Domesticity

There is little of interest to report for today.

That is not to say that my day was dull. It was just taken up with domestic activities. The little jobs that need to be done to keep things rolling along.

In the morning 30% and I headed in to Redditch to pick up a few groceries and to replace our carbon monoxide alarm. You see, nothing exciting, just making sure that we are fed and that we don't suffocate in our sleep.

In the afternoon I emptied the log burner and spent half an hour transferring soot and charred tar from the log burner glass to my hands and clothing. 

I then headed outside and refreshed the moisture traps in the 5 Series. It is currently sat in the carport under cover. I have prudently installed a couple of moisture absorbing devices to prevent the car getting damp as it sits unused over Winter. I replaced the crystals in one of the traps and put the silica beads from the others in to a low oven to dry for a couple of hours.

While the silica beads slowly desiccated I finally got around to insuring the new motorcycle, as I will be picking it up in the coming week.

The final activity of any significance was to attempt to get a charge in to a car battery.  This is not for automotive purpose, but is actually beekeeping related.  Each Winter the bee hives are treated with oxalic acid vapour as a precautionary measure to control varroa mites.* The battery is used to provide a heat source to vaporise the oxalic acid crystals in the hive.

Unfortunately my battery didn't seem inclined to take a charge. Bugger, I may need to find another, as the hives need treating in the next week or two.

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*These are a parasitic mite that can have a devastating effect on a colony. A varroa infection can lead to total colony loss.