Chitchat thread #24

[Florence Fennel]

Evening There must have been a fair bit of sunshine this afternoon as the solar jar lights are on and twinkling and the fountain is out up and gurgling merrily - not for long I suppose, but pretty in the dark. Hope your dinner is not spoiled Nicos. The Rocky Road is delicious, not at all like the granite I imagined, so do have some

[Florence Fennel]

I'm off to listen to POTW now before pyjamas and a bit of television. Enjoy your evening

[rary]

Good evening, interesting info about the batteries Snoop, I have been thinking about installing one along with a wind generator, though at my age might be a waste of money, it really annoys me that we pay so much for electricity when all around this area there are windmills visible, I do have solar panels and if got batteries it would be for that system, as said thinking on it 🤔

[Nicos]

Edited to wave at Nicos. Little ones are cute when they explain things they don’t really understand xx

Thing is Bren…she was absolutely right!

[rary]

Again, good evening, church this morning and once back home decided to wash the bird feeders, then spent a bit of time in the greenhouse, I am for waiting another week or so before getting really started on the seed sowing front, I have now cut down all the old growth in the flowerbeds and if it's dry tomorrow I will rake it all out onto the grass then run the lawnmower over it before adding it all back onto the flower beds, our son and his family dropped in for a coffee and he told me that he has now bought a hot composter, so will be interested on finding out how well it works, I have fancied one of those for a long time, bet felt that they were a bit pricey, it will be interesting to see how his composter works in comparison to my fridge/freezer composter, I must be honest and say I prefer the cost of mine to his🙄 though his was delivered to the door where i had to barrow mine across the width of the road from my neighbours house to mine😁. Now off to have a read of a book while OH is watching some rubbish on the telly, so have a pleasant evening and behave😊😊😊

[Snoop Puss]

Good evening, interesting info about the batteries Snoop, I have been thinking about installing one along with a wind generator, though at my age might be a waste of money, it really annoys me that we pay so much for electricity when all around this area there are windmills visible, I do have solar panels and if got batteries it would be for that system, as said thinking on it 🤔

The problem isn't just the batteries, rary, it's the charge regulator to control the charge going into the batteries and the inverter to turn your battery voltage (12 but most likely 24 volts, possibly 48) into mains power (220 V) to power your devices at home, plus all the bits and pieces like cables, connectors and so on. Inverters come in two types as well, square and pure sine wave. Pure sine wave inverters, as you might imagine from the name, are more expensive but provide a cleaner signal to sensitive devices like computers and televisions. Talk to a reliable supplier (not an installer in the first instance as they will try and flog you anything, whereas a supplier is only interested in selling you equipment and will recommend what you really require) to find out what you need and how much it would cost. To run a whole house with a washing machine, possibly a dishwasher, and the like, you need a lot of battery capacity and a powerful inverter. It wouldn't be cheap. That said, I know how much my brother spends in electricity in Cumbria and it's a terrifying sum. We have no choice going solar only, living where we do, but it's quite an investment.

[Containergardener]

Just eaten my first creme egg of the year. I realise it's a bit like marmite- love or hate

[Containergardener]

*hanging around the streets looking for FF and her rocky road*

No sun here again.
We didn't put our solar Christmas lights up this year as our new neighbour had illuminations on the go. Instead we are going to put them up at the back for us late spring and summer for US to see.

@snoop It's Spain we fancy. Have done for years .Almost sold up and went to France years ago then fathers were both ill so we are still here.
How long have you been there ?

[Snoop Puss]

I've been here since 1991, CG. So a long time. Not so easy moving to an EU country post-Brexit. Make sure you have all the legal info about residency, medical care, taxation, bank accounts and so forth before you make a big decision. I'm not the best person to talk to about that, as my situation is very different, having been here so long and being legally resident and paying social security here. There's a government page that gives basic advice but the Spanish Embassy in London or a Spanish consulate near you would be your best source of info about legal aspects. Talk to your bank about banking, which is surprisingly a big issue, as you will not be able to keep an account with a UK bank unless you have a UK address. Link to UK government advice on living in Spain: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-spain

[Containergardener]

Oh thanks for info snoop. I shall read that.
it wont be yet though. Still have mum relying on me here. Future plans but realise time is precious these days.
We have friends in Spain and one here setting up Spanish banking hoping to move eventually..
Would you ever say you'd prefer to be in uk?

[Snoop Puss]

I miss the trees and the countryside, CG. And obviously friends and family. I visit my mum quite often, but I haven't lived in the UK for a very long time now. And the internet makes it possible to stay in touch so easily. We're very well integrated into our local community here and live a way of life that wouldn't be possible in the UK. Overall, I'm happy where I am.

[Containergardener]

Yes I can understand that. My parents lived abroad briefly for dads work and missed the same.

[Containergardener]

Morning all
Although dark we have a rainy forecast this morning but sun may be possible this afternoon. If that is the case I shall be outside and may even get my camping chair out of the shed
.
Gh needs a jig to put my blowaway gh staging higher to fit the cover. Some plants can have some time outside now it isn't so cold (not tender things just overwintering).
I need to crack on planning my beds/growing areas.

Also, I saw some daffs out on the roadside yesterday and I have been checking forest ditches on our doggy walks for frog spawn but nothing yet but have seen quite a bit of alien jelly.
Anyone gor either yet?

Kettle has boiled, croissants anyone?

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

Its sunny intervals for us today weather wise so I'll be out and about rather than indoors.

I've not spotted any frog spawn here yet either CG. not many daffs but plenty of snow drops.

[Snoop Puss]

Morning all.

Contrary to the forecast, it's blue skies out there. Chilly, mind.

Mr Snoop has gone off for a hospital appointment and a grory hop. Can't remember when we last went to the big shops. He's got rather a long list. I'm about to feed and walk the dogs and then settle down to a hard day at the keyboard. With any luck, the next time we go to the same town, I'll be going for an appointment to talk to the social security people about when I can retire.

We've got a few spring flowers out. But most importantly, our first almond tree has just started to blossom. The smiles went to inspect. They also did a good job while they were at it of shooing off the flock of birds that were eating the buds that are still closed.

Have a great day, everyone.