Week Fifty-two

Week beginning 29th May 2023.

At the end of last week, on Friday, we continued cladding the east gable and struggled with the unruly larch. but still managed to get another decent amount done on the southern part of the east gable.

The rest of the weekend involved a trip to Edinbiurgh to see Pete’s mum, who is recovering from a shoulder replacement operation, and a walk with some locals in the hills around our new house.

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This week’s work is going to be limited as there are two funerals to attend, both in Argyll.

It’s Monday and we are getting on with more cladding, this time we are doing more work around the boot room window towards our front door.

We are putting the first piece of larch on a corner of the building, it’s amazing how this just makes the whole building look more substantial.

Today is also the first time we have hung our washing out to dry. When we lived in Portobello we just dried our clothes in the house, it’s so nice to be able to hang them out in the sun and the wind.

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Molly is off to meet her sister, then the two of them are heading off to a family funeral. It’s very sad because now there is hardly anyone left from Molly’s mum’s generation, but then again this is the cycle of life. Look’s like we are fast becoming the senior generation.

While Molly’s away at the funeral Pete is going around checking the taping for the upcoming air pressure test. In particular he is checking the taping around the roof windows and the double trusses.

With that done he is working out how to seal up the holes for the waste pipes and the water and electricity ducts. A bit of special purpose primer on the concrete and some careful taping should do it.

Molly and Ishbel are back so it’s time for food and wine and because the weather is excellent we can eat outside.

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We are both heading off for another family funeral today so we won’t get any work done.

Our son Eddie is arriving tonight so we can make up time with his help tomorrow.

We have been to a few Argyll, rura, funerals and they are very moving but also display the strength of community and family here. Todays funeral was at Kilmodan Church, which is a beautiful setting and is the epitomy of a country church.

Eddie’s bus has been held up and so the driver has to take extra breaks to stay within his allowed driving restrictions so we are going to pick him up.

We’ve just had dinner, a very late dinner, and have opened some wine to celebrate because it is exactly a year since we handed over the keys to our flat in Portobello and began this adventure. Our lives have changed dramatically and there have been some tough times but we don’t regret a thing and that’s worth celebrating!

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With Eddie here to help us today we are going to tackle some of the higher up cladding which involves much longer boards and needs an extra pair of hands.

Pete and Eddie can get on with the shorter boards because two people can easily handle that.

Molly is taping over the holes in the concrete ready for Monday’s pressure test now that the primer is dry.

We are having to do quite a bit of preparation because we are cladding beyond the drip detail and into the area above where the balcony will be. We need to make sure that the cladding doesn’t protrude too low and interfere with the balcony decking. It also has to be slightly above it so there is a gap to allow any rain to run off. So, we have screwed a temporary batten at the correct height to work off.

We are all working together to get the longer pieces measured and cut then poisitioned and nailed into place.

Eddie has been a great help today and we have made good progress. It is really nice for us to have our son here working with us, we all get on so well and it makes it a lot more fun than when it’s just the two of us.

Unfortunately he has to catch the bus back to Edinburgh in the morning but hopefully he has enjoyed helping and will come back to do more.

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It’s Friday and Eddie is on the bus back to Edinburgh, before we can get really started we have a visit from our new neighbours who have bought a croft nearby. They are very friendly and tell us all about their plans for the croft. Looks like they are starting quite an adventure too.

They have gone now and it was so nice to meet them but now we are back to fighting with the larch and getting on with cladding the east gable at ground level.

The weather lately has been great but working in the heat is quite different from our normal Scottish outdoor working experience, it’s much more tiring. Nonetheless, we have done a good chunk of this section of the wall before we have called it a day.

It’s time for an outdoor shower, using our garden hose and standing on a palette. The water isn’t too cold because the sun has warmed the water in the hose pipe and we are feeling clean and refreshed, ready to enjoy the weekend!