IT'S ALL HAPPENING NOW

At last we have a house without scaffold and Eilean Beith stands alone in all its glory! Despite the weather Jim managed to find enough break in the cloud to get the rendering finished and at long last on Friday the scaffold came down. It was quite a momentous occassion and we could not quite believe it. It had taken him 4 weeks to do waht was supposed to be 4 days work. Scottish weather has a lot to answer for! The winds have been bad again this week and I seem to spend more time sleeping down in the hotel than in my own bed.

On Thursday we had men all decked out in yellow running over the site and by the end of the day we had electricity. I was quite amazed at their enthusiasm as the rain was its usual self and the ground was water logged - I suppose they are used to it.

Today Phil turned the water on and all seems well despite a rather major leak in the porch which was quickly repaired. Donald has been working hard at getting the landscaping underway and it really is all taking shape.

This afternoon he has used his digger to prepare the trenches for the drains to go in and tomorrow Ken is going to help Phil get them in place.

I seem to have got renewed enthusiasm and have spent quite a bit of time this weekend cleaning and making some degree of 'sense' inside. Upstairs is almost finished as far as decorating goes and ready for carpets to go down. The windows are easy to clean as they fully turn and you can clean the outside from the inside upstairs - so sensible.

The photo on the left is of the bathroom and shows the view all our guests will get whilst brushing their teeth. Unfortunately the mountains beyond are not very clear. I took a few other photos of the inside but unfortunately none are very clear so will have to take some more. This week we hope to have power inside - Kenny is coming at some point to finish the electrics and put the main board in.

Heres to the next chapter.

WEEK 32 - FLOODED OUT!

What a week. Wind, gales, heavy rain and we are water logged. It is impossible to take any photos as the weather is far too bad. Jim has been struggling with the rendering and amazingly has managed to get the back and the side gable done. However the front is proving to be a battle as it faces the prevailing wind and rain, will not dry out and when he did do the pillars either side of the cathedral window it blew off! However the scaffolding came down at the back and side on Friday so all is left is the front and from the rear the house is looking good- if you can get round to see it!.
The land at the back is taking shape especially since Donald came back on site and has been doing a lot of ground work and bringing it up to level in his infamous way. He has also levelled off the front and both Ken and Phil picked a dry day to clear up and have a huge bonfire.
The electric cable is almost in place so we are hoping that the electricity board will be able to get here during this week. However as we have been having numerous electricity cuts they must be being kept busy elsewhere.
I am going to close this week and hope to write of more progress next week.

It does not seem like three weeks ago that I last posted a blog to this site. Christmas has been and gone with a lot of fun and excitement. New Year was equally as fun but very busy - the hotel being full and extras in for the celebration.

As for the house - the weather has been so bad that we really haven't seen a great deal of progress outside. Inside Phil has been doing odd bits and peices and generally moved things along. We are now busy decorating internally and getting as much done as possible without running water and electricity.

The electricity board came the week before christmas to connect the supply only to discover that the cable they had found was the cable to Old Pines and not the main one. So another trench has to be dug - an extension put in and then they will connect up! Hopefully we can get this done next week.

Here in Scotland the holiday lasts at least two weeks and all the building trade, councils and various other organisations have a holiday from before Christmas to after New Year. This year they seem have to eaked it out until the 8th January! It really does hinder getting anything done.

Jim has been here rendering but has continued to be hampered by the gales and rain. However he has now got the rear of the house finished and we will be able to get the scaffold down on that side of the house next week when Phil has put a final coat of paint on the fascia and get the last bits of guttering in place. The drains can then be finished and the water turned on. I am looking forward to being able to photograph the house without all the scaffolding.

Jeremy popped in to see us today and to collect a suitcase.He spent Christmas with a friend in Edinburgh and then hired a car and drove to Krakow for New Year tomeet up with Robert a Polish Guy who worked here in the summer. It was good to seee him and hear all his experiences.