…but thanks to all that rain we got on Monday we’ve had our first heavy frost. Everything is coated in ice, which will be gone the moment it feels the touch of sun or the temp climbs ten degrees.
The Lair is actually unpleasantly warm at the moment, should have checked the thermometers before that last woodstove stoking. Now that we have finally achieved a non-laughable degree of insulation, the Lair proves much easier to heat. Depending on the thermometer you ask it’s either 73o, 80o, or 85o in here. That middle figure comes from the one set downstairs on an interior wall, so I’ll go with that. Too warm for flannel, for sure, which raises an amusingly ironic first world “problem” – Last year I first faced the annoyance of having to take layers on and off when going in and out of the cabin. Hardly used to bother before, I just layered up at all times all winter long except when (infrequently) bathing. It still seems indecently luxurious to be sitting here in a shirt while the outdoor temp is twenty-something. I wasn’t even working the stove very hard.
Speaking of luxury, I’ll be making a side trip this morning to get my laundry washed. And dried. In electric machines. With soft water, which I must confess is renewing qualities in my underwear I had forgotten existed. This condition comes by the graces of New Full-Time Neighbors S&L and will only obtain through the winter, but it feels so sinful I may need to take up self-flagellation to expiate my damned condition.
But the big infrastructure news is electrical, of course. This is the season drifting up (or down) to the Winter solstice, which means no matter how sunny the sky might be the days become short and the sun’s angle becomes acute. Every other year it’s a season of electricity rationing. Will be this season as well because the nights are still long, but not half as severely because my new solar panel rack with its new/old solar panels…
…on an entirely separate charge controller, set at a more winter-friendly angle, is giving me longer charging days. Also, the two gloomy days just past have proven again that when it comes to sieving photons out of non-sunny skies, more is better. My two roof-mounted panels have always been more than enough for sunny days, barely enough for non-sunny days, and not at all enough for extended gloomy periods. Which, here, are mercifully rare but still happen in winter and Monsoon. Especially winter.
So all is well and comfortable here at the Secret Lair as winter begins to fall. Except that – though yesterday I’d have said my shoulder is healing nicely – I suffered the strangest set-back in the middle of last night. I went to bed and straight to sleep, then had one of those spells where – for whatever reason I can’t imagine – I woke up with a literally convulsive start, somehow managed to wrench my shoulder again. And then frustratingly couldn’t find any comfortable angle to get back to sleep. It’s still a lot sorer this morning than it was last evening. But all in all, progress is happening. I think it’s going to be a long time finding my new normal and will never completely heal.
I am almost as excited about your upgraded power plant as you must be. In just a couple of months we will know for sure how much it helps you. Also, you have decreased power drain over the years with LED lamps, your new tablet/entertainment system, and losing the dish and receiver.
Besides the additional comfort of having more power available in your Lair, I expect that a tangible result will be fewer Joel-less days on TUAK during deep winter and monsoon season.
You’ve put major work and thought into your lifestyle and it’s so good to hear that you are comfortable at last. Congratulations on a job well done.