This is just a short update on the progress of the cottage renovations: The sitting room at the west end of the house has been decorated. This took a little longer than anticipated but the job is an excellent one. The final fitting of the electrics still needs to be done but this will be completed when the rest of the rooms have been re-wired so in the meantime we have to make do with extension leads, and table lamps!
Although this room will eventually be the sitting room and extra bedroom for guests, in the meantime we have had to move or main bedroom into it because the next stage is the demolition of two bedrooms and the rebuilding of the space to include one (guest) bedroom, bathroom and utility rooms. We moved everything apart from the larger furniture across or into our storage container. Ross our builder turned up today and made a start on this. Tomorrow the walls will come down! All very exciting stuff!
I have made a couple of short videos of the renovation of the room for you to enjoy.
Sitting Room Part 1
Sitting Room Part 2
Yesterday evening as we were getting ready to go out to a John Rae Society meeting there was a knock at the door. When I opened the door a stocky man asked me if I wanted some fish. I first thought that he was some sort of door to door fish monger. Thinking that it would be a good thing to check him out and called for Anna. However Anna was in the shower so I was on my own with this one! “How many do you want? “he asked, showing me a large plastic bowl full of the freshest trout you have ever seen. “How much? “ I said. “Nothing” he replied “ I have just had a day fishing at Swanney Loch and have caught these”.
I took four off him and after a short chat he offered to take me fly fishing one day so I could have a go. The gentleman turned out to be one of our neighbours from across the loch who we have never met but I knew from the farmer that this guy was a very keen and able fisherman. I thanked him and he went on his way whilst I took the fish inside.
By this time ( for those of you who don’t know such things, a couple of Orkney men talking for a ‘short time’ is nothing of the sort ) Anna was out of the shower and I explained what had gone on. “Well Google how to gut a trout then” Anna said. “I assumed that you knew” I replied. After being rescued from a piscine disaster by Mr Google we had a printout of what to do.
Half an hour later or there about we had four gutted large brown trout in the freezer ready for Anna to cook something yummy on a later day. An unexpected bonus. (PS from Anna – they were delicious !)