"Snow and adolescence are the only problems that disappear if you ignore them long enough." Earl Wilson

Just a few photos to record the most amazing April day on Eigg in years

It snowed on and off throughout the day, leaving about 6 inches of lying snow and breathtaking views

but by the end of the next day it had completely disappeared

Eigg... such an amazing place!!!

"Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling." Gilbert K. Chesterton

Up till now I had a bed 

and no ceiling

Now, I have no bed

but I do have a ceiling!!!

courtesy of the orange machine which enables you to raise and hold steady a 25kg sheet of plasterboard ten feet off the ground and still have two free hands to screw it to the joists (thanks to Christine Booth for sourcing the Orange Beast and to her and John for lending it to me) I had the forethought to route and install cable for overhead lighting.

The master bedroom will act as a temporary kitchen for the next couple of months

"I do have a fantasy life in which I can grout bathrooms - but not for a living." Will Self

Come over to my place Will...there's a little job you can help me out with.

The rest of the room is almost done.

and waiting for another treasure unearthed at Candleclose Gallery

"I'm into designing houses and interior design. I like change. I like creating things out of nothing." Chris Kirkpatrick

Do is the one with the creative flair. She loves searching through charity shops and sales - visualising the end result which is always amazing. We worked at the room which used to be called "The visiting Minister's Room" according to a friend who grew up in the house. One of my current frustrations is not having a camera which enables me to show wide angle views. To get the full effect you just have to be there (and if you're committed enough to be reading this then consider yourself invited over to the island at some point) 

The thing I love about all of this is that it's all our own work. Do provides the ideas and the soft furnishings, I do the making and fabricating. It's so rewarding to look at the dado rail and think that it started life downstairs as a piece of 4 by 2 constructional timber. The 30's light shade was one of 5 similar which I got from an auction in Aberdeen for £28, the chiffonier was from Candleclose Gallery, again in Aberdeen and was a bargain. I'll try to get some better pictures if and when I get a new camera.

"Aim for the chopping block. If you aim for the wood, you will have nothing. Aim past the wood, aim through the wood; aim for the chopping block." Annie Dillard

People who see what we're doing fall into two camps. The first group are just as blown away by the vision, the possibilities and the challenge. They enthuse and make encouraging and complimentary noises. The other group don't say much at all - just kind of smile and nod sympathetically. As I mentioned here in an earlier post, it's a case of "How do you eat an elephant?" 

Well the next mouthful came serendipidously following an overheard conversation in the tearoom. We asked some friends if they knew anyone who wanted a caravan and Celia, sitting at the next table, immediately told us she had a volunteer arriving at the weekend and would we mind if she took us up on our offer. The next day Chris arrived with his tractor and within half an hour there was an empty space in the front garden.

With the van out of the way, the forestry team were able to move in and take down a couple of trees which had grown too big for their boots - (or should that be roots?)

The net result was the most amazing view from the house.

that, and a few logs for the fire

"People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results." Albert Einstein

"The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong" Carl Jung

Sounds a bit highfalutin for a blog quote but the pendulum of my mind alternates between Eigg and my current home at Hill of Fechel in Aberdeenshire. The reality is I have to divide my labours between the two. So, with this in mind, during the first part of February I built this

and with the help of a friend from Nottinghamshire assembled this

Then it was off to Eigg and what a wondrous journey it was. The Road to the Isles was magnificent. 

and the view from The Manse was, as ever, beautiful; with snow on the hills on the mainland

Next day, while Owain and I scratched our heads over fitting a window which I had measured wrongly

Joe covered the water pipe which had frozen overnight

It was real brass monkeys weather so, once we'd finished, the only thing to do was to have a dram or three in the warmest room in the house

So now the downstairs windows are all replaced and the house is wind and waterproof and starting to look much less like an abandoned wreck

Next day Joe and I plasterboarded, taped and filled the room next to the bathroom

Then, after an all to brief a visit, it was time to head back to Aberdeenshire. It was hard to leave in such beautiful weather

and the views back down the Road to the Isles were jaw dropping

Next time will be a longer break with Do

"Tomorrow morning, when the sun shines through your window, choose to make it a happy day" Lynda Resnick

Every day is a good day - that's how I try and look at life. Sometimes it's a bit of a struggle, but on Eigg - with sunrise looking like this - it couldn't be easier.

After a prolonged period of grey, the clouds disappeared, the wind dropped and it was all systems go again.

The house stood up pretty well to the winter storms but a leak in the roof I thought I had fixed reappeared in the bedroom. So it was out with the ladders and off with the cladding around one of the new windows.

I replaced the lead sheeting (top left) which should hopefully solve the problem. Then it was onto the second new door and two new windows.

The door was, like the windows so far, a perfect fit. Not too sure about the brass draught strip though and definitely confounded by the choice of a white weather seal! (Replacement black one sent immediately from the manufacturers)

On close inspection, I decided it might be better if the lintels above the snug window were replaced

4 inch square section pressure treated fence posts are ideal for this job

With the floor joist reinforced, it was a straightforward job to fit the new sash window

and then on to the first of the two new kitchen windows. First, out with the old rotten one

and in with the new

so together...

and, including the new double window in the dining room,

the downstairs is beginning to get sorted. Next visit will be to fit the second kitchen window and measure up for the two windows in the porch.

Weather permitting, my next trip will be later this month.