Thursday 31 October 2013

While Mum's Away...

Well, Mum has been away for four days now, and so far everything is going splendidly... we have discovered several new fungi around the house (a tasty snack if things get desperate), Archie has finished up much of our unwanted leftover food from the kitchen surfaces (and thrown it up under the table as a special treat for Dad at 3am) and to solve the problem of showering, there is a handy leak just above the toilet (multitasking at its finest). We only forgot about the chickens one day and they seem to be surviving, Islay, on the other hand, is being particularly mopey and following us all around like a lost... well, dog I suppose.

(That's a puddle of her tears on the floor there)

I bought her a knuckle bone today in the hopes of cheering her up, but instead of sad she's now very angry- so much so that I wrestled it away from her before I could go out in fear of her attacking a visitor in my absence.

On a more relevant note, the house itself is doing excellently although living in it is a little breezy at times. The roof is nearly done and Dad and Rick have been bashing in windows upstairs in preparation for an even chillier winter. They managed to get three in yesterday, with a new and improved fitting technique, even after spending quite some time trying to fit the wrong one to start with (it was too fat for the hole).


(It's very dusty up there)


No window...


Window -seaward view...


Window -treeward view...


A rare sighting of the red-capped window fitting gnome...


The scaffolding has come down a layer at the front, allowing us to access the bottom of the windows from the outside, but also creating a treacherous three foot drop which must be clambered up and down four-hundred times a day when we're up there. This is the scaffolders taking it down a level, I'm sorry you don't have a better shot, but I felt like a bit of a pervert...


I'd love to give you some pretty photos of a sunset or frolicking otter, but it has mostly been raining and I have mostly been looking at the inside of the upstairs bedroom walls ~(in order to fill in some of the many holes).


(This is no longer a hole)


Instead, here is Dan, an unfortunately placed drop of spray and some nice waves down at Kintra the other day...


And this is the view from the top of the roof (in case you were wondering)...


Typically, there was no actual need for me to be up there, but apparently I don't know the difference between lead and aluminium and spent an hour perching on the ridge trying to polish it shiny regardless. 

Anyway, I am off for dinner now (Dan has rustled up half a pig) which will hopefully be a better success than my gloopy/chewy beef pie yesterday. The less said about that the better I think. 

Ta ta for now. 
Katie xxx



Thursday 24 October 2013



There are times when you feel you are soaring...

Golden Eagle being mobbed by a crow over the Fairy Hill



..and times you take a dive....




...then up and up you go...



'til you finally reach the top!





Nick passing Gary the last few slates.


Reaching the top of the roof was a milestone reached this week, a whole year since we bought the Dower House, we are still on target! I am forever optimistic and assume everything will just fall into place as long as do my homework first and work as hard as everyone else. So far so good. My target is to get the main roof finished and the windows in by Christmas...my optimistic target is to have at least one room to plasterboard level for Christmas day!
We couldn't do any of this of course without all the amazing help we keep receiving from people on Islay and friends from Dorset.

A year from now we will be planning a party!!!

On Monday I'm off down South, leaving Katie to manage my side of things for 3 weeks, which includes her father, however I'm bringing back reinforcements in the form of Bob, his son-in-law Mark and probably Jenny if she hasn't found a job. While I'm socialising with Sandy and Tom, family and friends, doing a bit of teaching and willow work to pay for the fuel, I hope lots of windows will be fixed and slates nailed so that we can start stud walls when we get back......well I can dream can't I?


Mary-Ann


Waiting For Jenny!



Waiting For Jenny!




...just when we need a small person to go down the chimney, 
where is Jenny?


Katie drops the hammer head on a rope to measure the depth of the chimney. Twin skinned flexible liner is very expensive so we need to get it right.





"HelloooOOO!
 Dan is it there yet?"



 The Boss holds the ladder!



Rick fills another hole....



Nick sets Sandy's stone...


Last job sweep the chimney...me again!


Another day, another chimney swept, yes there's the brush. 
Shame about the kinks in the chimney, but Gary will help sort it out with flexible liner...Please!


Another job on the list is spraying the woodwork...all of it to stop the rot! We have the safety gear and 25 litres of wood treatment to start. Shame it leaked, we'll have to warn the Duffies driver.

 

Mary-Ann


Wednesday 23 October 2013

Reaching The Top!



There are times when you feel you are soaring...

Golden Eagle being mobbed by a crow over the Fairy Hill



..and times you take a dive....




...then up and up you go...



'til you finally reach the top!





Nick passing Gary the last few slates.


Reaching the top of the roof was a milestone reached this week, a whole year since we bought the Dower House, we are still on target! I am forever optimistic and assume everything will just fall into place as long as do my homework first and work as hard as everyone else. So far so good. My target is to get the main roof finished and the windows in by Christmas...my optimistic target is to have at least one room to plasterboard level for Christmas day!
We couldn't do any of this of course without all the amazing help we keep receiving from people on Islay and friends from Dorset.

A year from now we will be planning a party!!!

On Monday I'm off down South, leaving Katie to manage my side of things for 3 weeks, which includes her father, however I'm bringing back reinforcements in the form of Bob, his son-in-law Mark and probably Jenny if she hasn't found a job. While I'm socialising with Sandy and Tom, family and friends, doing a bit of teaching and willow work to pay for the fuel, I hope lots of windows will be fixed and slates nailed so that we can start stud walls when we get back......well I can dream can't I?


Mary-Ann


Monday 21 October 2013

While Gary's Away!





While Gary's away.......




Someone else is slating dormers.....




...someone could not resist just a little mosaic when pointing!




Bertie's and his girls are hiding in the hedge.....




....someone else is sweeping chimneys......








This one is off to Topsy's for a bath!






Rick is tying the roof to the house.....




....with steel straps from Buildbase





My little friend is always watching the progress





It's all hands on ......




........to remove the Sky dish.





"...... Mmm now let's see..."






Is this the way down?





We've cleared the decks for Donald's men to lower the scaffolding




There's "STUFF" everywhere...



Look out! All slates on deck Gary's back!



What's in the Roses tin?




Just another £100 worth of copper nails!

Mary-Ann


Sunday 20 October 2013

Remembering why we're here when it's raining!


Life would be so dull without bees and flowers!


 Ben GCSE summer, full of surprises!



Jenny...enjoying the sea!



...in Nick's sea boat




Islay (dog) waiting to grab the buzzard's food!


...and two more glorious sunsets from the garden....



...taken in PJs and slippers!



As I head South next week, I'll remember the summer and the autumn sunrises and the slates...and the slates...and the slates. By the time I come back we will have windows...and then rooms. 
The sky's the limit!

Mary-Ann
PS last night I heard a noise like a sword fight outside the front door, chicken that I am I got Nick out of bed and made him open the door.... outside were 2 fallow bucks having a massive argument and they didn't even notice when we shone the torch on them. They finally dance and clattered out of the drive before the loser ran up the road at a gallop! Life is never dull at the Dower House!