nickjtj

Life post-‘completion’

AAA I took the car to Kilmartin for it to fail the MOT. Had a nice walk by Kilmartin burn, no sign of spawning salmon or seatrout; plenty of weed still evident. I also noticed a field maple, that lover of calcareous conditions, reflecting the burn’s locally unusual pH balance. Driving both there and backContinue reading “Life post-‘completion’”

What next? See last paragraph?

November! Flocks of fieldfares, winter visitors from Scandinavia, circulate, seemingly unsettled and unsure where to be or what to be doing. Some of the flocks are more than two hundred birds, others much smaller. They sit in the tops of trees, don’t seem to be busy feeding yet on the bountiful rowan or holly berries,Continue reading “What next? See last paragraph?”

First frost; glazing over.

For building content please skip to the end. Non-building: Thursday 10 October – our first frost was slight and short-lived, glinting on the front garden’s dead stems, rocks and sparse greenery. For the past eight weeks or so, rowans have been loaded with berries, their cargo in shades of orange and red increasingly impressive asContinue reading “First frost; glazing over.”

Moving, slowly, fitfully.

If you read my last post I must admit there was no ode to the lost spoon. I never wrote it, (still might) but somewhere on that small dear-to-our-hearts, southwest-facing beach is a no longer silvery teaspoon, used for camping and picnics. One minute it was there, then… It’s been hard to write a blogContinue reading “Moving, slowly, fitfully.”

Orion and an ode to a lost spoon

Up behind the beach the fine short turf is spattered with cow pats, and stones thrown by storms. One end of the beach is all cobbles, where the burn flows in, the best stretch for firewood, the other is sandy and the turf smoother. The burn is lined with alders and disappears up the glen,Continue reading “Orion and an ode to a lost spoon”

Wills, shalls and won’ts

We went to Oban to encourage our slow-motion solicitor towards getting new wills drafted and powers of attorney in place. No time like the present. As an extension of the preparatory work, I’d been writing a note for my children about my one and only serious (and most fun) guitar, so should they one dayContinue reading “Wills, shalls and won’ts”

Back from the fringe

We just don’t know when Colin, the building inspector, will come; will he turn up unannounced? Surely not (again). Having formally declared the house to be ‘technically’ finished I’m trying to make sure that it really is. Escape: both emergency escape steps are in under their respective skylights – required because their lowest part ofContinue reading “Back from the fringe”

“A bit autumnal”?

1 August 2024: I’m thinking fish and Tash is thinking fungi. She says, It’s probably time we went to check for chanterelles don’t you think? I agree. Although I’d not have got round to it quite yet, last year we did feel we’d missed the best of the penny buns and early chanterelles. We agreeContinue reading ““A bit autumnal”?”

Regeneration, degeneration

Saturday 27 July 2024: We’re on the wooden ramp in hot sun by the front door. Six o’clock; twenty degrees in the shade. When the whirr of clippers stops I hear the liquid bubbling of a swallow and then, less noticeable at first, a sporadic crunching as the cat devours a mouse. Tash is cuttingContinue reading “Regeneration, degeneration”

MOT express

Monday 8 July: mid morning I phoned Harry at Macleod’s quarry to order another load of their excellent MOT Type 1 aggregate. He said they could deliver it that afternoon – the driver would phone me when he was close. The only place we could have it tipped was were we usually park the car,Continue reading “MOT express”