travel – A sustainable house for unsustainable times…

First frost

Paul said he’d bring us a dumper load of soil next week. We can then assess whether we arrange for more to be delivered or whether we hire a small dumper and load it by hand when the Plot 1 building site is not occupied. Whenever Tash swims she returns with a big bag ofContinue reading “First frost”

Wasp factory

Rain woke me, the sound of it getting heavier and an odd greenish light; I knew I should make the most of it. Going out of the front door I pulled on my hoody, ran across to the old metal bike store and pulled the lid up, before running back to the house and anotherContinue reading “Wasp factory”

Delectable fat hen

The kids were here, the kids were gone. It happens so quickly. A week passes, filled with fresh acquaintance and, watching them sharing, caring and getting on, you smile inside and out. Forgot to mention: HMRC repaid us all the VAT we claimed. It wasn’t quite that easy. A month after uploading copies of theContinue reading “Delectable fat hen”

Imbolc and beyond

To you and me that’s halfway to equinox. We were driving through Ardrishaig, returning from a beach walk, houses on the right, sea on the left, Tash on the phone to her mum. It was still light. When I glanced past her to the calm sea, a short moving line marked the surface twenty yardsContinue reading “Imbolc and beyond”

Going south for action painting

HOUSE: Another Saturday, another roll of seagrass matting. Although it was slightly larger we managed to wrestle the second piece of matting upstairs on our own, having overcome some mental inertia to empty our bedroom of furniture… …make floor space in the living room then unroll and trim the seagrass. T omake fitting at theContinue reading “Going south for action painting”

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’”

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”

“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”?”