'...all that comes to pass on the fertile earth...'

'we know... all that comes to pass

on the fertile earth, we know it all.'  - the sirens in fagles 1990 translation of the odyssey 

horsemouth, your faithful correspondent, is here. the dog has come to visit. the dog has gone in to see dad- horsemouth has decamped to the conservatory (the better to be on-hand)

today is the anniversary of horsemouth's gaff (the one in the wen) getting its energy performance certificate. it got an EPC rating of D (which is average-ish for the type of house it is - a victorian terraced house). horsemouth's gaff is typical of the houses where he lives and is of a solid wall construction, this leaves no space in the middle of the wall (a cavity wall) to be filled with insulation (cavity wall insulation). instead insulation has either to be fitted to the outside of the house - exterior insulation, or fitted to the inside walls of the house (interior insulation). 

the government has made promises internationally about achieving 'net zero' by 2050 and has placed requirements on public housing bodies to insulate their properties by 2030/2035 up to an EPC C standard. there is a small amount of government money available to help with this that housing co-ops etc. may compete for. 

mind you at the same time gove (the housing minister) has also handed back £1.5 billion to the treasury because he sees no real chance of spending it on building more housing. he is full of schemes (but he wants the wherewithal to do them gone). 

at the moment things are not clear on how to progress the insulation of the properties. things have got more complicated (once again) or perhaps simpler.  what is clear is that it must be done (probably). 

now exterior insulation cannot be fitted to houses in conservation zones (likewise solar panels) because it would spoil the 'look' of them. the people living in those houses must (perforce) deal with the reduction of their living space of having interior insulation fitted (and the inconvenience of having it fitted, of having to move their possessions around). but hey they get to live in a conservation zone and enjoy all that historic architecture without modern 'carbuncles'. 

further horsemouth has discovered that a few of the co-op owned flats in ex-local authority blocks are EPC D and Es and so require further insulation. (he had mistakenly assumed that they would be Cs). with these it is quite likely that the owners of the building will come up with some kind of scheme to insulate them by the deadlines required (and probably rinse the leaseholders for the bulk of the cost of it). anyway there's probably  no sense in duplicating  the work (or of doing work that has to be ripped out later/ the co-op will be billed for anyway). 

the sirens are strange beasts - once they were half-woman/ half-bird, currently they are thought of as mermaids (half-woman/ half-fish). they perhaps sing a song about being daughters of calliope (beautiful voice).  they offer a way back into something that the sailors (and wily odysseus) must avoid. a youngster reviews lampedusa's the professor and the siren. 

last night horsemouth saw an illustration by sophie grandval shared in an illustration group. he realised that she had illustrated the cover of his copy of richard jefferies' the pageant of summer - a tomato plant is seen at night surrounded by dandelions and butterflies. he listened to dj storm and digital play tunes and reminisce. 

today more of the same (alternating rain and shine). once again a beautiful morning that is likely to cloud over.