Author Archives: nickjtj

In the woods a mean covering of snow hides many bluebell bulbs turned up in recent molehills; pale jewels in the fine dark earth. To make the most of this snow and sunshine we drove round the corner, just far enough to get views of the whitened mountains on Islay and Jura, which we didContinue reading “Sunday Paps”

After a windy night with heavy rain, the first since the scaffolding went, there was water inside the house on the timbers under two windows. Expensive triple glazed windows in a pretty airtight house. I’ve lost some hours of sleep over this unsettling matter. Andrew our consultant had a look and is convinced the waterContinue reading “Nothing new but a leaky house”

Mob-handed scaffolders came at nine, turned on their radio and sang along as they dismantled the scaffolding. Of course I recorded what I could. Here they are at work: In the house I’ve put up the small ‘rafters’ in bedrooms one and two to support the small flat ceiling at the apex of the slopingContinue reading “Clear View”

I didn’t shout ‘cut!’ but the stop motion camera stopped. Flat battery this time; lack of attention. This was several weeks ago. Previously a problem with the memory card had interrupted recording and now I’m out of the habit of setting it and somewhat horrified by the accumulating megabytes. My intention is that it willContinue reading “Cut!”

Since Christmas it’s been settled; dry, sunny and cold. Some time Wednesday night I heard rain and come morning every surface was smooth glazed with ice. It was treacherous and to get to the neighbours’ I had to walk in the dry ditch. On Thursday I put aside building to concentrate on the workshop’s waterContinue reading “Old Things – Wild Things”

WOODCOCK. I don’t think I’ve mentioned the woodcock I’ve seen these last few weeks. Not the one at Phil and Deb’s wildlife fancy dress party, where a guest in jeans and sloppy pullover was repeatedly challenged for having made no effort. He denied it and challenged his challengers to guess what he was. Everyone gaveContinue reading “The Last of 2020”

Christmas Eve was bright and cold so we took the day off to drive north and walk above Loch Caolisport, intending to work the next day. As in March on our first walk there, most of the holiday cottages seemed empty. Only one car passed. On our drive up the coast we’d stopped to watchContinue reading “Flies and sawdust”

Of course he won’t bring screws. He won’t bring anything. Some jobs will grind to a halt and I’ll do whatever I have enough materials to do, like starting to batten and clad the workshop. In the house I should set up the bench and mitre saw again in the open plan room but partContinue reading “Santa brings screws”

Whether it’s exciting or not is beside the point: it’s a landmark; there’s a floor; it’s flat. Had I read the terms and conditions properly (or stopped to think) I’d have known they expected a water supply and somewhere to empty the excess material, but in the end these things didn’t matter. They had enoughContinue reading “Don’t open the door!”

Inside – a wood burning stove would make our life in the workshop far more comfortable. At the moment it can be a bit hardcore, but the wet, cold winter weather that makes the idea of a fire so appealing also makes the idea of cutting a hole in the roof for the flue mostContinue reading “Water; in and out.”