Bleak? Did someone say bleak?? (See last Saturday's post).

The last few days of gorgeous sunshine have reminded me that winter in our climate is rarely bleak for long! Yes, it's still chilly and the days are still short (but lengthening!), but what a difference some sunshine makes.

It arrived with good timing for our hot water heater. It was just about to need boosting with the element, but no, the last few days have it piping hot again. We're yet to boost this year. We do work with the system, for sure, by trying to reduce our demand even further when things are getting light on (that is, the temperature out of the tap isn't as warm as we'd like). But it's very exciting that the sun can do about 99.5% of the heating of our water, even in winter!

Meanwhile, Build-It Bloke has the mini-excavator booked for this weekend, so both Murphy's Law and the Bureau of Meteorology predict rain (which will hamper his efforts).