Category Archives: Uncategorized

I set out to do an accurate measured drawing of the bathroom floor, so I could cut and lay hardboard and then the Marmoleum on that. The drawing was complicated as, although the floor plan should be a rectangle with a truncated triangle at the end of one side, nothing is quite parallel or atContinue reading “Meanwhile, up in the bathroom”

Wildlife (sort of) then building. In the wood on Barr na cour, our local hill, there are more primroses than I’ve ever seen. Some of the first, fresh shoots of bracken are a foot high, unfurling, as tender as asparagus. In just a few weeks, unlike asparagus, they’ll start to restrict access to many ofContinue reading “Rodent stops car”

Most of the last week I’ve been painting the shelves. Painting, filling, sanding, painting again. It looks as though my carefully applied Frog Tape masking, to protect the dark blue wall behind the shelves will, when removed, actually peel the dark blue paint off, despite claiming to be for delicate surfaces (like frogs?). So I’mContinue reading “A shock and a surprise, not in that order”

The electrician didn’t turn up last week and didn’t respond to email or phone. Bookshelves: last week, until good Friday, I was working on the wall of book shelves between entrance and kitchen. The wood has been lying on the living room floor for some weeks. Shelves and uprights are all one hundred and fortyContinue reading “No chocolate bunnies”

Week of 27 March 2023 This week, wildlife first. It’s coming out of our ears. But before that a sincere thank you to David, again, for your great company and a couple of day’s help with the slate – it’s been too long. It wasn’t yet tea time and Tash came in saying something aboutContinue reading “New visitors seen and unseen”

The tower – finally it’s back in pieces and out of the house. A suitable thank you gesture to the neighbours is due. The screw eye arrived, but its eye was too big for the pulley connection. Fortunately I was able to borrow the screw gate shackle from my drogue to to join pulley andContinue reading “Tower, farewell!”

Last Saturday’s rainforest training taught me that Jon, my neighbour and a wildlife photographer, is also a certified tracker. It wasn’t too hard to identify the deep muddy puddle, pictured above, as a wallow – but whose? Jon found a roe deer print in the soft mud, complete with the two higher rear claws, andContinue reading “New bath”

Last week Chris and I laid nearly all the slate flooring and I was keen to protect it. But first, to make sure I can follow up with the next big job, I ordered the bamboo flooring. To protect the slate I have this product (photo below) that soaks in and is supposed to helpContinue reading “Frilly fruited jelly-skins and other lichens…”

or Slate, slate, slate. Chris was due to arrive at tea time and I spent most of the day redrawing the layout for the slate floor. I’d started with simple courses, but wasn’t happy with how that pattern articulated between the three rooms; that led to a random pattern so the floor would flow smoothlyContinue reading “Chris, the new floor and briophytes”

I’ve been painting since Saint Valentine’s day, when Poppy and Silas left; then, last Friday, I went on a one hundred and fifty mile caper to visit Pete and Molly. Fellow self-builders, they’re near the top end of Loch Awe. I was getting rid of two spare bundles of glass wool insulation that they saidContinue reading “Paint, paint, paint. And slate.”