A Guid New Year to all our readers

---

Firstly we hope you have all recovered from your Christmas celebrations and wish you and yours a healthy and prosperous new year.
Last blog didn't mention that the first fit electrics is now done - thanks Douglas & Robert.

We're still looking for suggestions as to what to do with the gaps in the bedroom walls. Does anyone know of any good stained glass courses? The gaps are approx 2 metres vertically and at their max maybe a metre wide (see previous blogs for photos).

But to our tale

Ae market nicht Tam had got planted unco richt,
Fast by an ingle bleazing finely
Wi' reaming swats that drank divinely

Oops sorry wrong tale ..... though quite appropriate at this time of year. (For our English readers, the verse is a tiny bit of a very, very long poem called Tam O'Shanter by Robert Burns, who is Scotland's national poet and it's his birthday on 25th January. In Scotland people eat a special meal of haggis, mashed potatoes and turnips to celebrate Burn's birthday, but they don't have birthday cake. The poem Tam O Shanter is all about witches and ghosts and is quite exciting to read).

Firstly most of this edition's photos are technical so my apologies for the lack of artistic merit in most of them.

So far so good, my shoulder seems to have recovered over the Christmas and New Year break. Although I am sufferring from a bad cold, as seem to be half the population including Wendy, its latest victim.

Back on site Monday to help Ewan complete preparation for pouring the screed. For those of you interested in the technical side this involved covering the floor in black plastic, followed by 120mm of foam insulation blocks, followed by more plastic this being taped to the walls to form a large basin for the screed to flow into.

All went well and today (Weds) the guys from Glenalmond Ltd arrived and by this afternoon we had a floor, although a very wet sloppy one. The screed has the consistency of single cream but being the colour of wet cement I for one wouldn't want it poured over my pudding. It doesn't actually get poured - it's pumped through a hosepipe.

It takes at least 48 hrs to set so I'm back home for more well deserved R&R. But so far so good. Another step towards completion.

---

Photos

Insulation
if your interested or even if you aren't

More insulation
Once the insulating foam was laid it was all covered with plastic (to stop the wet cement screed from leaking away)

The cement lorry arrives
After the team had set the levels they then phoned to tell the driver how much screed they actually needed to avoid waste

Tamping it
To ensure no air bubbles

Almost finished
It took less than half an hour to actually pour the screed

Comments

[Lorraine]

smooooooooooth
If only my builders had known about the consistency of single cream I might have got a level floor. My guys (aka the cowboys) used the consistancy of lumpy rice pudding.