2014–What a Year

WOYWW visitors – please scroll down to the first post for today.

The second of three posts for today, and the first of two “update” posts – I realised there was going to be too much for a single post, because such a lot has gone on this year. I have therefore decided to devote this first one to personal and health issues and other miscellaneous things, and to make a new post about my creative endeavours during the year, of which there have been many!

I can’t believe it’s that time of year yet again when I look back on the months that have passed and take stock, and look forward, hopefully always with optimism, to the year ahead. This is the fifth annual review post I have made – have I really been blogging this long???

We have celebrated our first year living in our new house, and reaped the benefit of so many months of upheaval, anxiety, stress, joy and fun that took place during the previous year, during the renovations, and this year we have been able to enjoy to the full all the carefully planned alterations which have made life easier for everybody.

One of the things which has been the most fun was finally to be able to move into my beautiful new ARTHaven and get it up and running and planned exactly how I wanted, so that it at last became my favourite room in the house, where I can immerse myself in art and creativity and shed the stresses of the day, in an environment carefully designed and planned by me, and brought to fruition by our wonderful builders, to enable the creative process to take place with the minimum of difficulty.

Heath Issues

The year 2014 has been characterised by a series of health crises for us all – myself, my hubby and my mum, who lives in a flat occupying half the downstairs of the house. Just when we seemed to be entering a more stable period, something else happened, until I got to the stage when I wondered, “What next?” I know that compared with some people, our trials have been light, but nevertheless sometimes they have seemed hard to bear.

At the beginning of the year, now that we were really settled in, my hubby went up country to pick up my buggy (mobility scooter) which had belonged to my uncle, and this was installed in the garage with its own power supply, and enables me to trundle forth at the magnificent heartstopping rate of 4 mph to do my local errands – church, shopping, visiting etc. This is liberating!

In February I caught a nasty throat infection which left me coughing for months, and eventually in the summer I saw the doctor about it, and it became clear that the cough was a result of GORD (Gastro-oesophageal reflux disorder) and I was put on medication for this (Omeprazole) and referred to an ENT surgeon at the hospital for a proper examination, which revealed that there was still evidence of inflammation so I was put on revolting Gaviscon which is a sore trial to take!!

In the summer I also had problems with an extremely dry mouth, but after seeing another hospital consultant, a disease cause was ruled out, and we came to the conclusion that it was just another recurring M.E. symptom raising its ugly head again. I was given some good advice, though, about nasal decongestion which has helped a lot.

I suffered very badly this summer with swollen ankles and again sought medical advice. Several pieces of advice bore good fruit, and I also invested in a Circulation Booster which helped a lot. The cooler weather helped considerably, later on.

Since our return from holiday when I was shocked at how much weight I’d gained, I decided to embark on the famous 5:2 diet, and am happy to report that having hit another plateau recently, with my weight remaining constant for several weeks, I have lost a total of 2 stone 3 lb (31 lb) in six months. I have another 2 stone to lose until I am at the optimum weight for my height, but it is great knowing that I am now officially “overweight” and no longer “obese”!

In the summer also, I was diagnosed with mild anaemia, probably as a result of my ongoing ulcerative colitis, and have been on ferrous sulphate ever since, although now on a reduced dose, with my Hg levels being checked monthly.

In August I had my regular gastro-enterology appointment at the hospital to check on the state of my ulcerative colitis, and I have a colonoscopy coming up in January 2015 (something that has to happen every 2 years). He is pleased with my progress and how I am responding to the medication (Pentasa (mesazaline)).

However, my main health event of the year was a coronary artery spasm causing severe chest pain at the end of July, landing me in hospital for a couple of days. I’ve had no recurrence since, apart from a few periods of much less severe chest pain, all of which have been brought on by stress. I have a nitro-glycerine spray for such events. Coming out of hospital I became a soggy emotional heap, and when that passed, I moved into a period of several months’ mild depression, feeling generally “out of sorts” with myself, which is apparently a very common reaction to any cardiac event.

My M.E. continues much the same. The condition appears to have “bottomed out” and while I am not improving, neither am I continuing to go downhill as I did at the beginning. I have many days when I am pretty well unable to function and need to rest, which can be frustrating at times, but there’s nothing to be done about it and one just has to go with the flow and try and be as sensible as possible. Having a new adjustable bed is giving me more comfort and better nights and I no longer hanker after my wonderful hospital bed that I wanted to take home with me! This is also helping a lot with the reflux. Life is certainly easier with the renovations we had done in the house to suit my needs and also that my hubby isn’t having to run around after me quite so much as in the past.

A few weeks ago my hubby had an accident on his motorcycle and broke his wrist. He was in plaster for several weeks, and is now wearing a wrist splint after the latest X-ray revealed that the bone had knit. He will have another X-ray in a couple of weeks’ time and hopefully then will be back to normal. It feels painful now the rigid support of the cast is gone, and it will take time for it to regain its full strength. The worst part of it from our point of view was that he was not allowed to drive with a cast, and with all the running around he has to do on our behalf, this added to the already considerable inconvenience for him.

Mum’s health has presented us with several crises this year – firstly the common occurrence of minor injuries to her paper-thin skin necessitating hospital visits and the regular and frequent re-application of dressings. She is now very deaf and also needs her ears syringing regularly. She has also started suffering a series of TIAs (mini-strokes) and has been diagnosed with AF (atrial fibrillation) and is now on warfarin, which necessitates weekly visits to the surgery for her blood to be tested to determine the dose. Her short term memory is poor, and since her most recent bout of TIAs she has become more difficult, which is stressful for me, and my dear hubby is trying to shield me as much as possible, by taking on most of the contacts with her. We both experience ongoing low-level stress, interspersed by the high-octane version brought on by frequent confrontations with Mum on various issues. How true it is that whatever one’s personality, this tends to be exaggerated in old age.

It wasn’t just us humans in the family who had health issues this year. Our senior kitty, Beatrice (aged 14), after being registered with our new vet, had four teeth extracted, and was discovered to have a growth in the back of her neck that had to be removed, which proved to be quite major surgery, but was fortunately proved to be non-malignant. In order to protect the wound, she wore a premature babygro!

Then followed a series of urinary tract infections which have become ever more frequent so that she is more or less constantly on antibiotics now, but keeping pretty well, and with a good appetite. She is too thin, and with her delicate stomach has to be on a prescription diet, and requires frequent small meals in order to prevent vomiting. She continues to be a great character and much loved by us all, and she and “Granny” have developed a strong mutual affection and she enjoys spending time with Mum in her flat. The vet, “Uncle Luke,” is extremely fond of her, and everyone down at the vets’ has a huge soft spot for this very unusual kitty who is bursting with character and a bit too intelligent for her own good sometimes!!

All these health pressures have definitely been helped by having my hair permed again in the summer! Luuurve the curls. Thank goodness for good hair days, fragrant baths, kitties, art, and my wonderful hubby.

Technology

I was devastated this year that my faithful old sewing machine (21st birthday present) bit the dust, but delighted to get a new Brother machine, which, as things have turned out, I haven’t had a lot of time to get up and running – just a few boring household jobs to be done, and I still have to look up in the book how to thread it!!

At the beginning of the year I invested in an iMac and after an initial trial period trying to run both the Mac OS and Windows on it via a system called Parallels, eventually came to the conclusion that Windows didn’t work well enough on this for me, and I would continue with my two (now fairly elderly but excellent) laptops for Windows, and use the Mac pretty well exclusively for video. I had a brief experience with an upgrade to the latest version of Pinnacle video editing software on Windows but as with earlier versions, was frustrated by its instability, and decided to bite the bullet and move to Final Cut Pro for Mac which has proved to be a very successful move indeed. With my new video camera setup I can now produce good quality HD videos and the program is a total dream to operate – makes me wonder why I didn’t stop messing about years ago and spend the money and get serious – I’d have saved a great deal in the long run! I have not had as much time to create videos this year as I would have liked – it is a highly time-consuming process but also very creative and enjoyable.

The House

Finishing touches to the renovations included the installation of solar panels in the summer. We had been at a bit of a loss to know which company to approach, but our visit to the County Show was very fruitful, as we were able to speak one-to-one with several companies and come home armed with fliers. It was not hard to make our final choice, and the work went ahead very smoothly.

Personal

The major event of this year was my hubby’s retirement in the summer. He continues to be quite overwhelmed by the tremendous send-off he received, and all the gifts, cards, letters, emails etc. etc. I was a bit worried that he might feel the loss of role quite badly but he has had an incredibly busy time since, being carer for both Mum and myself, and various other commitments, but I am glad that he has been able to fit in quite a few days out doing the things he enjoys the most, and spending time with his friends. In the summer, for the first time he was able to volunteer on the local annual archaeological dig on a full-time basis. Knowing how precious these times are for him, I guard them jealously and try not to add to his commitments by asking that he drive me to things that aren’t strictly necessary, but we have had some nice outings together, and had a wonderful holiday (our first for 4 years) in the summer, coinciding with my school reunion, and the opportunity to immerse myself in some fabulous art. Our major and best day outing was to Bristol to view the Kaffe Fassett exhibition (click on the link at the top of my sidebar for pictures).

Since moving here, I have found an excellent church to join, and was admitted to full membership in the summer. I am thrilled that is is right on the doorstep and takes only a few minutes on the buggy to get there. I have made new friends there and the quality of worship and teaching is excellent.

Lunch Out in a Fabulous Place, and a Stressful Afternoon

Yesterday we met some friends for lunch at Churston Manor, a local restaurant. The house has a chequered history going back to Tudor times, and it is a fascinating place, built before the invention of perpendiculars! It is filled with artefacts from many periods and from around the world, so there is plenty to look at. Mum doesn’t like going there because it’s so dark and her old eyes can’t see what she is eating! We love it, though, as it’s so full of atmosphere and character – and the food is first class, too.

Here is the main dining room, where we had our lunch.

I love the bowed wall, as if some mediaeval knight has leant on it for too long!

The fireplace at the far end of the room:

In the small dining room, there are some oriental artefacts, including this beautiful carved piece from S.E. Asia – possibly from Burma or Thailand. It is resting on an Indian toran, or doorway textile (I have one of these over my ARTHaven door).

Throughout the house there are many portraits and mirrors, and also tapestries. I love the warm glow of these red walls.

The small dining room is dominated by this massive open fireplace.

There are several intriguing little doorways, and the funny little grille, behind which is a tiny room accessed from another small doorway to the right.

A small alcove dining room. Note another toran.

A suit of armour in the passageway.

Looking back along this passageway towards the hall, you can see the bowed wall of the main dining room.

Beautiful oak panelling and portraits in the hall at the bottom of the staircase.

Across the hall from the main dining room is the bar, with a heavily beamed ceiling. Note the carving over the doorway, and the pistol!

The staircase, complete with another suit of armour.

Finally, a view back into the main dining room, with a view of the beautiful red and gold ceiling.

We had such a lovely time together, and it seemed like a perfect day until we got home to discover that the scaffolding men were there, taking down the scaffolding that had been up for the installation of the solar panels. I had phoned a couple of days ago requesting that they phone us before coming, so that we could be prepared, and shut the cats in to keep them safe. We always keep the garden gates closed, top and bottom, to prevent them getting out onto the road, and so far they have never been beyond the confines of the garden. Coming home, we found the gate open at the bottom, and the scaffolding being carried out. We scooped Beatrice up and shut her in straight away, but there was absolutely no sign of Phoebe.

The scaffolding man said he’s never got the message about phoning us first, so I telephoned the solar panels office and told them what had happened, and expressed my annoyance, and extreme concern about Phoebe. Almost immediately they phoned the scaffolding man, who then admitted that he had actually received the message but had forgotten all about it. When I took him to task about this he said he couldn’t be expected to remember everything as he was so busy, etc. etc. His attitude was very offhand and he was obviously not prepared to take responsibility, and both my hubby and I went round the block calling Phoebe, but there was no sign of her. By the time the scaffolding men left she still hadn’t appeared, and I was very upset, and the man still refused to take responsibility, and simply walked away from me and drove off.

Eventually, to my extreme relief, Phoebe miraculously appeared, and I’ve never been so relieved! I phoned the office straight away to let them know, and left a message as it was after office hours, and soon afterwards I had a return call, which I thought was good – they were just packing up when my message was received. I told them how unimpressed I was with the scaffolding man’s attitude.

There’s nothing to be done about it, of course, because they’ve now gone, and are on another job, and as far as they are concerned it doesn’t matter a bit. The whole thing has left a nasty taste and caused me a huge amount of stress, which has resulted in me having a bad day with my health today, and unable to do anything much but lie on the recliner and try and survive the heat.

I’m just glad we’ve got Phoebe back safe and sound. I was imagining the worst.

I think one of the worst features of our modern age is that people no longer take responsibility for their actions and always try to put the blame on somebody else. It appears that to apologise is looked upon as a sign of weakness, and they won’t apologise because it means admitting liability. I have always believed that to face up to one’s mistakes and admit them honestly, and apologise, is actually a sign of maturity and strength. People don’t seem to give a damn these days, as long as they themselves are comfortable and secure, and they seem to have no consideration for the feelings of others. Maybe I’m old-fashioned but I think this way of carrying on is unacceptable, and especially so when dealing with customers.

Rant over.

WOYWW 267

Welcome to the world’s best and most famous nosey-fest. To find out all about it and details of how to join in, please click on the WOYWW logo in my sidebar which will take you to our hostess Julia’s blog where all will be explained.

I’m afraid there’s nothing changed on my desk from last week! I simply haven’t had the opportunity to spend any time in my studio this week. Anyone who has visited my blog since last week will know that Mum had a TIA and we had to spend some considerable time at the hospital with her. I’m happy to report that after an overnight stay, she’s made an almost complete recovery, although her balance is slightly worse than before. I have been busy with two visits from the community team – I am amazed how quickly the system swung into action and therapists were sent to assess her at home. I have also been very tired after the experience and have been trying to rest, but with the fitting of the solar panels I’ve had a few early starts which isn’t terribly good news for me!

The electrician and his team were here yesterday connecting it all up, and the system started generating electricity immediately! We have a monitor attached to the consumer unit which broadcasts wirelessly to a small box connected to our broadband router, and I can go online and view a constantly-updating summary of the electricity we are consuming, what we are generating, and how much is being fed back to the grid. It even gives a weather summary for our postcode! Today was the first full day, and it was an interesting test, because I had the tumble drier on for 2 loads of towels, then I did over an hour’s ironing, and then my cleaning lady came and was running the vacuum cleaner, and I’ve done a bit of cooking. It was a fairly high-demand sort of day, and the sun was shining most of the day. We generated slightly over half the total consumption till the early evening, which is great, and uploaded 0.6 kWh to the grid! Amazingly, the panels were still generating electricity at 10 p.m., although at a lower level as dusk began to set in. I shall be interested to see what happens tomorrow, when we should be using a lot less power. Anyway, it has already proved that it is going to be saving us money long-term, as long as we are organised and use the high-demand stuff during the day as much as possible.

Diet news. I’ve moved my weigh-day from Monday to Sunday (so I can tell my friends at church how I’m getting on!). I refused to let myself get demoralised this time, but I was disappointed to see that I’d actually gained 4 lb last week! My only explanation is that we went out for a slap up meal the night before. Still, I have lost a total of 8 lb since I started, and I am sure this is only a temporary blip, and that the trend is generally downwards.

Talking of church, I was admitted to full membership on Sunday, with a lovely welcome from everybody, and some very nice things said about me up front – afterwards the minister said to me, “Embarrassing, isn’t it!!” I was given a lovely card, and was one of the people chosen at the end of the service to be given the flowers. They always have fresh flowers on the platform which are given away at the end – the last time I received them was on the first Sunday I attended. My hubby came with me which was lovely, and he mentioned that in the past I have sung in church. I was approached afterwards and asked if I could learn a new song for us to sing, and introduce it as a solo. It is a long time since I’ve played my guitar and was a bit tentative at first, but after my hubby found it in the loft, I managed to play a bit and was amazed that I remembered all the chords! With a bit of practice, and if I take a perching stool to rest against, I think I should be fine. I feel very much at home at this church, which is literally around the corner from where we live, and I can get there under my own steam in either the buggy or the wheelchair.

So many new and wonderful things since we moved here, including, or course, my fabulous new ARTHaven, and so much to look forward to now my hubby has retired. Life is good.

Have a great week, everybody, with lots of opportunity for creativity.

Solar Panels being Fitted

Today our solar panels were fitted. They should have been done yesterday but there was a delay on another job, so the men came at tea time yesterday just to mark up the roof, and they had everything loaded on the van ready to begin work early this morning.

Here is the scaffolding all up, before they began the work.

The first thing they did was to do some measuring and final marking up.

Here are the solar panels being offloaded from the van.

At the points where the brackets would be attached, several slates had to be removed from the roof.

I really admired the teamwork between these three men as they manoeuvred the rails up the ladder and onto the roof.

Before the rails could be fitted, brackets had to be attached to the roof timbers.

Attaching the rails. You can also see that the soil vent pipe has been cut down in length. I was told that in the summer, it wouldn’t make much difference, but in the winter, when the sun is lower in the sky, it would have cast a shadow across the panels, cutting the light and reducing the electricity generated. Since the panels are all linked in series, if one cell was rendered less effective because of shadow, all the cells in that row, right across the system, would be affected too, so it was important to reduce any possibility of the casting of shadows across the solar panels.

Unfortunately at this stage, the OT came to see Mum, and I had to be in there with them, helping Mum answer her questions. I could see the panels being lifted up the ladder from Mum’s sitting room window, and by the time the OT left, they had all been installed, so I didn’t manage to get a photo of the process.

Here are all the panels in place.

I am very pleased with the appearance, as I’d expected it to be a lot more intrusive. The installer said that some companies make panels with quite heavy and thick aluminium frames, and the panels are mounted further from the roof, and both these features add to the general unattractiveness of the system. Our panels, however, have much more discreet frames and fittings, and on our large roof, the full 16 panels of the 4 Kw system look very minimalist and quite smart. They have been beautifully centred on the expanse of the roof, and the black finish tones well with the slates on the roof.

At the end of the day, they carried all the electrical materials into the loft, and mounted the inverter (the piece of kit which converts the DC current generated by the panels to domestic AC), and began laying the cables. On Monday, the engineer will come and connect it all up, which shouldn’t take long, and then they system will be up and running. They are providing us with a monitoring device which connects to the Internet, and we will be able to see how much electricity we are using, and how much we are generating, at any given time – this information will be useful in determining which appliances we want to run at any one time, to take full advantage of the system.

I’ll post some more photos once the scaffolding has gone. We have been informed that it will remain for about a week so that they can come back and gain access to the roof if any problems arise.

WOYWW 266

For info on how to join in the world’s most famous (or infamous?) nosey fest, please click on the icon in the right-hand side bar, which will take you to our hostess Julia’s blog, where all will be revealed.

Here is my desk as at late on Tuesday evening.

As you can see, I am continuing to work on my Recycled Mini-Album. Today I completed another page with an emphasis on circles in the design. The page includes printing with bubble wrap, and creating circles using a pen lid dipped in paint. The background is made from the piece of kitchen paper I’d used for mopping up, which featured in last week’s WOYWW post.

For further details of this project, please scroll down to the previous post.

The book is sitting on top of one of my scratch papers – you can see more of this on the previous post, too. To the left is my blue desk-tidy which contains my foam applicators and stencil brushes amongst other things. I used these to create the circles in the border.

Working around clockwise behind the book, you can see the purple pencil box I use to keep my drawing pens in. Behind that, in the mini-bath, are some pieces of kitchen roll in the early stages of their creative journey before too much ink and paint have built up on them!

Further on again, and my gel mediums and acrylic paints seem to be taking up permanent residence on my work surface rather than being put away on the shelf that is their real home! Drawing pens in front, in black and white.

You can see the two bubble wrap printing blocks I made this afternoon. More details on my previous post.

Large rectangular tub of gesso almost out of shot, and some Distress Inks and my usual tin of paint brushes. Essential baby wipes on the drawers beyond!

Much of this week has been spent trying to catch up on my video editing. I have now uploaded a couple of videos about the Recycled Mini-Album, and also the Altered Pizza Box I made recently. All relevant blog posts will eventually be upgraded with these videos, but they are on Youtube already. Still got quite a few to go! I hate it that it takes longer to edit and upload a video than it does to do the actual project one was filming!

Other news – great excitement – our solar panels are being fitted this week! There’s a post about that below the one about my latest mini-album page.

Also, great news on the 5:2 diet front. Last week, you may remember, was my first week on this revolutonary new diet, and I was amazed to have lost 5 lb. I have now been doing it for 2 weeks, and at the end of the second week, I have lost a further 7 lb, making a total of 12 lb in two weeks!! I expect in time it will plateau out – I do not expect to continue to lose weight at this rate, but I am feeling extremely chuffed about it. Trouble is, nothing actually shows yet! Also, when I’ve lost weight in the past, I’ve tended to lose it from places I’m not really bothered about – like my face, and my wrists (watch strap gets loose!) – I am convinced that I could get really, really skinny except for my awful stomach which refuses to budge! Ah well, we can’t have it all our own way, I suppose.

Solar Panels

When we first got our new house, it was our plan to have solar panels fitted as soon as possible, but with all the building work required, and then everything else that was happening, dealing with my elderly parents and the death of my father, it got put on the back burner for the time being. Also, I was not quite clear how to proceed and who to contact, as there are so many different companies fitting them and I had no idea which were good, and which were cowboys! However, when we went to the Devon County Show recently, there were plenty of companies with stands, and we were able to talk and pick up literature.

My original plan was to have panels fitted by a company who would retain ownership of them, with free fitting, and the company creaming off the excess electricity generated, with the benefit for us being lower electricity bills. This idea came about because I’d heard some time ago that it would take 20-25 years to reap the benefits of a system that had been bought outright, and since my hubby and I are now both in our sixties, I thought we’d probably be in a nursing home before we’d see any benefit! However, talking to the companies at the show, they all stated independently of each other that we could look at a much more realistic time-frame of six to seven years, and this is definitely worth while for us, so we’ve decided to go for the outright purchase option.

Bringing the literature home, I was still not much the wiser as to which was best. A couple of them phoned us to arrange to come and have a chat and look at the house etc. but I said I couldn’t consider doing anything until July because of all my hubby’s retirement celebrations and our week away on holiday.

When we got back, one firm phoned us and we arranged for their representative to call. As soon as she started giving me the information I knew this was the firm we should go with, without seeing the others. They are locally based and service the whole of the Westcountry, and the Devon Police and Fire Service are among their clients, as well as Trago Mills (a well-known local enterprise). The panels they use are of German manufacture, and the company producing them has been in the solar panels business for 37 years – probably the longest of any company. Also, this local firm does not sub-contract the work to outside roofers/installers but employs its own. The representative pointed out that all the other companies who had given us literature had 08-numbers for contacting them, and it was not clear where they were based.

So we decided to go with this local firm, Devon Eco Energy, and they certainly don’t mess about! They are extremely efficient and everything is going ahead quickly, and according to plan.

It was pointed out to us that the feed-in tariff is due to go down at the end of the month, so it would be to our advantage to get the system installed before then, because it is fixed from the date of installation. This is the amount that is paid to us for the excess electricity that we generate, over and above what we use. This tariff was much higher a few years ago, but then the installation and materials costs were much higher too, so it’s swings and roundabouts really.

As it stands, we should be making a tidy profit from our system. We are very advantageously placed, living in Torquay, which is known as the English Riviera! It is one of the few places in the UK where palm trees grow! We have a large roof which is almost exactly south-facing, with no overshadowing buildings or trees, and the roof was replaced when we bought the house, so it is in excellent condition and the tiles are perfectly suitable for the attachment of the panels.

The firm’s rep pointed out that transferring capital from the bank into solar panels is actually a better investment these days than an ISA. Interest rates are so low nowadays, and the income from the solar panels is tax free and gives a much better return. She also mentioned that if anybody bought a system from them on our recommendation, we would get a healthy finder’s fee, which is also not to be sneezed at.

This morning the scaffolders arrived to erect the scaffolding. It brought back fond memories of last summer, when all the builders were around, and all the fun we had!

This is how much scaffolding they’d put up before I took Mum out this morning:

It now extends right over the lean-to and into our patio beyond. The scaffolders said that it might interfere with our Sky satellite signal, but it all seems to be working fine, so no problems there!

The only ones who were not impressed today were the kitties. Just like last autumn after we’d moved in and the builders were still here, they had to be banished to the bathroom for the duration, locked in with their litter tray! Fortunately it was only for the morning today. We cannot have them roaming around outside when the back gate is left open so equipment and supplies can be brought in, or they will get out onto the road.

The panels should be fitted either tomorrow or on Thursday, and the scaffolding will remain up for about a week, in case of any teething problems.

We will also be supplied with a special monitor which can be connected to the Internet. It will tell us how much power we are using, and how much we are generating, at any given moment, and the website will allow us (I think) to plot graphs etc. of our performance! With a bit of careful management (using the washing machine, and cooking, etc. during the daytime rather than in the evening) will reduce our electricity bills quite significantly, and with a roof the size of ours, with 16 panels, we should be generating plenty to spare.

It’s all very exciting. The rep from the firm said that in a few years’ time, it will be obligatory for every new build to have solar panels (as they apparently do in Germany), and by that time probably about 75 per cent of houses in this country will have them.