Category Archives: home

Changing the Tails

Blasdale Home Posted on by

We are having some electrical work performed in the house. New lights for the kitchen, along with a flat ceiling. At the same time we decided to have our power supply increased from 80amps to 100 amps.

This involves:

  • changing the main fuse
  • Updating the distribution box, we need an extra circuit breaker, and of course, you can’t purchase circuit breakers for the 30-year-old distribution box.
  • Changing the meter tails from 16mm to 25 mm. Why are they called tails?
  • Coordinating the electrician with the builder, so we don’t have holes in the lath and plaster ceiling for too long. Actually, this should be easy, as have worked on projects together for us.

So I messaged UK Power Networks, to change the fuse. They said I would need to get my supplier to change the tails first. Contacted Bulb, and they had Siemens come over to change the tails. The ideal chap, he could stand and work on the tails at over 7 feet up, without a ladder, steps or even a light.

Now I am waiting for UK Power Networks to come over and change the fuse, they do appear to have gone rather silent.

Lockdown Birds

Blasdale Home Posted on by

Sitting at home, outside, drinking our G&Ts, you must have your camera at the ready. There is the Heron visiting our neighbours’ pond. There it is sitting looking ungainly at the top of a tree. The greenfinches, constantly fighting, and the young bird being looked after by its parents. All of this in view while you are sipping your Gin and Tonic.

Heron
Heron
Young Greenfinch
Greenfinch on the feeder
King of the castle
Greenfinch
Heron

Experimenting with the Moon

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From the 25th April to the 6th Of May I took several pictures of the moon. On the 6th of May, there was a full moon, indeed a supermoon. The May full moon is 2020’s third and final full supermoon, and it’s also the third-closest, third-biggest and third-brightest full moon of 2020. All photographs were taken on a tripod, with a 2-second delay for the shutter. The exposure time was around 1/80 of second at f16 ish

Christmas in Kingswood

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Christmas 2019

We had our usual Christmas this year, complete with our countdown meals, all planned on a handy Excel Spreadsheet. One change was made, a meal was swapped around because the original was deemed too complicated for a Friday pub night.

Our Christmas Eve had Phil and Selina over for our usual cheese fondue. The fondue set is one of the few possessions I brought to the family, which still exists. The set must be more than 40 years old.

Christmas Day had Julian join us for our traditional Christmas Turkey lunch. (I cannot get them all to agree to a swap to a goose.) Nothing was forgotten, except the amount of gravy made was somewhat lacking, so there was no gravy in the sandwiches on subsequent days. Traditional Christmas pudding was on offer, with Jack Daniels Butter, along with Christmas Pudding Ice Cream,

Leftover food kept us going for a week in various reincarnations. No turkey curry, and somehow the bread sauce found its way to the back of the fridge and was not discovered for well over a week. (I think this deliberate on R’s part.)

New Christmas tree this year. Gone has the natural tree with falling needles, and now a metal and plastic affair which should see me out.

Selina had originally bought me the Michael Eavis and Emily Eavis “Glastonbury 50” book for Christmas. It would have been a brilliant choice. Unfortunately, I had already bought it back in November. R had not communicated this fact to Selina when she had asked if I had purchased any books recently. Luckily, Rosemary told me that Selina was enquiring about my book purchases, so I reminded her of “Glastonbury 50”. Quickly she phoned Selina, but it was too late; Selina could not cancel the order. No matter, it was passed on to Ravi, one of the friends whom I took to Glastonbury.

During Christmas Day, I read several tweets from Glastonbury fans who had received multiple copies of the book. Several with two copies and at least three had three copies of the book.