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

This week was a "wow" week - Keith finished putting in the window cills and suddenly the house has taken a further leap from building site to house. The matter of colour schemes is getting out of hand, as we don't like the same colours, and now have about 7 different samples on the wall of the wee back bedroom - and we've rejected all of them. We have almost finished the bathroom - have a look at the pohoto, which cunningly disguises the fact that we only had a sample pot of the burgundy paint on the wall above the bath and that we ran out of tiles just beyond the washbasin. So there's a bit of tiling and a bit of painting to do - then we have one room totallly finished. Willy's been ... read more

Everything was gearing up for Tombreck's mid-summer bash Wendy and I (assisted as ever by Ewan) were rushing around trying to finish bits and bobs - tiling, painting, sanding, lime-washing and in between we managed to get back down to Linlithgow and pick up a hire van to bring up a few more bits of furniture (including a couch and futon). It was a bit hectic but we more or less got there by Friday evening when Rob (one of our first woofers) arrived with a friend Gudrun followed shortly thereafter by John Lyle. We all ended up at the farmhouse till the sma hours - not the best preparation for an all night party the following night (at least not when you're over 60! Saturday Wendy was up at the crack of dawn (not quite ... read more

The new house has reached a stage where it has all the necessary facilities and is comfortable to live in. In a couple of months, the floors will be sanded and sealed and then we can move our furniture. At that point, there will be no excuse for keeping the old house and it'll have to go. So if you know of anyone who wants a house that meets the following description, ask them to get in touch. It’s a brick-built ex-shale miner’s mid-terraced cottage built about 100 years ago, with a first floor attic conversion, which has fairly ugly dormer windows at roof level. It’s about half-way between Linlithgow and Kirkliston on a main bus route between Edinburgh, Linlithgow, Falkirk & Stirling, is well located for J2 of the M9 to Stirling and is surrounded ... read more