Off to bed soon but this is what’s been happening.
Chris called in for an hour, last night, before going to a course in Carlisle. As a new safety officer, he gets to learn how to blow up oil rigs. Cool. He seems to be very happy to have me living nearby.
Ralph was here for lunch today, still enjoying the visits. This one was to remind me that dinner was at their place this evening. Soon after he left, a micro-hydro guy from Hebden Bridge called in. He’d been put onto us by Treesponsibility and we spent an hour looking at the springs and then sharing info about small turbines that might suit our low flow. He visited pronto because the rules are changing in March and grants may only be available for accredited installations after that: ours would be fairly easy to do ourselves. Cost? a few thousand. Returns? From a few hundred to a few thousand per year, depending how much water we can harvest. From the look of the spring system we’re using at the moment, there’s enough volume to run one turbine at the house and enough drop to run another at the canal. Next step is to look for more springs and to measure all the outputs. Of course, there’s a lot more water after rain but he said sporadic water power rarely works; steady flow is the thing.
I had to kick him out because Jeff called to get me to pay for some fencing material. He needed a bit of work and we need to stop the cows from destroying the walkers’ path in front of the house (and it’ll be essential for tree protection). That’s when I discovered that the credit card is fazooked. Had to pay cash, which is a shame. Still, the fence will be up in a couple of days.
Jeff brought his mate to look at the Shippen floor issue, after we had finished at the timber yard. The guy, Jonathan, knew how to solve the problem and has gone to price up the job.
After that, I gave Bandit a quick bath because she was about to visit a new house with white floors, walls, furniture etc and set off for dinner cooked by Karin on her non-Aga. It was a good, plain feast: pie, mushy peas and veg followed by bread-and-butter pudding. Then a slice of cake for good measure. I’m stuffed now and feeling sleepy. Karin was keen to hear, first-hand, about all the visitors that Ralph has been reporting upon. She is very happy for us that people have found the farm, though a bit sad that Monica is not here yet to enjoy the visits.