Rejoic(st)e Emmanuel

So here we are another week older and the weather continues to shape my days; very little bright sunshine and barely any wind, the temperature has been hovering around freezing with intermittent rain. Welcome to Wales!

But in spite of this I have got the base for the Hafod finished. I promised myself that I’d have it ready for when the new dome arrived and delivery to me is now confirmed for tomorrow (Monday) having cleared customs last Tuesday. So by the skin of my teeth I made it.

All the joists and noggins are in place and the water resistant chipboard sub floor is cut and fitted. The internal layout for the kitchen dictates where services are required and as well as fitting the floor, ducts for the incoming hot and cold water have been provided and the sink waste out and electric in is also in place. It might seem very early to be putting these items in but forward planning them now will make fitting the kitchen far simpler when the dome is up.

Alongside the dome will be a bathroom which will be built upon a trailer that I have recently retired from road going service. But the trailers final position is inclined to be wet under foot in winter. I will be making a proper access path but want to get this area properly drained.

So once again the fair division of labour allowed Katherine to use the new Mattock and excavate a trench and a soakaway downhill away from the site. The trench had some 50mm dia perforated pipe dropped in and within hours there was a noticeable difference to the moisture level in the surrounding area.

I Should point out the K has lusted after a Mattock for many years and her eyes lit up when I came back from Caerfagu Products ( one of our local merchants) with this shiny new tool. She is a special girl!

The Met Office is predicting the arrival of the Beast from the East but I’m OK I’m wearing my vest from the west. The general weather forecasts tend to be very concerned about the SE of England so we shall just have to see how much “weather” we actually get here in the next few days. I am hoping to get my 3 pallets unpacked and get started on erecting Hafod. Exciting stuff, I started on this plan last September.

We certainly are having an Easterly blow now and the wind turbine has produced more power so far today (6.5Kwhrs) than in the whole of last week. I'd estimate a wind speed of 15MPH with gusts up to 30mph. Once our battery is full we'll be able to get a load of washing done. With our "off grid" life you get the chores done when there is power to spare!!

Renewable energy/Power generated this week.

PV power 11.4 Kwhrs

W Turbine 4.8 Kwhrs

Total renewable energy 16.2 Kwhrs

For some reason our TV has decided to allow us access to “Sky Arts” channel which it never used to. Last night I watched a documentary about Janis Joplins career using letters she wrote to her mother as a background vehicle. A short career as a shooting star that was snuffed out to early. But I think she opened the door so other women could carve out a career in rock music. I’ve just been listening to her last album “Pearl” including her rendition of Me and Bobby McGee, What a voice she had.