February 2018 Back to January
Thursday 1st
4 to 6 to 4°C. 2.94kWh 1.2kW max. A mixed day with sleety showers, sunny intervals and a very strong cold wind.
Now that we have cut up all the dry logs from early last year I made a start on trimming the rest of the debris from the hedges we cut later in the year. The reciprocal saw proved to be the best tool for this, stripping the twigs and smaller branches off really easily; far easier than the loppers and hatchet we used previously when doing this task. We soon had a nice pile of logs and large branches for stacking to dry and twigs and smaller branches for Pat to start shredding.
Friday 2nd
4 to 7 to 1°C. 4.84kWh 1.4kW max. A really sunny day with only a light breeze making it the best day this year.
Continued the cutting up and shredding we started yesterday.
Saturday 3rd
2 to 6 to 2°C. 784Wh 150W max. Cloudy cold and damp all day.
Sunday 4th
1 to 4 to -1°C. 2.89kWh 1.2kW max. Cold cloudy start but came sunny late morning and into the afternoon. With no wind it felt warmer than the thermometer would suggest.
Continued cutting up the large pile of debris from last years demolished hedge.
Monday 5th
0 to 3 to -1°C. 1.45kWh 800W max. Cold cloudy start with some light sleety showers in the morning. Sunny but cold over midday and freezing by dusk.
Not a day for working outside so started fixing the panelling on the inside wall of the lounge.
Tuesday 6th
-2 to 2 to -1°C. 768Wh 150W max. Cloudy with light wet snow or sleet throughout the day.
Wednesday 7th
-3 to 3 to 0°C. 5.2kWh 1.5kW max. Sunny all morning and early afternoon before clouding over. Feeling cold despite the sunshine.
Thursday 6th
2 to 8 to 6°C. 2.08kWh 600W max. Mainly cloudy, becoming damper as the day progressed with some heavy rain by early evening.
Continued fitting the panels in the lounge.
Friday 9th
5 to 2 to -1°C. 3.5kWh 1.3kW max. Wet snow showers in the morning followed by sunshine but with a very strong and cold wind.
Saturday 10th
-1 to 10 to 8°C. 923Wh 150W max. Cold wet start with showers till late morning. Became much warmer in the afternoon but still damp.
Sunday 11th
7 to 3 to 0°C. 3.92kWh 1.4kW max. Sunny intervals and frequent wintery showers, some of them horizontal in the strong north westerly wind.
Monday 12th
-1 to 5 to 1°C. 5.25kWh 1.4kW max. Cold start then sunny all day but cold in the wind.
The birds think Spring has arrived with chaffinches, greenfinches, wrens and robins singing away and sparrows cheeping in the hedges to join the thrush who has been singing since the middle of January, which is very unusual. The magpies are going around in pairs, as are the wood pigeons and collared doves. A flock of geese also flew over just before dusk yesterday.
The polytunnel was quite warm when the sun shone into it so I mixed 5 50L crates of potting compost to repot the summer bulbs, corms and tubers and another 5 crates of a different formula to pot on the seed potatoes. These are chitting really well in the back bedroom.
Tuesday 13th
1 to 3 to -2°C. 1.08kWh 150W max. Cold wet morning followed by a drier but even colder afternoon not helped by the strong gusty wind.
The birds were still singing. After all it is St Valentine's day tomorrow.
Wednesday 14th
-4 to 3 to 6°C. 719Wh 100W max. Another dull showery day but at least the temperature was rising.
Thursday 15th Sarah's Birthday
3 to 7 to 1°C. 5.93kWh 1.5kW max. The sunniest day this year but the strong westerly wind made it feel much colder than the thermometer suggested.
The wind died down in the afternoon and I was able to dig over the area I am going to plant the broad beans and also the cold frame which I then covered with glass to warm up.
Friday 16th
0 to 9 to 4°C. Sunny with some thin cloud and less wind so felt warmer than yesterday.
Moved the pots of broad beans out of the polytunnel to harden off for a few days before planting them out. Most have flower buds, some of which are beginning to open, and most have 2 or 3 extra shoots. So I am very pleased with my experiment of overwintering them in the polytunnel so far.
Pat finished digging out the excess raspberry canes and convolvulus roots in the fruit cage. We will now leave them for a few weeks before killing off anything she has missed.
Saturday 17th
4 to 10 to 3°C. 3.67kWh 1.6kW max. Cloudy morning, becoming very sunny around lunchtime. Very mild for mid February.
Planted out some of the broad beans in the morning. I decided to support them individually with canes; last year the wind blew a lot of them over during March. In the afternoon I prepared some more potting compost for the super early Abbot and Casablance seed potatoes which have quite large sprouts and are beginning to go soft.
Pat thought something heavy had landed or slipped on the roof early this afternoon and came outside to make sure the photovoltaic panels were OK. Later we heard on the radio there had been an earthquake in Wales about 30 miles south east of us. Only 4.9 magnitude but this was probably what she experienced. I was in the polytunnel and didn't notice it.
Sunday 18th
1 to 8 to 7°C. 1.0kWh 150W max. Cloudy and mild.
Placed the Abbot seed potatoes in 3L pots to grow in the polytunnel, covered with bubble wrap if the weather turns cold.
Cut back the giant grasses and the rest of the herbaceous border down the side of the drive.
Monday 19th
7 to 11 to 9°C. 882Wh 100W max. Another mild cloudy but dry day.
Back to sorting out the debris from last year's hedge cutting. There is now a large pile for shredding.
Tuesday 20th
6 to 8 to 5°C. 2.81kWh 1.4kW max. Sunny intervals but with a very strong wind making it feel colder.
Stayed inside finishing off the bathroom by screwing the cabinet, towel rail and shelf to the wall above the bath and completing the silicone seals.
Wednesday 21st
5 to 7 to 1°C. 1.81kWh 1.4kW max. Mainly cloudy with a short sunnier period mid morning. Feeling colder as the wind moved to the north-east.
Some much colder weather is forecast for later this week and into next week. So I dusted off the begonia corms which have been drying off in the polytunnel and brought them inside the house to protect them from the frost.
Thursday 22nd
1 to 3 to -2°C. 2.42kWh 1.2kW max. Mainly cloudy with a few sunnier periods. Very cold easterly wind.
Warmer in the polytunnel because of the sun so spent the afternoon mixing more potting compost and starting to repot the dahlias. The ones I grew from seed last year have done really well . Some of them have more than 6 fat tubers attached to the stem and will need at least a 4L pot.
Friday 23rd
-5 to 4 to -1°C. 6.21kWh 1.5kW max. Sunny but with a cold easterly wind.
The polytunnel reached 17°C in the sun in the afternoon so it was quite pleasant continuing to pot the dahlias. Pat did some shredding also warmed by the sun out of the wind.
Saturday 24th
-1 to 4 to 0°C. 5.96kWh 1.6kW max. Another sunny day but with a cold easterly wind.
Sunday 25th
-3 to 4 to -2°C. 8.13kWh 1.5kW max. The sunniest but also the coldest day this year with clear blue sky and a chilly easterly wind. Snow is forecast for later in the week.
Finished potting on the dahlias, moving on to the Tigridia and Butterfly Gladioli.
Monday 26th
-4 to 1 to -3°C. 2.93kWh 1.6kW max. Variable cloud with some sunny periods and a few flurries of snow. Very cold wind.
Pat who did some more shredding. I stayed inside; my hands are still sore from the frost damage I got from the cold spell before Christmas.
Tuesday 27th
-4 to 1 to -3°C. 2.84kWh 1.5kW max. Light cloud with some sunny periods, especially around midday. A few light showers of snow, nothing like the heavy snow reported in the east and north.
There was only one period of snow with large flakes rather than a few fine crystals and that thawed when the sun came out just after midday.
Wednesday 28th
-6 to -2 to -7°C. 2.78kWh 1.4kW max. A very cold day with a strong easterly wind and some show showers though nothing like the amount reported further north and east.
The hens' water kept freezing and Pat needed to replace it more than one during the day. The primroses, pansies and wall flowers have all flopped over but they will recover, as will the broad beans I planted out last week. Trouble is I usually start sowing the summer bedding seeds, peas and brassicas early in March but this cold weather is forecast to last for quite a while yet.
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