November 2024
Winter Has Come
The winter arrived with a bang! The start of the month was very mild as the starlings assembled on various trees, telephone lines and electricity cables. Two weeks in, the weather dipped quickly, and the snow fell just as we welcomed the National Grid team onsite to start the electricity installation. The caravan lost water for a few days when the temperatures failed to stay above zero for long enough to defrost the pipes. We feel a bit more seasoned in getting by when the cold hits, filling up the van with water to use and stocking up on fuel before the snow settled.
Starlings with a fluttering Kestrel looking for mice in the fields.
On. The. Grid.
A big milestone was achieved this month: after about ten years Hillside is back on the electrical grid! It was about a year in the planning, going through the consultation and quotes for the work and then getting various ducks in a row for the 2 weeks where the work happened. It’s great to have a constant supply of electricity now and not be reliant on generators and the Wilfred the Substation Van.
The first week saw the new poles installed and the new transformer mounted, as well as trenching down to the meter box. The most exciting day was the second Thursday when double digits of National Grid vans descended. They were taking the opportunity to do other maintenance work in the area, so the supply on our road was disconnected, and traffic lights were set up at the crossroads. New cables were pulled and connected to the poles, the old poles removed, and there were people in cherry pickers everywhere you looked! It was a messy affair in the post-snow mud, but all went well, and the electricity supply was restored by mid-afternoon. The next day E.ON came to fit a meter, and the day after, the electrician came to fit some plugs that we could use, including a 16 amp socket for the caravan.
I found a fridge and a freezer on Facebook Marketplace for £30 each and it feels like we have rejoined the 21st century.
Nation grid at work during the big switch-on day.
New plugs to access the electricity.
The Roof Stage
The roof has begun on the house. It’s difficult to get a good view with the scaffolding, plus it’s so dark by the time the builders finish at 4.30 pm. It’s really starting to take the form of the final house now, and you can get a good feel for how all the spaces will be. It looks big! The aim is still to get the roof on by Christmas, which has been made more challenging by time lost to the snow, but everyone still seems confident it can be achieved.
First of the roof rafters.
Walls in progress.
This guy has been a frequent visitor to the bird feeder; he didn’t read the packet about it being for bluetits, robins and sparrows. Avvy has flushed him a couple of times but that doesn’t seem to worry him. The colours and markings are even more stunning closeup.
Cheeky pheasant.
It’s been a busy month, we are looking forward to some “inside house” time over the Christmas holidays. It’s good to be on the path to getting watertight, another milestone that Hillside hasn’t seen in quite some years.
Thanks for reading, love from Hillside Farm x
PS Avvy would like to say she’s had a very busy month. She hurt her paw earlier in the month, which she bravely healed, then had fun chasing snowballs and climbed to the top of a very windy peak!
Poorly Paw.
Chasing Snow Balls.
Windy Ears.
