"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