It isn’t a huge amount of solar, but it’s enough to allow us to manage almost entirely without the mains grid. Â (The washing machine is too much for this system). Â We have, in theory, enough power to keep us going for 5 days in the event of it being...
At last the rain and snow have stopped, and there is a hint of blue sky above us now. The wind is still bitterly cold though, and the snow shows no sign of leaving us any time soon. Â This winter has been an especially difficult one for anyone with livestock, and we...
This is our pond. Rather unexpectedly as it happens – we didn’t line it or fill it, the volume of rain and snow over the past 24 hours has simply been so huge that it has filled itself. Quite handy really as we can see how the levels will work out,...
In theory, low impact building is something that you hope people would welcome: low cost shelter that uses minimal resources, that people can put together themselves, and which doesn’t stand out like a sore thumb in the landscape. It could be cheap to heat, to...
Two thirds of the way through Jean-Baptiste and Marie-Josephine’s visit, and we’ve made amazing progress. Paths laid, 450 trees planted, new water pipes installed to the stables and outhouse, all the old rubble from the house levelled, tonnes of firewood...
Something I have a particular aversion to is wells. There’s just something about looking down a narrow shaft into dark water, not knowing where the bottom might be. Hence I didn’t particularly relish the task of climbing down a ladder into the depths, to...