The Cladding Age

"Forgive me father, it's been 6 weeks since my last blog...". To be fair though, we've been away twice recently and have only had 3 weeks on site since the last update. So what can you get done in 3 weeks? Well, if you are a bit incompetent, spend a lot of time rubbing your chin and work very slowly, the answer is not very much. We have however continued to chip away at the "green mile" (our To Do list). We have also had a bit more help from Sam and Patrick to finish the ridge flashing so the main roof is pretty much done now.

Sam and Patrick putting on the ridge flashing...

We have also had another visit from Gill and Chris (my sister and brother-in-law). Chris (our very helpful retired civil engineer) had a look at our work which, to our delight, received favourable feedback and Gill helped Julia make a compost bed. Chris and I managed to fit in a bit of fishing but unfortunately it ended up with a broken rod and nothing for the pot!

The compost "lasagne" bed in production. Apparently cardboard is a vital ingredient...

While they were here, we were also surprised by a visit from a building control officer who made a rare trip to Coll to inspect the island construction sites. There are currently about 8 developments on the island at various stages ranging from "Just broken ground" to "Awaiting Completion Inspection". I'm pleased to report that there were no issues raised on our project.

On the 23rd June, we left Coll with Gill and Chris. They were heading for Barra and we were heading for Greece to attend Julia's brother's wedding. We were off the island for a full 3 weeks even though our Greek Odyssey was for just over a week. That was because we drove via Crieff (to celebrate my mother's 89th birthday) and then on to London where we left our ageing mutt with the kids. We then braved the Gatwick hoards to fly to Athens. Nick and Lizzy live in Seattle and there isn't really a good reason why they decided to get married in Greece but we are glad they did. Despite all the flight problems and rising covid cases, (and the odd mislaid passport - father of the bride!), everyone made it there in good health. It was a small family affair (not a big fat Greek wedding at all) and they hired a beautiful villa for us all to just chill for the week. The villa was in the Peleponese about 170 miles drive from Athens and was wonderful. The wedding was lovely - conducted in the garden in the setting evening sun and the holiday was a very welcome break! Thanks Nick and Lizzy! x

When we returned to Coll a couple of weeks ago, the next priority on the "Green Mile" was the wall cladding. We have 1.7km (!) of interlocking wooden planks to cut and attach to the walls of the house and we have 4,500 stainless steel screws to attach them with. The cost for cladding has literally rocketed since last year and has more than doubled so we spent a long time shopping around. We ended up choosing thermally treated redwood with a black stain which has turned out pretty well. Our sitting room to-be has become a makeshift saw mill and in there are my new toys... a table saw and a chop saw! When Chris heard about these purchases he sent me an article about the "9 fingered joiners club" which apparently is quite easy to become a member of. Bizarrely, there are 3 people I have met who are in this club so I'm going to be VERY careful...

We were discussing our cladding challenge with some pals who are currently cycling (unsupported) from the Northern tip of Norway to Istanbul - an eye watering 6000km! They are well on their way, and currently going through Poland but we were joking about who would finish first ... will they reach Istanbul before we finish cladding the house? ... So competitive sport can even find it's way into house cladding. The race is on! Unless we get a lot faster though my money is on Dave and Georgie...

Our start was a bit slow as we tackled the dormer structure first which has all sorts of roof angles and short bits. We only made 30m in the first day but we are pretty pleased with how it has turned out ...

Julia is standing on the roof of the kitchen painting the dormer in the photo above. It is temporarily covered in blue roofing paper but due to the holes caused by the constant foot traffic, it leaks like a sieve so we are keen to get that sorted soon. We will put a rubber roof on it once we have clad the gable walls. Then, all being well, the house will be fully sealed.

The gable wall with some cladding on it...

I do unfortunately have one serious site accident to report. The party involved was not wearing head protection at the time and was knocked out cold. While we had the patios doors open, a poor wee bird flew in and, on trying to exit, smacked straight into the window on the other side of the house. He was lying on the window ledge quivering. Julia picked the poor wee thing up and soon he was conscious and sitting upright on her palm but not taking to the wing. We left him on a rock and I'm pleased to report he finally flew off. I hope he recovers.

In my many years, I have never won anything in a raffle and there are a lot of raffles on the island. Every time there is something organised there seems to be a raffle. There has been a lot going on of late. A couple of bands have played gigs, we've had a Ceilidh to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the village hall ... and then there was a Bingo night where I finally lucked out winning a bottle of port.

Unfortunately the beach football competition was on the same day as the Ceilidh and I offered my services if needed. I thought that being in goal would limit the risk of injury to my dodgy knee but all the hapless lunging to try to save goals caused a groin strain. It's pretty much better now but it did mean no dancing for me at the ceilidh.

Ben, who helped us last year has now gone off to Canada with a 2 year work visa. Before he left however he was travelling back to Coll from Oban and managed to sleep in and miss his ferry. By some incredible fortune, a friend of one of the islanders was coming over with a helicopter and agreed to pick Ben up en route. Ben persuaded them to buzz over our site and he took this picture from the air - nice to see the whole thing!

The other excitement we had was the Coll Fishing Competition. It's the first one since pre-covid times and the first one I've ever attended. I had no idea what a big event this is for the island. Pretty much everyone shows up for it and we had 11 boats entering. I was the first mate on our neighbour Nick's boat. You have to have two islanders and one visitor on each boat so we recruited Gill who was here visiting her dad. A horn is blown and the vessels race off to the killing fields for a very strict 2 hour fish. There are a lot of rules and a lot of prizes and Gill managed to win the "Visitor's Biggest Mackerel" trophy! We came in mid-field with about 17kg of fish. Unfortunately there was an incident at the start when one boat hit the wake of another and all 3 occupants were catapulted into the sea. Luckily the injuries were not life threatening and life jackets inflated but a few lessons learned for everyone who witnessed it. Maybe next year I will be entering my own boat...

Gill, the mackerel queen in Nick's boat...

Some of the boats readying before the start...

And finally, Julia had her second birthday in the caravan last month. Let's hope the next one is in a house...

I loved the pink card (from Nick & Lizzy) ...

Hope you are all keeping well.

K&J xx