… with 0.9 amp-hours of solar energy, well it was 0.9 amp-hours more than was generated today. Yes, for only the second time since I began to keep records I have had a day with nothing at all.
This morning I shinned up on the roof again and instead of brushing the snow off the panels I had to shovel it off, there was so much of it. But like I said, I needn’t have bothered because we had a freezing hanging cloud all day over the mountain.
After doing a few housekeeping jobs around here I carried on with insulating underneath the floor but once again I was defeated by the freezing cold and had to knock off for a couple of hours. MInd you I found a few gaps that were letting in the cold and I’ve now sealed them up and it seems that my attic is holding the heat a little better than before.
I found a mouse scavenging in the rubbish today. There’s no possibility of taking it to the recycling in this weather so I decided I had better burn it. And that gave me an idea. I set a fire in the woodstove in the attic then lit a big fire in the fireplace downstairs – and then lit the fire in the attic. And the updraught from the main fire drew the fire from the stove and for a couple of hours it burnt nicely. But then it went out again and won’t relight – it’s definitely a flue issue. I took advantage of the fire downstairs though and baked some spuds. I had baked potatoes and beans for tea. And talking of lighting fires I’ve found that the butane lighters that I use for lighting the gas stoves and so on – they are frozen up. It’s a good job I have some matches lying around.
And talking of not getting out, seeing as the snow plough driver stopped about 20 yards short of Caliburn last time we were snowed in and I had to dig a trail to where the driver had stopped short, last Wednesday I parked Caliburn up right at the junction where the driver passes so I would have just inches to dig out. But badger me if he hasn’t stopped 20 yards short again. The idle so-and-so. Regular readers of my outpourings will recall from last year that he’s not exactly the most dedicated nor the most enthusiastic nor the most motivated of snowplough drivers.
So why am I blogging so early tonight? The truth is that I have an absolutely splitting headache and I’m going to bed. And we are promised a clear day tomorrow – nothing but glorious sunshine. I’m not going to hold my breath.
