First Christmas in Moy

The Scots certainly know how to celebrate and Christmas is no exception. As Marianne was leaving on Christmas Eve morning I decided to take her to the parade in Grantown on 23rd which I had heard was lovely. It didn't disappoint with Santa on his sleigh pulled by reindeer and led through the town by a piped band and children carrying flares followed by carol singing led by the Grantown brass ensemble with mulled wine and mince pies to follow. Set that in a typical stone built highland town and drench it all with snow and it would be difficult to create a more festive scene!

It was all repeated in Aviemore on Christmas Eve with the addition of dozens of children dressed in costumes and fireworks as well. There must have been around two thousand people there so it was a pretty impressive sight.

It snowed during the parade and carried on after midnight so definately was a white christmas!

We had a very sedate Christmas day - it felt strange to not go to church in the morning, something we have done every year but other than Inverness Cathedral there didn't seem to be a service anywhere but we were able once again to appreciate the stunning creation with a walk in the, by then, knee deep snow down to the loch again before heading home for lunch which Sarah and I enjoyed cooking together this year.

Boxing Day saw a fruitless attempt to get the 307 up the drive with not even the local garage with a 4x4 being able to shift it more than a few yards! We have certainly learnt a lesson the hard way - don't take the car down the drive if snow is forecast! One of our neighbours kindly came round with his snow blower before Christmas but even with that we weren't able to get the car up and there has been about 15" of snow down since! Fortunately we have had the 807 at the top so have still been able to get around but it has been inconvenient to not be able to use the other car as Joe is still needing to go into work in Aviemore and it is an hour round trip for someone to take him and pick him up.

Today we have had friends Bryan & Carla from Surrey to visit along with their friends Scott and Karen (it's amazing how many people have tracked us down since we escaped to the highlands!) which was lovely and we are currently waiting for Daniel and Julie to arrive, tracking their progress on Glympse.com which has been fun. Matt and Maria will hopefully fly in later tonight as well so we will have a full house.

In the meantime the avalanche over the back door remains poised and the icicles outside Richards study continue to grow.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

I finally left Sutton at about 10.30 after breakfast with Tony & Marilyn having filled my 'mug that plugs into the cigarette lighter' (which is just about the greatest invention ever if you regularly drive long distances) and a hot water bottle wrapped in my duvet in case I keeled over part way up the M6 or got stranded. After a quick sortie round IKEA at Wolverhampton the journey was remarkably straightforward and although I suspect that I arrived in a haze of caffeine and sugar overload (don't try this at home - or even in a car!) nevertheless I was in pretty good shape when I arrived at 23.30. The last 15 miles or so were the worst as the snow was beginning to fall heavily by then and I followed a gritter for most of the way meaning that although the road surface was good, the paintwork on my car probably isn't now!

When we woke up the next morning it was to scenes like this, so I was glad that, crazy as it had seemed I had followed my instincts and not driven overnight. It would have been a much more difficult, if not impossible journey and I would almost certainly have ended up sleeping in the car somewhere (although I still had my emergency rations thanks to Steve and Mary). I had to jettison my sandwiches after the box slid off the passenger seat and spent a couple of hours in front of the hot air fan - I didn't fancy risking warm chicken sandwiches!
Sarah and I, being the 'hunter gatherers' went off to Tesco to forage for provisions for out 'mulled wine and nibbles do' which we were holding the next day and Christmas goodies. Fortunately the Highland Council are excellent at clearing the roads and once we had made it out of our drive the roads were fine.



On Sunday the snow fell pretty well all day and although we made it to the Christmas celebration at church in Smithton we weren't sure if anyone would get to us in the afternoon so were delighted when our first guests arrived pulling their small daughter on a sledge! Most people in fact made it and we were so pleased to meet many new people - it was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon all round. It has already been suggested that we do it again next year.

By Monday morning we were even more snow bound. Richard optimistically took the bin up the drive but we weren't surprised that it wasn't emptied - all the waste collection teams are deployed to gritting and driving snow ploughs in these conditions. We have been leaving the 807 at the top of the drive but even so needed to dig it out in order to get out to Inverness to pick up Marianne who is staying here for a few days. I'm not sure that I was properly dressed for the job!Today Marianne and I took Rhema out and went down to the loch - which looks spectacular at the moment. It was facinating to see different deer tracks in the snow - especially what looked like those of a large stag ( perhaps belonging to a large jolly gent dressed in red....?).


No visit to us is quite complete without a trip up Cairngorm and so we took a chance on the weather despite the temperature being -15 and were fortunate to get up there ahead of the cloud so that although not totally clear, it was still pretty impressive. The ski-ers and boarders were out in force and I know that both Tim and Matt are keen to get out there when they can.





In the meantime we watch with interest the impending avalanche from the roof and wait for the next person to slam the door.......

Good King Wenceslas....

So ... Luton airport closed, Gatwick closed, traffic travelling at 20mph on the M1 and I'm driving back to Moy today! I'm writing this while on my break at work and my car, which I can see from the window, is covered and the snow has settled on the road. Still there are advantages to having all ones belongings in the car......If you see a report of someone wandering up the MI wearing an assortment of clothes, wrappped in a duvet and listening to her i-river guess who??
Steve and Mary have provided the emergency provisions in the form of liquorice logs so I can ration them out.....

Hopefully by the morning the roads will have been gritted and travelling will be easier but I did decide today to set off as soon as I finish work in the morning rather than sleep for the day and drive overnight when the real feel temp is expected to be -13!! If I can at least get some way north before sleeping I stand more chance of getting back before our 'do' on Sunday.

Our consultant has just phoned to say she cant get in - her road is blocked and no taxi will come out so I may have to stay on in the morning anyway if staff cant get here - seems bizarre that Moy isn't getting any of this.....

.....or is it?

Richard e-mailed these pictures to me today - perhaps we aren't about to be plunged into the depths of winter just yet! The day I left we were picking our way through icy roads to visit our two immediate neighbours and take them some crab apple jelly - now, not a snowflake in sight.

This week I have had a number of 'challenges' staying (and supposedly sleeping) in the nurses home..fire alarms again, a screaming child at the nursery below my window, a cement mixer ditto, dark brown water coming from the hot tap and to cap it all someone took my 'do not disturb' sign from outside the door! It has no material value, being simply a laminated A4 sheet of paper depicting a cartoon nurse cuddling a screaming baby and the request not to ring or knock. I used to put it on the front door in Belmont and have had it for years. Ironic that it should disappear just as I finish here - tonight being my last night.

I have had an ear infection for the last few days and finally, realising that I might not be able to fly back on Wednesday decided to get some treatment. I now have drops and antibiotics and the doc says it should hopefully clear up enough to be able to fly - if not, listen out for the sonic bang at lunchtime on Wed - it will be my eardrum exploding as we take off! The silver lining - and there had to be one, is that it has rendered me slightly deaf so the last couple of days have seemed quieter in the nurses home!

As usual I have met up with a number of friends while down here which is always a pleasure and we are now taking bookings for visitors in March as we are pretty busy until then. Tomorrow I am having breakfast with Matt and then heading to Oxford in the afternoon to see Daniel and Julie and give them a hand with some more decorating before driving down to Winchester on Mon evening to see Tim & Ruth. It will be good to see them all again although I am feeling increasingly like a snail, carrying my house with me. As the car has been down here for a couple of months now it has gradually filled up with things we have acquired - several boxes of Richard's possessions from the surgery, a number of sheets of conti board from a wardrobe that Tim & Ruth had dismantled (I take full responsibility for that - but have always maintained that a car is only a 'proper' car if you can get such things in it), various purchases from 'southern' shops, a kettle, Vax, tv, duvet, pillows,large quantities of books and tapes that have been out on loan and been returned (cuddly toy?)- it will be an interesting exercise to finally unpack it.

The Christmas celebrations seem to be pretty lavish in Scotland with a lot going on against a beautiful backdrop so we are looking forward to taking part, as well as our own 'mulled wine & nibbles' that we are putting on the week-end before Christmas. We are hoping for a good response from our neighbours

Before that there is scheduled to be a meteor shower in the middle of the month and the best place to view it is about six miles from Moy because of the lack of light pollution - could be time to fill a few flasks and hot water bottles and go and sit in a field......

Sarah and Joe will be heading back North soon and are due to arrive a day or so before me. Having been under strict instructions not to put the Christmas tree up before they got back we will have to go and inspect the trees in the paddock to see if anyof them are suitable for felling. It may be that they are growing too close together to have any healthy growth low down.

As the wallpaper is now stripped off in the hall we may have to paint the wall before we put the tree up as it will be difficult to move it once it is in place. Richard has been composing a newsletter this year - (we have been remiss for a number of years) so finally we should be able to announce what we are going to call the house and let people know our new address - we've only been there five months!

Winter is here

Our old friends Rutton and Kate nobly came up to see us for just one day. Unfortunately it was the one time that we had a long delay on the flight and they were 2.5 hrs late landing. They had Richard to keep them company at the airport so at least they were able to catch up to a certain extent.

On Sunday we woke to heavy snowfall but ventured into Aviemore and then, fortified by a mocchacino at the Mountain cafe, decided that clearing skies meant it was worth a trip up Cairngorm. Unfortunately the train disappeared into the clouds at the top meaning that the view was non-existent when we got there.

It doesn't seem to have put them off tho' and we are looking forward to them coming back in the spring when hopefully the weather will be a little kinder.Rhema seems to have recovered and was delighted to have some new people to make a fuss of her! The advantage of bad weather is that we can indulge in cooked breakfasts and log fires.....

I am now back in Sutton and as Sarah and Joe are on their 'tour' visiting friends and family, Richard will be on his own for about nine days and has been left instructions to check all the Christmas lights etc before we all get back as Sarah didn't want us to put up the Christmas tree until then. Hopefully we won't increase the light pollution too much!

........and here it is..

I still didn't manage to pick all the crab apples but this was a pretty good result - forty-four jars! Still a fully paid up member of insomniacs anonymous I was making it at 5.00am - very 'farmers wife'!!

We have been looking at wood burning boilers as an environmentally friendly (and cheaper) way of heating the house -once the initial costs have been covered in five years or so we should be able to heat the whole house and provide hot water for a few hundred pounds a year - less if we can collect a fair amount of the wood ourselves, which is pretty good. Today I bought a log splitting mawl and may see tomorrow if I can wield it effectively without taking my leg off - watch this space.

We will retain the gas boiler to give an option for Richards Mum and Dad in the unlikely event that there is no-one here to feed the boiler. We had a demonstration from a chap in Grantown who took us into his shed where the boiler was housed and we were met by a strong smell of whisky - not from him I hasten to add but from the discarded whisky barrels that he was chopping up to burn - oak I suspect - sacrilege.

While we were in Grantown we took Rhema to the vet - she had developed a limp the night after I got here and was finding it difficult to get up and lay down and almost impossible to go downstairs . The problem seemed to be in her front leg and we had set a deadline for it resolving on its own before making the appointment. Like many children she had largely recovered by the time she was seen although was limping again after being examined. Fortunately its' nothing too serious and after a couple of doses of anti-inflammatories and rest she is pretty much back to normal. She is only allowed to walk on the lead for a week or so but as she is the most indolent dog and infinitely prefers snoozing in front of a log fire it hasn't been any great hardship!

The weather has been very windy and intermitently wet with snow on the hills so activities have largely been based indoors and I have managed to get the embroidery machine going for the first time since we moved here. It has suffered a little from the transportation - not helped by being dropped on the way into the house although Richard nobly put his head in the way to break its fall!! The scars have faded now though and I have managed to sort out the glitches on the machine so hopefully will be able to start production once my work hours are reduced in the New Year.

Richard is in Sutton at the moment and flies back here on Saturday accompanied by Rutton and Kate while Sarah and Joe drive down South on Friday for ten days visiting friends and family - the first time Joe has been back down since March. With Richards Mum and Dad having just left after another week here and already booked in for a week in February there is plenty of 'coming and going' here!

The seeds are ordered for next years veg although the veg garden won't be fully operational for a while but we have enough areas to grow a fair amount anyway. The existing plots with the veg I planted in the summer are looking great and we are looking forward to eating the produce in due course. We still have a constant supply of salad leaves and the cabbages will be ready shortly. I am hoping to install a polytunnel next year which will extend the growing season considerably but am waiting out a winter to see if the prevailingwinds are likely to demolish it and deposit it in the field. Seeing our garden furniture blown into the middle of the lawn this morning made me think that the secure siting of a polytunnel could be a challenge!

Three blinds and some jam.....

.....was what I managed to make on my last trip back to Moy. There are crab apples by the bucket load on two trees and so I thought I would make some crab appple jelly - something I have never before tasted, let alone made so it was a bit of an experiment. I had no idea if the apples were even at the stage where they would make jam - they taste awful - very bitter as they have a high tannin content, but I thought perhaps once the sugar was added it would be OK. I made one batch as a test run and it was perfect! So 14 jars down and probably about forty pounds of apples left to pick!!

The blinds are now made for the kitchen and as the right bench has now arrived (we waited 10 weeks for it to arrive from France and they sent the wrong one!) I have started to make the cushion for that, but had to leave to catch my flight back down to Sutton.

It was a short visit, but as usual very busy. Some of you will remember Peter, who was an assistant in the early days of the practice. He now lives and works in Aberdeen and came to stay on Thursday night. It was lovely to see him but impossible to catch up with two families news in such a short time so we hope to see him and Tricia again very soon.

Richards Mum and Dad are up there now - apparently having a great time. Unfortunately I won't see them as they will have left before I get back there on Saturday. Richard and I will be passing like ships in the night for the next couple of weeks as we hand over airport car parking tickets to each other and fly up and down and it is strange to think that my next run of duties will be my last as a sister on the unit. My colleagues have informed me that from now on I will be referred to as 'the bank nurse'!! Cheek - that's their shortbread supplies cut!

A 'slice' of country life!!

Life has settled into a bit more of a routine and the last couple of trips have been much easier with a comfortable place to stay (thank you so much Chris) and time to catch up with friends and family while I am down South. Richard was at a conference in Manchester for a couple of days during my last spell here so courtesy of the 'Oxford Express' (three services running every 15 mins - why do so many people go to Oxford?) we convened in Daniel and Julies house and had a lovely, if exhausting few days with them as we helped them with decorating their extension.
We had the added bonus of seeing Tania, Brook and Oliver (3 months) which was great.

In my absence Sarah had press-ganged Joes Mum, Kay into helping to decorate the kitchen (pictures to follow when it is finished) and she also did some jobs in the garden. She was having such a great time that she changed her train ticket and went home several days later than planned which was lovely as I actually got to see her which was the first time since the wedding!

We decided to go to the community coffee morning which I always try to attend when I am up there as it is a good way to get to meet people (and the home baking is good!) and duly set off down our road only to encounter a cow standing serenely in the middle of the road completely unfazed by my fairly large car.
I decided to call in at the farm to let them know but as I was pulling into the yard a tractor pulled up beside me and a beaming man (who I assumed was Dave, the farmer) climbed down.

'Hello.' I said. Are you off to collect your cow? I'm Liz by the way - just moved in to Keilingha.'
The beam grew wider - 'Aye. Wouldyalikaswid?
Not being totally tuned in to the accent yet I said, 'Sorry?' 'Wouldyalikaswid?' came again. He clearly thought it was something I would like so I said 'Yes, -thank you...' at which he climbed back into his cab, and reappeared carrying a large machete, climbed over the fence into the field and proceeded to cut me two enormous swedes!!
'But the cow?' I reminded him, at which point a further car drew up with people that I recognised as regular coffee morning attendees and the driver got out to report, yes, a cow in the middle of the road.
Dave climbed back over the fence into the field, still beaming. 'I'llhavenoswidsleft!'
We look forward to having his sheep back in our paddock soon, in return for which he will clear the snow from our drive with his snow plough.

My time in Moy was only four days this time but Sarah and I have made cushions for the kitchen chairs which look great and I am looking forward to making matching roller blinds on my next trip. The weather was still good although they had experienced torrential rain during the time we were away and some areas of the garden were still too sodden to work in. The pre-winter clearing up carries on for as long as the weather will permit but I was deprived of further leaf collecting on the mower as it has broken down again and been carted off for repair. Hopefully it will be back by the time I return on Monday and if the boys have done their job there will be a few more mesh bins constructed ready to store the leaves.

I have bitten the bullet and handed in my notice at the hospital so officially my last shift is Dec 5th but have already been booked to work some bank shifts and will be back on 15th for a few days - short retirement!

By the way - the swede was delicious!!

As we now have freesat installed I decided to bring a freeview box back with me and as I stood in the queue for security at the airport I wondered if the combination of laptop, freeview box, i-river, an assortment of chargers and a couple of hard drives together with white powder (in the form of a sherbet dib dab and sherbet fountain, purchased by Richard in a nostalgic moment in a Little Chef) in my hand luggage might lead to me having my bag taken apart - fortunately not!

I have no intention of boring you all with a description of every flight but my latest one on Saturday was quite spectacular. We were about fifteen minutes late taking off so the sun was just rising and there was thick mist collecting in the glens. The effect from the sky was almost prehistoric with the valleys looking like huge glaciers with a backdrop of a clear blue sky and deep red sunrise. A photo through the plane window would never have done it justice - you had to be there.........a note for potential visitors - seat A gives the view of Moy loch both arriving in Inverness and departing.

Some of you will remember the magnificent Christmas cactus which dominated the conservatory each year. Sadly it was inadvertantly left out on the decking at the end of the summer a few years ago and was caught by an early frost causing it to go the way of all frosted succulents - mush!! This was left in Keilingha and I feel is a worthy successor.

I have added 'Making it with Pallets' to my current reading and a 'wrecking bar' (crow bar to the uninitiated) has been added to my armoury. Richard was disconcerted , but not altogether surprised to come back out from sorting out the marble restoration to find that I had talked the workmen into letting me take away the pallets outside and was loading them into the back of the 807. For a tenner and a cup of tea I had another load delivered by a man with a completely unintelligible accent and now have the challenge of taking them apart while preserving as much of the wood as possible. Others may see pallets but I see compost bins and chicken coops and raised veggie beds and ........

In a similar vein the leaves I collected are being stored in wire mesh bins to make next years leaf mould. Richard tells me that it has been quite blustery and the ground is covered again. Last year the snow fell before some people had a chance to collect them and I'm told they had quite a mess to sort out in the spring as a result. I'm hoping that I will make it back in time to avert the same problem this year.

Now that we have completed on the house in Belmont it is time to make a decision as to when I hand in my notice at work in Sutton. It is unrealistic to try and maintain a property with so much land when I am spending more than half my time 550 miles away. With the property market so sluggish this year we were very fortunate to sell the house so quickly and although I will very much miss my colleagues and the unit I first worked in 30 years ago I need to focus on buildinga new life in Moy. Continue to watch this space....

A quieter life??

Well having completed on the house in Belmont it would be reasonable to think that life would get a little quieter - but no! Richard left for Moy and Liz departed to the nurses home at St Helier to start a run of seven nights. Ironic that after housing so many over the years she found herself 'homeless' the day she left. It was an 'experience' to stay at Ferguson House which took her back over thirty years to her early student days. After a week of trying to sleep through drilling and hour long fire alarm testing she was more than ready to depart for the peace of the highlands! The plus side though was that she was able to catch up with some friends - and it wasn't far to go to work!!

The day before we got back our kitchen table was delivered, a lovely oak farmhouse table big enough to seat ten - ordered ten weeks ago and arrived in the nick of time as we had an influx of guests.

Having taken a weeks annual leave to give me a longer period in Moy we enjoyed having Tim, Ruth, Bethan and Toby to stay for a week. It was great to have a bit more time with them instead of the flying visits that seem to have been a feature of the last few months and suffice to say that there was much cake eating interspersed with occasional bursts of activity!! Friends Nick and Jane joined us unexpectedly on Friday for the weekend and we were delighted to be able to introduce them to some aspects of highland life (more cake eating!) including a trip up Cairngorm during a spell of lovely weather.

Much of the rest of the week was spent in the garden and Sarah has already posted a shot taken while I was sweeping a mountain of leaves from the front lawn. The colours at the moment are beautiful and we are hoping that the leaves hold until next week when Joes Mum, Kay is visiting. The veggie patch is looking impressive and the fabric has arrived to re-cover the settees and make curtains for the front room as well as cushions for our wonderful kitchen chairs and roller blinds so I expect to be busy when I get back.

We had another amazing experience with our coffee table. Those of you who have holidayed with us at Dalfaber will remember the huge marble coffee table in the living room. The units are being upgraded and the coffee tables sold off. We were keen to buy the one from our lodge as it is perfect for board games (or food) in front of the log fire. The price they were asking seemed extortionate but we went to look at it anyway and found it cracked from side to side. The resort declared it worthless and gave it to us. We gingerly drove it to a marble restoration company in Inverness who have repaired it almost invisibly at a fraction of the cost that the resort were asking. We are thrilled to have it as we spent many great evenings around it with family and friends in Aviemore.

I continue to battle with the internet and am reluctantly coming to the conclusion that the combination of 18" thick walls and a geriatric laptop are working against me - frustrating when Richard and Sarah can both connect with few problems. I'm now back in N Cheam though, staying in the flat of a good friend who is away for a while and enjoying the luxury of a good connection! I think some of my spare time this week might need to be spent researching routers and laptops!

End of an era

Much has happened since my last post. As Sarah has already said we completed on our house in Belmont on 25th Sept, the day after Tim and Ruth moved into their new house in Winchester. Needless to say it was a busy week and there was little time to reflect on the time that we had spent there as we gardened, cleaned, packed and ate the remains of the food lurking in the fridge. We were very grateful to Tanya and Nicky who helped so much with the cleaning and consequently took a lot of the pressure off us.

Most people who have been part of our lives in the last 22 years will recognise scenes like this:-

But few will have seen the house like this:-

.......and no-one will have seen our studies, (scenes of much preparation,not to mention spider solitaire) like this -not even us!!

When we moved into the house as a young couple with four young children my prayer was that we would be sensitive to how God wanted us to use it. We were privileged to be entrusted with a lovely home in which to raise our fantastic children and it also proved at different times to be a temporary home to many others. I hope that we have been faithful to the phrase which was above the hob in the kitchen 'Entertaining impresses, Hospitality serves.' As we hand it over to the new owners we wish them every happiness and turn the page to the next phase.........

If you go down to the woods today...

The thing about living in the country is that every time you look out of the window you will see something different!

2 down....

The decorating has taken a bit of a back seat to work recently but the lounge at Flat Francis is now also complete. We are undecided on the retro furniture though - if anyone has a brand new free corner suite going... ;).

So here we are...before







...and after...



Hoorah!

In other very important news we had the tv's installed today. There is no freeview in our neck of the woods but free to air satellite saved the day.

For anyone who doesn't know you do not need to subscribe to SKY tv to get satellite tv, as long as you have a dish (or get one) you can plug in a free to air satellite box and receive similar channels to Freeview. They are more expensive than Freeview boxes but it is a much cheaper option than paying for SKY long term. You can of course sign up to SKY for 12 months if they have a good installation offer and then after your contract is up just receive the free to air channels through your SKY box.

This is useful stuff!

Also M&D completed on the Crescent on Friday which went very smoothly and I shall let them update you on it.

Ta Ta for now

Indian Summer

For those of you who greeted the news of our move to Scotland with 'What do you want to go there for - it always rains and the midges are terrible', here are some pictures to put your mind at rest... in truth we have been very blessed with a good summer which has made all the loading and unloading of vans and cars so much easier.



Hanging out the washing becomes less of a chore with a view like this.....

The veggies are doing well despite the attacks from slugs and pigeons. The war on Brer rabbit continues and I have spent most of the afternoon fixing rabbit proof fencing to a breach in the back fence and also to the new gate which hopefully will also stop Rhema and Bethan investigating the stream and ponds at close quarters! There is still a lot of colour and interest in the garden and plenty to keep me busy.

It's not just the cultivated plants which are thriving .......not 'lilies of the field' but certainly growing wild and in my opinion would definately put Solomon in the shade....

Rhema - our intrepid gun dog, when not soaking wet from the stream is usually to be found looking as foolish as ever - this time with a toy lamb given to her by Seth and Charis as a leaving present -it is her favourite toy now and as she seems to have few gun dog instincts I don't think that there is any danger of her picking up the real thing!!

Rhema and I took a break from our labours today for a stroll down to Loch Moy which lies less than ten minutes walk from our back door. We did actually have a couple of days of heavy rain earlier in the month and the level of the loch rose considerably. The small island, although not submerged had much less land visible above water than normal. According to local history, prisoners used to be secured to a ring embedded in the island overnight while their fate was decided. In the morning they were either released or executed - not the stuff that sweet dreams are made of......a rising water level wouldn't have helped much either......

The 'front' garden survived our efforts with the

ride on lawnmower but with the warm weather

is needing attention again .

I fly down to Belmont tomorrow for two weeks.. It will be a hectic time as I am working for ten days on NNU and in the intervening few days will visiting a fabric warehouse in North London with Sarah to choose some new furnishings, helping Tim and Ruth move on 24th and hopefully completing on the house in Belmont on 25th! We are looking forward to Tim, Ruth, Bethan and Toby coming up to stay for a week at the beginning of October.

I was told this morning that last year the first snow fell here at the end of October. It seems hard to believe but the rapid change from one season to the next is something we will need to adjust to. At the moment we enjoy about an hour extra daylight than Belmont but that will have changed by the time I get back. On the plus side......there will be log fires to look forward to and a mobile library that will come to the door if requested, not to mention all those seed catalogues to browse!

Finally we have internet access - unstable and unable to be picked up downstairs on my laptop or the pc but we do have it!!! Sad to realise how much we come to depend on it although I did hear recently that a pigeon was sent off with a data stick strapped to it, the same information was sent via the internet and by the time the pigeon had arrived only 4% of the data had been downloaded!


Random bits of useless information aside.... life continues to be busy here. Having finally managed to get laptop, photos and internet together here are some photos of Bethan being started off early in the veg patch and our arrival with the last van.

Richards Mum and dad have been here for a week having a 'trial run' to see how things might work out practically when they move up next year to join the melee. We have visited the local flower show, attended the church service and been to the Womens Rural Institute and community coffee morning so have started to meet a number of the local people in what seems to be an exceptionally friendly community.


At the house I have sorted out most of the gardening gear and created a potting shed/garden store in one of the stables and have a good selection of winter salad, cabbage, broccolli, and other veg planted in the garden. The highlight of the week had to be the ride on lawnmower being returned from being repaired which gave Richard Joe and Liz some playtime!


The walled garden is still looking lovely despite the attacks of the rabbits. Rhema gets very excited when let in there but as yet hasn't managed to catch one. It may be time to enlist the services of Pete and his gun....

We also had a deer in the paddock - the first we have seen on our land and Richard managed to get quite close before the camera shutter startled it. Sarah has seen what we think was a sparrowhawk and an owl and Richard too has seen some large birds of prey which we have yet to identify. The osprey have now left for warmer climates but hopefully will be back next spring and we are left with the task of discouraging the swallows from nesting in the garage and stables - lovely to see but not very practical if the buildings are to be used at all.

Expecting to complete very soon on the house in Belmont. The remaining furniture has been picked up by a charity and no doubt it will look very different when we return next week.

Update from the Francis wing

I did promise some pictures of my 'accident' with the paint so here they are, I think it says "Welcome to your new home" rather well.

Anyway, the recent decorating has gone well although there has not been much time for it as we have been pretty busy with guests.

Prior to Ruth, Bethan and Toby coming up we also had my friends Paul, Jasmine and their little girl Millie visit which was loads of fun.

So...decorating progress. Joe and I are fortunate enough to have the top floor of the house to ourselves which has 4 rooms and a bathroom.

Our bedroom is finished, living room and guest rooms are pretty much there but my office and the hallway are still bombsites. The bathroom has arrived and is sitting in the hallway so generally it is a bit of a mess!

I am however very pleased with myself as so far, I have learnt how to wallpaper and use an industrial floor sander. The latter is rather exhausting but worth it as once varnished, the floor boards look great!

So this is bedroom 1. The before photo doesn't show the wallpaper in it's true light, very floral and woodchip on the ceiling.

























More to follow when I get around to taking them!
Oh and BT finally connected our phone line and the internet will be up and running on the 10th - WOOHOO!!!

Busy busy!

Well Sarahs wish to never speak to BT again unfortunately didn't come true and so we are still waiting to be connected and therefore have only spasmodic internet access if we visit either Inverness or Aviemore. An inconvenience for us but a diasaster for Sarah, trying to build an internet based business and now living at the house. However -all is not lost as our immediate neighbour John has come to the rescue by giving Sarah his wireless password and she can now often be found working perched on a stool at the top of the garden where she can pick up a signal!!

Sarah and Joe moved in on 17th and were amazed at the cavernous size of the interior of our 807 as they managed to put both their sofas in at once! Their rooms are beginning to look very cosy and they say it is lovely to see the stars so clearly from their window at night.

There is so little light pollution here that if you get up at night it is impossible to see your hand in front of your face - we may have to install some kind of night light on the landing or we could find visitors wandering all over the place!

Liz had a much calmer set of flights this time with six nights at work in Sutton and then was due to fly back with Ruth, Bethan and Toby for a few days. Unfortunately both Tim and Ruth went down with food poisoning the night before and so Bethan and Nana had a 'big aeroplane adventure' all by themselves. Ruth and Toby came up the next day and were able to recuperate a bit while Liz and Bethan got on with the serious business of planting out the winter salad and brassicas.

Richard meanwhile, apart from moving Sarah and Joe has been busy putting together bookshelves and unpacking numerous boxes. He has also managed to expand his coffee shop loyalty card collection!

It has been a busy couple of weeks with Matt and friends visiting as well as Mum and Dad and their friends Tony and Yolande and we are looking forward to actually having two whole weeks in Scotland when we return this time.

We drove down overnight on Tuesday with Bethan who proved herself a true traveller and was an absolute star. Mummy and Toby flew down on Wednesday afternoon and collected her before driving back down to Winchester. Unfortunately both Liz and Richard seem to have picked up the bug so all further packing is on hold at the moment.

We have hired a van, which together with the 807 and our new, high sided trailer should hopefully transport most of our remaining belongings from Belmont. With Matt moving into his new flat this week-end and Tim and Ruth moving into their house at the end of September it continues to be a time of change for the Coolings!

Here...or there?

After a very uneventful week back in Belmont eating the dubious remains in the fridge Liz caught the flight back by a whisker -becoming a bit of a habit!! Suffice to say that she was on the M23 at 09.15 with her flight due to leave at 09.30!! Convinced that she would be spending the next few hours in the airport she nevertheless hurtled through the depths of Gatwick and amazingly found herself at the gate just as they put out the last call. It was a slightly surreal experience - once she had recovered, to see the loch and house at Moy on the descent to Inverness an hour and a half later. The experience was similar to what one would imagine it is like to be 'beamed up' and strange to think that just three hours earlier having been in charge that night at work, she had been handing over to the day shift on the neonatal unit.

Saturday saw Richard and Liz at Moy fair, a hugely well attended event which was a great afternoon out and we walked home laden with edible goodies which we were able to share with our new neighbours, John and Barbara who we joined for a cuppa on the way home.

Our first guests have arrived and seem to be enjoying themselves. It is good to have a slightly longer stretch up here (8days) and so far it has been a time of highs and lows - excitement for Liz at finding that Pete, another neighbour also reads 'Home Farmer' and 'Country Smallholder' and shame at having to confess in the agricultural supplier that she only needed one 'tattie sack' for her crop of potatoes - well, there's always next year!!

We were offered 20 chickens this week but feel that until Liz is in Moy permanently it would be difficult to look after them properly so reluctantly had to decline although it was tempting...

Making progress - and losing the dog - again!!

Having been forewarned by Sarah about the 'redecoration' of the lobby floor we were nonetheless pleased to be back after a very straightforward run overnight. A strategically placed rug covers the 'teal tension' and will no doubt stay there until we get around to redecorating that area - not high on the agenda.

The guest room will soon be complete and we look forward to welcoming Paul, Jasmine and Millie next week. Jasmine and Sarah were at college together and Jasmine was one of Sarahs bridesmaids. The Moy game fair takes place next week-end and we are informed that it is a ;must' for the locals, so we will all be there.

Rhema once again decided to raise our stress levels by disappearing while Richard and I were unloading the car. Despite the 'trail' of a furry bone left at the top of the drive we were unable to locate her and were beginning to think it was possible that she might not be found when we got a phone call to say she was safe - on the other side of the A9!! For those of you not familiar with it, the A9 is a very fast road, notorious for the number of accidents on it so the fact that out air head of a dog managed to cross it without either getting hit herself or causing an accident is nothing short of a miracle. Sadly we have now decided that she cannot be free range and have had to keep the gates closed.

We are beginning to think about cutting wood to start dryingout and I am now the proud owner of my own chainsaw together with some very fetching steel toed orange wellies! In due course I will enrol on a chainsaw course but in the meantime am now back in Sutton after possibly the worst journey back we have ever experienced. I skidded into night duty with about 30 secs to spare and nearly broke my record of never having been late for work.

It's all systems go now as the survey on our house in Belmont will be done this week and the purchasers hope to move in in September. Richard will be heading back North with another car load on Monday - after a day watching the cricket in Birmingham and I will fly back on Thursday - wonder what I will find this time?

British Telecom blues

Whilst Mum and Dad were away I set about decorating two of the upstairs rooms, was in charge of the dog and attempted to transfer our broadband account. None of this was as easy as it sounds.

The combination of looking after the dog and decorating resulted in a tin of 'Teal Tension' being dropped on the carpet in the hallway (oopsy pictures to follow!). Whilst trying to stop the dog from treading in it I was also hosing down the hallway rug and did not notice the pool of watered down 'Teal Tension' gathering on the driveway. Thankfully it rains alot here!

You will be pleased to hear the rest of the painting went well.

The broadband on the other hand has turned in to being a real pain to transfer and that ruined my day before it even begun. I then spent the afternoon fighting with a floor sander.

On the up side of things, there is a Scottish Challenge event being held at Joe's club this week. 150 golfers are taking part and it is all very exciting - especially the bit where Joe drives them back to their accommodation in brand new £70K cars.

Hoping for better luck with the floor sander tomorrow and that I never have to speak to BT ever again!

Back to work

After a brief visit to Tim and Ruth it has been back to work for Liz with four long (12.5 hr) days on the neonatal unit before we drive back up to Moy on Sunday night. It has been an interesting experience as in her absence the unit has returned to the original site after having been re-housed elsewhere for the last six months. Consequently no one can find anything which makes for a high level of stress in what is a fairly stressful job anyway.
Sarah and Joe are now planning to move into the house in Moy in mid August rather than September and Sarah has already set up the installation of broadband so she can work in between painting! (Can't think who she takes after)
We have accepted an offer on our house from couple with no chain so may have unloaded our house in Belmont sooner than anticipated which is great in some ways but means we have lost our base when we come down to visit. If you see a tent pitched in Rosehill Park......
We are looking forward to seeing what progress Sarah and Joe have made with the decorating.

New Arrival!

We welome Toby Rhys as the newest Cooling. Tim phoned us at 18.20 while we were meeting some of our new neighbours to say that they had just arrived at the hospital so we made the decision to drive back overnight. We packed up and had just arrived at Sarah and Joes house to drop off Rhema when we got another call to say that Toby had arrived at 18.36! Tim nearly missed it as he had gone back to get some more things from the car and then no-one answered the labour ward buzzer to let him back in - think they were little busy suddenly!!

Anyway - all is well and we are delighted to be grandparents again.

First fruits

We decided that we really should pick the ripe fruit in the fruit cage even though I wasn't in a position to make jam or jelly just yet. We had already had a wonderful feast of strawberries and raspberries and had tracked down the mushrooms. We will have to do a bit more work next year!!

Moving Day!

Well it wouldn't have have been a 'true to form' Cooling move without a little last minute drama in the form of a wasps nest in the trailer tent which necessitated us putting up the tent while we were waiting for the removal men to arrive!

After that however all went well and the removal team speedily packed us up and left at about 14.30 leaving Richard and I to go out for a bite to eat and then spend a sleepless night on very uncomfortable airbeds before we finally left at around 6.00am.

After a considerably better nights sleep at Sarah and Joes house we picked up the keys from the Estate agent in Inverness and were able to get into the house for a quick look round before the removal van arrived.The unpacking was a bit more eventful than the packing as the Scottish team broke down so it was all hands on deck to help Mark, our removal man, unload as much as we could while waiting for them to arrive.

Sarah realised that we hadn't seen Rhema for a while and finally tracked her to the pond which she had jumped into but been unable to get out of. One very wet and muddy dog spent the rest of the afternoon shut in one of the stables!

A massive thunderstorm caused a power cut for two hours but didn't cause too many problems apart from not being able to make tea for the team. They were well supplied with Sarahs delicious baking tho' so didn't seem too unhappy. They even managed to move Richards fern and palm tree!

Sarah and Joe stayed in the house on Wednesday night and it was lovely to all be together on the first morning and enjoy a cooked breakfast in our new kitchen.

Since then we have been busy unpacking, moving things around and meeting some of those who have been involved with the house over varying periods of time. We bumped into some people who we had previously met in the local pub and are struggling with feeling that we are just here on holiday.

The gardens are stunning at the moment and although they have rabbit proof fencing all round, I spied two rabbits early this morning in the walled garden. Rhema was very excited to see them and chased them away then stood guard over the gap in the fence.

We had a saunter this afternoon down to the loch and found lots of wood which will be earmarked for firewood later on when I have accquired a chainsaw although the previous owners have kindly left a quantity of wood drying for us under cover so we have wood for this winter.

Sarah has already embarked on wallpaper stripping on their floor and we are starting to get organised ready for guests as the first ones will be arriving mid August.

Richard and I are poised to return to Sutton as Tim and Ruths baby was due on 18th so could be here any minute. I will be working in Sutton from 23rd - 27th anyway so will be interesting to see how the commute goes.