Category: Family

Family related posts; generally only of interest to fellow members of the Brown Clan and relations by Marriage into this mad house.

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Home energy Efficiency

Well all the DIY, new boiler, windows and doors have been worth it and we had are new EPC completed yesterday and we are now a a grade D.

This means we can now go ahead with the Solar PV installation, which should make us energy independent during the day.  If you have a grade D you can get more government help in the form of the feed in tariff to help pay for the installation, basically you get paid more for generating the electricity if your home is more efficient.

We had three local companies round and from those got four quotes, two basic systems and two more high tech systems which while costing more would produce more electricity.

The savings in fuel costs of the period more then off set the expense and with the feed in tariff you end up with a better return then if the money was sat in the bank.

 

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Sorting the Car

Generally we holiday and commute on the motorcycles, and when the weather is dry commute on the bicycles.  The car gets used for the heavy lifting, and has been really abused over the last year while we get the house straight, so this Monday it was time to get the car sorted and give it a bit of TLC.

Caroline had washed it the day before and today we were dropping in to the local inderpendant VW dealer, to get a number of things sorted.

We bought it from the main Skoda dealer but were less then happy with the servicing and the local independent garage gives us far better service.  Its often worthwhile finding a local independent rather then the main official dealer as you tend to get a better deal.

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Friday the 13th – Time to stay in Bed

Actually I was planning having the day at home anyway as I am not superstitious, its the start of a week long holiday where we will be trying to get a number of key jobs done at home and to the car.

So typically I have come down with a cold, so no DIY, no photography and not really a holiday.  Hope this passes quickly.

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Apple Pay and Starbucks

Leica M8 & 50mm Summilux ASPH
Leica M8 & 50mm Summilux ASPH

It does seem like support for Apple pay is growing.  Its going to be interesting to see if it takes off in the UK.

Whilst I general try to frequent independent coffee shops, Lincoln’s Coffee Aroma and Norwich’s The Window being two of my favourites if you need a coffee then the big chains like Costa, Nero and Starbucks are always nearby, and if your a Starbucks iOS app user in the USA you can now use ApplePay with the Starbucks app.

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Home Improvements – Solar PV Research

Living out in the country with no gas supply unlike most city dwellers we have to use oil to provider our heating and hot water.  This is not very green and not exactly cheap.

To improve matters we have been looking installing solar panels on the roof.  Its quite a minefield and there is a lot to consider.

Do you go with a central inverter or micro inverters.  DC-DC optimisers or a simple string installation.  Also if your property is old is there other things you can do to improve it that are more cost affective.  If your after the UK governments feed in tariff you can only get the top value if your property achieves a EPC rating of at least D.

So lots of research and i’ll be contracting three local companies for quotes.

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Family News Update

D800 Tests Birds on the ArchWe are now in the middle winter and we are still trying to catchup in the garden. Sunday saw us both in the garden again with Caroline trimming shrubs after cleaning out the chickens while I was up a ladder trimming and removing branches from a few of the over grown trees.

Our first year we mainly maintained the garden. The major changes were removing two large conifers that were too close the house.

We also added the vegetable plot and replaced the old wooden shed at the bottom with a chicken coop.

This month we got onions planted and the potatoes are in the shed getting ready to chit.

We still have a few more trees to trim but we are running out of time. One of the trees in the front garden is already coming into bud so will have to leave that now to next winter.

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A quiet Christmas

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Christmas is now over and it’s been a pleasant and quiet time.

Christmas Eve we had the day to ourselves while for Christmas Day we invited our parents over.

Boxing Day was a trip over to Chesterfield where we had a big family get together. That evening the snow started to come down and it was a cautious drive home.

Saturday morning we awoke early to a snow covered village. Even though it was our Christmas holiday we still had to get up early to let the chickens out and give them fresh water and food. While I was doing that Caroline made a pot of Oolong in her new cast iron Chinese tea pot.

We then jumped back into our warm bed to get warm and enjoy our tea.

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Hi Fi and Convenience

I love listening to music, I also loving playing music (badly, but I enjoy it), I have a very nice separates Hifi system but with having to de-clutter to help sell the old house, it was in storage for over a year, and since we moved house, its been sat in boxes while we finish (well start) decorating the end room that will be the library and where the Hifi will be set up.

So for several years now the nearest I have come to listening to good music is whats on my iPhone or listening to music coming out of my basic computer speakers.  In other words, hardly Hifi.

So for a joint birthday and Christmas present I asked for and got a Sonos speaker.  Now there are lots of wireless speaker systems now on the market, but after reading up on the different systems and more importantly listening to some, (Sonos, Bose and B&W being the top three), I decided on the Sonos.

Their basic Sonos Play1 has excellent sound quality for the price and while others sounded better you had to pay a lot more.  There is also the fact that this will be for convenience listening, most of the time this will be sat in the kitchen while we listen to the radio streamed to it.

So far I am really happy with it and can see why people like their Sonos.  For easy listening it gives a good performance and only if fed a more complex base line, does the base start to become muddy and indistinct.

Its made me think now about music for my office, do I add another Sono speaker or maybe  something like a pair of powered speakers such as a pair of Audioengine A5+, at a later date you could upgrade them with a nice separate DAC such as the ARCAM irDAC and bring my office up to a decent budget Hifi level a lot cheaper then another Sonos.

Something to think about, but until then we have the Sonos and a room that now is stripped to bare walls and a concrete floor.  All doors and windows have been replaced and we have french doors leading out onto the rear patio so its going to a lovely room when finished and our next major project on the house now we have the vegetable garden in place and our hens.

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The Night Before Christmas

On the Biking Blog “Ride it like you stole it!” which is sadly no more by Dave Dragon, there was a poem “The Biker’s Night Before Christmas”.

I have posted this before but as it is Christmas Eve I thought I was worth posting again.

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the pad,

There was nada happenin’, now that’s pretty bad.

The woodstove was hung up in that stocking routine,

In hopes that the Fat Boy would soon make the scene.

With our stomachs packed with tacos and beer,

My girl and I crashed on the couch for some cheer.

When out in the yard there arose such a racket,

I ran for the door and pulled on my jacket.

I saw a large bro’ on a ’56 Pan

Wearin’ black leathers, a cap, and boots (cool biker, man).

He hauled up the bars on that bikeful of sacks,

And that Pan hit the roof like it was running on tracks.

I couldn’t help gawking, the old guy had class.

But I had to go in — I was freezing my ass.

Down through the stovepipe he fell with a crash,

And out of the stove he came dragging his stash.

With a smile and some glee he passed out the loot,

A new jacket for her and some parts for my scoot.

He patted her fanny and shook my right hand,

Spun on his heel and up the stovepipe he ran.

From up on the roof came a great deal of thunder,

As that massive V-twin ripped the silence asunder.

With beard in the wind, he roared off in the night,

Shouting, “Have a cool Yule, and to all a good ride!”