Having learnt from experience, we started pointing straight after breakfast. Two mixes of mortar and all cleaned up by 11.30am.

Cup of tea, fire lit and internet booted up for some desk work. About an hour in some of the lights went off in the outhouse and something started beeping. Further investigation revealed that the inverter (12v to 230v) was making the noise and the solar controller had shut down the lights and the display had started flashing. There followed another hour of finding the manuals and trouble shooting.

It transpires that both the inverter and the solar controller have built in protection from the battery discharging too much. The battery is at 11.6v which seems to have triggered the noise and the flashing. I know that the weather has not been great recently and so not much charge gone into the battery but it surprises me that there has been such a voltage drop.

Remedy:

• Move an 85w solar panel from the main barn to supplement the 100w it currently has
• Run a long extension from the inverter in the main barn down to run the internet
• Make a candle holder out of an off cut of wood for some atmospheric lighting in the outhouse

Back on the internet and Breezy’s  touchpad on her computer is misbehaving. It is dragging stuff about and randomly opening things as the mouse passes over icons. Another hour of using system restore and messing about with computer settings before Breezy once again is smiling.

A couple of hours of chopping and sawing logs for the fire and a spot of gardening before wire brushing the mortar back to the stonework.

Showers, roast chicken and left over salads and another episode of Spooks before bed.