Fires, flues and floors

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As the stove arrived on Monday we had planned fitting the chimney but the manufacturers had got the parts wrong and it took till Thursday to sort out what was needed. This meant a trip to Leith to pick them up.

I then spent most of the week slapping plaster on to the remaining downstairs walls - the plan/idea was that it would give a rustic effect. You can decide for yourselves when you eventually see it. I'm waiting to see how it will look once limewashed but am reasonably hopeful of the results.

Meanwhile Ewan boxed out the shower room downstairs in readiness for Ronnie the plumber returning in 2 or 3 weeks.

Quiet week apart from latenight with Tober on the Weds with a cheeky little Spanish red (Co-op special £2.99)


After pleasant weekend down hope (incl usual trip round builders' merchants (note correct use of apostrophe) it was back up to Tombreck. Monday was a slow day more limewashing followed by quiet night in the farmhouse. More snow above road, spoke to plumber in the evening, he's having trouble sourcing a bath, so going looking for sinks and a bath at the weekend.

Weds Gorgeous sunny moning with lots of fresh snow above the road. We decided to try fitting dwangs between wooden pillars and lime wall and then with the aid of 2 beautifully sculpted pieces of plasterboard, some sheeps wool, (does "sheeps" need an apostrophe and if so where... one for pedants everywhere) a dozen screws - voila! the room between the main bedroom and little bedroom is ready for plastering - only really the ceilings to plasterboard. Finished early and took all 4 dogs for walk down to the loch, came on snow, really a winter wonderland, watching Thumper try to catch the bigger snow flakes.

Thurs heavy snowfall in the morning however Steve & Jonny made it down from Montrose, to measure up for staircase (should be ready for installation by end of April). First time Steve had seen the house since August when he was down with his Poles to fit the windows. . Ewan and I fitted the flue, so ready for both the plumber (Ronnie) and the roofer (Ally) to return and do their bits, hopefully by the end of the month.

editor's note (I can do apostrophes too): Willy is so hopeful about timescales and schedules...and so disappointed when it doesn't happen the way he's planned. I think it's much better to go with the flow and accept that things will get done when they get done. It's almost like we've swapped personalities..

No pictures for this week, you'll have to wait till the next thrilling installment ..

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Photos

Stove
Yes it's a stove... you'll see several pitures of it in this episode

Rustic finish
Willy has been doing the top coat of plaster in rustic style to make the finish on the internal walls look like that on the external walls

Entrance Hall
This looks really cool

before and after
shows the difference between the plasterboard and the top coat