Apr - digging out the basement

Ropes and pulleys were required but a hundred years of sawdust needs to be removed.

It's dark down here!

The good news is that there is a sump, the bad news is that it fills with water when ground water levels are high.
Not entirely unexpected, but something else to deal with.

Before

After

After

That's quite a spoil heap!

Mar - new door

Fed up with all and sundry just wandering around to the back of the house, I have requested (and got) a new door, so everyone will just have to ring the doorbell and enter via the front door now like normal people.

Jan - apparently its been snowing!

As soon as the news says it's been snowing in Scotland cue calls from worried friends and relations - are you OK? Scotland's a big place guys, it probably snowed SOMEWHERE in Scotland but not on the SW coast.
You can just see a bit of snow in the distance, it'll be gone by lunchtime.

Dec '16

A new shed to store the gardening equipment along with a timber drying area,

Now we can empty out the stone building before replacing the floor and digging out the hundreds of years of sawdust from the basement.

Remember, remember the 5th of November...

The ridge tiles have gone on and the whole project is now water-tight for the first time in over a decade!

Photos of the finished roof.

A big bonfire to celebrate with chilli, soup, jacket potatoes and mulled wine.

Oct the roof is done

The roof is completed apart from the ridge tiles. It suddenly looks so different.

Notice the nice new flat roof finish too!

Sept - the slate goes back on but the weather has turned

Rain is now the biggest problem, partly because in it's current state part of the inhabited building will be prone to leaks and partly because it stops work.