Big J
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Everything posted by Big J
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I find that many of our friends and acquaintances here heat their house to a level that is beyond my comfort level. I do run hot most of the time, I should say. All new heating installations here (with maybe a few exceptions) are heat pumps. Air/air, air/water and ground/water. Plenty of people are still using pellet boilers for their central heating, but I don't see any being installed. For me, the best thing is that it's much cheaper than fossil fuel direct heating. 300-440% efficiency and the ability to cool in summer. In winter it's much colder than anywhere in the UK and in summer hottter too. If it can be done here, it can be done in the UK.
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It's been cool and a bit wet here for the last month of so. Some warmer days. July's average high was 22.1c, average low 10.1c. Max 27.4c, low 4.2c. 45mm precipitation (which is lower than average, though it didn't feel like that). Lake temps holding at 19-20c, which is 5c down on late June. Heavy rain in prospect today, with thunder too. Same tomorrow, but improving as the week progresses. We've basically had the same crappy weather as the UK, but just not quite as crappy.
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I'm in no hurry. I can cut and stack it on site, and it's only a few kilometers from home. With 70% forest cover, there is no shortage of wood here!
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I don't really have a favourite firewood either. My supply for the next 1.5 years is primarily Scots Pine. It was locally available and very cheap. Going forward, I have free reign to take wood from a block of land belonging to a friend, adjacent to a river. This will do me for the foreseeable future. I haven't had a look yet, but I'd guess it's alder, pine, spruce and birch.
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You can't expect the tourists to take their time if there is nowhere to stay. The route has such potential, but it's unexploited. Most people could easily spend a week up there, rather than (as you say) whizzing around in a couple of days.
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The situation with the NC500 is quite comedic. It has been heavily promoted by the councils and government as a tourist attraction, and yet they're not prepared to heavily invest in equipping it with the necessary infrastructure to accommodate them. The roads need to be upgraded, the campsites need to be expanded and upgraded and regular facilities should be installed. The tourist demand isn't going to go away, and nor should it. It brings much needed employment to an otherwise remote and economically challenged part of Scotland.
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It doesn't always rain in Devon! My wife and kids are in the SW presently and my wife was reporting glorious sunshine a couple of days ago.....whilst sat in hours of traffic jams 😄 Though she did say that whilst trying to meet up with family at the village cricket match in Somerset that it rained heavily.
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Fear not - my dislike of organised religion is entirely non-discriminatory. They are all as ridiculous and worthy of ridicule as each other. 😄
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We had some rain on Tuesday. It was very nice. Back to full-on summer though. 28c yesterday and the same due again today. Even the lakes are nudging 25c now.
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Planet X, I believe? In some ways, they were similar to FR Jones, being massive discounters. Definitely a shame though.
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Raining torrentially outside. Finally. A few rumbles of thunder and 30c before the downpour. We've only had 18mm of rain in the past 3 months. This is very welcome indeed. Some of the heaviest rain I've ever seen.
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That's outstanding! Something to remember. I am just back from a 95km bike ride and I saw both a red kite and an osprey. That was a real treat.
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More of the same. Sun and sun and more sun. It's only rained once in the last two months. Could actually do with some now. I love early mornings in mid summer. The mists over the lakes (which are very warm) as they react with the air (which can be very cold - actually had a light frost Friday morning) are incredible. This was taken at 04:50 on Thursday. No filters on the photo:
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Agreed. Just a bit harder to organise as you need to know what you're doing. The lakes vary from large to enormous. If you're not well equipped, and with a boat, you're unlikely to catch so much. That makes it a bit more difficult to offer as a holiday option.
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That particular lake is actually a carp fishing syndicate. Only to about 36-38lb, but it's well cared for. All the other lakes hold fish. All species really, but pike, perch and zander are the most popular species. They grow quite large here too as the pressure is low. Only cycling past today, I'm afraid. It was also 4 degrees!
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A beautiful morning today. 05:00, sunrise over a lake just north of the village
