Autumn begins

There's definitely been a change in the weather these last couple of days - we've gone from a positively balmy 20C in Aberdeen at the start of the week to a cold early blast of winter. It's a bit better today - dry is always good - and it's supposed to be heating up a little again soon.

Jo and I were discussing the energy situation last night, following the posts on my previous blog about our home fuel bills (ours was the top line in each of the graphs - three or four times the level of comparable houses). Although we put our heating on for a couple of days a few weeks ago, it's been back off again since then - although we think we'll have to put it on again pretty soon.

Our back sitting room, where we watch the big TV, is always pretty warm, but it sits immediately above the utility room, which has the boiler in it. We're baffled however, by how cold our kitchen has become since we got the new one installed. It used to be the warmest room in the house, but it's pretty cold now. Jo thinks there's a draft getting in under the new skirting boards - but where can the draft come from? There's no external wall opening behind our kitchen units. Baffled of Banchory.

Jo, in conversation with Ross, has come up with a plan - insulate the garage wall and ceiling that are adjacent to and underneath our hall and front lounge respectively. Sounds fairly sensible, but who do you get to do it? It would be really good to get a second opinion on this, but all the companies that contact you under the Government's Green Deal (https://www.gov.uk/green-deal-energy-saving-measures/how-the-green-deal-works) just seem to want to sell you Solar Panels. We've looked at them and rejected the idea - too many tall trees in front of us.

Anyway, on to other matters. Just 3 weeks today until my knee op. I spoke to BUPA about it to get the authorisation number and they advised me to check out their web site on this subject - http://clinic.bupa.co.uk/. I completed the self assessments on this site and they worked out I didn't need the operation yet! They don't feel what I feel. I know I do.

Despite - or perhaps because of - the imminent operation, I was determined to fit in my last ever games of squash and we finally managed a game of doubles last night. It was great fun - I'm going to really miss this. We're all getting older together and squash is nowhere near as intense as it used to be, but it's still very enjoyable. It does hurt today, however, and I'll probably struggle this afternoon at golf, but hey ho. We've got our Headbang tonight to look forward to as well - no effort required there.

To close, it was 4 years ago today that Dad passed. Although I didn't know him then - he was only 20 in this photo - I thought it best to show a photo of his younger days, rather than towards the end:

Energy review

Three trips to Fraserburgh last week, followed by golf at Aboyne on Friday afternoon and my back was knackered. I was like a half shut knife - it took me ages to straighten up after sitting down. I have a lower back support on the back of my seat when I'm driving but I suspect the car journeys are taking their toll - especially as my job is essentially sedentary as well.

I felt like I had flu coming on yesterday morning, but I managed to play golf at Edzell with Ian Sharp, John McWhinnie and Ken Bruce - the latter being Ian's brother-in-law who we went on group golfing holidays with back in the 90's.

I'm feeling a little better today but still a little stiff in the back - I hope the next 2 days of driving to and from the Broch don't make this any worse.

Last night, I headed down to the Stag to watch the Partick Thistle v Hibs match - it was on BT Sport, which we don't have. Ross joined us there, but we were both a little disappointed by the result - an undeserved 0-1 defeat for the Jags.

I received an e-mail from our energy supplier and they provided some interesting graphs of our gas and electricity consumption this year:

Note how we were running at three or four times the level of similar sized homes until the last couple of months. What changed then? Well, we were away for most of July and it was a warm summer too, but there may be one other factor - we no longer have a "lodger"! Hope Ross' bills for his flat aren't anything like we had!

In cost terms, the figures are:

Frightening figures aren't they? I think we'll need more draught-proofing and insulation this winter. What are the biggest culprits? Heating, of course:

Still warm here today but they say the change is coming tonight - temperatures are expected to plummet, so we could be getting our first taste of winter soon.

It's Tuesday evening and I'm home alone - Jo's at Inverurie. She left me a lovely ashet pie of chicken, mushroom and peas - just the ticket for a dark autumn evening.

I discovered today that Graham Parker, who we saw playing solo in Belfast recently, is coming back to London next year to play another gig with his band, the Rumour. I'm missing out on the full group experience this year as their gigs are while I'm in Tenerife, so I think I have to plan a trip to London on June 6th next year.

We've got another Headbang this Friday - I'll try to make sure it doesn't go on too long as Jo and I both have appointments for our flu jabs first thing on Saturday morning.

Must go now - think I'll try and phone Marriott and see what we can do for our overseas holidays next year.