Blogs from Perthshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe - page 9

Nothing to do with the diggers and levellers of history and a lot to do with JCBs wielded by a man with artistry in his soul. The digger came back and built up a terrace along the front of the house and then shaped the garden, including building a wall to hold the terrace in place, with a broad path along the bottom of the terrace. Then the hill at the bottom of the garden, which was actually all the top soil from the site was levelled, and spread over the garden. Willy is now digging it over by hand and removing the large boulders which were inadvertently hidden in the topsoil. He's probably overdoing it and is full of aches and pains... everyone say "aah!". ... read more

So its goodbye to 2009 and welcome 2010. Like the rest of the UK the weather has been the main event of late. We haven't had the volumes of snow suffered by most of the UK. In fact since the first snows, a week or so before Christmas, we've escaped with no more than the occasional light shower. The roads between here and civilisation have been kept clear but access to the farmyard has been impossible other than by 4x4. So all other vehicles are left at the road end. We're still without our own car which still in the garage while Peter, the mechanic, tries to source a replacement fuel pump (either reconditioned or from a scappy). Meantime we've the use of an old (N reg) Peugeot 105. Hogmanay was a bit quiet as Tombreck ... read more

So... where was I? Leaving Edinburgh in the afternoon, we jumped on a bus and headed for Pitlochry to meet Sarah, one of my friends from way back in Airlie Beach in 2004. We arrived after an absolutely magical bus ride, the scenery so beautiful with all the reds and yellows of Autumn coating the countryside. Sares was excited to see us, and shovelled us off home to me her parents, Sandra and David. They are such a wonderful family, and live in a beautiful home amongst a bunch of family owned chalet lodgings that they rent out to travellers. It was great to see Sares again, and we stayed up yakking until 1:30am. The next day we had a big tour planned with Sarah behind the wheel of her little Vauxhall Corsa: she was driving ... read more

SLOW ROAD HOME "SCOOTERS KILL CANCER CHARITY ROADTRIP! Supporting the childrens leukaemia charity UK. Hi everyone, well as some of you may know, our roadtrip from John O Groats to Paris, on the 4th of September is nearly here! This roadtrip will be done on 50cc Tamoretti Scooters which were kindly donated to us by Scooter Central UK www.scootercentral.co.uk Good friend Colin Greig will be making the trip with me. been a while since i saw Colin around 18 months so will be great to catch up. The road will be a slow one but a great one! As you know its for a great cause and we have had loads of help and sponsorship from some great people. Please check out our page so you can donate something to the children...........https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/johnogroatstoparisandback Thanks to.... Scooter Central ... read more

These photos show what's under the plaster and available for fixing blinds and curtains to ... read more