Highland Line Number 31

Highland Line
1 April 2006

We hope you have been checking the blogsite now and then for details as well as photos of our various activities, adventures, antics, and the progress of our renovations.

We began the month of March with a mound of bricks for a chimney, no roof trusses over the top of the sitting room extension, and rain leaking from the kitchen ceiling. We ended the month with a dry kitchen, a fireplace opening, chimney, and roof trusses erected in the sitting room and ready to be roofed. This can't be done, however, until the verandah (on the bricked-in patio side of the sitting room) slab has been poured by the brickies so that supports can be raised, roof trusses put up, and a beam installed to tie rooflines in and shore everything up. Then the roof over the sitting room can be finished and, once watertight, the joiners can break through into the existing sitting room to install doors, windows, and do the finishing.

Much was accomplished in March, despite my whinging [not a typo; whinging is Scots for whining] off and on all month about wishing this or that set of workers would return and despite one of the largest snowfalls we've had in this area for years, not to mention a fair amount of rain. A roof was put on over the studio, utility room, and kitchen (which originally had a troublesome flat roof). The roofers are waiting for the delivery of special sized tiles to finish the job. Ally, the super-joiner, put the back door and windows in the utility room and put one window into the studio extension. Then he put on the cladding which later will be stained to match the existing walls. (See photo above.) He also put cladding on the side wall of the entryway extension (the front entry wall will be finished with white rough-casting).

Our doors and windows were delivered (we are replacing all the windows in the house) and so were the utility room cupboards, cabinets, and worktops (as well as new worktops for the kitchen). Last week the sparky (electrician) and the plumber came in and did their preliminary work. Beginning next Monday, a crew of joiners will get to work finishing the interior of the utility room so that before we leave for the States on April 10th we'll be able to shift some items from the kitchen cabinets into the utility room to avoid having to pack these things in boxes. We aren't going to be replacing our kitchen cupboards but so much else will go on that we need to clear out the cupboards and drawers below the worktops. The kitchen will be extended toward the utility room by about 3 feet and the wretched fake paneling will be removed along with the red-orange 2-inch tiles on the remaining walls. We will get new worktops, sink (with disposal), cook top (hob), and range hood with extractor fan. The joiners also will replace the ceiling. So you can see, there is much work that will make anything not moved or packed away extremely stoury [Scots for "dusty," pronounced STOO-ree with a flipped "R" so that if you said "STOOdy" you'd be close to the correct pronunciation].

I have been packing up my studio all month, doing a little bit here and a little bit there in between finishing up 3 new quilts! Most of the quilting supplies and the sewing machine have now been packed. What remains, however, is all of my clothing, cosmetics/toiletries, and the items we have stored in the built-in wardrobe cupboards above my dressing table. Fortunately, our friends Peter and Robbie have extra storage space where we are able to put all these boxes until after the renovations are finished. It will be a bit tricky to decide what items of clothing to leave available given that we'll spend almost 2 weeks in the Washington area with a 5-day side trip down to Virginia and North Carolina. I'll need to keep out some cooler-weather clothes for when we're in Scotland and warmer-weather clothes for when we're in the States. Everything else will have to be packed in boxes and put in storage. It adds a whole new set of complications to a woman's perennial dilemma of what to wear.

While we are away from the 10th through the 22nd, work on the renovations will be stepped up so that the most disruptive work can be done while we are out of the house. By the time we return on the morning of April 23rd, the bulk of the work should be finished. To avoid having to return jet-lagged to a chaotic house, we will be spending the week house-sitting for our friends Gordon and Helen who will be in Italy for that week. They live only a few blocks away so we can easily keep an eye on what is happening here at The Rowans without having to be in the midst of it. (The only possible hitch is that we will have to learn to cook on an Aga range, not an easy thing to do in just one week. At least they have a toaster and a microwave.)

As you all now know, on the 6th of March, I learned that I had a malignant melanoma on my forehead which was surgically removed (the melanoma, that is, not my head) along with the sentinel lymph node on March 13th. Two weeks later we had the results of the sentinel lymph node biopsy: negative for cancer cells, a virtual "all clear." I received excellent and speedy treatment, recovered fairly quickly, and the scar is healing very nicely. I will continue (as I have for 25 years) to wear sunscreen every day, monitor my skin for sun damage, and visit the dermatologist regularly as well as other follow-ups to the surgery. Thank you all again for your many good wishes, prayers, healing thoughts, and so forth. We both appreciated them very much.

Don has had a month of spotlights. On March 1st he gave a well-received presentation to the local Probus Club about his career in higher education and his new career in distance education. On the 14th he presented the entire music programme at the St Fillans Music Circle. Entitled "Beauty and the Beat" the programme began with his singing a Gilbert and Sullivan tune with parody lyrics about his drive toward being a drummer from an early age. The lyrics were amusing as well as clever and the audience joined in on the chorus. Using recordings, he then explored various alternate "takes" of classical music, either classical musicians exploring their roots, or jazz musicians expanding on classical themes, or classical pieces played on different instruments than those they were written for. The programme was a great success and Don has been asked to present a portion of the club's Christmas Programme next season.

In addition to those to spotlights, Don also won the award for the Most Improved Golfer by both the Comrie Golf Course Seniors at their end of season prize-giving and the St Fillans Golf Course Seniors at theirs. I was so happy to see him appropriately and officially recognized for the good-humored determination and diligence with which he pursues his golf.

March also is the month that we spent as much time as possible with our friends Jackie and Eric MacEwan who are moving to New Zealand where they have two daughters and 2 grandchildren (soon to be 3) as well as Eric's sister. Don met Eric a couple of years ago when they were taking golf lessons, Don learning to play golf and Eric renewing his golf game after years of full-time teaching. The two of them got on famously from the start and, once Don had met Jackie, he knew we'd be a great foursome and so we have been. We've had some lovely times together and said good-bye to them last Wednesday most reluctantly, but we look forward to visiting them in New Zealand some day and otherwise staying in touch. The photo below was taken at our "farewell luncheon" last Wednesday at Comrie's Royal Hotel Pub.

We look forward to seeing some of you in the States soon and send you all best wishes for a warm and happy springtime.

Love,

Lynn and Don