Anything goes
Workies
Thursday 20 May, 2010
Dan and Mark, and Ben, who's 15, were at Dalmore today helping John get the furniture out of storage. They fancy themselves as "workies" in the white van but they're more Crane brothers than Mitchell brothers. When they should have been eating rolls on square sausage, Mark was sharing some dried prunes. With a little fork. So Niles!
They did get loads done though. The workshop is now empty, cleaned and secure, so all the furniture is in there. John and Linda have cleaned out the greenhouse and started digging the walled garden, which will be our temporary vegetable garden. John says it's a pleasure to weed - the soil is very light, so I suspect a good dose of organic matter will be required in the autumn. He's got the maincrop potatoes in already.
Commuting
Monday 17 May, 2010
I've been up to Dalmore today, with Lorna, our daughter. She has special needs and will be going to a lovely day centre in Arbroath after she leaves school in June. She got to see her new bedroom - and stairs are a bit of a novelty.
John and Linda have been working away, sorting stuff out - I think they're on first name terms with the guys at the skip site. Until we get the trailer, we're packing the car for every trip, so this morning I brought up the petrol lawnmower and some other bits and pieces.
Our first morning
Saturday 15 May, 2010
Well, at least we'd no cats wakening us with squeakies. Our inflatable mattress had a slow puncture, so about 3am, we wakened lying, effectively, on the floor, but wrapped in rubber and unable to turn over. Still, we were so tired, it didn't really matter. And I have built in padding anyway.
Just as I fell asleep last night, there was a burst of gunfire from the range. It took me a minute to realise that we weren't in Alloa and that there was no need to panic.
Dan and I are going back to Alloa today, so John and Linda will be left to get on with it. Until we get the sheep and hens up, we're really commuters. I'll be up on Tuesday and John and Linda are gettng their furniture out of storage on Thursday, so Dan's coming up then to help. And we'll be back next weekend.
Dalmore
Friday 14 May, 2010
Well, we're finally here. We got the keys today - there was a minor glitch when our mortgage money disappeared into the financial ether rather than into our solicitor's bank account - but we're in! And it's wonderful!
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The house isn't as bad as we thought and it's bigger than we thought, now that it's empty. The previous owner had lots of stuff. I mean lots.
One week to go!
Sunday 9 May, 2010
Well, five and a half days to be accurate. And the tension is rising! And Sunday is project planning day, so we'll be reviewing our to do lists tonight. It all seemed ages away and now it seems to be rushing towards us, headlong.
I'v been sorting out dull but essential things like insurance and electricity, while Dan's been working on the PV and heat pump contractors.
The RHET stuff is pretty busy just now, too - not surprisingly, schools want to visit farms in the better weather, but farmers are busy at silage and a lot of the stock is turned away to far fields, so there's not so much to see in bye.
Two weeks to go!
Friday 30 April, 2010
Two weeks today until we get the keys for our new place - it's getting exciting!
We've bought a bath, to go with the wasbasin and toilet we bought in the January sales. We've ordered the new house sign but it won't be here for the 14th, unfortunately. I've also bought a bell for the yard, so we can be "called" from the fields - I think it's rather smart. And it's very loud!
The application for the building warrant is in and we have the SAP report for the potential suppliers of ground source heat pumps, and updated drawings for the builder and the kitchen supplier. We've decided on quarry tiles for the boot room, kitchen and dining room floors; the three rooms lead from each other, so it should look quite good, as well as being hardwearing and easy to clean.
Maybe really Spring this time
Saturday 10 April, 2010
It has been the most glorious day here today. I don't know what the temperature was but we were working outside in T shirts quite comfortably. The sheep were looking a little hot and the hens were dust and sun bathing.
Because we're not planting up the vegetable garden here this year, we have more time for the flower garden. Normally at this time of year, we're so busy sowing veggies, the weeds take over the flower beds and the paths and we never get caught up. Today we spent a couple of hours weeding and what a difference! It's kind of ironic that for the first time, the flower garden might be as I would want it and we won't be here to see it.
Five weeks to go
Friday 9 April, 2010
Things are moving along here. We should have the first draft drawings of the house alterations this weekend, then we can sort out the insulation and get the SAP rating. Dan's been researching potential installers for the heat pump and the PV system.
I don't think the estate agent's particulars had very accurate room dimensions, from the mutterings of the architect. I know they always put a disclaimer on, and now I know why. We planned to move the bathroom into the smallest bedroom, but it looks like we might have to include part of the original bathroom as well, to give us enough room for a bath and large shower. For cost reasons, we had hoped to avoid this and just keep the former bathroom as a store cupboard but we need a decent sized bathroom.
Project planning
Monday 5 April, 2010
With less than six weeks to go, Dan and I decided we needed something resembling a plan, so last night we sat down with a glass of wine each, a pad, a pen and a laptop to put together our project plan.
I think it has worked quite well although the proof of the pudding etc etc. We now each have a list of things to be done this week. Mine does seem longer than Dan's, but hey ho!
I was getting a tad stressed about "all the things to be done" but when we wrote it down, there were things that can't be done yet anyway. Now they are on the list, I can stop worrying about forgetting them and just do them at the appropriate time.
Seven weeks to go
Sunday 28 March, 2010
until we get entry to our new smallholding. We went for a visit on Wednesday, with the architect, Doug, the builder, Graham and Louise, from the Energy Saving Trust.
The garden is so lovely and has been so loved. We'll give most of it twelve months until we see what's there. The lady we've bought it from will give me a plan of the trees in particular, since some of them are quite rare specimens. She and her late husband were obviously keen and knowledgeable gardeners - I felt a little intimidated!
