A week already, how time flies but I’ve had little time for blogging, having been snowed under with a mountain of paperwork and ‘puter work surrounding our house and croft. Much of it needing various trips to visit surveyors, solicitors and the like. The removal of our cosy little house from the market has also brought with it the realization that we have an awful lot of stuff to deal with. The priorities being an independent power supply closely followed by a huge clear out and the moving of twenty five years worth of treasure up to the new house. There’s a gazillion and one other things going on in the background like resurrecting old quotes for various tasks on the new house and seeking new ones.
All this with a delicate a back and a visit to the chronic pain clinic in Golspie has had me in bed early and up late. A pair of eyes that feel like their full of sand has also not helped, but I’m guessing that’s the medication which I’m now cutting back on. Me thinks that the cocktail of drugs I’ve been on for six weeks has had my doing things out of character as well as all the physical side effects. As if constipation, wind from both ends, dry mouth, sore eyes, boils, mouth ulcers, insomnia loss of appetite weren’t enough. I’ve been as paranoid as a skunk smoker and on a very short fuse of late.
Anyway, the recent visit to the Lawson Memorial Hospital in Golspie for another jag in the sacroiliac joint has enabled me to start weaning myself of my ‘smarties’. Not only that but I’ll now be able to have a drink without feeling like carp the day after, at least I hope I will.
B200 VHU
I’ve no idea whatsoever of the order of things, but judging by my photos, a spot of work on the Range Rover came first.
Young ‘Lightning Maclennan’ being task with removing the hideous side steps from the sills of the latest acquisition.
Definitely a big improvement, not only that but methinks I can graft them onto the side of the ‘Old Girl’ with a little welding. I aim to restore B200 VHU to her former completely original glory, no big wheels, spotlights or aggressive tyres on this classic, just the twin ‘Kenlow fans’ and perhaps a decent stereo of the same vintage.
With a house to build, house to vacate and a million other things to do I need this project like a ‘hole in the head’ but if I can just get it running sweetly and arrest the impending corrosion I’ll be happy for now. One of the two large SU carbs sat on top of the V8 was pishing out petrol so that’s a priority. These beauties only do around 4MPG on choke without the fuel pishing out and the electric fuel pump means they’re quite easy to set on fire 
Just ask my mate MW from Accy, he’ll tell you, I nearly burnt down his garage welding up my first Range Rover in 1983 
After removing the steps Lightning and I attempted to remove the right hand SU carburettor but it became very rapidly apparent that this was not going to happen without, A, removing the whole manifold or B, buying a special spanner.
The removal of the inlet manifold isn’t exactly a major job but it would require new gaskets, draining the coolant and take a few hours to do. The spanner purchase would be also leave me with a useful tool I’ve been meaning to purchase for around thirty years and it was only £11.00 of eBlag.
That was taken just a couple of hours ago and sure enough, when I got the carb on the bench the float chamber O ring was split.
The genuine SU kit I got from http://burlen.co.uk/ for less than £30 including Royal Mail ‘Special Delivery’. I’ve not had chance to do anything more than remove the one carb yet but ‘watch this space’ (but don’t tell the wife)
Three ‘large piggy’s
This week should have seen us with three less pigs in the herd but that went a little ‘pear shaped’ to say the least. The preparation I’d gone too being thwarted by, amongst other things the weather. I’d put the trailer in with Rocky, Jamie Lee and Ellie days ahead of their movement. The boys had sealed up their ark and so they’d no alternative but to sleep in the trailer, or at least that’s what I thought. Trouble was that the weather was so good that Ellie chose to sleep outside and made herself a cosy wee nest in the rushes.
Even though she wouldn’t sleep in there I fed them all in the trailer so they’d get used to it, not a chance, Ellie was just too afraid of the other two to go in with them. I did manage to get her inside the night before they were due to go away but ‘come the morning’ she wouldn’t look at it. So I left her behind and just took Rocky and Jamie,
they were not very happy, but word from their new owner said Rocky had wasted no time in getting acquainted with his new sows
Ceps galore
Every year brings with it some exceptional crop, be it bog cotton, heather, rowan berries, fox gloves, chanterelles or fly agarics, well this year it was most certainly the cep, or penny bun. The ‘Rolls Royce’ of the mushroom world that commands silly prices in London restaurants was more abundant than I’ve ever seen in twenty five years.
These delicious meaty mushrooms of the boletus family are extremely versatile and remain firm no matter how you cook them. We have them chopped finely in pastas or more wholesome just fried in butter like the offering below.
Whilst over in Portree delivering ‘Arnish Eggs’ to Relish http://www.relishskye.co.uk/ I’d purchased a lovely smoked chicken breast from http://www.rannochsmokery.co.uk/ . Cut in half with a simple white parsley sauce and served with fresh Rooster boiled spuds the mushrooms in butter were just awesome. The chicken portion may look small but it was so rich that it was just plenty. I really don’t think I could have eaten a full portion, gosh that’s making me hungry again just looking at it! And that will be just two hours after having some delicious fresh haddock fried in breadcrumbs and served with chips and a tomato salad
The new ‘power station’
Our imminent departure from ‘number 3’ has seen us accelerating our ‘off grid’ system for the new house, the second 2.5kW solar array came.
The ten REC 250w panels arriving from Wind and Sun http://www.windandsun.co.uk/ via Skye Express just yesterday. These will be just about the only thing in our long and drawn out building project that have actually come down in price. In fact Hugh Piggott of Scoraig Wind Electric http://scoraigwind.com/ is supplying these 10 for less than the 8 230’s he quoted me for a couple of years ago. This array is going just below the 10 Yingli’s on the hen house, but unlike those which are ‘AC coupled’ via a ‘Sunny Boy’ inverter these will be going straight to the 16 x Rolls batteries just like in number 3.
It’s a rubbish copy but basically the 10 Yingli’s are at the top of the page in one long series string giving a voltage of around 300vDC which goes into a standard ‘GTI’ or grid tied inverter. The 10 REC panels are 5 pairs in series giving a voltage of around 60vDC that will go straight into the 48v battery bank. The advantage of the first ‘AC coupled’ array is that it’s more efficient if you are using the power as it’s produced. The advantage of the second being that it’s more efficient if you store the power and of course you don’t need the added expense of an inverter or charge controller.
Sure there’s been much more going on at the north end but it’s after 22:00, I can barely keep my eyes open and I don’t want to bore you with the ‘ins and outs’ of configuring inverters or the ‘Old Girl’ passing her MOT. Suffice to say that ‘all is rosy’ here and I’m just going to have a cup of ‘Sleepy time’ tea donated by the neighbours
Life at the end of the road 
