End of our NC500 road trip and back to work

Enjoying the view over Culloden moor before heading back

Fine weather for our last morning so a pleasant walk up onto some moorland, well Tony won’t be finished lecturing till 15.00.

So that was our aim, and what we did. All well until reversing onto the drive only to meet a tractor coming towards us. The pressure was all too much and sadly Ted had a gentle coming together with the egg sales box. Despite being gentle it has damaged the fibreglass so a repair is needed. No people or cats were damaged in the process, and at least it’s the same side as the damage from very early on in our ownership so hopefully we can get it all done at once!

Poor Ted! Two little spots of white on the back left corner is where the outer skin has been broken to show the white fibreglass underneath

See the raised bit of roof, now all slated and weatherproof

Rather than dwell on this we went straight back to work. As we left on our little trip the last thing I’d done was give Brian the slater a tube of silicon sealant, to run along the top of the last row of slates of the far end. Mark has then come so ridge tiles and chicken pots were on which meant that the far end of the building is now watertight. Hurrah. T&N had started putting the flooring down so we continued with that, finishing on Saturday. It’s not exciting in itself, but it is very exciting that so much of the building is usable and can be worked on. 

The only bit left is the bit above the big opening as the roof actually has to be raised here, as has been done on the other doorway while we were away in August.

So now we're on the 'Big Opening'. The bit at the bottom with the polythene over is the bit we helped Tony with before we went on our trip. You can see the sandstone quoins fitted, which in this photo extend just into the upstairs. Tony lays the quoins, the stones alongside to fill in and the concrete blocks behind, after Brian has selected each quoin and cut it with the stone saw, Jackie has selected each stone to fit like a jigsaw and make it match the existing stone wall, as well as mixing all the mortar in the mixer and Brian has cut each concrete block to fit and some of the stones that have bits sticking out in the wrong place. The wall is 600mm thick and as its got to tie in to the existing stone wall, very few blocks are whole, each one needs cutting - an angled corner cut off here, the length or width chopped off either square or at an angle and sometimes some very odd shapes to miss a bit of stone sticking out. I might hear something like 'I need 310 long, 130 to 170 angled along the side and take the corner off on the 130 side about 75mm at 45 degrees'. On with the stone saw, dust everywhere, a lot of it settling on me

Brian working on the frame

The big opening has therefore been our focus, and it has really been full on, we’ve been getting up earlier and while Brian is preparing the fruit for breakfast I’ve been mixing the first load of cement. The downstairs lintel went in while we were away, there’s just no stopping Tony sometimes, so we’ve been putting in the quoins and granite for the upper level. Obviously the higher we get the slower the process as everything has to be lifted, either up the ladders onto the scaffolding, which also has had to go higher, or into the building and up the stairs, easier but longer. We have now got just one more quoin, per side, to go in to come up to the wall head, and then the roof has to be cut out! Fortunately Tony has done the other doorway as this seems really scary to me, chopping off one of the legs of an A frame (up to the cross member) seems really odd. Planning obviously went into this right at the beginning, so as well as 4 A frames being bolted together and lifted into place together at either end of the opening. (This was really scary 2 years ago when we put all the A frames into position, one was manageable by two people, 4 together was only manageable by the telehandler! ) Across the cross piece of the A frames to be cut is a huge, solid piece of wood to spread the load of the slates and in theory provide the necessity support for roof and tiles, but even so, cutting off one of the legs of an A and expecting it to stay where it is just seems weird! I guess, if the weather is kind, we might be ready for this by the end of the weekend, and Mark the slater has been booked to finish the roof in December.....

Here's where it's up to. It's now at row 11 of the quoins, you can just see the small quoins at the top. One more row of big ones to the existing wall head, then two more rows above to reach up to the top of the wooden frame, then it's modifying the roof like the other raised section. Then the slaters can finish off, they're booked for December!

The flooring is now laid in the newly slated and waterproof bit and the wood has been delivered and stacked in the centre ready to start building the internal walls. Firstly round the outside to cover, but not touch, the stone walls and then the internal walls to create two bedrooms, a bathroom and a corridor in this bit

This photo is to show just how far north we are (57.6 degrees north - just 9 degrees short of the arctic circle, where the sun doesn't rise at all on the shortest day). The sun in the centre of the glare is not that far above the horizon, but its not approaching sunset or sunrise. In fact, its just about midday and the sun is at its highest in the sky - and its not even the shortest day yet, not for more than 4 weeks. It does make the days here very short and the nights very long in winter