Tag Archives: les guis

Thursday 24th April 2014 – 19.5MM …

… of rainfall we have had between 20:00 and 21:30 – and there’s much more forecast; No issues about watering the plants then, that’s for sure.

I was up before the alarm again this morning and after breakfast that gave me almost 3.5 hours on the website. I like being on summr hours!

First job outside was to sow the beetroot and spinach seeds that I had left to soak. That meant doing a little bit of hoeing of course. And then I finished off the solar shower. That is exactly how I want it now, but there are some kind of pressure issues that need to be resolved. We’ll have to see how it goes.

After lunch I did a little measuring up for my next trick, but while I was doing that, my eye was caught by some blossom down in the jungle that is the bottom of my garden.

Of the 20 or so fruit trees that I planted in 1999 and 2000, one is still there, but it seems that there’s another one too. Way down the slope a little, and this is what the blossom is.

It’s surrounded by a pile of these scrub trees and is getting no light at all and so I resolved to deal with this issue.

By the tile I had knocked off I reckon that I had cut down over 20 trees (one or two of them were significant too) and the tree concerned is now clear of oerhanging trees. That will bring more light to the tree, and also more light to the rest of the garden, includind the vegetable beds.

Not only that, I managed to make my way out the other side too into clear space for the first time for 11 years and that really is something to celebrate.

And then tonight we have the rain …

I’m not sure what to do tomorrow.

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Wednesday 24th April 2014 – I’VE SPENT MOST OF THE …

… day in the garden today. And a long day it was too as I was awake and out of bed before the alarm clock went off – such are the benefits of an early night.

So after the customary few hours on the web site I went outside, and the first job was to sow some Witloof chicory seeds. Well – perhaps it wasn’t. First job was to hoe the raised bed in which they will be planted, put some potash in there and then hoe a few other raised beds while I was at it, and THEN sow the witloof chicory.

After that, I repaired a couple of bean frames, fixed them to a raised bed, and then sowed a pile of peas. We’ll see what happens to them.

After lunch I really got stuck in.

I sowed another row of parsnips and carrots, and put some beetroot and spinach seeds in to soak. I then went through the seed list and the little plastic greenhouse to see what there was, and now I’ve added some more

  • broccoli
  • aubergines
  • tomatoes
  • cayenne peppers
  • gherkins
  • peppers
  • cucumbers

Finally I gave everything a really good watering, but I needn’t have bothered as we have just had a torrential rainstorm.

Tomorrow i’ll sow the spinach and beetroot, and then I have other things to do.

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Tuesday 22nd April 2014 – SO WHAT’S HAPPENING …

fire pionsat 22 april 2014 puy de dome france … over there tben? There’s quite a fire burning for some reason or other and I wonder what’s going on.

I couldn’t hear the pompiers or any amulance or anything and so I don’t know how urgent that might be, but it certainly looks most unwelcome.

However, it’s not likely to burn for very long because we’ve had something of a torrential downpour this evening. There’s been the odd shower or two and we had a thunderstorm pass over at about 15:00 but it really meant business this evening.

Still, the first real rain for a couple of weeks and so we can’t complain too much.

The rain is my fault too, for I’ve been out gardening today. And I noticed that the three surviving strawberry plants have flowers now. But that’s by the way.

First job was to plant the Brussels Sprouts that I bought on Saturday. So I gave that bed a good hoeing over first, and carried on to weed a few more as well while I was at it. Then I planted the sprouts, followed by the 12 lettuce that I bought. 6 of them went in between the sprouts, and the other 6 went in between the cabbage that I planted the other week.

After lunch I sowed the new potatoes, and then I turned my attention to the seeds. Seems that I have some lettuce coming up, and there’s signs of life in the leeks too. But still nothing much coming up anywhere else.

Now though, I have some sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower seeds sown, as well as some organo and basli seeds. Tomorrow, though, i’ll need to push on.

At 17:45 I came to a halt as I had to go round to Cécile’s to show some househunters around – that was what I was on my way back from doing when I noticed the fire.

I made another mega-curry tonight. This one is a mushroom and green pepper one, and that will keep me going for a few days too.

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Monday 21st April 2014 – BACK TO WORK TOMORROW … BOOOH!

… after my 4 days off. And I’m not looking forward to it all that much either.

I’ve had four days where, if I’ve done anything at all, it’s not been very much and today I did even less. I vaguely remember being awake at some point during something-like normal hours and I remember saying something like “sod this for a game of soldiers” and so it was 10:10 When I crawled out of bed.

And apart from a long phone call from Cecile, going outside to fill the kettle, outside to do the stats and outside to fetch a bottle of pop, I’ve not moved from my little attic today.

All I’ve done is to work on my website (and I’m now just leaving Godbout) and eaten a handful of liquorice-flavoured sweets.

And ask me if I care?

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Sunday 20th April 2014 – EVEN THOUGH IT’S EASTER SUNDAY …

… I was out working today. And not at my place either but at Cecile’s. She came home today for a couple of days and so I liberated a lawn mower and attacked her jungle. At least she can find her house now. I also lit a fire for her to warm up her house seeing as it’s been empty for almost a year.

She came round here too for a couple of hours and I made tea for both of us. It’s nice to have visitors occasionally.

FC Pionsat St Hilaire’s 2nd XI should have been playing Teilhet this afternoon but the Goatslayers couldn’t raise a team. So that was today’s footy kicked into touch.

Apart from that, I’m disappointed with this Dragon speech recognition software. Try as I might, I can’t find out how to inport an *.mp3 file into it to be transcribed. And that was what I wanted it for in the first place.

As for Audacity – I started to import a soundtrack of a video at about 15:30 this afternoon. It’s now 02:05 and it’s still trying to import it. I’m not very impressed with this either.

So apart from all of that, I’ve not done very much.

And I don’t care either. And it’s Bank Holiday tomorrow too.

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Saturday 19th April 2014 – I’VE JUST SEEN …

… one of the best football matches for ages. No football at Pionsat tonight so I went to Marcillat en Combraille who were playing Mercy-Chapeau. An excellent game that finished 3-3 but Mercy can consider themselves robbed of a victory. 2 of AS Marcillat’s goal came from free kicks, one of which I wouldn’t have awarded and the second I would have awarded, but in the other direction.

And I have at last seen a player in the Allier who I would pick for FC Pionsat St Hilaire. Mercy-Chapeau’s n°5, playing at the heart of the defence, was big, quick, intelligent and commaanding and if Pionsat could find a player like him, they wouldn’t have anything like the issues that they are having now.

Apart from that, after breakfast I tidied up in here. Not much, it has to be said, but just a little but at least the table is clean and tidy and I’ve vacuumed the floor round by where I sit. Not with the new vacuum cleaner – I’ve yet to try that out – but with the 12-volt cylinder vacuum cleaner that I found again the other day.

In St Eloy les Mines, I did the shopping and at Carrefour they had 12 lettuce for €2:60 and the brasica was reduced to €3:95 for 10 so I bought some sprouts to go with the cabbage I planted a few weeks ago. They will be in the garden on Tuesday when I restart work.

I noticed today as well that the lettuce seed that I sowed in a tray – there’s signs of life in there as of this afternoon. That looks quite optimistic as I was beginning to think that I’ve been wasting my time with the gardening effort this year. Only the courgettes (and then only some of those) seemed to have done anything.

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Friday 18th April 2014 – I HAVEN’T DONE A TAP …

… of work today, you know.

Well, that’s not true. Through the night I was out on the Saguenay River in the Province of Quebec. Mind you, that’s no surprise because I’ve been writing rather a lot just recently about William Price and the Clarke brothers, pioneers of the lumber and pulp industries around that part of Canada.

No alarm clock either and so it was 09:50 when I crawled out of bed. And why not? It’s a Bank Holiday.

And so all day I’ve been working on my web pages and I’ve arrived in Baie-Comeau at long last. This is where our 2010 journey branched off to go to Labrador on the Trans-Labrador Highway.

Followers of the 2012 journey will be able to come with me along the North Shore of the St Lawrence River all the way to the end of Highway 138 way beyond Natashquan, and then didn’t we have a surprise?

Apart from that, not very much at all. Cécile rang up for a long chat and that was about it.

I’ve not done anything that I was planning to do today – I’ve been quite leisurely. But I don’t begrudge it. If I can’t have a few days off over a Bank Holiday weekend, it’s a pretty poor do.

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Thursday 17th April 2014 – I HAD A BAD START …

… to the day today. Waited until all of the alarms went off – and then went back to sleep. It was 08:44 that I finally surfaced this morning.

That meant that I didn’t have as long on the website as usual, and I was back outside by just after midday.

I had another design change to make to the shower unit and when I’d done that and screwed it all together I gave it the first coat of wood treatment.

After lunch I cut the shower base to fit, and then gave it all the final coat of treatment.

While I was waiting for that coat to dry I made a list of what I needed to buy for the fittings, and then I had a look around to see how many of them I actually had. This led to a full-scale sort-out and tidy-up of all of the plumbing accessories and I found that in fact I have all that I need. However, it was too late to assemble it by the time that I had finished.

solar shower unit les guis virlet puy de dome franceI found enough time to clad the sides of the shower unit with the sheets of corrugated perspex.

Or at least, two of them, because the problem of what to do about a door solved itself when I opened the door to the lean-to, as you can see. Even the bolt on the door goes right into the correct place, and that can’t be bad.

Mind you, it was all of 19:45 by the time I finished, but at least the shower unit won’t take much to finish off when I start back to work.

Yes, “start back to work” because it’s Easter and I’m having 4 days off.


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Wednesday 16th April 2014 – I DIDN’T REACH …

… anything like my goal today, more’s the pity.

I had something like a late night last night and so this morning I wasn’t really feeling up to it, although I did have the usual couple of hours on the web pages.

sides of solar shower unit les guis virlet puy de dome franceBefore lunch I managed to assemble both sides of the solar shower unit.

You’ll notice the extra-long leg on the side that will be furthest away from the wall. Because of the slope of the land I need to build it up like that, and then cut away the surplus length.

You might also notice that the top rail is fitted the wrong way round. I did when I came down from lunch and so I had to change them round. THat wasn’t easy as the head stripped in one of the screws and I was there for about three quarters of an hour drilling it out.

But I was sidetracked for about three quarters of an hour. Checking on the dump load for the excess solar charge (which is a home-made 12-volt immersion heater), and we’ve been having some right excess loads just now – 180 and 190 amp-hours for the last few days, I noticed that the extension cable that leads to the immersion heater was red-hot.

Not up to carrying the load of 35 amps that’s been going along it at times, so I’ve had to resite the immersion heater so that it doesn’t need an extension cable. The wires aren’t getting so hot, but I still don’t like them and so I’m going to make something of a design alteration – instead of using one cable and bridging the two terminals of the element, I’ll remove the bridge and use two cables. That way, only half of the current will be running down each cable. Either that, or use thicker cable.

But I’m impressed with the load that it’s been carrying and the heat that’s been put out.

Back at the solar shower, I had a change to the design. And a positive one too.

I had completely forgotten that I had an old enamel shower base that I picked up in Brussels. I stumbled across that today by accident and found that it’s 80cm x 80cm. That will go quite nicely in the 90cm x 90cm shower unit, but two of the corners need trimming off, which I shall do tomorrow.

solar shower unit les guis virlet puy de dome franceSo here’s a photo of the framework of the solar shower unit. It’s all assembled now and bolted to the wall of the lean-to where it will live for the next couple of years.

The shower base isn’t installed yet – as I said, it needs trimming to fit. And the woodwork hasn’t been treated, which was what I really wanted to do tonight so that the second coat of wood treatment would have gone on tomorrow first thing.

But it wasn’t through lack of effort. It was 19:45 when I knocked off today – long after my usual knocking-off time.

But I do want to finish it as much as I can tomorrow. We’re on a four-day week this week with it being Easter starting Friday and I’m not working on a Bank Holiday under any circumstances.

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Tuesday 15th April 2014 – I’VE FINISHED …

… cutting all of the wood for the outside shower unit. it took me until 19:20, mind you, but it’s all there ready, cut and shaped.

All that now needs doing is for the two sides to be assembled and to be screwed to the wall of the lean-to and then to fit the bracing that will make the back. One side and the back can then be clad and I’ll have to invent a door for the other side.

Fitting a floor and a roof should be straighforward and then that will be finished.

So what else?

Not much, really. I haven’t been anywhere or done anything, and had no visitors either.

But we have had the wind – tons of it too. The wind turbine on the house is still going round even as I speak. And it’s been one of those days where more energy has been produced by a small wind turbine rather than a large one, strange as it might seem.

But the reason for that is simple. Wind turbines have dynamos in them, and a dynamo is really a copper-coiled circuit and a magnet. The more powerful the dynamo in the motor of the wind turbine, the bigger and more powerful the magnet, so it needs more wind to start it. A smaller and less-powerful dynamo in a wind turbine will turn quite happily in wind speeds that aren’t powerful to overcome the resistance of the magnet in a larger wind turbine.

It’s quite often a fallacy to think that the bigger and more powerful a wind turbine, the more wind energy it will generate.

And I made a mega-tea tonight. Red-pepper and lentil curry, with enough to keep me going for four days too.

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Monday 14th April 2014 – AFTER ALL OF THE EXCITEMENT …

… after the weekend, it’s back to the daily grind today.

We had the usual few hours on the website this morning and then I went outside. First job was to clean out the solar shower – and it needed it too. Something of a mess of algae growing in there over the last 9 nonths;

I found most of the stuff to connet up the heat exchanger to it too, but there are still a couple of vital parts missing so I need to go to Brico Depot for those.

As I couldn’t connect up the heat exchanger I decided to deal with another issue that I’ve been putting off – the outside shower cabinet. I started to sift through the old beams left over from when we did the roofs here, but the more I checked the beams the worse they were and I’ve ended up with a huge mound of extra firewood instead.

Not that that worries me, because they were always going to be for firewood and if I could reuse any (like I did on the woodshed) that would be a bonus.

So by 18:00 I gave up the idea of finding enough recycled wood, and went to water the garden. It was a glorious day today and everything needed it.

And then I found some new wood – a couple of chevrons and demi-chevrons, and started to cut those but I didn’t get very far before knocking off time.

full moon les guis virlet puy de dome franceAnd tonight we have a glorious, gorgeous full moon. Just like the one that we had on the banks of the St Lawrence near Godbout in May 2012.

Mind you, the setting here chez moi is nothing like as spectacular.

I really ought to think about moving on, oughtn’t I?

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Sunday 13th April 2014 – I HAVE JUST SEEN THE BEST…

…matthieu malnar best goal ever fcpsh fc pionsat st hilaire football club de foot nord combraille 13 avril 2014 puy de dome ligue division 4 franceever goal that I have seen in my lifetime.

And no wonder that the Nord Combraille goalkeeper is sitting there looking disconsolate. If you think that blond Frederic’s goal against the Chimps last night was totally unexpected and out of the blue, then Matthieu Malnar’s goal against the Miners this afternoon was ten times better than that.


The Miners are in Division 4 because their second team can’t win promotion from Division 3 so they can’t be promoted, yet they are streets ahead of everyone else in that Division.

A glance at a few of their results will tell you that – 12-0, 10-0, 6-0, 5-0, 6-2, 4-1. Putting Pionsat in that pool is most unfair because their relegation due to league reorganisation was bad enough, but now they are blocked for promotion too with Nord Combraille ahead of them.

However, Pionsat lost today as expected, but just by 2-1, which is a moral victory against the Miners.

And our two goals conceded have a familiar ring about them
fcpsh fc pionsat st hilaire football club de foot nord combraille score first goal 13 avril 2014 puy de dome ligue division 4 franceFirst one was from the Pionsat midfield trying to play the ball out of trouble instead of whacking the ball out of play or upfield – or anywhere, really.

Losing possession is the inevitable result against a big skilful side such as this, and the Miners didn’t need too many chances to punish this kind of Pionsat play.

If I had a quid for each time Pionsat had done this I would be in the Bahamas, not the Auvergne, and Pionsat wouldn’t be in the basement of the Puy-de-Dome league either if they cut out all of this.


fcpsh fc pionsat st hilaire football club de foot nord combraille score second goal 13 avril 2014 puy de dome ligue division 4 franceThe second goal was scored with just seconds to go on the clock. Pionsat won a free kick and so everyone from Pionsat pushed up from the defence into the Miners’ half.

The free kick was cleared with a huge kick out of the Miners’ defence and with no defenders in position to intercept it, it was a race brtween a Pionsat full-back, Christophe in the Pionsat goal, and a midfielder from Nord-Combraille.

And that was how they finished, but in reverse order.


matthieu malnar shot fcpsh fc pionsat st hilaire football club de foot good save nord combraille goalkeeper 13 avril 2014 puy de dome ligue division 4 franceMatthieu had already threatened to do something earlier in this game.

Slowly easing himself back into the game after his couple of years out with injury and short of match fitness (which is no surprise – you can’t do any training with what he’s had) he found himself in a bit of space as a ball was hoisted over the Nord Combraille defence.

His snap shot found the keeper struggling and that was ohh so close to a goal there


But then we have this moment of magic.

Pionsat go to kick off after conceding the second goal, with probably not five seconds remaining on the clock. Michael takes the kick-off and lays the ball off to Matthieu.

Matthieu looks up, sees the keeper standing round about the penalty spot, and exactly from the halfway line, launches an outrageous lob on the half-volley. it sails over the keeper’s head into the net and that, my friends, was that.

He can probably try that another 100 times and I bet he won’t even get close to what he did just then.

This morning it was 07:29 when I woke up. On a Sunday too! Mind you, it was about 09:30 when I finally crawled out of bed. And I spent the morning on the website too. After all, it IS Sunday.

And after the footy, with having water at 68°C and the temperature in the verandah at 42°C I had another nice hot shower so I’m all clean again.

And that is that. What a lazy Sunday!

But I’ll be talking about Matthieu’s goal for the rest of my life I think.

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Saturday 12th April 2014 – SNATCHING DEFEAT FROM THE JAWS OF VICTORY …

… is the Pionsat 1st XI’s habitual method of play. But just for a change this evening, they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. And if they had played for 90 minutes of every match with the same fire and spirit that they played the final 10 minutes of today’s match, they wouldn’t be anything like staring relegation in the face.

They won 4-3 with two goals coming in the final 10 minutes, and it’s just as well that they did, because being rlegated by losing to the Chimps of all people would have been more than any man could bear.

But the story of the three goals conceded sums up Pionsat’s season-

    Pionsat concede penalty fcpsh fc pionsat st hilaire football club de foot montel villosanges 12 avril 2014 puy de dome ligue division 1 france

  1. A moment’s inattention and hesitation lets in a Chimps attacker. A beautiful sliding tackle from a Pionsat defender wins the ball and the attacker goes down over the defender’s outstretched leg. How the referee could award a penalty for that is something that totally mystified me.
    But then, had the defence been awake and attentive, the defender would not have got that far.
  2. Unmarked attacker at the far post heads in a superb cross past Frederic who is once more standing in for Michael who has been standing in for Matthieu. It was indeed a superb cross, taking every totally by surprise, but there shouldn’t ever be anyone unmarked and onside in the penalty area.
    It’s true that a more experienced keeper would probably come out for the cross, because as long as he got a fingertip to the ball, he could have flattened the attacker without fear of conceding a penalty, but you can’t blame a stand-in keeper for that, and it would have been worse if he had hesitated and been caught in no-man’s
    land

    frederic poumerol good save fcpsh fc pionsat st hilaire football club de foot montel villosanges 12 avril 2014 puy de dome ligue division 1 franceAnd in any case, Frederic kept his team well in the game with a spectacular full-length diving save from a free kick halfway through the second half. Any regular keeper would have been proud of that effort
  3. A loose ball in a crowded penalty area. Frederic runs out for it, shouting “leave it” to his defence. Instead, one of his defenders passes it back to him.
    With a defender touching it last, Frederic can’t pick it up and so has to kick. Surrounded by three Chimps, the result is inevitable



vianney brette scores 3rd goal fcpsh fc pionsat st hilaire football club de foot montel villosanges 12 avril 2014 puy de dome ligue division 1 franceSo from 2-1 up, they are now 3-2 down and with just minutes to go. Pionsat win a couple of corners and from one of them, Vianney rises highest and heads onto a post and bounces into the net for the equaliser, past the keeper’s outstretched fingertips.

But a point isn’t enough to keep their slim hopes alive -they need all three and there are just seconds left.


blond frederic scores 4th goal fcpsh fc pionsat st hilaire football club de foot montel villosanges 12 avril 2014 puy de dome ligue division 1 franceAnd then we have a most astonishing thing.

Pionsat win a free kick just inside the Chimps half, right out on the far touchline probably 50 yards from goal. Blond Frederic takes it and swings it high into the penalty area. The ball sails over everyone’s head right into the keeper’s hands … and right through the keeper’s hands into the net.

Stunned silence in the crowd and I’m not sure who was the most surprised – the keeper or blond Frederic. But a goal is a goal is a goal, and Pionsat finally manage to win after several weeks of lack of success.

If only they had done this a few weeks ago.

So this morning, another early start. And I was in Crewe during the night at my old taxi office in Wistaston Road (but a different one at the back of another car sales place). And I was to audition for another rock group and needed some equipment and so went to the music shop just down the road (that isn’t there of course) where I bumped into Zero and her father.

But after breakfast I cracked on with my website work and then at lunchtime went round to Cecile’s to see how things were and to pick up some mail seeing as how her redirection has finished – and taking advantage of her washing machine too.

Then into St Eloy to shop (where I bought some seeds that I needed) and to pay a huge pile of money to someone in a shop there. Yes, I’m going to be having a new toy – more of which anon.

After picking up my washing (and thinking that maybe I ought to mow Cecile’s lawn sometime soon) I came back here – and crashed out for 2 hours. And a deep sleep it was too for just a crash. I was back in Crewe again at a house that bore more than just a mere passing resemblance to the one in Davenport Avenue where I lived with my parents.

And so then the footy. I’ve had a busy day today.

But watch these pages over the course of the next few days.

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Friday 11th April 2014 – LOAD OF BANKERS

I had to go to the bank twice today. And what really annoyed me was that I had a really good start to the day too.

I slept soundly for a change, and there was something about a menage a trois going on through the night. Mind you, I had been watching Percy so that might explain some of it.

But for once, up before the alarm and I’d even spilt my breakfast, remae it, made a coffee and brought everything up here, before the alarm went off.

So I was at the door of the bank as it opened, and “sorry, the informatique isn’t working”. And it’s market day in Pionsat too. So I GRRRRd and grumbled at them and, being reassured that it would be up and running by the end of the morning, I was persuaded to come back later.

While I was working on the web site, the boulanger came past and I gave her some of my surplus mint and thyme (still plenty left, folks).

At 14:00 I went down to the bank again. And guess what? Quite right. The informatique is STILL not working. And so I made a fuss, and the manager saw me, and he did everything by hand. And it’s important that he did as I need to regroup my cash as I have a major expense to make tomorrow, more of which anon.

They also found my missing bank card too, which cheered me up quite a bit.

I spent the afternoon clearing yet more wood and I can now actually see the ground where I want to put this new raised bed. This is progress, not just for the raised bed but for the woodpile too. That’s looking extremely healthy now.

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Thursday 10th April 2014 – WHAT A WAY …

… to finish the day. At knocking-off time, the temperature in the verandah was still at 24°C and the water temperature was at 68°C. That can only mean one thing – a nice hot (water-cooled) shower. and it was gorgeous too.

Follow that up with a good shave and now I’m fit for anything (well, almost).

I had a bad night’s sleep for some reason or other and Marianne put in an appearance too. I’ve been thinking about her a little just recently – it’s almost a year since she passed on – but I never expected her to arrive.

So after breakfast and the website I went outside in the gorgeous windy weather and attacked the garden again. I want to put another raised bed in – that’s my next trick – and it needs to be ready for when I sow the potatoes. But there’s loads of wood all over it from a tree that collapsed a couple of years ago and all of that needs moving.

But to do that, I have to clear out all of the brambles and weeds that have grown all over everything and that’s not easy at all. It’s taking quite a while to shift and there’s still a pile to go, but at least I’m not going to be short of wood this winter. The kindling bin is stacked to overflowing and I’m preparing another, and the pile of small wood has grown to more than what it was at the start of winter. Added to that, the pile of big wood has almost doubled in size, and there’s more still to come.

This afternoon, seeing as it was quite windy, I went round to see the farmer in Le Quartier who is having wind turbine issues. And I didn’t even need to leave Caliburn to see what the problem is.

The installation is a load of rubbish and the company that did it – that one in Montlucon that I showed you a while back and which has now (of course) closed down – should be thoroughly ashamed of itself.

The two houses are in a hollow sheltered from the wind on two sides. On the third side is a large tree at each house – in one case just 25 yards from the turbine, and on the fourth side are all of the farm outbuildings.

So on three sides there is no wind at all and on the fourth side is nothing but turbulence. And as the turbines are only a metre or two above the roof line (instead of a maximum of 12 metres off the ground as allowed by law), the friction of the ground on the wind will slow the wind right down.

Quite frankly, the installation is a disgrace.

To make matters worse, just 200 metres away is the crest of a hill that is on the farmer’s property. A pair of 12-metre masts on there with these wind turbines on top would provide enough power to light up the whole village.

To give you some idea, of the two wind turbines (installed since January 2013) one has produced 12.5 KW of electricity and the other 13.2 KW. And that’s from an installation that has cost €8,000 each.

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