I had my patio installed a few years ago to house the summerhouse , garden furniture etc , however i need to extend it for my grandson so i can fit his sandpit and have plenty of play space.

Due to health issues , i cant do it myself , so ive hired a local contractor to complete the work.

So 40 6×6 slabs , sand , cement , mixer and cutter are on order and hopefully work will commence near end of April .

ill pester the wife to order a proper BBQ once its all complete 😉

Having upgraded my phone to the latest flagship model , The S26 Ultra , i needed to upgrade the Tablet so i can transfer files and Ai fluidly.

I opted for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra ( 1TB storage and 16GB ram)

Screen size is just a little under 15″ so quite big but also very thin and light .

As Amazon was having a spring sale , i managed to bag this one for £1,301.00 from £1,599.00 , so a massive saving and also they was running a Samsung Promotion so ill also get a keyboard stand/case worth £299.00 for free.

Its amazing how tech moves on in just a few years.

I needed the latest Ai on my phone as well as everywhere else in the house , so i have this one coming this week.

The new Samsung flagship … The S26 Ultra 512Gb.

its around £1299.00 so ive ordered a protective case and screen saver to be fitted before its even switched on.

There will be a short downtime whist the esim is registered but apparently takes less than a minute to transfer my number from the old phone to the new so ill get the phones to move all my data and settings at the same time.

decided to upgrade my contract at the same time , allowing me to swap out to a new phone every year if i want to . unlimited texts and minutes , 25GB data ( rolled over every month if not fully used ).

cant wait !

Ive decided to purchase a DJI Power 1000 V2. Its a portable power station that supply power to 99% of my household appliances , and also portable enough to take off grid for say , fast charging drone batteries, charging laptops , phones, even boiling the kettle for a quick cuppa….. frankly, anything that i would do at home , yes even running a washing machine or maybe a Ninja cooker.

It recharges to 100% in 55 minutes when using mains electric , however i would charge when my Home solar panels are producing so effectively costing nothing.

It can also charge by its own solar panels when off grid or in power cuts.

Its covered for 5 years , and will easily outlast 10 years with perhaps a 10% loss in charge.

quite a nice bit of kit.

https://store.dji.com/uk/product/dji-power-1000-v2?from=site-nav&vid=188181

After changing over to Octopus Energy , My solar export has now been set up so i am already exporting what energy i dont use back to the grid.

Its only 15p per KWH ( supply in is around 25p dependant on market) , however its another bit knocked off my usage bill over the course of the year. Once march arrives , i should end up with very little to pay per month/ quarter if anything at all.

As it stands at the moment , even with the bad weather lately , im still generating enough to cover my daily use , so im looking forward to later in the year .

Octopus took care of everything regarding moving away from my old supplier and as a bonus it seems i was in credit by £970 so that will be refunded back to my bank in a few days .

It was time for a move , unhappy with British Gas and with having Solar panels installed , I needed a decent supplier who i could trust.

I will also be exporting any unused energy back to the grid and will earn 15 pence per KWH to help to pay for any direct from grid bills.

If you would like to use my link to join Octopus , we can both earn £50 each to add to our accounts.

https://share.octopus.energy/taupe-steak-564

HEALTH

Its not been too bad a year. Certainly less hospital and doctors visits . health remains stable , Aorta hasnt increased in size so thats good news and im being watched on my other issues.

DRONES

New drone laws came into affect in 2026. As im registered with an A2COFC im allowed more freedom on where i can fly , but with the recent law changes , i can now fly all of my fleet in built up areas.

I added 2 drones to my fleet earlier in 2025 as i knew the change was coming 😛

SOLAR INSTALL

I had solar panels installed around September 2025. i’m already saving around £100 every 3 months, however as we come out of the worst of the weather period, this will jump dramatically and i should save a fortune.

…I was also awarded a £300 and £150 towards my Gas and Electricity bills so ive been able to keep warm and thats great if you take blood thinners.

There’s Lots more that happened last year but i think these was my best moments other than having my grandson to visit ( i wont include any info or pictures on this site for obvious reasons )

feel free to catch up on everything by checking the blog for anything you have missed.

Here’s to a great 2026 !

I already own a Ninja speedy , its great for steaming but i wanted the Ninja Foodie too as its great for quickly cooking full meals in one go. Its great , i honestly havent used my gas oven since Christmas.

…. i was so impressed , i got the Ninja knife set too !

Never brush the snow off your car using a yard brush lol. It may be lazy to do it that way , but it destroys your paintwork.

….. ignore if you have citroen , it wont make a difference 😛