"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it."

greenbee

It'll be worth it beanie. Or at least, I keep telling myself it will be. This should be the last thing I need this plumber for (apart from one last boiler service) as I hope that any further heating work will be as part of the garage conversion (so builders) or heat pump installation (so heat pump engineers). I just hope he can get himself more organised soon, as people get fed up with this kind of disorganisation and lack of consideration quite quickly. 

greenbee

He's done everything bar the lagging. Despite me saying several times that the decorator was starting on monday he seemed surprised when I mentioned (again) that the decorator would be here so he'd have to work round him. I probably should have told him not to bother and got the person who is going to fix the floor to do it. But I'm going to try to be out... Or at least shut in my office. 

greenbee

Have hoovered, to avoid yet more crap being trodden around the house. Hopefully the new bedroom carpet will recover from having been folded back for ages (it should have been 2 days and will end up being a week). Have turned down the new radiators. I'll need to bleed them all quite a lot as I can hear a lot of water, and also need to spend time working out what the boiler settings are for flow temps of 30/40/50 so I can start using that to adjust and identify what works best. The UFH has been turned down to 30C already and that's a much more comfortable temperature than the 40C it was at before (hot floor) and was providing steady heat. 

Dog and cats seem to think it's bedtime. They're probably right!

greenbee

Today has not been hugely productive or energetic. Lie in and cuddle with Fatty after letting them all out, going back to bed, giving them breakfast, going back to bed. 

Dog towels were washed overnight and hung on the line, and people towels were shoved in the machine. Walked Stinky (not as far as he'd have liked, but we met friends and were chatting and then were passed by a reactive/aggressive dog with an owner who can't control it - although it seems to have acquired either a muzzle or a halti since last week - so decided to turn back and go the same way as the friends). Stuffed the people towels in the TD as there was enough solar, then replanted honeysuckle and then decided outside was far too unpleasant to do anymore out there. So no onions/beans/peas/garlic planted and no more garden waste shoved in the bins (which go out tomorrow).

However, I have done a lot of pottering about moving stuff back into my bedroom. The majority is piled on the bed, but I located an extending shoe rack and discovered it fits nicely. So my shoes are out of their plastic storage box for the first time in years and accessible. Bedding and towels for the big spare room went into a drawer I'd cleared. Some of the bedding for the front bedroom went into a cleared drawer too. Pretty hooks that dog leads were hanging on in the kitchen have been replaced by cup hooks so the pretty ones can go in the wardrobe. 

Dog bag, a couple of dog blankets, and one more dog towel were washed on a hygiene cycle (low temp as the bag and blankets are synthetic, but a long cycle) and are now on the electric towel rail in the utility room waiting for me to decide that the electricity price/solar generation is appropriate. There is a lot more washing that needs doing. 

I'm trying to do a bit of sorting as things go back into the bedroom - I have a box of 'use up' toiletries. I'll also have a list of things I need to source - dressing table lights (I have two alabaster lamp bases, but they need repairing, rewiring, and shades), and a couple more bedside lights.

Enough of the back bedroom should have been cleared for me to be able to put up the last two pictures in there.

Radiators have been bled (a couple downstairs were completely empty), towel rails upstairs need doing. I'm resisting lighting the fire tonight as I want to see how the house feels with just the heating. Although I also need to find some tape so I can measure (and adjust) the boiler flow temperature. Oil boilers don't allow different temperatures for water and heating, so I should probably leave it at 50C. If we have a sunny period and I can top up the hot water with solar, I'll try lowering it to 40C, and possibly 30C. Mind you, I need to balance the radiators and set the TRVs properly... I need to work out whether I can use this to model the different flow temps. UFH (which mixes cold into the hot from the boiler) has been set at 30C, but hopefully can go down to between 27C and 23C once the air is out of the system. 

Also had a delivery of glow in the dark balls for Stinky. They fit his ball-thrower and have holes in so that they whistle as they fly through the air. It's certainly easier for him to find them in the dark, and I can see a glowing blob heading towards me. 

greenbee

Must remember to go into the garden tomorrow and hack back some easy stuff like the cosmos that are over to fill the garden waste bins.

Haven't quite got the heating right yet. I'd rather have the fire But I'm going to try to get the heating sorted out over the next few days rather than burning wood.

Oh... and I need to remember to find the oil tank key and open the tank first thing tomorrow too. 

greenbee

No hot water, so not happy. Have messaged the plumber, and am hoping it’s just a duff motorized valve. 

I have mended my snowman socks ready for Christmas (and realise the could double as welly socks!) and fixed the handle on a cotton/rope basket which I had to cut when Fatty was a kitten and got her leg tangled up in it. It’s not a particularly elegant fix, but means I can use it in the wardrobe to store stuff at floor level. I just need to empty all the rubbish out of the other one so I can put that in there too. 

Cats appear to be inspecting the new carpet/underlay and are probably making nests in the piles of clothes on my bed. Then again, if they decamp there, I might get a decent night’s sleep 😂

greenbee

Decorator arrived before I was dressed (luckily I know him well, so told him to come in and get started). Fed animals. Dog threw up his breakfast (probably due to overexcitement) while we were moving furniture 🙄 Cats don't like their breakfast. Put dog stuff washed yesterday out on the line and shoved more washing in the machine. Took the dog for a walk, met a few people, checked solar and realised the hot water was up to temperature but hadn't used much solar. 

Plumber arrived just as I got home. Brought the dog washing in to shove in the TD to get the last of the dog hair off. Talked to plumber about the hot water and non-heating towel rail - he adjusted the immersion thermostat which I'll need to adjust back (he does everything way too hot). Didn't check the valve I asked him to for the hot water, so if it packs up again I'll give him 24 hours to fix it and if not, go elsewhere for that - and for the boiler service as I'm fed up with not knowing when he'll be here. We've also had a small leak in the kitchen, which I just noticed - the decorator tells me that the radiators weren't tightened up properly (we had this with the two in the bedroom), so he's fixed those. Hopefully the mark in the kitchen is because the radiator was filled up on Saturday evening and that'll be the end of it.

Spoke to the electrician while I was walking the dog, and he's due early afternoon.

Could do with having a shower and dressing properly, but have a meeting in 5 minutes and another load of washing needs taking out of the machine. I will try to stick it on the line and fill the other garden waste bin between this. meeting and the next one!

Decorator approved the colours, so they've been ordered  

beanielou

Your plumber would drive me mad. 

greenbee

beanielou said:

Your plumber would drive me mad. 

He does. Going to start having heat pump conversations ready to swap over as soon as this tank of oil runs out... 

It has just been refilled, so I've got a bit of time!

greenbee

Electrician has fixed the haunted light switch, and identified that the septic tank pump is tripping the breaker in the garage. So that's another thing that needs dealing with. Drain chap can deal with the pump but needs an electrician - so have asked him to come and check it, tell me what we need and then we can coordinate a date!