happy birthday to us!

evening all,

here's all that's new in our simple world.....

- the guttering is finished, completed and totally up and running!

it's been a long slog for Monsieur Monkey Boy which we think he's glad is over.

this is the final section upon completion:



- the barn is coming along nicely.

the cellulose boards are almost all up, the majority of the hemp/wool insulation is in the walls and we've got all (except one) doorways built ready for door fittings.

other developments include: the wood burning stove is on it's way, the plumber is going to start soon, the stone mason will start on the window/door openings next week, the first portion of windows are ready to be delivered and the french oak floor boards are awaiting delivery too - not bad huh?

here's the latest shot of the hallway:



- it was our 1 year anniversary on the 7th of this month (doesn't time fly!)

we celebrated with a game of poker and nikki's first drunken night since we arrived.

she ruined the poker game (which she was losing) by spilling her drink and lunging across the table for monkey boy sending the cards/chips flying.

her drunkenness continued as monkey boy had to assist her in (play-fighting) attacking him (as she had zero coordination) and she still only ending up hurting herself in the attack.

never the less a comedy night was had by all and only a hearty breakfast of fried eggs, sautéed mushrooms, hash browns and roast tomatoes could save us from the hangover the next morning.

unfortunately no photographs were taken to show the hilarity.

- after watching one particular episode of ray mears monkey boy decided to make a leather punch in order to see if he could emulate a particular style of handle making that ray illustrated.

the results are pretty stunning:





the handle is made of ebony, walnut and sweet chestnut - it's a beauty!

- here are some photographs that monkey boy took recently:

some cherry tree sap/resin



some nice fungi on a branch



and a self-reflection in a bubble on the top of the water overflow trough



- finally, we took delivery today of some trees which we've had to get in order to reinforce the floor of the barn.

they're about 9m/30ft long and weigh oh so much!!! they are scots pine (the ones the few remaining caledonian forests in scotland consist of) and are a local native species of the area.

besides the delivery (they were taken from the foresters land about 2 miles away - local wood for local people) we're moving them all using only human-power.

we've had some fun already de-barking them and cutting/moving them.

it's very hard but really satisfying work. we're aching tonight!

here they are being off-loaded



and starting to be sorted



and the beginnings of a pile of usable ceiling posts



right, tiredness is taking over and so i'll stop.

later, gairy.