January 2008

Winter is well and truly here and we have all survived Christmas and New Year and are now into the long couple of months before Spring arrives. For us here Christmas was very quiet. Ben came up for almost two weeks over the holiday but Imogen Ken and the children went to celebrate Christmas in Devon with his family. Consequently it was peaceful here with just the three of us but weenjoyed ourselves. New Yearwas much busier - Tina and Natasha , Anne and Jo came up and a friend of Bens - Becky also came tom join us. We had great fun and we all had a good time.
Our family departed and Phil and I had time to pack our cases before departing for a memorable holiday in Mauritius. A beautiful island with temperatures at about 30deg. Sunshine most of the day but even when it doesn't shine itis still very warm and to my cost you can still get burnt. My legs were really painful after one such day! We hired a car and 'did' the island. Saw all the sites much of the country. The last four days were spent enjoying the luxury of our second hotel, relaxing and enjoying the warmth.
We had a disastrous journey on the way leaving Glasgow late in gales, me hurting my foot running across Dubai airport to catch our connecting plane and culminating in me being taken off the flight in a wheelchair! To make matters worse we arrived but our luggage did not and we were 36 hours in our travelling clothes. Then when we arrived at the hotel the room they gave us was awful. A call to the Kuoni Rep got us efficiently moved to a room 200% better and she arranged that we should change hotels mid way through our holiday. We could not thank her enough.
Having got over all that we ended up having a good time. The journey home was less eventful although it is a long way!
So here we are at the end of January looking forward to what promises to be a busy month ahead which includes a very rushed visit to Hertford for a friends 60th, a visit her by an old friend, having the grand children to stay whilst Imogen and Ken make the most of their last few weeks of freedom before the hotel opens for the summer and I have a few meetings arranged.

Life in the Highlands

I am returning to 'Blogging' and am not sure how this diary will progress - but we shall see.
It is nearly Christmas - the family have gone away and we are looking forward to Ben arriving tomorrow to spend a very quiet christmas before a more hectic Hogmanay. As I sit here looking out over the mountains I revel in the peace and tranquility of living here. We have had an extremely cold spell (-10deg) but today it is a bit milder. We have had rain, and snow on the tops of the mountains but the sky is now clearing and the cold winter sun is coming through. I can see a plane high in the sky - a silver mark moving north heading for Inverness airport no doubt.
What will the next year bring. A less troubled one and one of fruitfulness. At this time we think of all our friends and family across the country and wish them safe.

We have Moved In

Pickfords delivered our furniture on 28th February and since then we have not stopped. We spent a few days sleeping at Little Pines and spending the days finishing off, unpacking and making the house more habitable. After a week Imogen decided that, despite our not having full residency order, we should move in any way and between them, she and Ken moved all our stuff from Little Pines into Eilean Beith. Although at the time I felt I was being pushed into moving I realize now I needed that push.

Since then we have been busy both inside and out. The decorating has all been finished apart from one or two things that need touching up, I have made curtains for the spare bedrooms and bathroom. Landscaping is completed outside ready for the gravel to arrive for the drive tomorrow. There are still a few problems to sort however, the tiler made a mess of the wet room floor and it did not drain towards the drain, we have decided to cut our loses and sink a large showertray into that area, partly because we could not find another tiler to rectify it and partly because it an easy way out of the problem. Actually it may well prove to be more successful as there will be no worries about cracked grouting causing leaks down into the lounge!

Phil is now busy putting down the decking round the front of the house. The ground gets so wet we thought this would be the best way of keeping the area round the house less damp! It will be wonderfull sitting out there with our Gin and Tonics on a balmy summer evening fighting off the midges!

Our lounge sofas arrive on Wednesday and then we can chose lamps, coffee tables and other finishing touches to finish everything off.

Within the next month we rather hope that life will get back to normal and the old routine. Phil working on Old Pines, and me setting up life here in Spean Bridge. The last two and half years have been very stressful, we are not over it all yet - we are still struggling to get someone to do this test on the drains without which we cannot complete and put an end to building our own home but we are nearly there and I am sure then we can get back to a normal life and have more time to do and see more of Scotland and have time to visit all our old friends again.

FIVE WEEKS ON!

The last month has been one of great activity and anticipation. All the last bits of work have now almost been completed and we are nearly ready to move in.
Phil and I escaped for a much needed break - although not a very succesful one to Marrakesh at the beginning of February. The rest did us good but on reflection we would have been better plodding on here.
Inside the house is ready to move into - carpets went down two weeks ago and the furniture was eventually retrieved from Pickfords last week. Goodness knows why we bought it all here though, most of it either does not suit the house or there is no room for it and any way why did we have it to start with. It was like Christmas opening the boxes, a surprise in everyone. I had forgotten what we have. After three years all the emotional feelings disappear. I think a trip to the auction is going to be necessary once we are settled. I was extremely pleased that none of the furniture got damaged whilst it was in store, the only breakage was a champagne glass which I dropped in unpacking and after all the stories I had heard was pleasntly surprised.
Work has been progressing but we do have one or two major things to fix. The tiler made a real mess of the wet room and got the floor tiles all running the wrong way. Consequently turn the shower on and the water floods into the bedroom and not down the drain. He came back to fix it but I am afraid he has made an awful mess and we have to redo that part of the floor. We are waiting to hear from another tiler who worked on the hotel and was excellent so are hoping he can do something. It could mean putting a shower tray in. Thank goodness the bathrooom is all in working order sowecan use that for the time being.
So - moving in is imminent. We have applied for a residency order as we can not yet apply for completion certificate as there are still jobs to do outside. However the building inspector came round yesterday and requires some tests on the venting pipes which could be a problem as they are inaccessible in the roof space. We know there is not a problem with them and they are working because since before Christmas we have been using the toilets and all the amenities have been well tried out. Neither of us are very happy and be assured this is not going to stop us moving in later this week.
Living in the shed is 'getting to me' It has not survived the bad weather this winter - after all we have now been living here for almost three years and it was only meant to be temporary accomodation. I sit here unable to sleep, the roof is leaking and rain is dripping in down the wall beside me, the door is so old the drafts are now unstoppable, the damp is rising fast at one end and the other end is sinking. My asthma is not good and I just can't wait to get in to my own home again with some warmth and comfort. When you go up to the house (or even down to the hotel) the whole atmosphere is so much better -no dampness in the air and there is now a real feeling of camping out.
It is a big 'NO' to beauraucracy and I don't care what the council say I am moving in as soon as I have moved my things from here and can live in my new home with all its conveniences.
My next blog will be to say that we are settled!!!!

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.