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.”
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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”
All change
Nature, building and politics but not in that order: of course, we went to vote, a scenic thirteen mile drive round the coast to Ormsary. Walk: an early walk before voting seemed a good idea. The weather was Atlantic, ten minutes of sun, ten minutes of gathering cloud, the horizon rushing towards you, obliterating views,Continue reading “All change”
Varnish most foul
Ex-colleague and dear friend Kathy came to stay for a couple of days and it was a delight to see her, though our Scottish summer remains in denial and at times she needed all her wisely packed layers. On Tuesday morning we dropped Kathy at the bus stop and I drove to the filling stationContinue reading “Varnish most foul”
A sustainable house for unsustainable times... 