Willy temps as a zookeeper

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With the occupants of the Farmhouse and the Manse away, Willy was looking after 3 cats, two dogs and 4 ducks. The ducks see him as a dangerous intruder and run away from him, which makes it difficult to get them back into their duck house at night.

Meanwhile back on the building site, they finished the west gable cladding - apart from the cills which were to be delivered at the end of the week, only Rembrand's lorry broke down at Kenmore, so window cills didn't happen.

There was also a tiny wee bit of cladding on the south wall, which was completed, with the end timber beautifully shaped to fit in with the plaster.

Meanwhile, back in civilisation, I've been doing a project plan for Phase 2, which Willy will pull to pieces over the weekend and then I can rewrite.

To be honest there's been a bit of end-of-term feel about this week, as I'm now on holiday for a fortnight and we're having a weekend at home - doing ordinary stuff.

View from the other side.

The week has been a bit flat somehow. The emphasis, for so long, has been on getting weathertight and now we're pretty well there. However though quiet, the week wasn't without its social occasion(s), a quiet (should that be quite?) civilised night at the Lawers Hotel to celebrate Marieke's birthday and a fire behind North Steading to celebrate the fact there was wood to burn and beer to drink (I guess).

Friday I moved out of manse (thanks to Dolan and KT). It was a beautiful morning so took Pebbles and Coolie walk up the hill and along the hydro track. However, before we got too far, the clouds rolled in and we retreated from the apparently inmminent rainfall. I went back, tidied up the house then went home for a long weekend.

Willy has just used his power screwdriver, the pocketful of screws that he now carries round plus his recently acquired proficiency in the use of both these items to re-hang our garage door so that it opens smoothly. It's been about 6 months since that happened!!

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Photos

Cladding
Willy is very proiud of this little bit of cladding

Cladding detail
Even wood can be curvy

View from the living room
A year from now we'll be able to sit looking out at this view with our morning coffee - such things are dreams made of

View from the east
This is the first view you get of the house as you come down the track

From up the hill
you can see the house from quite a way up the hill - it must have looked vile when it was just the green membrane on show on the roof