22 October 2014

Investment Review - October 2014 Portfolio


I'm full of cold and feeling a bit under the weather, so I didn't fancy working today.  

Instead, I thought I'd create a new spreadsheet which pulls in the data from the various individual investment sheets, and take a look at the values and weighting of each component against the greater whole.

This new worksheet includes the SIPP and the various ISA accounts, current and historical, plus those bonds which are held outside.   I'm getting closer to the age when the SIPP could be drawn down against if I wanted to, so I'm simply lumping everything in here together.

However, the cash component in the worksheet only represents the cash held within the SIPP & ISA accounts and available for immediate investment, and not any other cash I have in accounts outside.

08 October 2014

Why does Daylight Saving Time start so much later than it finishes ?


From looking at my earlier post on growlights, it again raises a question that been puzzling me for a long time.  

Take a look at this sunrise-sunset-daylight hours graph for our location. from that post, but with a few extra intercept lines I've added.  Click for a larger image....




British Summer Time (BST) will end this year on 25/26 October 2014, but it won't begin again until 28/29 March 2015.  

Why should this be ?

07 October 2014

Fitting a Roof Dry Verge / Roof Tile Edging System....


Our house was built in 1939, and the original three-up two-down building from that period is a really decent piece of construction.    

However, the kitchen and garage extension was added in the mid 1980s, according to the neighbours who've been here for thirty years, and the whole thing is just very roughly put together.  

One example is that the edges of the roof pantiles which overhang the brickwork are sealed either by mortar or, even worse, simply filled with expanding foam.   Although mortar was an established method of verge sealing, it wasn't the only option or the most decorative even 30 years ago and it's not particular suitable for this type of roof tile.


the short upper gable, with expanded foam and mortar joints....

06 October 2014