Warmer Still
Having burnt nearly all the first £55 first delivery of logs in about a month, I’ve just taken delivery of another £85 worth. Not much more by volume but contains quite a lot of hard wood logs. I’m now getting more heat from the log burner and can reliably get the lounge to 20°C. Even the bathroom gets to 14°C.
This has given me the confidence to move in completely. My bed is now in the cottage and my flat formally vacated. The insulation work on the cottage continues….
19°C!
My cottage is at last getting warmer. After working in the range 10 to 14 °C 19 feels really warm. The warmer weather helps, as does the added insulation, but the big difference came from getting the chimney swept. 30 quid well spent. Now the wood burner throws out much more heat, I’m not getting through as many logs and the place doesn’t stink of burnt wood.
The chimney sweep handed me a piece of what looked like carbonized foam, sure sign, he said, of a chimney fire which blocked the chimney. I’d have thought the fire would clear any built up soot but apparently not. Instead it creates this brittle foamy stuff.
Learning all the time!
On the Move
I’m moving home! After 10 years of living in Wincanton I’ve finally bought a now home. It’s an old solid stone walled cottage in Bayford. Completion is 18th December, so I shall be moving over the Christmas break. I’m not selling my flat, but will be letting it once I’ve got it up to a decent standard of decoration. All the jobs that I have been putting off for the last ten years have now become quite urgent.
No More Telly!
Just given away my TV and video via Freecycle.
Tomorrow I cancel my TV licence. I will then join the select few who eschew the goggle box. That select few I once heard includes most politicians, so select but not very salubrious.
LED lighting.
An excellent article on the current state of the art has been published by EDN. See it here. Suitable for non-techie people too.
I get mine from UltraLEDS.co.uk
The Silent Disco
I’ve seen them before but never partaken before. This one was not very silent as people were dancing on a temporary wooden floor in hiking boots and singing along with the music. For the uninitiated a silent disco is one where the music is played to the dancers via radio headphones in stead of via speakers. The idea is that to the outside observer there is no sound. This one had the added feature of two DJs playing independent music sets. The headphones had a switch on the side to select which music you wanted to dance to. Great for those with no rhythm, as they can pretend to be on the other channel. There was competition between the DJs to get the most dancers. Great fun.
Cocos Lovers busking.
Last night activity went on quite late. I was in bed by 2:30. The man at the pizza stall said he was serving until 3:30. I still haven’t decided if this festival is best done camping or in a B&B in the middle of the action in town.
More Morris than you can shake a stick at
To many pictures to post without broadband. There were Morris troops at 30m intervals along the whole length of the esplanade. The rest of the country must be devoid of Morris dancers this weekend, they are all here.
The highlight of the festival so far must be The London Bulgarian Choir. I was surprised by how many of the songs I had heard before, sung by Naked Voices or the Gasworks Singers.
I’m currently in a pub listening to an unknown band paying. Very good they are too.
Weather Improving
It’s stopped raining. lot’s of good acts seen. Good beer too. Otter Head is well recommended.
I haven’t transferred the photos from my camera yet so what you are seeing is off my phone.
I’m beginning to learn my way round and the way things work at this festival. There is as much walking involved as with Glastonbury, with the many venues spread around the town. The whole town seems to be involved, with folk sessions in every pub, and many of the shops staying open late to serve the festival goers.
Wet Folking by the Sea
I’m in Sidmouth. There’s lots of rain and lot’s of good folk music too. The camp site is a half hour walk from the town centre where the performances are. There is a bus service though.
The Trowbridge Gallery
Here is the start of a selection of photos from the 2009 Trowbridge Village Pump Festival. More to follow.
It should be pointed out that Trowbridge is not a village, there is no pump, and the festival is not actually in Trowbridge.
