Winter 2013-14 - Frustrations!

The Cruel Sea

Several bookings were made with Calmac and various hotels over the winter to enable us to get to Eigg and actually start work on the house. Twice we were thwarted by rough seas and cancelled ferries. On another occasion we couldn't meet up in Dalwhinnie as planned because Do missed the last rail connection following a fatal incident on the line south of Edinburgh. Work commitments, ferry timetables and bad weather put paid to any hopes we had of making it before Easter 2014. We had to content ourselves with daydreaming and looking at the few photos we had.

Meanwhile I busied myself on ebay and other online stores perusing, considering and buying an arsenal of tools and equipment I'd always wanted... and now might end up actually using. Do lost herself in a world of decor and furnishings, frustrated at the amount of time it will take before she can action some amazing ideas she's had. 

October 2013

The Adventure Begins.

Funny how things turn out, some call it coincidence, some call it luck and others serendipity.We just happened to find ourselves in the right place at the right time.

It never came onto the open market and as far as we know nobody knew it was for sale. A friend alerted us, we contacted the vendor and the deal was done and dusted within a month! We became the proud, excited and slightly terrified owners of The Old Manse, Eigg. All three emotions are perhaps best explained by some photos we took on our first visit.

Our very first sighting

The view from an upstairs window

The back of the house

 Inside was a mess

but there were one or two treasures to be found

The magnificent Sgurr in the distance

With so much to do we didn't know where to start. It was going to be a DIY Coyle Construction project and an imperative was to make it wind and watertight. That would involve me going up to do extended work on the roof. However one slight problem was my fear of heights! So not wanting to fall at the first hurdle, I explored the option of hypnotherapy. Although a little sceptical, it was one of a very limited range of options and so I booked some sessions with a professional near to where we live in Aberdeen. My first homework was to climb up a ladder and see how I felt. It was remarkable and after just one more session I could climb the scaffolding we had bought and go onto the roof to repair some broken glass in the rooflights and actually enjoy the views.

The next obstacle was getting there during a stormy and wet winter; more of that in our next entry.