Heading Out Again
I've been back in the UK all of two weeks and I'm already heading back to Uzerche - this coming Sunday. The plan is to be over there for two weeks this time, with Sally flying out to join me for the second week.
I had considered doing a straight run from the Midlands (UK) to Uzerche but, due the Euro-tunnel timings, this would have meant leaving at midnight. I'd want to have at least some sleep before setting out and so 3 am is the earliest I would consider for such a run. Instead, I'll leave just before noon on Sunday, and then plan to stay overnight in Versailles, arriving around 10 pm. This is a couple of hours further south than I normally aim for but it will mean that I get past/through Paris on a (hopefully) quiet Sunday night rather than Monday morning rush-hour.
This will probably be the last visit before the onset of winter and so a key objective will be to prep-the house for freezing temperatures. We had considered leaving the heating on over the winter but have decided against this form a cost and, primarily, safety perspective. Instead, the plan is to drain the heating system entirely and add salt to the toilet pan and u-bends in the sinks. Hopefully that will suffice. It means refilling the system in the spring, but that will hopefully be relatively simple (with the exception of one radiator that does not appear to have a bleed-valve). As we may well still visit over the winter, I'll be taking over a Calor heater and a couple of electric heaters as part of this trip's load.
Other objectives of this visit are to:
I had considered doing a straight run from the Midlands (UK) to Uzerche but, due the Euro-tunnel timings, this would have meant leaving at midnight. I'd want to have at least some sleep before setting out and so 3 am is the earliest I would consider for such a run. Instead, I'll leave just before noon on Sunday, and then plan to stay overnight in Versailles, arriving around 10 pm. This is a couple of hours further south than I normally aim for but it will mean that I get past/through Paris on a (hopefully) quiet Sunday night rather than Monday morning rush-hour.
This will probably be the last visit before the onset of winter and so a key objective will be to prep-the house for freezing temperatures. We had considered leaving the heating on over the winter but have decided against this form a cost and, primarily, safety perspective. Instead, the plan is to drain the heating system entirely and add salt to the toilet pan and u-bends in the sinks. Hopefully that will suffice. It means refilling the system in the spring, but that will hopefully be relatively simple (with the exception of one radiator that does not appear to have a bleed-valve). As we may well still visit over the winter, I'll be taking over a Calor heater and a couple of electric heaters as part of this trip's load.
Other objectives of this visit are to:
- Re-cable the earth rod in the hope that this reduces the 160 Ohm resistance we currently have (regulations require no more than 100 Ohms). If that doesn't work, then it will mean, somehow, driving a new 2 metre earth rod into bed-rock - not fun.
- Seal the roof of the non-integral garage to waterproof it
- Treat the woodworm in the cellar
If any other time remains (which it should) I'll continue the rewiring commenced on the last visit.
Hopefully we'll also find sometime for 'holidaying' during the week Sally is with me.
Looking forward to it.
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