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| Autumn 2011 The autumn season has been very pleasant, with decent weather for most of the time and long days to work / enjoy. Work on the borehole water supply is progressing slowly as we elected to renew all of the water system outside of the house and cottages, rather than to simply bolt-on the new supply to existing pipes. That turned out to be a good idea, as we discovered that much of the pipework was of substandard quality – 22mm copper buried less than 0.5m at the rear of the house, for example. We have a construction company undertaking the work so at least that leaves us free to get on with other things.
The Steadings are now painted and with the new stone in the car park they do look rather splendid. It does, however, show how much the house needs to be repainted. A number of our friends came to stay and with many hands we were able to get on with a little pruning (see picture).  That particular “twig” weighed in at just under 2 tons. We left it propped on a couple of logs so that we can turn it into a lintel for the boathouse; chainsaws at the ready! However, that will now have to wait.
Given the number of extra hands, we decided that farm machinery could also be fun. Telehandlers and excavators are, after all, quite heavy and they make excellent posts from which to run a zip wire. After a few turns, the potential for injury became apparent and we decided that this should be a temporary feature, and one best dismantled before someone actually managed to hurt themselves. We moved down to the loch side for a well-earned evening around the fire – cooking, drinking, swimming and canoeing. It has been said that smoke from a fire keeps the Scottish Midge at bay – ours must have gas-masks as they were not in the slightest bit put off. Still, our reliance on a well-known brand of moisturiser that leaves your skin so soft (no advertising allowed on this site) proved again to be up to the job, and we handed the bottle around to anyone not yet coated. After our friends departed things seemed a little quite. I am not complaining; sitting outside the front of our house writing this I have a glass of chilled Chablis on the table, the sun is setting behind the mountains and the silence is broken only by the occasional bellowing of a Stag. What a way to work fro home. Summer 2011 Summer weather was not so kind after all; it seems that May was the warmest month for 2011. However, not too much rain and so we were able to get on with many of the jobs which were still outstanding. Painting, roof work and fencing are a constant on any farm. But this year we have promised ourselves respite from the annual battle with our private water supply. We have decided to join forces with two other families in the glen and hire a company to drill (one for each family) a bore hole to extract water. This way we can split the cost of relocating the drill rig to the Western Highlands, a major part of the cost. Others that have taken this route have enjoyed mixed fortunes – in terms of the number of attempts to find water and the depth to which they have had to drill. Obviously, the charge per meter drilled continues to rack-up whether or not the attempt is successful. When the rig arrived, it took several hours to unload  and locate to the first site (not ours). The first site is some 50m lower than where we were intending to drill, in amongst the trees closer to the loch, and drilling began at 9am the following day. The intention was to drill up to 75m through solid rock to find water; by 12 noon the drill had passed 80m without success and after lunch the intention was to go to 100m and, if no water, reassess the location. 100m came (and went), and finally water at 125m. We were a little unsettled by this, as we had hoped to drill no further than 75m ourselves to keep the cost down. The rig was relocated to our field and next day drilling began at 9am. The drill rig is powered by high pressure air – 3,000psi. As the drill cuts through the rock this high pressure air blows the rock fragments out of the hole and through an exhaust tube – it makes quite a mess. The rock (we were told) is a form of Schist rich in quartz; quite hard. However the 3m drill sections disappeared rapidly into the ground and in no time we had passed 40m depth. Then; good fortune! At 53m we hit water. After a short conference, we agreed to carry on to 70m and then leave the rig overnight to see if there was a strong water source. Next day, we had water within 14m of the borehole opening. So there it is! We have a borehole, now all we need to do is to arrange piping, electric, pumps and storage so that we can move over to the borehole water. And clean the mess this machine has made on our new gravel (see tracks in the photo!!!). One more job…. Spring 2011 Progress. The steadings and sheds are re-roofed and the car park has been re-stoned. It looks so good! We get on with the task of painting the new woodwork and renewing the white paint on the walls. Some very warm & dry weather through the spring helped, but as ever we completed only half of the task (of painting the walls) before the weather turned. Still to finish, then! 
However, the warm weather did give an early boost to the grass, and it turned wet agiain before the ground dried too much (an our water supply compromised, I might add). Still, we have switched over to the summer water supply without a hitch this year - that's not happened before! Ad not having to spend 7-10 days getting the summer water working means more time for other chores. Chores like chasing the sheep out of the garden again. The issue with wooden fences is that unless you use treated timber (expensive) or oak (very, very expensive) for posts they will rot and, eventually, fall over. That is what has happened to the fence at the top of the garden, and it seems to be very clear that sheep prefer garden plants and our lawn to the grass of the field. Anyway, with a temporary fence to stop them little (darlings?) pilfering my garden we can think about a permenant solution - an iron fence with a nice gate. Still, with the carp park resurfaced and the area beside the Shepherd's cottage likewise transformed we are now short of building materials. So we are saving up for another lorry-load of stone to resurface the path through our garden. That can be a job for the summer - along with making progress on the boat house (which has simply stopped through the winter). Let's hope the summer weather is kind. A Winter's tale Well, winter didn’t go quite as expected. I say “quite” as expected, but as a race we are prone to understatement. Famed for it, indeed.
The cold weather hit hard and early. Being on the West we didn’t have too much trouble with snow but the constantly cold temperature eventually won its battle with our water supply, our heating, and the animals. The first casualty was the central heating in the Shepherd’s cottage. The cold penetrated under the wall and froze the pipe one night, so we lost water from the central heating system and we had to turn it off. From there is may have been inevitable that the kitchen pipes would freeze, but once they did we decided to turn-off the electric heating and the water supply; effectively abandoning the cottage to wait until warmer weather to effect repairs and improve insulation.
Our domestic water supply held-up longer than we expected, but eventually that froze too. Up the hill we went to the storage tanks, hoping for a simple problem. Alas, that wasn't to be. We found that the tanks were certainly iced-up, but that the centre of the tank was still free-flowing so this wasn't the problem. The blockage was clearly underground; we traced it to a spot 4m on from the tank and more than 1m underground. Without excavating the pipe, we could reach this only by draining the water tanks, breaking and removing the 9” thick ice from the walls (it was unsafe to enter and work in the tank without that step) and then feeding a hose down the pipe to the blockage. This allowed us to boil water on a small fire and pour it through the hose to melt the blockage. It takes longer than you think to do this. Trust me.
The deer were once again suffering this winter and so we put out feed for them. We were lucky to get a very cheap deal on Brussel Sprouts and a few sacks came in very handy. Watching the deer, I can vouch for two things: 1. Brussel Sprouts are not the favourite food of deer; and 2. The deer were very hungry after all.
The wild boar did return to the fields. John’s fence proved ineffective as a barrier, though it did come in handy as winter fuel! He is unhapy about this and currently planning a new fence that (he says) will keep out an army tank.
Still, we had a fantastic Christmas, and into the New Year the weather warmed. Repairs got underway, water is restored to the Shepherd's cottage, but we still have the heating to fix. The deer returned to the hills, and we can only wait for Spring to rush towards us. Autumn Story Something has to go wrong - it's all too perfect! The internet signal works in every cottage, the telephone line works (though still rather "crackly"), the water is flowing, the heating is fine ..... even the sheep, birds, fish and deer seem content. Work on the Steading roof could progress a little quicker, but you can't have everything. The bracken suppression is starting to show effects. The patches of bracken are not yet shrinking, but the height and vigour is much reduced towards the edges. I know that we have to keep on with this for about three years to have a positive effect but it is heartening to see that our time and effort is going to be rewarded. Controlling the rhododendron is proving a little more difficult, as all of the cut stems are now showing signs of life. We are trying to avoid using chemicals (and I am told that you must treat cut stumps within 20 minutes to have any impact!) so it may be that our only option is to take the excavator down there and dig-up the roots. It is a pity we can’t just mow it like the bracken. Preparing the cottages for the winter season, we have begun replacing the electric towel rails with thermostatically controlled units. They have a “frost-setting” and we can use this to hold the temperature of the bathroom above freezing and so, this year, avoid any burst pipes. We can only hope that winter is not as harsh as last year. If it is, then not only the pipes will suffer but the animals too. We are going to lay-in a store of bird seed and something for the deer just in case. Surprisingly, you can’t just buy “deer food” at Morrison’s (you can buy bird food, though). A neighbour mentioned that deer like melon, but that’s not a great deal of help – given the price. I suspect that they would still appreciate hay if things are bad enough. What we would like to avoid, though, is having the wild boar feeding on the fields as they do so much damage. John is confident that his new fence will hold them back in the forest. I have a bad feeling about that, about as strongly developed as his confidence in his handywork. In the meantime, some fantastic days spent on the lock in our canoe, followed by a fire and cooking on the embers. I know that we could have moved on further with the unfinished projects (decorating in the house, roofing the boathouse, etc, etc) but sometimes it is nice to just enjoy the scenery and each other’s company. I am ready for winter. I just hope it’s not too long or too cold. September 10 Summer Report The Forestry commission were excellent and repaired the water pipe. The Spring drought continued, but WE WERE SAVED! For a few weeks; right up until the summer turned into a wet, wet, wet thing and (of course) the streams began to run again and we had both water supplies running faultlessly. We finally had an opportunity to get the steadings re-roofed and given how difficult it is to get building workers here in the Highlands we grabbed it with both hands. The car park was therefore out of action for the second – half of the summer, but already the old slates have been removed (carefully, as Ballachulish slate is almost impossible to obtain since the last quarries closed in 1955), the old timbers pulled out and burned (beetle infested, that’s the problem), the new timber is now on and we are ready for re-slating. Apologies again to guests who stayed during this period, but we hope that by keeping the disturbance to the car – park and steadings and away form the cottages it did not spoil the enjoyment of your holiday. We used some “inside time” to revamp the wireless internet. Having been told that it was impossible to “daisy-chain” routers by the kind man in Maplin, my brother-in-law, David, came and did just that for us. Instead of one router trying to cover the cottages we could have two. David, John and his father then spent two days installing Cat5 cabling and power through the loft spaces to link the routers and our modem. Finally, we have wireless internet in every cottage – though the connection to the internet is still through the telephone line which, as you will have read in earlier posts, is unreliable.  We had a working party (volunteers, I promise) “hit” the boat house in the last week of August under a blazing sun (yes, the hot weather returned). The final clearing of the dreaded Rhododendron for 1m around the building was completed and we started to dig-out the floor. Timeteam it was not! No careful uncovering of architectural history with a small trowel, we used a 2.5 ton excavator. Paul did an excellent job removing the spoil he tells us, and no messing about with the ATV at all (see photo!). John didn’t; he got the excavator stuck and then broke the door window getting it out. That repair will have to come out of his pocket money. And I am not so sure that Health & Safety would have approved of the extraction method, which involved counterbalancing the machine with its own bucket filled with rocks, his own father and Paul. When finished we could see the original sand-and-stone floor. Perhaps this winter we will make a start on the roof and door. We then re-vamped the pick-nick area and opened up the start of a walk West along the old Sky road at the loch shore. Finally, we raked out the larger stones from the beaching area so it is now much kinder to canoes and small boats. We completed the summer with a celebratory BBQ at our smartened pick-nick area. A log fire burned down to embers is much more satisfying to cook over than charcoal bought form the petrol station, and the loch makes a wonderful cooler for wine / beer. Good food, cool drink, that wonderful view, and the company of good friends. Idyllic! May10 Spring Report Well, you can’t have everything The upper water supply has run faultlessly through the winter, just when we didn’t need it. Come the fantastic weather of spring it stopped, of course. The burn providing the lower water supply was drying every day and through May we again experienced the dry period we have come to love. Something had to be done soon before we ran short of water. We suspected that one of the usual “failures” had occurred, a blockage in the pipe just downstream of the capture tank or an airlock in the final pipe section, about 100m from the end. We started the usual efforts to clear them. Four days later, tired and bruised, we had advanced significantly. We knew for sure that we did not have any of the usual problems! We had a significant flow of water going into the lower section, and nothing coming out at the bottom. Where was it going? We decided to walk the pipe line for inspiration. Blundering through the forest, tripping over roots and rocks, we found....... a road! This was a road that was certainly not there a couple of months back. It seems that the Forestry Commission had needed to build a new access through this section of forest in advance of felling operations further up the glen. They had scoured through the hillside with an enormous excavator to create the route which, unfortunately, crossed the line of our pipe. Standing on the top of the newly excavated bank we looked down, and there was our pipe; broken, hanging 8ft off the ground and spilling our water into a ditch. We knew what the problem was but clearly the repair was beyond us; after all, we needed to dig a channel through the road to carry the pipe. We called the Forestry Commission who proved to be wonderfully efficient. Apologising for any inconvenience, they put the matter through to their engineering department and got into the task straight away. We eagerly await news that the pipe is repaired, and our water supplies are secure for the summer. April10 Finally! Well, with Easter comes our first showing of daffodils. They come up first on top of the wall bordering the lane and, it seems, they always come first on Easter day - no matter when  Easter falls! Right behind them (chronologically speaking) we have other clumps of daff's showing their heads and brightening the edges of the lane and garden with sunny, yellow heads. With the snow-covered mountain tops as a backdrop it was a beautiful sight. And this year the daff’s attracted some fantastic weather, with strong sunshine and temperatures rising to 17 degrees by mid month. The snow is melting on the tops of the hills and nature has moved smartly forward – we hope to see the first lambs any day now. Progress has been made with repairs and maintenance. We decorated the twin bedroom in Shepherd’s Cottage (see the new pictures on the cottage page) and finished the bathroom in Keepers Cottage. New hanging baskets for the courtyard, fixed 14 roof slates (a never ending task), and got on with some outdoor work.
We repaired the dry stone wall which collapsed at the end of last year, and it does give one a sense of satisfaction to work on a repair like that. John got creative and re-profiled the access to fields East of the house, and then got silly and constructed what he calls a helicopter landing site (he terraced a section of the sloping field to make a flat bit). His reasoning is logical; with a bird table you attract birds and so with a helicopter landing pad...... No sightings so far, you will be unsuprised to learn. I suppose there will be a rash of bookings from helicopter pilots shortly, but I won’t hold my breath. However, flat, grassy sections are a rarity in our fields and the view from this one is splendid. I can see a picnic spread before me, with chilled white wine to hand...... 
And what about the view from the boathouse - you can see for yourself! This picture was taken at 11:00am on a still, sunny and warm day; we found it very hard to move. We must have spent an hour or more chatting peacefully whilst taking in this view. Perhaps there is something to this "fishing" game. Recently some of our guests were very successful in catching brown trout in Loch Garry and the thought of a fresh fish lunch cooking on an open fire at the bank is quite appealing. And whilst someone else gets on with the nasty task of catching a fish, there is always that view to keep me mesmorised. We also have another (though less welcome) visitor. There had always been stories of Wild Boar inhabiting the Glen but, like the Loch Ness Monster, few pictures or first-hand witnesses. I have to report, however, that I am now a believer! We have significant damage to the ground in two of the fields caused by wild pigs grubbing for food. They have burst the fence from the forest North of the field to gain access, and one of our next jobs is to replace that with a stronger barrier so that they stay in the forest. It's not that I mind the idea of them being on the land, it's the damage that they do. Still, I would like a photograph of the miscreants to prove that I am not imagining things. Well, to close, I leave you with the thought that another beautiful year begins; bring on the lambs!. Winter 09/10 Perhaps you might argue that I am posting this entry before winter is finished; perhaps I am posting this entry in the hope that winter finally IS finished! One cannot fault the beauty of the glen covered in snow or hard frost, nor the delightful stillness of a cold, clear day. One can, however, get completely fed-up with the effects of winter on the animals and on property. We were relatively fortunate, with only four burst water pipes, but even that means quite a lot of repair and redecorating. I say we were lucky; one neighbour suffered forty-four bursts, whilst another lost all water supply when their underground pipes froze! Still, the Met. Office do say this was an exceptionally harsh winter, the worst in Scotland since 1962. The deer have suffered due to the snow covering, and this has led to our garden being invaded (nightly) by two or three looking for food. Our grass is a little more nutritious, if they can get to it through the snow, but we also have other plants which it seems they can eat (if hungry enough). Further up the glen the estate managers are feeding the deer with hey, and of course that is also what the sheep have been getting to eat. All in all, sheep and deer should survive. The bird population is also having trouble so we have added an additional five seed / nut feeders and we are putting out meat scraps for the carnivorous owls and buzzards. It is quite difficult to see the owls and buzzards feeding, but the meat keeps going and the footprints are certainly not those of a fox. The tits and other small birds have no such qualms about being seen eating, and they are often so hungry that one can stand only ten or so feet away to watch them squabble and fight over what is (to them) an unlimited supply of food. Still, we hope for spring and an end to the sweeping of snow from the driveway. Also an end to my husband “doughnut-ing” our ATV in the snow-covered fields. Why is it that a 50 year old man still plays like a four year old child? Autumn 2009 Those jobs you have been putting off.... ...cannot be put off for ever. The courtyard has needed attention ever since we bought Ardochy. The cobbled section could be "beautiful" but it has become overgrown with weeds. Our intention has always been to sort this out, but so far we have not taken any action other than to spread weed-killer to keep it from going completely out of control. The long term plan being to clean out the weeds and the soil from between the cobbles and to replace them with gravel, this was a major undertaking. Eventually John took the trailer into Ft William and returned with 2 tonne of gravel. Our friend Paul volunteered to help with the weeding / soil removal as the "boys" had hatched a cunning plan. Rather than undertake this soul-destroying task by had they reasoned that a powerful jet-washer would do this more quickly, more completely, and at the same time allow them to play with a powerful toy. They were right, but missed 2 further points. First, more quickly is a relative term and it still took two full days. Secondly.... the mess!!! The petrol powered Jet-Wash lifted weeds, moss and muck but deposited the liquid sludge it creates over machines, men and the rest of the courtyard. It has to be one of the filthiest jobs we have completed, contemplated or dreamt of. Loading the sludge into the trailer to spread in field 7 (it is good soil, after all) was back breaking work too. As darkness fell on day 1 and we had to stop, the boys were so caked in filth it was actually easier to jet-wash them to simply allow them to get out of their top cloths. On day 2 they were less than keen to get back into these damp, dirty toggs to get on with it once more. Eventually we finished the cleaning and moved on to repairing the areas where subsidence has taken place - that was another day of work leading to sore knees and a grudging admiration for the chaps who laid that whole courtyard by hand a couple of hundred years earlier. Finally, we were ready to lay the gravel between the cobbles – and what a transformation! It is truly beautiful and sits in perfect harmony with the surrounding buildings and landscape.
Unfortunately, it makes the rest of the courtyard (concrete) look shabby and so it seems we need another project to bring the rest of the yeard up to this standard. Summer 2009 Through the summer the weather was disappointing for humans but exceptionally good for plants. Bright and warm, but with plenty of moisture, if you get my meaning. The grass grew as if it had nothing better to do, and the sheep (in terms of acting as self-propelled lawn mowers) failed miserably. The longer the grass grew, the harder it was just to see the sheep and the poorer the quality of feed the grass became for them. Eventually, as it all went to seed, we had no choice but to hitch-up the flail mower and “top” the grass. This stops energy being diverted into seed and puts it back into the leaves, as food for the sheep. On the other hand, the trees (future fire wood) and the flowers (today’s beauty parade) also performed exceptionally well so we can’t complain....... or perhaps we can. The higher-than-expected rainfall eventually caused part of the wall bordering the drive to collapse. We now have to pull apart the wall for several feet, back to ground level, to improve the drainage from field 7. Once that is done we can then rebuild the wall, so it might be useful to learn something about dry stone walling before that project starts. May & June 2009 And tonight, Matthew, I am going to be a plumber! We have two water supplies, a "lower" one from a burn just above the cottage and an "upper" from the heath land at the top of the mountain to the north. The upper water supply is more dependable as the burn will stop flowing in a warm summer so it is just precisely the wrong time for it to stop working. We (wrongly) expected a simple problem such as we have had in the past - the inlet pipe can get displaced from the stream in fast-flowing conditions. When we climbed the hill (it is a couple of miles) we found to our disappointment that the pipe was correctly placed and the settling tank was full to overflowing. That meant a blockage somewhere in the 2 miles of pipe back to the house. We spent a whole week draining the tank, pushing rods down the pipe and trying to displace any blockage that mihgt be in the first 20ft of pipe. That is not as easy as it sounds as the entrance to the tank is so small that neither I nor John could get in, and we had to rely on our friend Andy (who is built like a whippet) to be lowered into the tank on a rope. We owe him a lot! Unsuccessful, our next idea was to call the chap who installed the system 15 or so years ago and ask for help. He came to meet with John and walked the line of the pipe, recalling from his memory where the air valves and drainage pipes ran. We were so grateful, even though John then had to dig through 15 years of peat accumulation to get at the pipes. unfortunately, even with this help we had no success. John (who does like his gadgets) then sent away for an attachment to the pressure washer which is designed to free blocked drains. See http://www.espares.co.uk/drain-cleaning-kit for those technically intrigued (yawn!). When it finally arrived, we took the pressure washer, his new toy and some additional pipes (to optimise the water flow into the machine, he said) up to the settling tank. It took the whole morning to get up there with the kit and plumb it together to get started. But it was worth the effort! Inside 10 minutes this device had cleared the blockage and we were back in business! We have water for the spring and summer. March & April 2009 What can I say! March didn't, it sort of ambled aimlessly in and out of winter when all we wanted was a rush to Spring. The grass grew but couldn't be cut (too wet and it simply rots and kills the grass underneath). The ground was too soft for machinery anyway and we simply had to wait. April arrived and we wondered why we hadn't used more of March for routine maintenance. Still, we got a move on with the cottages - decoration, new white goods (where needed) the deca-annual (10 years) spraying of the wooden spaces (lofts, floor spaces, etc) against beetle and the replacing of 10 broken or cracked window pains, plus a lick of paint. The place looked so much better when we finished, it makes our house look "tatty" and so more paint was purchased to continue the effort right around the outside of the property. That's when it went wrong - the upper water supply has stopped and so it's "down paintbrush" and off to be a plumber. Wish us luck! Jan & Feb 2009 Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow Try stopping it! A blanket of pure white covers the glen, muffling all sound except the crunch of your footsteps. Beautiful! Fantastic! Wonderful! Right up until the time that you need to get into your car. The driveway gained 4" of snow overnight and became impassible. John, having proof that he was "right all along! we DO need a snowplough blade for the ATV!" became impossible. But, as we had to dig ourselves out to the road below I adopted "yes dear" mode and brought him regular mugs of tea (when I said "we had to dig" I did not see myself operating the shovel, you understand). It took a little more than a day to clear a path, which we (there, it's that "we" again) kept open by taking a brush to each new snowfall. The house and cottages were snug and warm, the scenery fantastic in a totally different, white, sort of way, the evenings grow dark quickly but take on a magical glow. So a bottle of wine and a log fire become even more welcome and inviting at this time of year, and the Ardochy magic just takes on a slightly different shape and colour. A couple of weeks later and it's melted enough for the sheep to get at the grass, which is just as well as hay is quite expensive at present. Spring will soon be here. Christmas 2008 We enjoyed a wonderful, peaceful Christmas and New Year at Ardochy. Nikki, our daughter, has taken inspiration from "Top Gear" and invented a competition; "Friend in a reasonably priced Loch". The idea is to rank friends and family by the date on which they swam in Loch Garry and, seeking a leading place on the board, Nikki chose Christmas day for her swim. Unsuprisingly, she swam alone! Having difficulty even walking when she came out, it was back to the house on the ATV (her sister driving) for warm drinking chocolate and biscuits. The frost came between Christmas and New Year turning the place into a wonderland of Ice. We have some fantastic pictures (see the Photo gallery for our "Christmas 2008" page), though they don't really do it justice; Narnia without going through a wardrobe. We also got a very good look (and pictures) of the buzzard who has taken up residence. Perhaps we need a feeding table in front of the cottages to encourage him. In closing, a very Happy New Year to all our friends, guests, and guests who have become friends. Our best wishes to you all for 2009. September & October 2008 More working parties, and more tangible signs of improvement. Our house looks out over a field back to the road and on to the loch. Walking down the drive and along the road it is quite a distance just to get back level with the house, where we have a footpath down to the boathouse (going to be!) and the loch. Further along the field was an old gate, one post for which had rotted through. We needed to replace the post to keep the fence stock-proof and this was therefore an ideal opportunity to move the gate to a better position. John had a section of old telegraph pole that would make two nice gateposts (so resistant to rotting) and work commenced. Of course, if we move the gate then we need a bridge over the drainage ditch and here the debate started. The old gate position had a simple bridge made from railway sleepers, and it could easily have been moved. The working party each had ideas of what a decent bridge would look like stretching from “just move the sleepers” to “a suspension bridge!” Debate raged through several bottles of wine and continued to the spirits, but eventually a stone arch bridge was selected. But what should it look like? Paul suggested modelling it on the St Andrew’s golf course bridge, but no-one listened. Sandra had seen a beautiful bridge pictured in a magazine and we scoured every newspaper and magazine that we could find i the house. It was, of course (a) in the last magazine that we found, and (b) a picture of the bridge at St Andrews golf course. Next day the team dug footings and prepared the site. A form was built to hold the stones during construction and, led by H (master builder) construction began. Faith in their competencies being low, never having constructed a bridge before, the idea of a dry-stone bridge was quietly dropped and copious amounts of cement were used in the construction. Still, when finished it does look the part. So, here is the gate, the bridge, and in the background a large beech tree that fell in the October gales, which Paul has begun to cut up (thank's Paul). And before you ask, it did hold the weight of the entire working party. We still have the surfacing to put on the bridge, but with a little aging I think this is a splendid addition to the house. July & August 2008 But not at Ardochy. The weather was reasonable, but no more. August we had a "working party" of friends visit. Chores tackled included some decoration, replacement of gates, and ground maintenance. The grounds have been a little short of "care and attention" for several years and we have rhododendron growing rampant through the grounds close to the loch (see last newsletter). Though a pretty plant in its place, when growing unchecked it decimates wildlife - there is no life inside the bush. The leaves are also toxic to other plants as they decay and so even Beech trees were suffering. Our willing (sic) volunteers, armed with bow saw, chain saw, ATV and rope, gloves and brute strength cleared a sizeable chunk of rhododendron wasteland and piled it for later combustion. For this we are more grateful than we can say as the place looks a little more loved and we have some open space. The decorating is welcome, too. Timely, to say the least, as our "inspection" for the Scottish tourist board came shortly thereafter. We now have 3 Stars for the cottages, which is very pleasing. And what about the eating-apple tree? No, I didn't know we had one either. We have a "baker" close to the house which supplies marvelous apples for cooking but for over a year we thought that was the only one. Walking back from the fields (using a route we have walked hundreds of time) Brenda asked about the apple tree 5m from the gate. When we looked, she was right! It appears that any falling apples have been quickly devoured by sheep and the tree is so overgrown it is actually difficult to see the apples without careful inspection. Excuses out of the way, we plucked and tried one to find that they are beautifully sweet, an as-yet-unidentified old English variety, I am claiming. Unfrotunately it is so late in the season that we will have to wait for next year to see how much of a crop it produces; but then, time is never an issueat Ardochy. June 2008 Batman! dinner dinner dinner dinner...... Batman! An accurate title for our dinner party. Friends came to stay at the house for a long weekend. The weather was fantastic and with their help (and their two boys) we made great progress on several jobs – clearing rhododendron around the boathouse being the greatest joy for me, but the boys constructed a new door for one of the stone sheds which was very useful.
Tired but very, very happy we 7 sat down to dinner that evening. The food was wonderful, the wine flowed and conversations ran happily like water over stones in a sparkling brook. Time passed and dusk drew in without being noticed. Then we realised that we had a ninth in the room (our dog being a constant companion when there is food). He or she was very noticeable because they were flying laps around the outskirts of the room – it was a small bat! How it came into the room we are not sure; perhaps down the chimney, but this is the only room in the main house without a functioning chimney.
Still, shrieks and ducking out of the way our thoughts turned to the obvious question; how do we get this thing back out into the wild. Surprisingly quick and very agile, there was little chance of catching it in flight. As the windows in that room don’t open we reasoned that the best option was to close the doors and curtains to darken the room (making it cave-like) and then opening doors through the house to the rear exit and then using one light near to that door to simulate a cave exit. At this point you are probably laughing, but several circuits later through luck or due to our cunning plan, it headed in the right direction.
Family and friends stationed at each door closed off each room as the bat departed to ensure that we would make progress. Everything went according to plan until the bat decided to stop flying some three metres short of the door. It was probably tired, having been on the wing constantly for quite a while. John came to the rescue, wearing riggers gloves in case of bites or scratches he gently scooped up the bat and took it out to the courtyard wall then retreated to join us to watch what happened. A few minutes later the little creature took to the wing again and headed off towards the loch.
An exciting end to a lovely day.
P.S. Those following our newsletter will be glad to learn that your collective Rain Dance efforts have paid off and the Glen is back on-stream so far as water is concerned. Please now stop your Rain Dances; there is a danger that you might over-do it a bit and we don't need to risk flooding the place. May 2008 Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink May is a fantastic time to be here in any year, but 2008 has been particularly dry and sunny. That is, of course, good for Scottish tourism but it can have a "down" side in an area where many of us draw our water from the burns and rivers. In the whole month we had an untypical 10mm of rainfall so....... the ground dried up! Many of the smaller burns simply dried and failed and some of our neighbours lost their water supply with it. Those operating "bed & breakfast" and similar businesses were temporarily put out of action.
Ardochy House draws its water from two sources; a burn running through the property which we call the "lower water supply" and an "upper water supply" from the heathland, about 3 miles away, via a series of tanks and pipes. We have always considered the upper water supply as a "reserve" for contingencies because the water is slightly peat-stained (though it does give it quite a nice taste). In March, during the very heavy rains, the upper supply suddenly stopped and one of the "must do" jobs on the list was to discover why and rectify the problem. As you might imagine, the plentiful rains and a fast-flowing burn did impact on the urgency which we asigned to that project but by the third week of May the Burn was down to a trickle and "urgent" this task had indeed become.
In true "Time Team" fashion we began with a document search! You see, we never did get the exact coordinates of the upper water supply from the previous owner. In retrospect, that was a bit of a mistake, but a couple of days and several maps later we had a rough idea. One Sunday morning we set out with map and a few tools and a dog for a beautiful walk through the forest and up onto the moor; we had begun our adventure to discover the source of the Upper Water Supply! We may not be Great Explorers who will go down in history for our discovery, but we did locate the inlet pipe and find the problem; in the heavy rain the inlet pipe had come lose from its securing, been swept downstream and now gravity would not cooperate with an uphill entry to the pipe.
With the problem sorted out, it took a further two days to encourage a strong flow through the pipes and tanks to our collection point but Ardochy was saved from drought. On Wednesday we switched over to the upper supply; just in time as the lower supply ran completely dry the following Friday! Rain dance, anyone? April Spring has sprung, the grass has risen The place is a delight! Warm clear days, new plant growth all around, and little lambs in the fields. Bliss. Wandering through the fields I had always imagined paradise to be a little warmer, but one can't be right all the time.
The only conundrum was... where were the crocuses?
Last autumn we had planted daffodils, snowdrops and crocus bulbs along both sides of the drive. Approaching the house from the road, the walled bank on the left was a riot of colour but the flowers on the verge on the right were largely.... not there! We walked up and down a few times and thought about soil, depth, acidity, water content and drainage, and speculated on the myriad of possibilities why those bulbs on the verge had not thrived whilst those up on the wall looked fantastic.
It was the sheep poo that gave it away. There are four loose sheep that wander along the lane and eat the grass of the verges. They had been up our drive, there being no gate to stop them, as evidenced by their deposits of poo. Of course, a sheep is too short to reach onto the walled bank, and as their hoof is not adapted for rock climbing, they must have contented themselves with eating the small green shoots on the verge. Our hard work wasted.
Still, lesson learned; eat the sheep before it eats your crocuses!
March 2008 The Spring Cleaning is not such a chore The cottage spring cleaning got underway at the beginning of the month, together with minor repairs and general replacements (new batteries in the smoke alarms, etc). The largest project was to relocate the ultra-violet sterilisation unit in the Shepherd’s cottage from under the kitchen sink into the drying cupboard so that it is accessible for maintenance and bulb replacement. We also get back much valued cupboard space under the sink. Not the biggest project ever undertaken but without this unit there is no water in the cottage, so I got in a man who can, not a husband who thinks he just might be able to........
Later in the month our first guests came, and slowly the place is coming back to life. Plants are shedding their winter look and we can see small shoots that will become daffodils (planted along the drive wall in the autumn). I think they are going to make a stunning display.
Outside, the warmer and drier weather allowed us to continue with the maintenance schedule we began in February. The cobbled courtyard needed some cleaning and attention to remove the slippery algae that grows through the autumn / winter (long handled scrubbing brush was all we needed), and we decided that the small gate to the house garden is not worth saving. A metal replacement in the same style as the fence / gate elsewhere in the garden should fit in well. And then all of the metal work will need painting! The list is never ending.
On bright, sunny crisp days the view across the Loch to the snow-capped mountains is simply stunning. So much so that some days we get little work done while we stare at it. But what does that matter? There’s always tomorrow. And tomorrow? Well, there’s always that view!
February 2008 Spring cleaning will have to wait. We had quite a backlog of minor repairs, mainly relating to the roof. Twelve slates have been dislodged, along with a strip of ridge over the Shepherd’s cottage, by the winter winds. The gutters all needed clearing, and on cutting back the climbers at the front of the house it was clear that some urgent painting was also in order.
One thing that has become clear to us is that finding trades people to undertake work at remote locations in the Western Highlands is not easy. We tried a number of firms but eventually settled for the fact that we would have to do the work ourselves. Thank goodness (and a big plug here) for Screwfix Direct, from whom we ordered ladders, roof ladders, tools and paint as they delivered as promised one Saturday morning.
Several days of work and the place is much improved. It looks lived in and loved again (and it is so loved) and it is secure against the worst of the weather.
December / January Frantic preparations, objections, revisions; it was a pleasure to get to Christmas.
Through administrative oversight we had too many mince pies and not enough heating oil. The oil was ordered to refill the tank but unfortunately it ran out one day early. When the tank was refreshed we needed to bleed the system through to the three burners that service the cottages, the house and supply hot water to everyone. Without previous experience it took four hours and my turkey baster. John offered to clean out the instrument so that it could fulfil its proper purpose but I decided that we could make do with a spoon on this occasion.
The only person to try burning a mince pie did so inadvertently with an overly-long time selection on the microwave. I don't think it was an effort to keep warm.
Then we peaked too early. The family began arriving from Saturday but the last arrivals came at 11pm on Christmas Eve. It began innocently enough with a cup of tea but shortly after midnight the party was in full swing and the conga line (composed entirely of the “aunt and uncle” age group) scared the wits out of the teenage contingent when it burst into the lounge. The teenage contingent sufficiently frightened, the conga line returned to the kitchen, the booze and the iPod (with speakers). Best pre-Christmas party I have been to in a long time.
Still, seventeen sat down to Christmas dinner in the dining room and silence reigned, if only whilst they chewed. The days passed pleasently with walks and get-together's with neighbours, and a light dusting of snow over New Year made the perfect end to a wonderful time. Here we begin the plan for Christmas. It would be wonderful to gather the family together for Christmas, and now that we have some furniture in the house it is comfortable enough to make that a reality. John’s parents can stay in the house with us, and that leaves a cottage for each of the families. It will mean Christmas Dinner for 17, and cooking it on a Rayburn, but nothing ventured......
I spoke with each of the families and the idea was very well received. From this point on there is no going back. I need to plan the food, etc, and get organised to ensure that we have food, fuel and lodgings sorted out so well in advance. No mopre blogging, back to work
Oak trees are magnificent! They rise from the earth to tower over us majestically for hundreds of years. Man, by comparison, is less than 2 meters tall and has but a short time on this earth. Very short, if he chooses to mess with Oak trees!
On the slope to the loch we have a fallen oak, blown down in a gale at the end of 2006. It has fallen into the slope and for some time we have known that it needs to be cut up and removed to allow new trees an opportunity to grow. Thinking this can’t be too much of a project (the tree is on its side, after all) John set off with trusty chainsaw to cut through the trunk at root level and begin the dismembering process. He reappeared far too quickly, and confessed that in cutting through the trunk he had been “surprised” by the tree. Anticipating that the crown could still pull the trunk downward he had cut from the top of the trunk; but the root ball actually pulled back pushing the trunk upward. His chainsaw now trapped in the part-severed trunk, John wanted his toy back.
It took most of the afternoon with a felling axe to get the chainsaw back. When the trunk was finally severed some 2 ton (estimated) of root ball sprang back into an upright position with a speed that almost caught him out again. Moral of the story – hide the chainsaw before he hurts himself.
September 2007 Can't see the wood for the trees
Running out of wood is a new experience for us. The colder than expected July & August meant guests burned more fires to keep warm (and who can blame them!) which used more wood than we had anticipated, so stocks were low. John had been putting off re-stocking the wood pile as we had no felled trees close to the house and the small tractor he had ordered (which could easily bring logs to the house) had not been delivered. Eventually John accepted that we could not wait for the tractor and one crisp morning he was seen striding from the tool shed clad in chainsaw trousers, forestry helmet and gloves, and carrying his chainsaw saw at a jaunty angle.
We have four beech trees already felled close to the Loch that John had intended to cut into 8-foot lengths and bring back to the house by tractor. Clearly, he was making for these very trees.
What is it about men? Of course, 8-foot sections of tree trunk probably would have been right for a tractor to carry back, but without one I naively assumed that shorter sections would be more appropriate for him to carry. Yet, no! After several minutes of chainsaw buzz silence enveloped the Glen for so long I began to worry about limbs (number of, level of attachment) and blood (loss so far, volume remaining given a 45 minute drive to A&E at Fort William). Then he came into view; 8-foot of beech trunk on his shoulder and puffing like a steam engine. It was clearly too heavy for him to carry up to the house, so much so that he couldn’t talk to me whilst carrying and nor could he put it down – dropping it and moving smartly out of the way replaced any suggestion of “placing” it on the floor. A loss to the cabre-toss he is not.
A constructive suggestion of mine “Don’t be so silly! Cut smaller lengths” was poorly received and he got ‘that look’- the one that tells wives everywhere that stubbornness and brute strength are now to replace measured thought and reason.
By the early afternoon we had six 8-foot logs up at the house, sawn into 1-foot sections and each split into 4 with a maul. In other words, the log pile was replenished. By late afternoon I had a husband with a strong desire not to move out of his chair, and by early evening one that was almost unable to do so. After a night’s sleep, he felt worse and hardly moved at all the next day, but over time tired muscles recover and in a couple of day he was back to his usual, self-destructive ways.
It is nice to see him so happy! We have been away on holiday! But, when we came back.....
The telephone connection – normal meaning “I can almost hear a voice amongst the static” – continued as normal until the carpet fitters fixed it. I would not have thought about asking a carpet fitter to repair a telephone, and in all honesty I did not do so on this occasion. The chap carrying in the carpet into the house managed to apply HVIT – High Velocity Impact Technology – with his foot to the wall socket as he stumbled in the hall. His foot was unhurt, and when we checked the ‘phone not only was it undamaged but the interference had gone!
The carpet fitting service was excellent and given that the ‘phone repair was unscheduled and unbudgeted we thought a small gratuity was in order. So, now we can hook-up the internet modem and get the new computer working.
July 2007 An exciting month - for us and the telephone company!
The line had never been “perfect”, with quite a lot of background noise. Then….. nothing! A poor line is annoying but no line at all makes it rather difficult and John called BT on his mobile. That is not quite as easy as you might think - we get a signal only by standing in the corner of the courtyard. The call centre (in India) gave John detailed instructions for him to test the system, but he had to run backwards and forwards from wall to house to comply, the reverse his little sprint to report back and get the next task. I had a nice cup of tea whilst I watched, but it did remind me on “It’s a Knock-out” (if you are old enough, you will understand).
The procedure ended when the call centre reliably informed John that nothing was wrong with our telephone line and that we would be charged for a home call-out if it was a fault with our equipment. John asked for an engineer to call (I think he asked politely but I was out of earshot just then).
The engineer came promptly and after testing our telephone, the junction box on both telephone lines and our answer-phone he did eventually trace the fault. It seemed that the local council had mowed the verge and with it the “self-burying cable” to our house. In remoter areas BT simply throw the telephone cable onto the verge and leave it! The “self-burying cable” must have been lazy, or bad at digging, as it had simply laid on the grass and fallen victim to the mower.
Still, we are reunited with our poor telephone connection and life is back to normal.
June 2007 Our first guests Time marches onwards, no matter how aprehensive one feels. We inherited a group of Czech construction workers who had been almost constant tenents of the previous owners for several months; their contract came to an end and they moved out. With the cottage empty after so long in occupation, we gave it a 2-day "spring cleaning". John repaired the broken petrol mower, fabricating his own replacement parts from scrap and box-section steel. He was so proud of getting the thing finished it was as if he had won "Scrapheap Challenge". As a reward I let him mow the whole garden, about an acre. Now he wants a sit-on one instead - there is no pleasing some people. Our first guests to arrive, stay and leave in our care seemed to have a good time (they asked about booking for next year!) and so we may be doing something right. It was great fun to meet them and get to know them (just a little) and it made us much more confident for the future. Bookings are now moving quite well so it is just as well that we did not "hate" the whole experience. Unfortunately, we also discovered that the roof to the steadings (agricultural sheds a little way from the cottages) is rather badly affected by woodworm. The damange is so extensive that we need to take of the roof and renew the timbers - so there's lots to do this summer. May 2007 What have we done!?!? How did we come to be running a holiday cottage business in the Scottish Highlands? Well, blame motorcycles, friends and my husband. But mostly blame my husband. John and a friend are keen motorcyclists who take a "boys break" each year. If you have seen the film "Wild Hogs" then you get my impression of their little trips. In September 2006 they set out to tour the Lake District, but ended up on Skye. Don't ask. On the way back, stopping at the viewpoint on the A87 John had a life-changing moment and concluded that he was not going to go back home. Obviously he did, but that started our searching for a few acres and a way of life here in the Scottish Highlands. A few months later and Ardochy House came onto the market and, what a coincidence, it sits just below that viewing platform on the A87. We viewed in January 2007 and we will take ownership from 9 May. Our first guests are booked into the cottages for the end of may, and we have some bookings into the summer season. So, wish us luck and we look forward to seeing you. | |
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