today

Good work J & P Heating Engineers.
Air source heat pumps are a mystery to me. How can they extract heat when the temperature outside is freezing? During the hot summer months (remember those?) you don't need heat in the house? Maybe I should ask the Duck........

The one next door is a complete mystery to us too. In the hot summer when John was alive, he was sweating his sox off because he couldn't turn the thing off. The only controll he had indoors was a room thermostat and even with that down low he had warmth in the radiators. Any further controls were in the underneath garage which due to his lack of mobility he couldn't access.

I've never got my head round why he bothered with a £16K investment in his later years when both he and his wife were infirm and unlikely to be in that house for much longer. Even asking him direct "why" he was unable to articulate the reason. I believe he was frightened by the reports of a gas shortage but even when I explained that large portion of our electricity is created by gas, he still went ahead. Our 1960/70's houses were not ideal for this type of heating system. I believe they're great if designed in at construction stage. I'll not be converting.

Cleared snow and ice off my summer car and finally managed to get into it and fire it up. It's been frozen solid for the last three daysa nd the door locks were frozen shut! It's rear wheel drive and convertible so should be fun to drive in the winter. I have been relying on my Corsa for the last three days.

Next job was to retrieve the ladders from the top of the snowy garden where both sections of the extension ladders had frozen together. Got them seperated and used one section to get in my attic and retrieve crimbo tree and decorations.
Tree now been put up and lighs are on. Will add baubles tomorrow.

Rhubarb moving day.
Shelled lupin seeds

Potted up a Christmas cactus after it fell through the bottom of a takeaway coffee cup! Luckily, it fell into a pot and the root ball stayed intact.
I went out to post a letter and the letterbox is outside the corner shop where they sell Christmas trees and lots of flowers and plants. I spotted some potted Amaryllis so treated myself to Day 1 of my Wishful Thinking Advent letters - A for Amaryllis.

The silver submarine wouldn't start . Spent the day figuring out why and researching compact SUV's that would fit in our garage. I don't want much, a big boot, versatile seating, headroom, high driving position, all in a matchbox.

How's your submarine, JJB?

I've been emptying/cleaning my car today, ready for its MOT on Tuesday. Its amazing the stuff that accumulates in the door pockets! Four pairs of gloves, 3 face masks, 2 hairbrushes but, once again, no partridge in a pear tree. There was a tub of Vick that I used to shove up my nose (the Vick, not the tub) when Covid was around to stop my nose dripping behind the mask! Yuk. I didn't realise that Vick could melt and escape from the jar into the, you've guessed, door pocket! Double yuk!!
Keep your fingers crossed for me on Tuesday please.

More car worries this end.Ordered a new battery which according to the manufacturers blurb would fit my car. Guess what,it didn't and was too long for battery box!
I was supposed to be having a load of logs delivered this weekend and the car was in the spot I wanted it delivered to.  As car is an auto and won't move without the ignition being on I had to charge the old battery to get enough power to start car and move it, which I did.

After all that the guy with the log delivery was a no-show!

Changed my chainsaw blade ready to start cutting wood I has accumulated at the top of the garden but it was so windy I decided it was unsafe to do so.

A wasted day!

Submarine is still going, it's had a new starter motor and some belt thingys replaced but has a faint noise like a washing machine, maybe Zebedee/submarine is going to be called a washing machine. I think she/he/they wants to be a quick change artist on the music hall stage. I'm not going to moan though, it's getting me from A to B. Good luck on Tuesday V.
I feel for you Vinny.

I've been drawing a "plan" of the far end of the garden - where the veg is supposed to grow. It is literally drawn on the back of an envelope, a lovely big foolscap/A4 envelope that the RHS magazine came in this morning. When opened up, its A3 size - that's a lot of room for doodling.
Its funny how you can walk around an area hundreds of times but, when you try to put it down on paper from memory you struggle. Some bits are far too big, others too small. Ends of beds don't line up with other beds in a, for me, orderly fashion.
The object of the "plan" was to identify the bits that need clearing of brambles, couch grass and wire fence before they can be used to grow something edible. Some bits I may be able to cover with cardboard over winter but the bramble patches need serious work. If only the rain would stop..........