Author Archives: nickjtj

Last Sunday Tash and I took a walk over three hills, two of them very local landmarks; one with the view below, the second with a mausoleum among its trees and the third higher, wooded and unreasonably steep, with a Bronze Age fort on top. Part of the psychological landscape of my housebuilding malarky isContinue reading “Pipe Wrestling, Zero Degrees”

Dino alerted us to Monday’s spectacular sunrise. A good start to the week, but perhaps it was a mistake deciding to get the under floor hearing pipes down and screed poured before I’ve finished the cladding. It’s taken Dino and I two and a half days to clear the ground floor… and build or arrangeContinue reading “Two more measuring tapes die and the volunteer leaves…”

A visit to the steep torrent of a local river, crossed many times on the road but never explored, was overdue.  We followed its alder lined course through a sheep field to the sea, where alternating stickles and pools give way to one long smooth sea pool  of unknown depth.  I poked my stick inContinue reading “Clutching cobbles”

Sorry for the pun – my nephew would say that was a dad joke. We hoped we’d be done by the end of today (Wednesday) but finishing the reveals is taking longer than anticipated, not helped by rain… or by the variability of what the builders had left us. Not that it was bad, butContinue reading “Windows and doors; revealed.”

Sunday 15 January The tin roofing is extremely slippery when wet, so rain delayed progress but by Thursday all the crinkly stuff was on and we finished with the hand-bent flashings on Friday. We were two whole sheets short for the lean-to roof as we’d borrowed them for house and workshop. The sacrificial cover sheetContinue reading “No more tin”

Dino must think that whenever we’re not working we’re walking. We took him to Ardpatrick and walked to the shed at the end of the world via the causeway where we introduced him to some shellfish. He found the best cockles; his first. The colours of the woods were rich and subtle and I tookContinue reading “An inspector calls…”

Scaffolders; they could come on Friday. Contrary to the awful forecast Monday was fine (so I didn’t need the fully waterproof non-breathable Helly Hansen fisherman’s day-go orange bibbed trousers and hooded jacket that arrived via the green haired, nasally pierced delivery lady). Dino and I worked from about half eight until five forty, cutting allContinue reading “Race against the scaffolders”

It’s been a short week: Wednesday morning saw us taking delivery of a suddenly free, two-seater sofa that we’d coveted since using it in our first lockdown bothy; on Thursday morning I drilled a hole through the house wall, sealing in a small duct for the phone line that Openreach were coming to connect; FridayContinue reading “Short week, awful forecast. Openreach – don’t make me laugh…”

David, Jack of all trades, master of several, seemed a good person to help with bending the flashings that had been wrongly ordered or wrongly folded. These three pieces will sit on the top of the roof of the lean-to (entrance hall), against the house wall, ensuring that any water running down the cladding goesContinue reading “Larch, larch, larch”

Last weekend (we had a weekend! ) returning from our drive to Skipness I couldn’t resist stopping on the road to pick up some vividly coloured alder logs, freshly cut to make way for deer fencing… Skipness beach – castle, seafood shack, view of Arran – gave us our second door handle. Focussed on theContinue reading “Ascent of the North Gable; direct route.”