The mainland feels like a dim memory already!
Yesterday morning I went down to the school to drop in my ID for the disclosure (like CRB check) forms. It all seems very slow and I am not in any great hurry to rush things through but I imagine at some point I will finally start my new job – I’ve not even had anything formal in writing offering me the position yet! I ended up staying for a cup of tea and gossip with Fliss and arranged to go in for a morning or two next week so she can start handing over. I know the council won’t pay us both to be there for any length of time so I’d rather it was me being there unpaid getting my head around everything than Fliss coming in for nothing after she’s left to show me how things work. I walked home afterwards, partly to time how long it might take – walking home will always be longer as it’s uphill. It took about 25 minutes, I reckon I could do it in 20 at a real push. As much as possible I will walk there and back but obviously sitting at work soaked if it’s raining in the morning won’t be pleasant. Will also need to keep a pair of indoor type shoes to wear there rather than sit in an office in wellies! Mostly I walked home because I’m very aware I’ve put a bit of weight back on and lost a bit of fitness in the last month or so. Christmas and being ill coupled with just not being outside and out and about as much as in the summer have all played a part but I want to reverse that and get back to being active and outdoors as much as possible.
Ady was burning all the cardboard we’d stacked up from deliveries and mainland packaging when I got back. We had lunch and then Ady collected some firewood while I put away some clothes and finished the last of the unpacking and the kids tidied their rooms and then we all walked down to Fliss and Sandy’s. The same goes for the kids as me above and I am hoping to get them outside every day again and can already see the difference after two days; they seem to come back alive again! We looked at various websites for kit timber frame houses as after some conversations with Corin who we were planning to use Sandy is not confident that he is up to speed enough on the Scottish building standards and in making his spec up to those levels it may well push the price up to a level where it is not so cheap and such a bargain. The plumber Fliss and Sandy used for their loft conversion had recommended someone so we were looking at their website and have been doing some plans to change the spec of their kit homes according to what we want in our house. They do the plans for you to submit for planning permission and then make the kit and send it over for you to assemble. We reckon with Sandy and Karl (from Eigg) as the professional joiners and Ady, Gav (Croft 2) and I as labourers we can get it all up in a fairly short time to a wind and water tight level with internal finishing and stuff done as and when once we’re in.
Scarlett and I walked to Vikki’s to feed Lisa the cat while Ady and Davies headed home to feed our animals. Bonnie is very sorry for herself with her collar on and no exercise to speak of. For a dog who has the run of 20 acres of field and surrounding woodland pretty much all day every day she is finding imposed sedentary life pretty tough. I think she is probably a bit uncomfortable and still a bit confused by the whole mainland trip, operation, being at the vets without us, ferry rides etc. All a bit traumatic for a wee puppy! Scarlett loved playing with Lisa and then we walked home admiring Jupiter which was very bright in the sky and saying tongue twisters.
Ady cooked a curry, using the very last of the Christmas turkey (which had been frozen).
Today Ady and I met the ferry as we had some metal bins arriving – they are for animal feed as rats chewed through both plastic dustbins last week – gits! One for pig feed and one for bird feed. We had moving the pigs on our job list for the next few weeks but I went to check on them and realised their house was pretty muddy and wet so decided as it was a dry day we should do it today. The kids came out to help and Tom and Barbara were just roaming around enjoying some freedom but hanging out close to us while we worked. Margo and Jerry the geese came up too and were very funny hissing and honking at the pigs when they got too close. I think it’s the first time we’ve moved the pigs (this is their fourth area since we got them) that we have not been rained on while doing it. They look very happy in their new space and we now have a big strip of pigged land ready to start putting some raised beds and drainage on to start growing. We set the new bins up next to the pigs as the birds can be fed anywhere. So another task ticked off the list 🙂
We had a very late lunch (nearly 4pm) and then we collected some firewood, I went off to feed Lisa the cat and have a bath at Vikki’s while Ady got the fire going and tidied up. I came home and cooked dinner and we watched the Polar Bear Family on iplayer. Ady and I have been looking at kit house layouts to see which ones would lend themselves well to modifications for the sort of house layout we want. We’re going down to see Sandy tomorrow
afternoon to talk about it all more.
We have a big joblist again with plenty to be getting on with and a good mix of indoor and outdoor stuff to crack on with depending on the weather. It feels good to be back in the swing of things again 🙂