December 1999
I have just returned from a three week break in Ireland. It's all part of my bid to recover some of the tax paid during the year so going over there was not such a daft idea. Most of my time was spent with friends who live in County Wicklow near Dublin. This is also near to the vale of Avoca which is the setting for Ballykissangel. I had my photograph taken outside Fitzgerald's pub (as you do) but no sign of Asumpta or Orla !. I did manage to get over to the west coast and even saw some good scenery inbetween the showers. The big problem is the state of the roads and I have to confess that driving around for about 7 hours each day did get tiring. I will never complain about UK roads again !. I did enjoy the Guinness in Ireland - it really does taste different and dosen't seem to give me a hangover.... I can also recommend the new bottled Guinness, it's very different to the original bottles and the more recent cans. Just make sure that the top is removed quickly else you will end up with a glass of flat black liquid.
Well it looks like I have returned to the start of some cold weather. Thankfully the house patching & insulating will make life easier but I have a feeling that I will be using a lot of coal over the next few months. We have about an inch of snow but thankfully in this part of the world things don't stop just because the roads are white.November 1999
I have not had much time to pen anything interesting this month. Most of my time is spent keeping one step ahead of the weather. The new road was nearly finished at the beginning of the month but had to be abandoned when the flood gates opened. We estimate that around 400 tons of gravel have been laid to provide the new surface. The gravel came out of the hill behind the house and I now have room for about 25 Landrovers !. Several luxury items have been added to the house. A fan heater in the bathroom stops me shivering and even keeps the floor dry. The shower went "on line" today (11th) so perhaps people will start talking to me again....
Cheers for now
This has been a busy month so far. Not that I have been earning anything but have had plenty to keep me occupied in the house and on the croft. Firstly some good news. I have discovered that there will be work for me for a month in November so this will help matters. Mind you I have just received my council tax bill so that will put a big dent in it. Still at least money will be coming in.
The house is still standing but I have just started to investigate what's behind the wooden panelling and found - not a lot !. I realised that the house was completely un-insulated but there also seems to be a lack of timber in the walls. I am reluctant to start pulling the tin sheeting off the external walls as I might cause all sorts of problems. The simplest solution is to build an insulated box inside each room so this will start next week. Finally managed to get the washing machine "on line". This nearly turned into a disaster. The layout of the house does not allow me to group everything logically so the washing machine is in the kitchen which is in the front hall. The only place with water is the bathroom so I used a hose pipe to provide a supply for the washing machine. The hose pipe has to run through the living room.... All was ok until I turned on the water. I had expected to have problems with the connections but I ended up with a water feature that Charlie Dimmock would have been proud to have built. The problem was a tiny hole in the hose pipe. Thankfully the water went in the opposite direction to my PC etc. !.
Anyway the system works well and I can stop relying on my friends machine. Other improvements to the house include a new ring main, so that I can dispense with the dozen or so extension leads to power everything, and a light in the toilet !. Popped down to Inverness last week and bought some plumbing bits from Travis Perkins. I set up an account with them last year and they have given me some great discounts. Anyway I bought a load of copper pipe, fittings and a pipe bender. After a bit of experimenting I manufactured a copper coil. The coil sits in the top of the fireplace and is connected to a small radiator. The system is filled with water through a vent pipe and naturally circulates as the water heats up. This is only a trial system but the results are very promising. With a good fire (ie most of the time) the radiator becomes too hot to touch. My temperature sensor only goes up to 50c but the water is well above this. The idea is to install a second storage tank to feed a series of radiators and be able to choose between domestic hot water and space heating. Fuel is plentiful at the moment as I am still "recycling" the old kitchen through the fireplace.
September 1999
Well this was the month that, after 21 years of employment & association with the British Antarctic Survey, I finally left. I guess that I had been building up to this for some time but even I was amazed as to how easy it was to leave. I was sorry to say farewell to so many good friends but modern communications make staying in touch so much easier so it won't be too bad. I know that many people visit Scotland so I will be happy to see anyone who is "passing". I am sure that the 650 mile journey from Cambridge will not put too many people off... The croft consists of 8 acres of rough land on a small peninsula in Loch Inchard near Kinlochbervie. Rhuvoult is only 15 miles south of Durness which is the most northern village on the west coast of Scotland. Inverness is 100 miles away and also my nearest Tesco, not much chance of home deliveries !. The next time you watch the weather forecast have a look for the topmost bit of the map - that's where I am.
Naturally the weather is a hot (?) topic round here and it is a nightmare for weather forecasters. BAS people can equate this area with the Falklands so it's quite easy to get all four seasons in one day. Many of you will know that I should have started a part time job at the end of September. Unfortunately the contract for this year has not been taken up and there will not be any work for me until Feb 2000. This was a bit of a blow and it means that I will not earn anything for the next 5 months !. This has put me in a bit of a spot and it means that I will have to patch up the house to get through the winter. Oh well I will just have to call this place Bluff II. The good news is that I now own 12 sheep ( so at least I won't starve ). I have setup an e-mail address for sheep jokes at sheepjokes@microft.co.uk and will quite happily publish the best. I have also been volunteered as secretary to the local crofters union. This post became mine because of my vast experience of crofting ? - no it's because I can use a pc to write up the minutes and mail-merge adresses etc. Oh well it's good to see that my skills are being utilised....