It's like thunder, it's like lightning - the way you love me is frightn'in

OK so I won't be needing them any time soon and maybe I ought to have waited, but the opportunity presented itself  and I just couldn't not take it...I'm talking floorboards. I've got 125sq metres of reclaimed floorboards at a bargain price from a lovely man called Anthony from Whiteheads Timber of Oldham. (0161 626 6488: 07927455919 if you're looking for reclaimed timber - he comes highly recommended.)

He met me in Edinburgh and we transferred them from his van to my trailer before I returned  to Aberdeen.They are immaculate, no nails, nail holes, carpet tacks; indeed they've never actually been walked on. They came from a hospital demolition in Liverpool, range from 6 to 15 ft long and are 7 inches wide. They had been bolted onto a concrete subfloor and then covered with a thick lino. The ends have been sawn off so I'm left with a complete and immaculate replacement downstairs floor which is just going to need the lightest of sandings and then fitting and sealing. I'm going to experiment with stain and/or varnish to find the most pleasing finish and then...I think there might be a bit of a wait before you see them in situ!!!

This is what 125 square metres looks like...about a ton and a half and floor to ceiling in a shipping container!!!

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you...

Well there were two major leaks in the roof that had caused a lot of internal damage, For example this small hole in the zinc flashing...

led to this!

and, over the years, two missing tiles meant this

One of the things I'd been dreading was to check how successful my hypnotherapy had been when it came to climbing to the top of the ridge on the main roof. I can theoretically begin to learn how to do any building skill but you can't learn how not to be scared witless at the prospect of challenging a great fear. I was feeling shaky at the top of the scaffolding and the roof ladder seemed to stretch ever upwards. I literally couldn't afford not to succeed so I took a deep breath and...

I DID IT!

Not only that but I completed my first proper repair to the roof...tiles off, sarking replaced and then slates trimmed, cut, shaped and perforated for the new copper nails

not bad for a beginner, you can't see the edges of the repair

so you can see I felt justifiably pleased with myself. No more demons and a job which now looks like it didn't need doing. We're well on the way to wind and watertight now, the next trip in September will be to see to the doors and fit the two new windows. 

Wet behind the ears

Well I thought it would just be a case of pumping out the dirty water and refilling the tank, how naive can you be. The sludge was about 10"" deep and needed to be shovelled out...and it was quite a big tank!

But after about eight hours the sludge was mostly gone

 and the water ran clear

I'm slowly beginning to realise that what seems like a simple task can take so much longer than you think it will. Connecting the tank to the house will have to wait till another time. There's a couple of important things to see to first, and a bit of an obstacle to overcome