HAPPY NEW YEAR

10 01 16

I’ve just returned to Lady Cate. A huge blood orange sun was setting over the westerly woods lighting the undersides of the clouds above in lusciously rich shades from rose to apricot, set off perfectly by the blue sky above. Reminds me of the bright colours in Turner’s work where you look at the painting and can’t believe the colours of the sky can be so bright. But they are! Across the river a large flock of birds, which I don’t know, were settling in for the night chattering away to each other. A perfect evening.

The old house – Rafiki

I had been clearing out the old house and tarting it up a bit. I had thought it would be sold by now but it was looking very tired so, before Christmas, Tony and I spent a vigorous week painting most of the interior walls to great effect. Here’s hoping.

Healthy on board

Now here is a strange phenomenon. Like many an old git I was told by my doc that my blood pressure was too high at c.160/100. When I moved on to Lady Cate it went down to c. 130/80 and has stayed there ever since! What to make of it? Any ideas?

Air heater

As Mike had warned me, the old gas fired air heater in Lady Cate was completely caput. I’ve sold it for spares for £27! 

Knackered!

I’m getting a new diesel fired heater to replace it. (So I’m rather pleased we’ve had such a mild winter, so far.) They are v expensive at some £1,250 but there are copies available from both Russia and China at about £400.

Whilst there have been doubts about Russian and Chinese quality, in my experience those days are long gone. Russia used to make a great SLR camera called the Zenit-E at the height of the Cold War, still collectible today. In my many years working with Russia I saw some very sound engineering businesses with good quality control. And their launch rocket’s still going strong!

When I was looking for a special aluminium product for UK supply the Chinese produced the best sample of an aluminium structure, far better than the British sample, sad to say.

So I don’t think I’m taking a risk.

So I tried ordering a 5kW heater advertised on eBay from Russia. All went well until I tried Paypal which resolutely refused to allow me to pay. After a call or two I found out why. Paypal told me that, because of US sanctions on Russia they are not allowed to pay in to Russian companies. Ah well – China next. Simon, the Marina manager, has given me the name of an importer.

Email and Windows 10

I have at last succeeded in downloading Windows 10. BUT it’s knocked out my email completely! Having a hell of a job to get it going again.