"I have no philosophy, my favourite thing is sitting in the studio" Jacob Arnesen

 Having paused on the ensuite, I spent my last few days before Christmas working on the study. This invoved fitting insulation, doing some first fix electrics and plasterboarding. I ran out of plasterboard about six hours before I had to catch the ferry - great timing!

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 Update - the piano has arrived in Bolton and the courier is awaiting a delivery date. Better get a move on but for now it's time to go south to see family over Christmas...CV19 willing

 

"Acting is not an important job in the scheme of things. Plumbing is" Spencer Tracey

 Someone thought it might be an idea to have an ensuite in the top bedroom. Plumbing is one of the trades I am least confident in so I always enlist the help of Brian, the island go to handiman for watery matters. It's 90% done but completion will have to wait till he returns next Spring

The stud walls were done afterwards, it made taking up floorboards and fitting the WC and macerator a bit easier. 

"You see opportunity... Opportunity is like a window: every once in a while, it opens, if you're ready for that opportunity. So be prepared, work hard, and follow your dreams" Nita Strauss

The last big internal job is the east wing. (sounds grand but it's just the single storey bit at the opposite end to the kitchen. We're planning a studio/music room with a piano and a small dance floor) It's quite dark in there because the leaky skylight has been boarded up. It was time to fit a replacement

Although it's now much lighter on the mezzanine downstairs is a bit murky so we're going to go for a part glazed floor. I'm going to make an effort to keep this blog updated more regularly, or should I say more frequently. Watch this space

"The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps - we must step up the stairs" Vance Havner

 With much of the bedroom building and decorating works done it was time to finally put down the stairs carpet. We'd had the runner for just a few weeks but the stair rods had been bought about 8 years ago, not long after we'd got the Manse - and, amazingly, I knew exactly where to find them

The inspiration for the choice was the wonderful Glenfinnan House Hotel - a must visit if you're ever up this way (http://www.glenfinnanhouse.com/) 

"To sleep perchance to dream" William Shakespeare

 Looking back I noticed the series of bedroom pictures from March was missing one featuring the half tester bed

It was in this bedroom when we bought the Manse and is one of the many things we tried to retain and renovate.

"Unfinished Business" Billy Davies

 I've been so busy doing "stuff" that this blog drifted away from my consciousness. Every day is like any other and I've been living in a kind of trance. It wasn't till someone asked me yesterday what had happened to it that I realised it's been 6 months since I updated. If there's anyone out there who's been checking in since April, my apologies but I'm back on track - but not in any particular order

The scaffolding had been up for a while - well years actually. Although the roof had largely been repaired, I needed a platform for fixing the guttering and to enable painting - both of which have now been attended to. Some of the bolts broke as I was trying to depole (technical term) the house but it's now looking like it hasn't done for many a year.

It certainly looks a bit different, and quite impressive when you see it from the ferry 

 

"Storms make trees take deeper roots" Dolly Parton

 Well Dolly, it must be pretty windy on my roof - look what was growing out of the chimney flaunching

and to get up there involved creative use of the scaffolding 

It's not as Heath Robinson as it looks but it's sqeaky bum time once you're up there. I had to revise my hypnotherapy techniques for fear of heights

"It's okay to laugh in the bedroom so long as you don't point" Will Durst

 The main bedroom has been living room, kitchen, store room, workshop - in fact everything except a bedroom. The time came to gut itand rip out the old fireplace

 

frame and plasterboard 

and then skim the walls and ceiling to create the master bedroom. With Joe the Plasterer now living on the island I decided it would be best to leave the plastering to him 

We had bought 6 doors from an architectural salvage place and all I had to do was build a frame to make two fitted wardrobes that opened and closed

Unfortunately I got so involved with what I was doing I forgot to take more photos of the process but after much painting, papering, installing coving and fireplace fitting it looks a bit like this

The final fitting of the original half tester bed has yet to be done - watch this space