Willy Wendy

Well midsummer has come and gone - for once the weather held up and so lots of people came. There was music, fires, food and drink etc and I think a good night was had by all, including the bunch of young German lads who'd heard about it in Killin and came along to investigate. They seemed to get into the swi(n)g of things and had a night to remember. Meantime work progresses outside. The main patio is finished, we've had lettuce, huge cabbages and lots of potatoes from the garden and have planted flowers round the patio/terrace and some hedging, which the horses have tried to eat. Very few words to cover hours of labour digging over the garden and removing literally tons of stone/rock and countless dockens, nettles, thistles buttercups, couch grass etc. We ... read more

Nothing to do with the diggers and levellers of history and a lot to do with JCBs wielded by a man with artistry in his soul. The digger came back and built up a terrace along the front of the house and then shaped the garden, including building a wall to hold the terrace in place, with a broad path along the bottom of the terrace. Then the hill at the bottom of the garden, which was actually all the top soil from the site was levelled, and spread over the garden. Willy is now digging it over by hand and removing the large boulders which were inadvertently hidden in the topsoil. He's probably overdoing it and is full of aches and pains... everyone say "aah!". ... read more

Some pictures of heating controls and some labels that seem to be mis-matched... read more

We're well into our first winter in the straw bail house (or at least I hope we're well into winter as Spring seems far away). So far so good, although the huge expanse of space in the centre of the house seems to take a lot of heating. Really we're just taking this opportunity to say Merry Christmas, wish you all the best for 2010, post some more photos and say thanks again. The house has turned into a warm, welcoming home and we couldn't have done it without you. If you are in the area do drop in. Merry Christmas and a Guid New Year from Willy and Wendy... read more

We've now come more or less to the end of the build. Several quotations come to mind but I'll restrict myself to - "what a long strange trip it's been". We started this a long time ago, seems like another lifetime and at last the end of the tunnel is definitely there. We had another housewarming come Golden Wedding celebration for Wendy's parents (plus family and a few friends (27 in all)) last weekend, the house again proving a pleasant venue for social soirees. The house itself is now down to finishing touches - painting and tiling, selection of fittings (spent an hour yesterday looking at curtains). I've added a few photos but this is really to thank everyone involved - without your help we wouldn't have got there,... read more