Tag: gigha

Renovation reality

I explained to one of my Instagram friends that I had taken the ‘nuclear option’ of resigning from the desk job, to which he replied of his admiration for my actions. It is a scary step because in my life as a project manager I have always had to balance budget, time and quality; I am too short on time which is how I have come to the decision to resign, but that immediately exposes the budget with no cash coming in. Every action has a consequence and this one certainly has a degree of risk attached, but one I also need for my mental and physical well being.

So now to hopefully catalyse the work we have started – that’s the plan at least. The reality is that to date whenever we have cut back the garden over a weekend we have returned later to find that nature has once again surpassed our efforts. I know from the weekend that in clearing a space for the shepherds hut, something Dan & Karen had already worked hard on the two previous weekends, that it takes a toll on someone who is not accustomed to physical exertion. That will improve though.

In theory this is the view from the hut back to the Old Manse
Much of the weekend consumed by burning trees, bracken and brambles previously felled. Now a clear view to the back wall.

We are taking friends to see the Old Manse who know they have a weekend of work in store. The plan will be to further make good the photographed area above and lay the foundations for the shepherd’s hut. Landscaping fabric and a redeployment of hardcore from the building will mean a significant amount of manual labour!

I should also mention the progress in taking the render from the building and the decision to point, as opposed to re-render, what we have found. As a compromise, if budget doesn’t allow us to leave stonework fully pointed, the back of the house may have to be treated differently. My second reality check came when trying to ascend the scaffolding for closer inspection of render, legs went to jelly on the second ladder up reminding me of my fear of heights. Something in the future I need to cure or find a way round if the building is going to require ad-hoc maintenance above the ground floor.

The view from the drive to see the changing face of the Old Manse
Approximately the spot where vertigo struck, but proof that I got that far taking the picture below.
View from the second floor of scaffolding

The final piece that I write for anyone thinking about a similar renovation, is be prepared to live in a building site for a significant period of time. We have collapsed our living to one floor in the Old Manse and largely to one room accommodating bed, living and kitchen space. We have the benefit now of a working shower and toilet so not without these essentials, and whilst in the throws of summer, the barbecue provides respite from using local eateries or sandwiches. No heating in the foreseeable future, luxury it is not. We still struggle to harvest a good Wi-Fi connection and with no TV aerial, entertainment is limited. In fact it is a pack of playing cards.

Back to basics

All of that said I couldn’t be happier with our lot. We found the garden producing some lovely blooms without any tending from ourselves that the bees will love when they get here. Karen and I took a stroll up to the ‘Witches Chair’, the highest point on the property we own to take in the view, and a couple of beers, on Saturday evening and I couldn’t imagine a more tranquil spot. I am really looking forward to spending more time on the island and hopefully seeing the progress that we both crave so we can share moments like this more often. After more than a year of lockdown to various degrees this is certainly a fillip to my mental well being.

Atop the Witches Chair

Return from Render

I’ve written a couple of posts already about the want to have the Old Manse wind and watertight this summer. I have also written on the ambition to restore the look of the building to its original stone form, render-less if you will. Well we are getting down to the crux of the issue with much of the render now removed in the last week, we are getting a much clearer picture into whether or not this will be possible.

I think the gable end as presented above looks a lot better without the uniform render and we now have planned a power-wash and a test of pointing early next week. All of which I am leaving in the capable hands of Michael Ross Roofing. Of course there are patches that look better than others for those who are interested there are more images below, but I’m acutely aware that this is about as interesting as watching paint dry for anyone not directly involved (unless you have a strange fetish for stone).

There is still the question of disposal of the removed concrete but for that we have a cunning plan. The shepherd’s hut needs a base built and rather than order hard-core to be brought in we think we can use an amount of the stripped render in the construction of a hard-standing. Perhaps this will only take a small amount but as the shepherd’s hut is a blueprint for future ventures and storage on the Old Manse’s land is plentiful, this does not present an issue. What may be an issue is the back-breaking work to move it!

What a shower

This story start’s at a point on Friday, a point where I had decided not to travel to the new home at the weekend as I was collecting the shepherd’s hut mid-week. We agreed with the roofer that it would not be right to ask him to stay at the house without a shower to allow him to rid himself of the dirt and dust associated with removing render. A call was put out to a local plumber who was able and willing to travel to the Island on Saturday, but only Saturday, so plans changed.

Karen and I hotfooted to Gigha on Saturday with a new shower to meet the plumber. Installation took place only to find that the problem was less of a plumbing issue but more of an electrical one. To a layman like me the circuit to the shower wasn’t meaty enough to both expel water and heat it (voltage drops were mentioned but I won’t pretend I understand). Fortunately for us a twin room was available at the local hotel meaning the roofer and his plus one didn’t need to be delayed, although it did mean further cost in the budget but no matter.

Fast forward to today where I sit at my desk anticipating a calm morning. The work party that went to Gigha on Sunday were reporting good progress. Son, amidst the wasteland that we nominally call the vegetable garden, had uncovered an abandoned trailer. A makeshift connection was made to the tractor / mower and hey-presto a means of cargoing heavy items around the patch established (extremely useful for the deliveries of shepherd’s hut and beehive I mentally note). Dan even had time to ascend to a position of good signal to send me the above and below pictures.

And then at approximately 11am came the call. Work having started on removal of render had hit a glitch. The same electrical problem effecting the shower was causing the supply to trip with the heavy machinery being used to do the job.

Here I have to complement my wife & son & partner for resourcefulness. Almost as soon as the call had ended I received a text to say she was on the ferry to pick up a generator, capably organised by a phone call by son 10 minutes before. I’m yet to hear whether collection was successful as I write this paragraph but will now pause the draft until further reports are received. Island life and the challenges it throws up make life both interesting and expensive!

Update: all is well and progressing. The search party that was dispatched from the Island found and brought back the generator, which now has the roofer working at full power.

All is well again.
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