Roof Lights and Chelsea

We have now been back on Coll for over a month, and we are gradually chipping away at our "Green Mile" to do list...

It doesn't look like great progress from the list but some of the lines are massive jobs and others quite simple. Some of them are also partly done but Tsala is guarding the list to stop us ticking off the things that aren't quite completed.

The big ones since the last update are the installation of all 9 Velux windows and the installation of the profile roof sheeting. The sheeting alone is held on by over 1000 screws. Sam and Patrick have been onsite again assisting us with this which has been fun and we are so grateful for their help!

Father and son working together.

Keith and I do procrastinate while we try to figure out how we tackle things (well more Keith than me tbh). It's not helped by the fact that the house has sooooo many gaps and panels that are not quite in the right place. We are spending a lot of time watching YouTube videos and consulting brother-in-law Chris who has been very patient with us! We are looking forward to a visit from him and Gill in the coming weeks - I hope he doesn't find too many gremlins in our work...

The weather has been generally unkind since we got back with high winds being the main theme. Recently however we have had a perfect spell with light winds which have allowed us to get the tin up and the windows in. Phew!

When it has been too windy (or wet) to work on the outside, we have been tackling the inside jobs. Our priority is outside though so when it has been showery, we've been taking a short cut to the roof by clambering in and out through the dormer window between downpours... we must have looked nuts.

So inside the house we have managed to put in all the roof ties. These join both sides of the roof and have to be fixed to rafters - not always easy when the rafters don't match up on both sides. We used our old friend Hughie (our laser level) for the first time since we built the foundations to mark the lines.

Half of them were done from the upstairs but the ones in the double height sitting room were scary high! I am getting braver by the day - its quite funny that the more you go up and down a ladder or up and down on the roof purlins, the easier it becomes. Keith on the other hand, although he gets on with it, seems to take longer to acclimatise :-)

Last week I went to Chelsea Flower Show - such luxury. It was a 50th Birthday present from Lucy which, due to Covid, had been postponed for 2 years. I was hoping to get some inspiration for our Coll garden.

The trip to London was a bit of an ordeal. Keith was staying on Coll to carry on with the build so I had to take make my own way with trains and planes. I lucked out on the ferry though as Rhona was driving to Glasgow and offered me a lift which meant one less wait and one less train. The journey was lovely, chatting about island life et al and we were in Glasgow in no time. It was like I had arrived abroad - lots of exposed flesh and summer clothes - I was overheating in my woollen jumper. The next day I woke at 5:30 to get the flight to London only to see a message from Easyjet saying the flight had been cancelled ... Grrrrr.... Best I could get was a flight the following day but the silver lining was some unscheduled time in Edinburgh seeing friends. I had coffee with Cat, lunch and a walk with Ella and tea with Desi. Lovely. In London I caught up with various friends and family, but the highlight was visiting Chelsea with Lucy. The weather was good and we wafted around the amazing gardens and enjoyed various glasses of bubbles, coupled with doing some 21000 steps! I also got to go to the cinema too, haven’t done that for a long while, and saw the new Top Gun Maverick film. Brilliant!

So far, I have been growing seeds in propagation pots in the garage and have already planted out various cuttings which I was given by my mother-in-law and island neighbours.

The Olearia, Fuschia and Willow I planted out earlier this year seems to be taking well I have planted more Willow cuttings along the fence...

We have quite a variety of naturally growing flowers and plants on the plot. We have early purple orchids, bog marigolds and an abundance of Irises.

In the garden (well garden to be!) we have lots of exposed rocks. I am hoping to expose more rock and plant in between the crevices. I have already planted some purple sprouting thyme, rosemary and sage and some little green shoots are starting to appear. Yay.

I've also been digging out a small pond by the house which is a natural sump in the bedrock. If I get rid of all the mud, it should make a clear water pond (well nearly clear) and with Keith's new solar setup, I can have a permanent fountain or flow of water which will stop algae growing. This will be an interesting experiment but one that may have to wait a while!

I met a lovely artist called Rachel who was visiting the island last week and she gave me a link to a well known instagram gardener (Sarah Price) who has worked on sand gardens. I hope this will give me lots of ideas as there is no shortage of sand here. So thank you Rachel!

Whatever we do, it will take us a while to make a garden as lovely as the Coll hotel one...

So, apart from the build and a bit of gardening what have Keith and I been up to?? We have had various celebrations around the Jubilee including the lighting of the island beacon.

A highlight since the last blog was a visit from a well know folk band called Daimh. They were amazing and I think everyone’s toes were tapping, If you ever have the chance to hear them, I can't recommend them enough.

Keith has also been fishing a couple of times with mixed results. One evening he headed off promising a pollock for supper. We had friends over, so I got everything prepared. Well….he called (10 mins before the shop closed) to say that the swell on the rocks was threatening to sweep him away so he had to retreat. OmG OMG ... luckily he made the shop and the fish pie was duly changed to a chicken pie. The second trip was more successful, Keith came home with a fabulous 7lb fish (his estimate not mine!)...

But this time I hadn’t taken any chances so the fish accompanied my bean stew! Our neighbours joined us which was lovely. So life is good and we prevail!

I hope you are all keeping well too.

J&K xx