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Bluegrass, plumbing and fishing.
The new utility room, nee study, was my first ever attempt at plumbing and apart from the cold water inlet coming unstuck and soaking my desk (the plumbing crosses the gun room / now study next door) it’s all good. This coming week Im at last closing in on the kitchen and putting up pictures.
The big bed is amazing unless you fall out of it, some of the old beds were pretty medieval but I have restored and lengthened 3 rusty Victorian iron bedsteads bought for peanuts from a derelict house and bought a beautiful Victorian mahogany double from a dealer. We are entering an age of comfort. Not much in the way of heating but comfy beds.
Passed a very relaxed weekend fishing. Spring is here. The snow is supposed to still be excellent so, progress permitting, I will dig out some suitably unsuitable tweed and hit the slopes.
The bed.
We got caught rummaging through peoples attics, subscribed to some auction catalogues and spoke to the odd dealer but nobody would charitably donate a second spectacular bed. So, if you cant afford it, make it. I took 2 days off from decorating and got going, using, amongst other junk, joists and the floor from a house that had been pulled apart and a hand rail from the OT department in Aviemore.
One half tester bed, looks a bit tudor, not at all small, total cost £19 (couldnt find anything for the slats). Shown here before the considerable effort of getting it upstairs.
Decorate a new life in the country…
Its short, its silly and it is part of an experiment whereby i try to prove that adding folk or bluegrass makes anything exciting. In this case, decorating. Plumbing to follow. Thanks again to Tired for 2 weeks of his time in exchange for nowt but beer.
The Pig.
Pippa and Gus asked if we want in on a pig. It must be coming from someone with a thick accent because the process of ordering left a few details unclear. These include;
Is it alive?
What sort of pig is it? A small, cute, babe sort of piglet or a mahoosive perma hungry tusked sausage monster?
If it is alive are we expected to ride it / make friends with it / feed it up and have to kill it?
Is it dead?
If its dead is it in pieces?
If it is dead and huge, how on earth do we cook it?
How do you make parma ham?
Spring time.
The paint samples in the library turned out a totally different colour from the real paint so I have to go back and redo it. It has become a mix of modern furniture and Edwardian joinery and I’m intrigued to see how it turns out.
On the lawn this morning were two roe deer, its unusual to see them calmly grazing mid morning and it goes to show what an unstalking estate we have become. The place is also teaming with relaxed pheasants and my second attempt at fishing (admittedly i didnt try very hard) also went unrewarded. The wildlife is winning.
The first tentative bookings are coming in, we cant confirm anything yet but thats very encouraging… Thanks to everyone spreading the good word!!
Easter saturday
The plan is to restore this rusty Toyota Landcruiser and give it some Inshriach branding and maybe a V8, but, in the meantime, between decorating, Tired and I made another film….
Progress
The Gun Room is now the office, sage green, and Im enjoying carving up the study to fit the washing machine, dryer, a sink and the deep freeze. It makes a welcome change from decorating.
I will post post a video of this operation and if i really mess up the plumbing it stands a chance of being quite entertaining.
Cheap tools and mad hounds
An antique cupboard door and some recycled floor boards are now an Edwardian looking bath panel so the existing bathrooms are properly finished and between cursing my cheap jigsaw I can start thinking about the next two. Gus and I recovered a cast iron bath from a house being refitted in Feshiebridge which will look great in bathroom 4, now christened the Housemaids bathroom (‘Housemaids Pantry’ is written under the shelves in swirly Edwardian writing). The rest we need to find.
Im doing the gunroom / office transition and there are deep claw marks in the plaster, the door frames have been knawed and there is matted dog hair in the splinters. What kind of hound lived here. Hmmmmm.
Professional opinions versus false sense of security
Antony from Scotts Castle holidays came by today and he took a very pragmatic look around the house before offering his advice.
Move the office to the gun room, which wants redecorating. Move the washing machines to the office, which has already been decorated, put in a sink. Replace the dining room with a bedroom with 2 x 4 foot doubles and move the dining room to the hall, find or make a table for 18. Take Uncle Arthur’s bedroom and stick a bath in it. Turn the old laundry room in the servants quarters into a bathroom.
He is right on all of the above and we had kind of been ignoring it, flushed with pride at finishing the bedrooms and the existing bathrooms.
So the new Inshriach, a little delayed but soon available to rent, probably with 18 beds, 5 bathrooms, and if anyone fancies helping me out over the next 3 weeks I will love them for ever.
Bring on some real coffee and break out the sugar soap.
900 photos, 36 hours, a lot of nuts.
I promised back in January to post a video of the birdfeeder outside our kitchen window and its finally here. Thanks to Charlie McKerron for letting me lift the music from the latest Session A9 album, Bottlenecks and Armbreakers, which he recorded here last year.
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