Friday, October 19, 2012

The hurricane finally calmed down during late afternoon ...

... but not before several really impressive records were set. We didn't quite manage the maximum windspeed - the 66.7mph gust from May is safe for another while - but everything else was historic. So much so that the wind turbine on the roof of the barn generated more electricity today that in the rest of the 15 months that it's been there. The one on the house surpassed the previous record and showed me the magic result on the timer - "Time since I took the last reading - 25 hours and 16 minutes" - "Wind time since last reading - "25 hours and 16 seconds".

As well as that, the temperature here in the attic is now back up to the 20s - and I should think so too. I was freezing the other night.

So anyway, after the usual messing around on the computer I went outside to rectify the damage. I picked up the kindling bins and the kindling and reorganised them (I don't know why I bothered though - they blew over again) and picked up all of the stuff that had been propped against the end of the barn (and that blew back down twice more).

Major work though was with the wind turbine fastened to the fence. The screws have given way under the force of the wind and the whole affair was blowing around like crazy. Screws clearly don't work and as I didn't have any bolts long enough, you can see the benefits of having lengths of stud iron (or threaded rod as it's called these days) lying around. I cut a few lengths of that and made up some bolts, and now it's all properly bolted together and I hope that that won't move again.  

With no bread and still no boulangère I went into Pionsat to find out why she doesn't love me any more, and I soon found out, much to my dismay, for the boulangerie is closed. According to the notice on the door, it's closed "until further notice" following an accident on the premises involving the oven. That's upset my plans and no mistake. I shall have to think again about this.

Back home I finished off emptying the back half of the hardstanding. I need to buy some weedkiller to deal with the weeds on there, and on Monday I'll start digging out the soil that has collapsed. This is going to be a very long job.

4 comments:

  1. With all this lovely electricity and your electric breadmaker, don't you think about making bread?

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  2. Newflash....

    Eric has been blown away by the hurricane. He was last seen with and owl and a pussycat on a pea-green boat steered by Lord Lucan. Watch this space for further developments. It is understood Shergar is the power source for the boat.

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  3. Just wondering if you're OK, Eric.

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  4. Such was the sound of his weather, Joy, that he could well still be clutching that golf umbrella, still on the top of that gust of wind, somewhere over Mozambique.

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