First sna to reach Auchlossen

 which has interrupted the Council work on the car park extension, which includes the foot of my  access path...

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Inside finishes and external landscaping

Here are two images of the front door, with wood panelling on the left, and a large doormat in the later pic.

 Without a washing line and a compost bin no home is complete: here is the whirly in fine action:

 And the cardboard and carpet liner protection has finally been lifted to reveal the slate flooring.

 But the real progress this week was that I received back the chemical analysis of the soil to be imported, and it is considered to be of acceptable quality for covering over the contaminated ground. So a lorry load was rolled in, and 20tons spread over terram sheet with warning tapes on to a depth of 300mm, with the aid of Bill and his digger/dumper combo. The soil was pretty claggy, so the finishing was hard going on the poor long suffering body.

An historical digression

On 11 Sept 1709, the Duke of Marlborough won the fourth of his great 'victories' in the War of Spanish Succession, in the company of various allies fighting against the French.
Unfortunately he lost more than half his men in the fight, and whilst he held the battlefield at the end of the day, the French withdrew in an orderly manner and lost less than half of the Allies' dead.
Whilst there were Scots fighting on both sides, it is likely that Captain Francis Ross was employed in the British Army. He was amongst the 17,000 casulaties on the Allied side.
His estate was sold to pay his creditors, his wife remarried to Carnegie of Lours, and his only daughter died without descendants.
Capt Ross is an ancestor on my mothers side. So this house honours his memory.
Auchlossen is an area some 8 miles up the Dee valley, with some interesting spatial and historical features, which I may bore you with at some later date.

Anyway suffice it to say that I have moved in to Auchlossen, and I am trying to sort out my possessions redeemed from store, and the landscape, as well as finishing bits of painting, fitting wardrobes, blinds, tv aerials etc.

And today, a little more than 3 weeks after the due date, Openreach successfully connected me to fibre - hooray.

landscaping and interior developments

 Garage door now fitted and forecourt levelled prior to surfacing, before pavement dropped.

Granite paving outside the front door.

 Paving of patio at sunny rear

Raised beds between house and studio

oak wall panelling beside front door

External works

Some early pics of paving in progress outside.

 And here the oak hall bookcase is being installed.

Storm crates being placed in the forecourt for drainage of water from garage roof. A similar system is used to dispose of rainwater from the house.

Internal finishings

Second fix is in full swing this week.
Tiling of bathrooms and floors was completed previously.
Now the washbasins, showers and loos have been fitted, so now it starts to function like a house.
Electrician has also been in to finish wiring up lights and sockets.
Many trips to the recycling centre with cardboard and rubbish.

Bamboo flooring in studio

2nd fix in progress

 

Here is the shower room fully tiled: note the neat finish to the window reveal, instead of using trims.

And here is the bathroom tiled in grey with lights showing on too, since second fix is under way for electrics.

 Studio kitchenette boxes in place:

 Utility room wall units and floor units fitted too.

Groundworks around the house

Some progress on the outside: 'railway sleeper' walls [actually they are not really railway sleepers, which are banned due to toxins, but treated timber of similar size].

 I have also been backfilling the nether side of the garage, and  putting up a wee wooden fence atop a retaining wall.
And the house now exhibits boldly its official number, tho not yet its name.

And inside I have been working on the kitchen units for the utility room, and for a triangular side extension on the main kitchen peninsula.

Outside work progress

Whilst Sam is busy doing a quality paint job inside, there ahs been some progress outside.
First image is by the front door ready for paving, which has gone up in price by 20% since I first identified it a year ago, due I suppose to Brexit and exchange rates.

And this picture shows the infill that I started on today, between my garage/studio wall and the neighbour's shed. A crevasse about 10m long and 1.5m deep and various widths. It is filled by bringing stones, rounded ones preferred to enhance drainage, in a wheelbarrow to the end of the crevasse, and then bucketing or throwing them in from a narrow and rather hazardous access point at the corner.. Today's competition is to estaimate how many tonnes of stones have been moved in this way. Fortunately not much more can be done until after the weekend since I need to insert fenceposts for a wee fence before completing the backfill.

Painting and Fitting out

 Here the kitchen is being installed, lots of kitchen kit piled up ready to be fitted.

Walls and ceiling have been painted 3 coats, thanks to Anne and Bill who generously apent a day painting the first coat in the lounge/kitchen.

 And thanks to Sam who is spending a week working all day every day to get the paintwork up to scratch. Sam has very high standards, having been trained down under professionally.

And outside there is slow progress to prepare the path and patio areas for paving.