We've had our first Christmas at the new Hillside. Not as full a house as we'd envisaged months ago, but with the house not quite complete it's probably just as well.
Even though there were only four of us for Christmas dinner we decided to stick with the UK tradition of turkey. This hasn't been my favourite meal of Christmases past. So to avoid the all too often bland, dry and white supermarket variety we've splashed out on a bronze Copas turkey from our favourite Chipping Sodbury butcher.
Aside from the ethics - all Copas turkeys are traditional breeds that are free range and slow grown without growth promoters ( 5 months versus intensive 2 months) - there's a lot to recommend them as the end result is fantastic. I never eaten such tasty turkey. Nodoubt a result of the breed of bird, the non intensive rearing and the fact that they are hung for two weeks prior to delivery. And on top of all this the bird is supplied in greaseproof paper in a cardboard box with a simple set of instructions and recipe ideas - no excess plastic packaging in sight.
So the bronze turkey is a hit, and could well be set for a return next year. Meanwhile the stripped carcass is simmering on the hob to give us a tasty supply of turkey stock for the new year. There's no way we're wasting any of this!
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Doors
The time has finally come to start hanging doors! We've managed without for a good few weeks, and with only the two of us in the house most of the time privacy hasn't been much of an issue. However, the in-laws arrive on Wednesday (weather permitting), so it's about time we got a few doors in place.
We've been able to reuse several of the old internal doors, some in their original locations. Solid pine doors stained orange aren't the look we're going for, so we've sanded them back and the plan is to stain them to match the oak flooring. This is something we've done on one door as a test, using clear Osmo oil and a mixture of natural earth pigments, but time has run out on us to get all the staining done in time for Christmas (along with a few other things), so it'll have to wait till next year. We've also bought a few new pine doors of the same style which we'll treat in the same way to provide a coherent look.
The old brass door furniture has gone and is being replaced with more contemporary stainless steel - todate this is only the hinges so we at least have doors hung inplace. Handles and latches are to follow, possibly before Christmas but I have my doubts! In the meantime people will have to whistle if they are in the bathroom - at least there's a door and not a curtain as has been the case todate!
We've been able to reuse several of the old internal doors, some in their original locations. Solid pine doors stained orange aren't the look we're going for, so we've sanded them back and the plan is to stain them to match the oak flooring. This is something we've done on one door as a test, using clear Osmo oil and a mixture of natural earth pigments, but time has run out on us to get all the staining done in time for Christmas (along with a few other things), so it'll have to wait till next year. We've also bought a few new pine doors of the same style which we'll treat in the same way to provide a coherent look.
The old brass door furniture has gone and is being replaced with more contemporary stainless steel - todate this is only the hinges so we at least have doors hung inplace. Handles and latches are to follow, possibly before Christmas but I have my doubts! In the meantime people will have to whistle if they are in the bathroom - at least there's a door and not a curtain as has been the case todate!
Monday, 21 December 2009
Freezing
The bitterly cold weather of the last few days has been a good test of the heating system. Designed for a worst case outside temperature of -4C, as is standard practice for the Bristol area, the system seems to be coping. This is despite a power cut on Friday night when a local high voltage cable failed plunging us into a 'brown out' when we all we had was enough voltage to keep some of the lights in the house glowing, but nothing else worked. The fact it was -6C outside at the time didn't help either. Makes you realise how much we rely on electricity - even the toilets won't flush if we lose power!
The combined effect of underfloor heating and a pellet boiler mean that the heating isn't as fast to respond as a conventional gas fired boiler with radiators, but once you get used to setting the boiler to start earlier to cope for the longer warm-up time it's not a problem. Ideally we would also be using the 5kW woodburner to supplement the 20kW provided by the boiler, but it was out of action last night as we were oiling the living room floor, giving the oak it's first of two coats of Osmo Polyx oil to seal and protect it.
The extreme cold (by UK standards) hasn't caused any problems yet, although I am keeping an eye on the harvested rainwater as the pipe from the tank to the house isn't yet buried below ground so is at risk of freezing. This hasn't happened yet despite several days of freezing weather.
The combined effect of underfloor heating and a pellet boiler mean that the heating isn't as fast to respond as a conventional gas fired boiler with radiators, but once you get used to setting the boiler to start earlier to cope for the longer warm-up time it's not a problem. Ideally we would also be using the 5kW woodburner to supplement the 20kW provided by the boiler, but it was out of action last night as we were oiling the living room floor, giving the oak it's first of two coats of Osmo Polyx oil to seal and protect it.
The extreme cold (by UK standards) hasn't caused any problems yet, although I am keeping an eye on the harvested rainwater as the pipe from the tank to the house isn't yet buried below ground so is at risk of freezing. This hasn't happened yet despite several days of freezing weather.
Friday, 11 December 2009
On our knees
That's where we'll be for most of tomorrow as the time has come, after several weeks of acclimatising, for us to start laying the oak flooring.
The flooring in the 'wet' rooms was completed way back in August/September with tiles and limestone to allow the plumber to complete his work. With it being less of a priority, the new flooring in the remainder of the downstairs, the upstairs landing and the master bedroom have been left till now. A combination of a delay in getting all the oak planks delievered and various busy weekends have meant tomorrow is the first chance we've had of tackling the floor laying.
As the 1970s' concrete floors downstairs have a suspect dpc, with a risk of moisture ingress, we've put down a layer of bitumen impregnated building paper as a first line of defence before laying a plastic membrane on top. This should give us all the protection we need to prevent damp coming up through the concrete and causing the oak to 'cup', warp and lift. We're not using underlay in all areas as there is existing parquet and chipboard that will act as a level subfloor. Where this isn't the case we'll be using a fibreboard underlay to provide levelling along with acoutic and thermal insulation.
We've chosen oak as a renewable material from maintained woodlands that is also in keeping with the cottage and the floors that it once had, before they were ripped out in the '70s. Properly laid and looked after, with a few coats of Osmo oil, they should provide a hardwearing surface that will last for years.
If all goes well tomorrow we should have somewhere to put the Christmas tree just in time!
The flooring in the 'wet' rooms was completed way back in August/September with tiles and limestone to allow the plumber to complete his work. With it being less of a priority, the new flooring in the remainder of the downstairs, the upstairs landing and the master bedroom have been left till now. A combination of a delay in getting all the oak planks delievered and various busy weekends have meant tomorrow is the first chance we've had of tackling the floor laying.
As the 1970s' concrete floors downstairs have a suspect dpc, with a risk of moisture ingress, we've put down a layer of bitumen impregnated building paper as a first line of defence before laying a plastic membrane on top. This should give us all the protection we need to prevent damp coming up through the concrete and causing the oak to 'cup', warp and lift. We're not using underlay in all areas as there is existing parquet and chipboard that will act as a level subfloor. Where this isn't the case we'll be using a fibreboard underlay to provide levelling along with acoutic and thermal insulation.
We've chosen oak as a renewable material from maintained woodlands that is also in keeping with the cottage and the floors that it once had, before they were ripped out in the '70s. Properly laid and looked after, with a few coats of Osmo oil, they should provide a hardwearing surface that will last for years.
If all goes well tomorrow we should have somewhere to put the Christmas tree just in time!
Thursday, 3 December 2009
CO2 cube
It seems we now live in a world where carbon and CO2 are becoming part of our everyday language, and that's not just because the UN's COP15 is currently happening in Copenhagen. It's about time.
Cutting our carbon footprint is something we've been trying to do for the past few years and we've taken it a lot further as part of our renovation project. But unlike the imprint my foot makes in the sand, CO2 isn't something I can see.
On the other hand (no pun intended), the amount of treated water we've saved is tangible. Not only do we have a level gauge that shows us how much is left, but you can stick your head in the tank and see what we've collected. Coincidentally our latest water bill turned up today - must do a comparison on the last couple of years.
Anyway, back to carbon - I thought I'd work out what CO2 we're saving and try to visualise it. Using standard factors published by the Carbon Trust I've calculated that since we first fired the boiler in late September we've saved approximately 1500 kg of CO2, that's a huge 1.5 tonnes!
By strange coincidence I've just seen that COP15 is doing just that - helping people to visualise a tonne of CO2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjswDzTKV34
I also like this image of a tonne of CO2 produced by a school in the USA - http://www.energyrace.com/commentary/what_does_a_ton_of_co2_look_like/
It's great to think that we're already saving significant amounts of CO2, but I wonder what we're still creating in the areas of the house where we're not as efficient? And as for travel, which I know is a big source of CO2...I think I better do the maths.
Cutting our carbon footprint is something we've been trying to do for the past few years and we've taken it a lot further as part of our renovation project. But unlike the imprint my foot makes in the sand, CO2 isn't something I can see.
On the other hand (no pun intended), the amount of treated water we've saved is tangible. Not only do we have a level gauge that shows us how much is left, but you can stick your head in the tank and see what we've collected. Coincidentally our latest water bill turned up today - must do a comparison on the last couple of years.
Anyway, back to carbon - I thought I'd work out what CO2 we're saving and try to visualise it. Using standard factors published by the Carbon Trust I've calculated that since we first fired the boiler in late September we've saved approximately 1500 kg of CO2, that's a huge 1.5 tonnes!
By strange coincidence I've just seen that COP15 is doing just that - helping people to visualise a tonne of CO2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjswDzTKV34
I also like this image of a tonne of CO2 produced by a school in the USA - http://www.energyrace.com/commentary/what_does_a_ton_of_co2_look_like/
It's great to think that we're already saving significant amounts of CO2, but I wonder what we're still creating in the areas of the house where we're not as efficient? And as for travel, which I know is a big source of CO2...I think I better do the maths.
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