June 18th, 2009
We’re lucky here to be the only place in England to have ospreys successfully breeding – and diving for their fish in Bassenthwaite just up the road from the cottage. This ‘good news’ environment story – made possible by the efforts of the Forestry Commission and others since 2001 – is joined this week by another. The belle of the southern grasslands, the large blue butterfly has returned we hear to its old haunts. [Photo © Karen Nichols]
Extinct in the UK since 1979, the large blue has now been brought back to six new sites in Devon thanks to the meticulous research of Jeremy Thomas and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in uncovering its secret life cycle. Read more about this fascinating story of the ant, the caterpillar and strange happenings in the south in this week’s Guardian (16th June).
Posted in Environment, Wildlife | No Comments »
June 12th, 2009
It’s as easy as opening the page of a book, but this new feature of our website – just introduced on the Wordpress platform we use – is a stunner, packing loads of information at the click of your mouse! The image left is a fragment of the bigger map you’ll find on the location tab.
You want to get a detailed picture of the locality and the house itself? All you need to do is enlarge the map by clicking on the + button and switch to the hybrid mode – and you get the image on the right here showing the cottage and the road leading up to it. Brilliant and no more problems in finding the way!
PS Beware – many satnavs point you to an area south of Derwentwater, when you type in the Thornthwaite postcode.
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June 11th, 2009
The big news this week is the announcement by Zhang Xiaoqiang, China’s vice-chairman of National Development that the country plans to increase substantially its commitment to invest in new wind and solar power initiatives. According to the Guardian report, China is now anticipating easily reaching its 2020 target for the use of wind power. The 30 gigawatts objective has been increased to 100GW and solar power use will also be tripled.
Zhang is confident of comfortably exceeding the 15% overall target for renewable energy. With representatives of world governments meeting in Bonn this week to thrash out details of what are achievable targets, this looks to be an important development. China and the US together produce over 50% of the world’s carbon emissions. [Photo copyright: The Energy Workshop Ltd]
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June 9th, 2009
Yes it’s a cottage for all seasons but despite thick walls, we’ve always needed plenty of winter heating. Why? Draughty windows! Last month we had well-sealed double glazed windows installed. We’re already feeling the difference.
Moving towards carbon neutral homes requires retrofitting old traditional buildings like The Larches and we’ll be monitoring energy usage carefully over the coming months. If you have experience in this area, let us know in the comments section.
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June 9th, 2009
Completing the new lawn has given us a chance to extend the small border beside the garden gate into a bigger herb garden. There are several types of mint, oregano, marjoram, thyme and lemon balm. The latter is especially good if you like a good jug of Pimms No ! to while away the long summer evenings. If you are looking for rosemary for some lakeland lamb, it’s in the front garden.
Posted in The Larches | No Comments »
We’re lucky here to be the only place in England to have ospreys successfully breeding – and diving for their fish in Bassenthwaite just up the road from the cottage. This ‘good news’ environment story – made possible by the efforts of the Forestry Commission and others since 2001 – is joined this week by another. The belle of the southern grasslands, the large blue butterfly has returned we hear to its old haunts. [Photo © Karen Nichols]