Ferdinand

Time for some upbeat Zoot (not actually a repost).

Meet the Troglodytes... >but he knew where everything was! Including his towel? Is he a cool frood?

I much prefer the second plan. My comments at present: 1 - I don't like Jack and Jill bathrooms between 2 bedrooms, so I would turn it back into 2 ensuites ?. 2 - The downstairs bathroom - I would make that a little larger, with a shower in it (which you have lost?), and I would put in a door to the study so that it feels like an ensuite when a guest is staying, and they don't need to walk through your hall in their kecks. In the office consider a proper convertible settee rather than a bed. I mean a fold out 2 seater with a metal frame, or perhaps a real 2m settee - as an example I have a Guy Rogers Manhattan 1960s settee which gives a full size double bed. 3 - I quite like the angled corridor - adds imo more of a sense of occasion. 4 - I think that you have done a good job to simplify some of the complicated bits in the walls - that would have been expensive to build. 5 - I think that the sticky-outy utility room is a little bizarre, but I can't see a resolution without either shuffling space around between rooms or changing the floorplan (eg by squaring off the bottom right corner and altering the living space plan). 6 - I think you want to give some slow thought to how you will live between the house and garden, use cases etc. eg Where will eat outside / BBQ / sit in the sun / kids play / grow veggies / grow your roses or whatever if you do / sunbathe / throw balls for the doglet / sit in the rain / eat breakfast lunch tea / have a party / put the washing line / have the shed. 7 - Do you need somewhere for a gym type space? 8 - For outside I would perhaps consider an arcade (ie with a roof) along the S end of the house - a walkway where the dining table is, opening out to an undercover eating / sitting space outside the sitting area. And think about the patio doors. Reasons are to tie the house down in the garden, and to give you some sun control on your S-facing windows if the house is a decent specification. I'm planning something like that with my solar panels on top. 9 - I think there is probably merit in shifting it 1-3m North to give you a little more S-facing grounds. 10 - Is the Dressing Room too large? 11 - Provision for a lift, in case you stay there so long that it becomes your "decline and die in" house? Ferdinand

I just bought my sausages, and ox-tongue, from the farm shop. Whilst we were all queueing, a chap walked past and into the back with a pig over his shoulder. Lady at the back of the socially distanced queue outside asked the chap "Are there any tomato sausages in the shop?" "There will be by the time you reach the front of that queue." Quite sharp ?

I would apply an intermediate layer of weed membrane below the top layer, whatever you do underneath.

I'm picking up my ox-tongue later today. Do you get the eye? You have a moral duty to tell the children the "What do you call a blind deer?" quip, flourishing the eye. (No idea). Followed by the "What do you call a blind deer with no legs", flourishing the leg. (Still no idea). (Gets coat)

I planted my Christmas microveg at the weekend. ?

One reason they put it in Thanet is the light level - apparently here in the Midlands I get 20% less. For your area you would presumably benefit from the West Coast mcroclimate, but would need to think about light and perhaps heat. But there's certainly potential here imo. I do not know the Dutch climate though.

WD40 seems to have fixed mine ?. Thanks all.

"The agricultural area used is 23.07 million acres (9.34 million hectares), about 70% of the land area of the England. 36% of the agricultural land is croppable (arable), or 25% of the total land area. Most of the rest is grassland, rough grazing, or woodland." Pastoral roughly 17 million Ha. Arable roughly 4.75 million Ha. Horticultural roughly 0.175 million Ha. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/208436/auk-2012-25jun13.pdf 2012 numbers but probably good enough. On Thanet Earth (91 hectares): "It is the largest greenhouse complex in the UK, covering 90 hectares, or 220 acres (0.89 km2) of land.[1] The glasshouses produce approximately 400 million tomatoes, 24 million peppers and 30 million cucumbers a year, equal to roughly 12, 11 and 8 per cent respectively of Britain’s entire annual production of those salad ingredients." Note it says production not consumption.

Maybe OT: Is there a minimum level of EPC required in order to get a grant for a heat pump under GHG?

I think you'll find that the GHG will go on for a decade, given the number of houses to be sorted, and the new 68% target. My surmise was that it was limited to make everyone kick-start, which seems to have worked. I haven't yet tried to work out whether a (say) 50% C02 reduction on all the older residential properties will meet the new +7% reduction targeted by 2030. I think it might go a long way to it, but I am not sure what was assumed in the previous target.

An interesting case is the Netherlands, where there has been quite a lot of reporting in the Ag trade press about them being sustainable / self-sufficient. Teh climate is not too different. Their pop density is as high as hours, and it is partly via greenhouses (think Thanet Earth). I think we can go that way much more here. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/09/holland-agriculture-sustainable-farming/ On safety - I'd say quite a lot more people are using raised beds now, which sidesteps a lot of it.

When do you start?

Lots more info. Grrrreattt.

I haven't tried adjusting anything yet ? . Try one has been to spray some WD40 on the latch. It looks as though it wasn't springing back out again when closing the door. Cause may be that I disturbed some gunge when playing with the cylinder. Will see after a day or two. Potentially it may be worth cleaning it with a toothbrush. F

After 7 or 8 years, my front door needs an adjustment. The symptom is that it no longer closes snugly, and bounces open again if closed gently with no hand on the handle. To shut it properly the handle ahs to be held in open position and the latch closed carefully. The latch can be made to shut with an almost slam + hold. The only thing I have done recently has been to remove and reinsert the Euro-Barrel as I needed to check the dimensions. Can any knowledgeable cove tell me what aspect of the door is likely to need adjusting? Do I need, for example, to tighten the door in towards the hinges. Thanks Ferdinand

I raise you: Legal Defence Insurance Companies' REGULATOR.

They spend more on farm crops that don't exist ?

Does "House Type D" mean that it is a manufacturer design? If I'm honest, I'm only 60-70% keen - I think. It does not look (to me) to be very special yet. But I need context before I can elucidate: where are the road, wind, views, shelter, sun track, overlooking, big trees etc. ie a plot, a N compass, location plan and what is the relationship to the garden.

Welcome. Perhaps study some of the reasonable number of undergrounds reservoir conversions that are around now.

I don't agree there, or I suggest that benefits are de minimis. It is the equivalent of counting lamp posts. The value added hardly exists. If somebody will give me 100m a year for living 100 miles down the road one week a month, then I'll certainly think about it...

Moving the EU Parliament around costs £100m per year. https://www.euronews.com/2019/05/20/eu-parliament-s-114m-a-year-move-to-strasbourg-a-waste-of-money-but-will-it-ever-be-scrapp That's several billion over the years. All of it. Pissed away to no purpose.

All plumbers have the grace of ballet-dancers and the altheticism of gymnasts. They can emboite along the joists, and split jump back. Olga Korbut and Rusty Joiner could do it, so why not my gas engineer? It's the next British Gas advertising campaign.

The one in the South of France is probably more relaxed...