Green Shoots

 There is something deeply satisfying watching an electricity meter not going round , while actually using the stuff. This time it is perfectly legal unlike a previous meter which had been adjusted by its former owner. Of course I am betraying my age , as meters no longer have dials , just electronics . With the new Linky meters they have to be interrogated by computer , and that the day after . Progress? 

However my latest gismo gives almost real time analysis of consumption , and if the sun is out , supply . So I finally bit the bullet , or rather wrote the cheque, and had solar panels installed,  together with some fancy electronic control . I would like to say that it was it was my green credentials coming to the fore;  but in reality it was “ that mad man in the Kremlin “ that gave the final push , in this case to the rapid increase in energy prices. In his equations of madness , I bet he didn’t think his actions would help in the fight against climate change and spur this consumer into action.

In just one day last week 16 panels were installed on the roof by 6 fit young men , helped by a ‘cherry picker’  This  could deliver the panels to their final destination, without risking the lives of those numerous people clambering over the roof . I for one was very nervous of their antics . The original house owner died following a fall from his partially constructed roof .

 The sun the next day brought a surge in my generation capacity , potentially up to 6 KW. Without heating or AC , that more than meets our consumption ( given that important factor of sunshine ) and excess sold  to the grid . 

Now, I have concluded that EDF and the government are to on to a pretty good deal .I pay for the capital cost ( with some minor support ) and then potentially get paid 10 cents a unit ( KWH ) , which of course is liable to income tax . EDF can then sell MY electricity at 15 cents ; …plus VAT ( more money to the government  ) . At the moment EDF haven’t  actually completed the formalities , so don’t pay even the miserly 10 cents. For them it is all profit , with no incentive to speed up the bureaucracy .( apparently I have to wait 5 months ..like everyone else !! )

Before the advent of electricity , life was influenced  more by the rising of the sun , and with it , all important light and warmth. With solar panels , suddenly the sun again  is  determining our actions . Dishwashers and washing machine usage is dictated by availability of solar power, rather than off peak EDF power.  I know ,  is only a minor inconvenience compared to pre-industrial times, but it takes some adjustment. Fortunately  the solar panel gismo can send instruction to ‘intelligent ‘plugs’ to do all that switching . 

I can just relax , in the smug satisfaction that I have turned a little bit green ; and maybe in some distant time , recoup my capital outlay.

Green electronics

Oh I do like to be…..

 It seems as though we have had days of perfect weather : hot , still and cloudless. Well we have ! Is this really Argeles , so many windless days? The effect of global climate change ? A stroll on the prom with friends enjoying the first inklings of summer . With such perfect conditions, a sea trip to Collioure by boat, beckons. Azur blue sea and the vermillion coast . What could be better?

The boat leaves at 10.20 , yet in our holiday spirit, it was a scramble to be there on time . Strange , when we have ‘all the time in the world’  , there doesn’t seem enough of it . Gang plank up , and our craft departs for Cap Bear , by way of Collioure and Port-Vendres . Leaving port , the captain turns north , the opposite direction planned . Ah there is now some of that wind and with it a swell , especially close to land . So to spare the passengers from too much rock and roll, we headed for deeper and calmer water . 

The view of our coast  from the sea is always amazing .It is only from this perspective that it is possible to appreciate the true beauty and drama of Les Alberes meeting the Mediterranean . In no distance 1000 meters peaks tumble into the sea . Ah I remember it well , the last leg of the GR10 , the long distance path from Atlantic to Mediteranne and a 500 m steep descent .The total route takes some 35 days , I was warming up on the last two! Toes hammered against walking boots ; the blacked nails taking months to recover . Lesson leant: when starting such descents , first tighten boots to stop toes sliding downwards .  

An easier route down was to follow “Le Chemin de L’eau “ and it’s Tunnel de Aigua . A gentle descent following a gravity pipeline which intercepts four springs high on the mountain side and  which carried water to Port Vendres . Built in 1890 to meet the growing needs of the Port ,with its’  steam ships and steam trains .  8 km long including a 200m rock tunnel , a feat which was duly celebrated just two years later ; no doubt with more wine than water. Over the years man has increased in height , so traversing that tunnel requires knees to be bent ; hat necessary to cushion the inevitable bumps . The water supply was refurbished this millennium to provide water to the hamlet of Rimbau.

I digress , so back on the boat we entered the calm waters of Collioure. However , the bay seemed full of men in rubber boats from the ‘Centre national d'entraînement Commando’ . If you have to do your military training , what better place . The gendarme were also practicing their scuba skills . Hours of entertainment for the tourists, ( us included as we had disembarked for lunch ). 

Suitably replete , and reinforced with some of Collioure’s great wine , we boarded for the return . In the intervene hours the wind and strengthened and the sea grown . Now the captain had  captive passengers, he was going to have some fun…with us . The boat pitched and rocked , but the sea stayed , well , in the sea.  Explaining that this is all part of a summer experience , the throttle was opened , and the passengers on the aft deck were suitably drenched . 

Oh I do like to be beside ( but not in ) the seaside.

A calm start!

Life’s Surprises

The green rolling hills were framed by an array of newly leafed trees. In the centre of the field stood a magnificent copper beach ,surrounded by a carpet of blue bells. A rural idyll. At the bottom of the hill, just beyond a hedge of hawthorn flowers, a boat suddenly chugged along on a canal , previously hidden from view. 

The canal, known locally as the 'Staffs & Worcs', was one of the major routes of the canal age, and would have been constantly busy with coal boats.  It runs for 46 miles, connecting the River Severn to the Trent and Mersey canal . It was completed in just five years by James Brindley. It would have been dug by hand and powered by horses, an almost incomprehensible feat by today’s mechanised standards. 

At the same time , in 1764, James Watt, was transforming the steam engine into something that could power the industrial revolution. Coal, its life blood , flowed along canals , its first arteries. The local lord , looking down from what is now our hotel , would have been shocked by the noisy and smelly first steam barge disturbing his tranquility. No one was going to escape this revolution.

We were in Kinver , a pretty, but growing village on the banks of this canal . Lady Jane Grey, and others , are alleged to haunt the local woodland ; surprising inebriated guests at the town’s pub. Today we were met by the unexpected refrains of ‘ The A train ‘. A seven piece  jazz band  entertained us while we sampled the local gin and beer. They were collecting for Ukraine , here in remotest rural England . Not a response the Kremlin was expecting. 

Two days later it was the Dave Weckl / Tom Townsend experience providing the jazz ,this time at the more famous Ronnie Scott’s club in London. It was our adjacent listeners who were the real aficionados. Two Dutch , who had travelled especially for the evening performances. As professional drummers themselves, they had watched Dave ( the drummer) over 20 times; convinced he was one of the worlds greatest; …and we didn’t know!

Amazingly, on average two women in the region  give birth with no idea they were even pregnant. Not possible you may say . Apparently the baby is behind the placenta, which disguises the bump. Our friend’s granddaughter had even passed an employment medical at 7 months; and still no one knew. An uncomfortable night of stomach pains, and the next morning a full term baby appeared. The mother , not surprisingly, took four days to get over the shock . Despite the trauma all are well and happy; an instant family out of the blue . 

You can never tell what is just around the corner. Ah yes ! tomorrow is a birthday party for my sister’s 70 th , with family appearing from around the globe . She may have been expecting the day, but not the attendees.

Rural magnificence 

But with canals then an industrial transformation.

Even the dogs are taken care of in this pub