Well the wash is pegged out on this bright but blustery day, which means it should dry fairly quickly. I've just handed round mugs of coffee and some bickies. I'm sitting down with my second cup of tea to update you on our progress over the past few days.
Replacement windows are now in our bedroom, Don's study, the shower room, and in the dining/sitting room. Ally spent all yesterday afternoon facing the windows inside the study and a couple of hours this morning facing the inside of our bedroom window. Now he's putting outside facing on not only the replacement windows but also the new windows in the utility room. It is considerably warmer inside already as, unlike the new windows, the old ones had no insulation at all. No wonder when it got very cold the condensation ran right the way down the aluminium [British spelling] frames to puddle on the sill!
Yesterday I delivered my sewing machine to Pembertons in Stirling for its annual service and spent the rest of the day (as I had part of the afternoon and evening before) packing up the books, knicknacks, ornaments, vases, and family photos in the sitting/dining area. Now that the windows are finished in our bedroom and the study, those two rooms will be where all the boxes of those items I just mentioned will be stored along with smaller (i.e., easily movable) pieces of furniture from the sitting/dining area as well as the hallway, studio, and shower room. We'll probably also need to put some items in our bathroom tub. Those of you who have seen "oor wee hoose" will know that we're talking about some pretty small rooms.
Don is on the golf course for the first time this week, and having a much-deserved break. He has been hard at work on his online teaching/consulting and finishing our taxes. The taxes wouldn't have taken nearly so long but he had all kinds of problems with software and such, which was extremely frustrating for him. But he got the taxes completed at 9 pm last night, just in time to sit down and watch (for those of us 5 hours ahead of the U.S. east coast) live coverage of the U.S. Masters Tournament. I was so knackered that I was in bed by 9:30 and asleep by 9:45!
Yesterday morning, we met with our sparky to go over his task list and to discuss our lighting plans for the shower room and entryway. In the afternoon yesterday Don drove to Crieff to pick up a few more items at Strathearn Lighting and to discuss the placement of directional lighting for our sitting/dining area as well as in my studio. Then he went on to Perth to have our car serviced. Fortunately, his other errand was to the plumbing supply place across the road from the car dealership. There he ordered the small radiator/towel warmer for the shower room.
In addition to Ally, Craham Cramb and his painting crew are here to fill in nail holes and then put the blue undercoating on the new cladding. It somehow makes me feel better when there's more than one trade represented on our premises.
This afternoon I'll be going to Helen Rae's for a lesson on how to cook on the Aga. I have studied the Aga book she loaned me from time to time but there's nothing like a hands-on lesson. I think I see a lot of casseroles and soups in our future.
Tonight we are joining the Raes and Christine Dick at Tullybannocker Restaurant just outside Comrie for the first Jazz Night of the 2006 season. The group tonight is the West Coast Jazz Band who play regularly in Linlithgow and are reputed to be very good. It will be good to kick back and relax with friends.
As usual, that wind just blew a rain cloud over our area and I have just had to dash out to bring in that laundry. Some of it was close to being dry but I'll have to put the socks over a radiator. No doubt the sun will be out again in 15 minutes.
Anyway, that's us up to the moment. We're doing pretty well and making enough progress so that we will not be too hassled for the next couple of days, although I suspect that Sunday will be the rougest day as that's when we must finish packing for the trip and then put all the things to be stored in the 3 little rooms prior to taking off. We'll be spending Sunday night near the airport at a Hilton Hotel which includes 2 weeks car storage in the price of one overnight.
Reunited at Prestwick Airport
Upon my return from Aix-en-Provence
About Me
- Lynn
- In September 2003, my husband, Donald, and I moved from Bethesda, Maryland, to the Highland village of Comrie in Perthshire. It was the fulfillment of a dream that we have nurtured since our first trip to Scotland in 1986. Beginning with October 1, 2003, each month I have written the Highland Line to family, friends, former colleagues, and acquaintances who were interested in following our adventure. Donald is a consultant/teacher in distance education and an avid golfer, although he hadn't played until he began taking lessons in 2003. I am a quilter, specializing in smaller art quilts rather than traditional bed-sized quilts, although I sometimes make one of those as well. We have four daughters back in the States and 6 grandchildren. We make two trips to the States each year to visit with them and as many friends and relatives as we can manage to squeeze in. Welcome to our dream come true.
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