A Castle in the Sky

In March 2013, after years of talking about it we eventually sell up and move out of the city with our 2 year old, Gracie. We both grew up in the countryside and this is what we want for our daughter. So we swap a 2 bed flat in London for a small country pile on the west coast of Scotland that needs a lot of work. I've done a bit of interior design and my partner, Ed has a good knowledge of the outdoors – but we're on a tight budget and we've both got a lot to learn. It's a life time's project and this is a record of our adventure…

Category Archives: scotland


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A couple of ‘pretend’ pigs (May 3)

Friends are here so we go up to the farm to feed the lambs.   While we’re there we meet the pigs  (see Oink Oink – Apr 9).  Mr C has never kept pigs before so it appears they have our name on them…or I should say Ed’s name on them.  I’m abrogating all responsibility at this stage.

If they are going to make their way down to us then we’ll need to fence them in and like all animals they’ll take some daily looking after, so we can reconvene on this subject once Ed is back from his trip.

Ed and I have vaguely talked about the possibility; they could clear our brambles, eat our annual surplus of apples from the orchard, and help us get started on turning the paddock into a meadow.  All sounds very idyllic but then comes the difficult bit; as once this is all done, at the end of the year they would then provide both us and Mr C with a freezer full of meat…

The prospect of slaughtering animals is something I’ve thought about over the years – I’ve wondered how I would react if I had to do any killing myself or get nearer to it.   I’ve watched lambs in the fields here skipping about this spring and for some reason I’m more aware than ever of where they are headed.    I suppose the practicalities of country living are more apparent once you’ re living it instead of just day-dreaming about it.

I’m not suggesting that I should do the actual deed  (there are clearly those better qualified) but rearing and eating our own at least feels like a step in a more responsible direction.  Having said that chickens might have been an easier way to start…

Gracie meanwhile has independently come to the conclusion that the meat we eat is ‘pretend’.  So faced with a chicken dinner she’s liable to say “It’s not real chicken though is it mummy, just pretend chicken?”   We are going along with this for now as she’s only 3 and I figure this particular horror can wait.  However, I’ve been told that when it comes to it young children are very matter of fact about the slaughtering of animals that are home-reared…as long as we don’t give them pet names.  So ‘the pigs’ it is.

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Signs of spring (Apr 27)

The swallows are back.   Gracie and I see one sitting on the telephone wire outside the kitchen. Last spring we discovered one of their nests in a corner of the ceiling above the wood store.

Just as the flowers take turns to bloom, the return of the swallows marks the change in the season.    There’s something very reassuring about experiencing life this way – and it’s also a little poignant.

As I re-learn the names of leaves and flowers and birds, Gracie is learning too – and as she gets older all this knowledge will become second nature.   This is something we’d hoped for when we  imagined a life in the country.   The swallows’ return is a sign that we are settling in.


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Sledgehammer happy (Mar 4)

We are re re-jigging our plans.  The old wing – which we intend to turn into a holiday let – was next on our list to do up, but we’re now planning to put any spare cash into the main house kitchen instead.

We’ve realised how important it is to feel enthusiastic about each bit of the refurb’ and getting the kitchen done is an exciting prospect as it’s going to make a huge difference to living here.

It’s a big job but as Ed’s no time waster I came home this evening to a surprise….

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We think there could be an old bread oven on the left as there’s a different section of bricks there.    It’s very deep to the back wall – a good few feet, which means we’ll likely be able to build in an inglenook seat as well as putting in a burner.     The stone lintel is sitting on what looks like an iron shelf – we’re not sure why…  it could be holding up that whole wall!

So we’re off.   We still need to work out what to do with the flagstone floor (see My first mistake – Apr 25)  – and this is further complicated by the fact that we’d like underfloor heating if we can; the flags are sitting on earth which will need excavating and they’re also very thick.

We’ve a plumber and an electrician lined up from the work we’ve done before – but now the search is on for that holy grail of renovation; we need to find a good builder.

 


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The drip drip effect (Feb 13)

We knew it was wet here on the wet west coast but even Mr C says he’s never known anything like it and he’s lived here all his life.  It must have rained for at least 100 days and every day more rain is forecast.

It’s creating a few issues – firstly the drive.   We can’t fill in the potholes as the road planings get washed away as soon as we lay them in.    Ed did the drive just before Christmas but a couple of weeks later it was like it had never been done.    We’ve been waiting ever since for a dry-spell but it’s never arrived…

Secondly the gardens – it’s almost impossible to do anything outside.   We were listening to Gardener’s Question Time on the radio recently (this is what happens when you move to the country) and they were discussing how “soothing” gardening is.   Ed laughed – clearly they’ve never had to garden in Scotland.   And the impact on our almost moss-free lawn doesn’t bear thinking about after all that hard work last summer….

The third problem is inside.    Water is dripping into some of the bedrooms from above the windows.   We’ve put this down to holes in the pointing above the lintels outside.     We had someone give us a rough assessment of all the pointing from ground level when we first moved in and they estimated around 60% was in tact.  It appears we’ve located the other 40.    Resolving this is a big job as most of the windows are very high up so the builders will need a lot of scaffolding and scaff’ is expensive…

We weren’t so naive when we bought the house to think that maintenance wouldn’t be a big issue here; the roof, the drive, the walls, the land – it all needs looking after and we expected there’d be some big expenses.   The extended rain’s just given us a crash course in what our priorities should be.    So our plan is to try and set aside a pot of cash every year to do 1 big maintenance job – and it looks like this coming year it will have to be the pointing.

It actually feels quite satisfying uncovering these problems and putting plans in place to resolve them despite all the effort and expense (apart from the lawn, which I fear may be a losing battle  – although Ed is ever optimistic).  It feels good to be investing in the house, that we are learning how to live here and that everything is slowly being repaired.    And given that our initial aim was to be warm and water-tight, we’re already half way there.


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You rang…. (Jan 6)

This being Scotland, we have a storm door and an inner door.  All very useful given the weather.   However the only bell for the house is a buzzer between the two.   So since we moved in, we’ve been living with a bit of scruffy paper pinned to the front door that alerts all visitors to this rather unsatisfactory arrangement.  

Today at last we dispensed with the buzzer (and the paper) and replaced with a much more seemly antique servants bell inside and a new brass bell pull on the outside wall.

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The brass handle of the bell pull is lovely to use –  heavy and sleek  – and as it smoothly slides back into place a satisfying tinkling follows.   We soon discovered though that a ‘tinkling’ isn’t going to stir many souls inside. On that front I’m afraid the electronic buzzer wins hands down.    So now we need to find a larger bell or … hire a butler!


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The most important room in the house… (Dec 10)

Since moving in our main priority has been to get the heating sorted.  Now that’s done we intend to do up the house room by room.   To keep our priorities in order we’re starting with the wine cellar…

This lovely old room sits in the centre of the house on the ground floor behind a lockable door (the key was still in the lock).   Stepping inside looks, and no doubt smells like it would have done when this side of the house was first built.   It’s been unused and unloved for many years and apart from some annoying pipework seemingly untouched since 1832.  The ceiling is around 15 feet high and 6 massive concrete shelves divided by red brick make up 16 different bins  – each identified by a hand-painted number.    But the pipework’s been a problem – it makes the cellar defunct when the heating’s on.  So while the plumbers were here we asked them to re-route what they could and insulate the rest.

It’s Ed’s project and since the pipework’s been sorted he’s been working on it in the evenings with the door closed.   Tonight all was revealed and it’s a glory to behold, with a new door frame, light, light switch and key tassel!   And as some of our roof slates came off in a big storm last week, he’s recycled them to use for chalking up bin notes…

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I might add at this juncture that fixing the roof is also on our list of priorities but sadly this is going to have to wait as 1. we can’t afford it and 2. our roofer fell off his ladder while he was fixing a gutter here a couple of months ago (he’s going to be fine but that’s a whole other blog entry).

Ed’s been testing the temperature of each bin with an old wine thermometer.   The ideal is surprisingly between 12 and 16 degrees – and  it’s consistency that matters – so each bin can be different.   Luckily the pipe issue appears to be resolved.  Now all we need to do is work out a way to stack the bottles – that and spend the next 20 years buying wine…

We stood in there with the door closed for quite a while this evening – and smiled a lot.   Our first modest but rather beautiful make-over.  It’s a luxurious self-indulgence but I think it’s fair to say that a house like this wouldn’t be complete without it.