Two men looked through prison bars, one saw mud the other stars

At this, the darkest time of the year, pictures of the Manse are dark, grey and foreboding. The white render has lost some of its crispness and - to be honest - it all looks a bit grim. So here are some brighter, whiter, clearer pictures of how it was and will be. 

 

 

 

The forecast looks bad for getting on and off the island during the Christmas period but my next trip will be around the middle of January. Here's hoping it's calmer then. Season's greetings to anyone who happens to see this.

 

Are you really sure that a floor can't also be a ceiling? M. C. Escher

We visited a nearby retail outlet in Aberdeenshire where they had used sarking for the ceiling, skirting board and architrave and than painted it all with some trendy Neptune paint. With this in mind, the next job was to refurbish the bedroom next to the bathroom. From above, this is what it looked like when we bought the place.

This was the repair

  

and then we started to put up the sarking

and insulation

and electrics

and there it was done 

"Nothing is better than waking up in the morning and being excited to go into work" Caprice Bourret

One of the positives of the winter gales on Eigg is that you sometimes get stranded. Well, two cancelled crossings meant I got to work 4 extra days on the project, which is looking and feeling increasingly more like home.

After measuring what seemed like a hundred times, I  finally felt confident enough to order two sash windows and two doors from Blairs. With the help of my new aquaintance, friend and Man Friday - Owain, I repaired the beam above where the new windows were going.

There were feelings of relief and pride when we offered up the windows and they were, to all intents and purposes, a  perfect fit;

while inside, with the original surround replaced, I think they look quite impressive.

Next we set about fitting the new back door. This again turned out to be "made to measure" and slotted in after a few minor adjustments to the seat for the frame.

A man's home is his wife's castle. – Alexander Chase

We spent a fabulous week in such glorious weather at the end of the summer. It was Do's last visit of the year and she finally had an opportunity to do some of the creative things she excels at - planning, organisation and design. She created an amazing temporary kitchen which meant we could finally move out of the caravan. The colour scheme upstairs matches the furniture she has amassed from e-bay, gumtree and  various other bargain basement sources. There are photos but I'm holding back until the rooms are completely done but we now have a warm, stylish and comfortable place to relax.

We also said a fond farewell to Grulin bothy after 12 wonderful years. Thanks Sophie for letting us be part of this idyllic retreat's history. Good luck with the plans.

You reek ugh!

It's getting on for a quarter of a mile from the house, but it's in A1 condition, water flows into and out of it and finding it has saved hundreds if not four figures. Result! We now have a house with not only a crystal clear water supply from a spring but also a working septic tank. Happy as a pig in muck.

Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday. Don Marquis

Ok ok so it's been a while since I updated things here but, in my defence, I have been very busy since stopping teaching at Easter. So much has changed I think it might be easier for this post to start with some before and after pictures.

                                                                      This

and

have become 

and

and there's now a whole new meaning for "dram of malt with a splash of water"

The water is heated by solar tubes

or a kerosine boiler

and stored in a computer controlled 300 litre heat exchanger

Meanwhile - upstairs - the birds' room 

has become the bedroom

complete with

and in the other room on the top floor, this window

                                                               now looks like this

In addition, there is now a top floor ring main with double sockets and the wiring is in place for the top two floors' lighting circuits.

Doors have been stripped and rehung 

complete with original, restored brass handles

and Do has been busy stripping furniture

and the upstairs sitting room fireplace.

Outside, the water supply has been connected to the house, the drains have been unblocked and the septic tank located and checked. 

The next steps are to finish the tiling in the bathroom, 

connect the lights and complete the top floor lighting spur.

At that point, we'll have somewhere warm (radiators installed and connected in the bathroom and on the top floor) dry (roof is now watertight) and comfortable to be based. The next development will be repairing the roof on the kitchen wing and sorting the kitchen itself out. By next Spring, the aim is to have the Manse functioning as a house-cum-workshop where we can stay any time for as long as we want. 

Watch this space!!!

“I cannot tell a lie, father, you know I cannot tell a lie! I did cut it with my little hatchet.” George Washington aged 6

If you look very closely at  the distant chimney pots, there is a small tree which had rooted itself in the stack.

 

Standing for the first time on the top ridge of the roof - a bit sweaty palmedly - I managed to cut it down "with my little saw" whilst clinging feverishly to one of the chimney pots with the other hand. I then replaced any missing or broken tiles on that half of the main front roof.

 

I then replaced the aluminium side panels to finally make the window watertight !!!

Just the other side to do now

"We've removed the ceiling above our dreams. There are no more impossible dreams." Libby Houston

Which is quite a suitable quotation for what happened to one of the bedrooms on the first floor.

Remember this?

 

Well behind it was this

 

 

  So I needed to repair it. I jacked up the ceiling, cut off the end piece, which was completely rotten, back as far as good wood, and fitted two splints either side of what was left -  bridging to the wall -  and fastened the three pieces of wood together with 4 x 10mm steel bolts. Only one beam was affected and now I have a floor upstairs which is as strong as when it was first fitted.

 

 

 

"I went window shopping today! I bought four windows." Tommy Cooper

Having fitted the first new window on my previous visit, John made quick work of removing the second upstairs window.

BUT...taking off the lath and plaster revealed major rot in the roof timbers where it had been leaking for 20 odd years

 

The floorboards and joists hadn't escaped either.

 

 

So the offending timber was cut back to good wood, a replacement strut fitted and braced with a new section of 6x2.

 

 The rotten floorboards were cut out, damp rubble was scraped from the top of the wall and sound boards refitted. The joist will be repaired from below when the lath and plaster ceiling is taken down (I can't wait!)

 

 To complete the repair to the roof, new support struts were added and tied into the floor and to the replaced timber. The new window and sill were then fitted into position

 

 

 

I'll be treating all the timber, fitting the plasterbooard, framing and insulating the end wall and refitting the wainscotting next week.