Blogs from Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 2

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Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Perthshire » Aberfeldy August 8th 2009

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
Living room
New kitchen table
Ben More and Stobinian from Tombreck beach

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Perthshire » Aberfeldy July 12th 2009

These photos show what's under the plaster and available for fixing blinds and curtains to ... read more
More west gable
even more west gable
back bedroom

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Perthshire » Aberfeldy July 5th 2009

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
This is a window cill
Kitchen window cills
Freezer

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Perthshire » Aberfeldy June 29th 2009

A mark to anyone who recognised the Shakespeare quotation in the title: another mark to anyone who knows which play it's from. I've mis-used it a bit - the actual phrase is "And then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel, and shining morning face, creeping like snail unwillingly to school". Progress on the house is creeping like snail. Most of the tasks that are left are fairly small and don't make that big a difference. I touched up some damaged paintwork on a window frame and although it did look better, it's not like the big "Wow" that we got when we achieved something like getting all the windows in in the first place. Progress continues though - Ewan's been busy while Willy had a week off to recover from his birthday and to try out ... read more
Meter cupboard - sanded and oiled
Window opener
Balcony with rails

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Perthshire » Aberfeldy June 25th 2009

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
Getting ready for the hungry hordes
Living room before the hordes arrived
Tuning up

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Perthshire » Aberfeldy June 17th 2009

While I was at work last week , the lip at the front of the house resulting from not pouring the screed deep enough was dealt with. One part has a slope and the other has a very nice edging board in Douglas Fir, which I sanded on Saturday morning. Window cills have been cut and shaped, though only two have been fitted and the wall lights have been mostly connected up. Ewan's made a wardrobe door, which matches the bedroom ceiling and looks fantastic. So far this week, we've started to tile the kitchen splashback and the splashback behind the kitchen sink and grouted the utility room tiles and the floor tiles beside the French doors.There's loads more tiling to go though. Ewan's made chunky Douglas Fir boxes for the living room wall and another ... read more
Nest
Utility room
Kitchen - partly tiled

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Perthshire » Aberfeldy June 3rd 2009

After another week of painting, oiling and sanding, Ben arrived on Thursday and helped Ewan finish the ceiling in our bedroom. Ewan was off to the Outer Isles for a week so I headed down the road to help Wendy to subdue the garden and get it back to its more cultivated and comfortable best. After a week of TV and comfort, we went back to the new house for the weekend and brushed various finishing treatments onto various surfaces. Cara and June visited on Friday, so we had a restful evening, but the rest of the weekend was busy. The internal kitchen wall was painted yellow and the external walls were re-lime-washed to freshen them up after 6 months of building grime. The internal living room wallls were painted green and the external wall also ... read more
Millie the horse
Completing the bedroom ceiling
The last board goes in

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Perthshire » Aberfeldy May 26th 2009

Another week or at least part week - the blog seems to be running behind the reality but who knows what is really real? Anyway picked Wendy up on Thursday from Callander and returned to find Douglas continuing with the electronics to control the heating systems (Dunsley the makers of our stove seem to be unable or unwilling to answer straight quiestions and seem to be intent in over complicating things (they have added a gas/oil burner to our system which simply doesn't exist). Anyway I'm sure things will get sorted eventually. Note from Wendy... I do not actually recall Douglas being in the house when I arrived, but perhaps my short term memory is failing me. Thursday evening and Friday morning, we tidied up in readiness for my Dad, brothers (Stuart and Roger) and sisters-in-law ... read more
View to west from living room window
Wendy mopping kitchen floor
All the colours of spring

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Perthshire » Aberfeldy May 20th 2009

Balcon d'Europe is, I think, in Nerja, South of Malaga, in the South of Spain. Yes I was right, a quick google tells me that: "The Balcony of Europe is the major landmarks of Nerja - a superb, palm-lined promenade that runs along a towering cliff. Views from here are simply stunning. The Promenade is lined with cafés and restaurants and in the summer is home to a multitude of artists, vendors and street musicians. It was made famous by King Alfonso XII (1857 - 1885) and his statue can be found at the far end" Well, our balcony cannot quite match that, though it does have very nice views and the eaves shelter you from the wind - except for the prevailing wind. It isn't quite finished yet, but it'll be ace once it's ... read more
West gable
View from the end
Balcony again

Europe » United Kingdom » Scotland » Perthshire » Aberfeldy May 10th 2009

Well the house wasn't quite finished but with not too much imagination it was partyable. (well - it had its first party when it was just an empty site without so much as the slab, so a house with functional plumbing, cooker and fridge was more than adequate for the occasion). Anyway to our tale, Wendy and I went back up the road on Monday after visiting many DIY outlets over the weekend in search of tiles for the kitchen, utility room and both bathrooms, (as well as a visit to Glasgow to see Bob Dylan). We had a day priming doors and Tom and his dad Big Tam, came to connect the solar panels to the rest of the heating system. On Tuesday, Ewan returned from Holland and Jonny from Dundee. Jonny continued with the ... read more
Jonny at the top of the stairs
Limewashing the stairwell
starship enterprise controls




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