oops! Seems we've been so busy building and living and dodging coronavirus, it's been a long time since an update. So, we are getting so excited to welcome our first guests to the Airstream in 2 and a half weeks! Since last summer, there have been many late nights and early mornings fitting in tasks here and there in between our jobs, and having 2 little ones. completing the wetroom took almost 6 months, while I fit in tiling sessions wherever possible. I had to learn how to tile, (thank-you University de YouTube and my local tile store)!.. after a tradesman took a deposit and never came back. But you know what, as frustrating as that was, if it hadn't have happened, I wouldn't Have gained a new skill.. :) But talk about a learning curve!
And Jack who's brilliant at woodwork among other things was kept busy with allsorts: making a custom king-size bed frame to fit the trailer's curved walls, with loads of storage underneath for guests' gear; customising shop-bought kitchen units (incl,. using slimmer wall cabinets as standing cupboards over the wheel-well, to save space. Always important in an Airstream!); making a feature wall a wood-burning technique called shou sugi ban / yakisugi (we've made a wee video on that one).
The outdoor space has also been evolving as the seasons have gone by..a cheerful team of builders constructed a huge raised deck in the autumn in between lockdowns after Jack and his brother Robert wth some help from our pal Chris managed to erect a 5 metre tall roof over the Airstream using steel poles.. i couldn't watch.. it was terrifying - them up on ladders at that height!
But it came good, and in the Scottish climate an exotic species like Airstreams must be kept dry to last, so really worthwhile :) Then, poor Jack was up the ladder yet again to manoeuvre 6 inch thick beams in place around the campfire spot, super sturdy for hanging hammock chairs.
Then A raised gravel area was built for the hot tub and fairy lights went up around it. the waterfront area has been enhanced with improved drainage - My! I will never forget moving 13 tones of sand, gravel and soil 100m with a wheelbarrow, but it sure did it melt off the Christmas excesses! over that, a beautiful lawn is now growing on which it's been a pleasure to watch our two young kids and Wilbur (the dog) run about. The little one on the grass in bare feet, just days after taking her first steps, and her smile. I'll remember that too...
through December, Jack was building a nearly 8-foot tall fence through part of the woodland, to ensure guests' privacy. But with covid restrictions that again meant him working without help, and often only in the evenings after work. Imagine! up a ladder (yes - there is a pattern here lol), in the dark with a worklight, when it's freezing outside trying to hammer in nails
. It was crazy!
He did enjoy a job much closer to the ground however, in building a bridge over the burn, which guests will use to access the site upon arrival. It's brilliant in that the bridges' base is made from two old electricity poles we already had at the farm which were rendered redundant last year. In fact, wherever possible supplies and items have been repurposed from the farm or have been bought as second-hand/vintage, such as gravel from peoples' gardens they didn't want anymore, a hardly used fridge, even a palm tree from a couple moving from east kilbride to...
..(wait for it)...
....Spain! haha guessthey wanted more of the real thing! But anyway the point is that the trailer itself is repurposed and reused and we've carried that ethos through the project where we could. We are green-thinking, and are ing transition - as we all should be - to lessening our impact on the environment. We'd sure love to get electric vehicles very soon! And we also plan to explore opportunities for small-scale hydro power for the holiday let.
So it certainly has been a jam-packed 'season' of our lives. . This time of Covid and lockdown was incongruously busy for us. For many it meant work and so many other activities stopped. So we are thankful to have been kept busy, and healthy. But it WAS really hard at times, Like almost at breaking point hard. we'd been relying on having the physical and moral support of our friends and family to do this project and in
the end we haven't really been able to be together. Our 13 month old still hasn't even met her Nanny and Grandpa yet.... But we live in hope this can happen soon, thanks to vaccinations. And I'm sure ANY parents reading this will have felt the weight of parenting in a pandemic, the effect of that on their kids, themselves, and their wider family. I was desperate for a break sometimes, just for a little help with childcare so I could work, or just get some headspace. I think it's important to talk about how Covid has affected us, individually. As families. As the human race. Because healing takes more than a feisty immune system, and dedicated NHS staff. We also need to TALK about what's happened. Digest. Simmer. Feel. Understand. I think it will take open conservations and reflection with ourselves - and with each other - to truly comprehend the impact Covid has had on us. And it will take time. The world is different now. but when did the the world ever stop changing? Now we keep surviving, keep being kind, and enjoy even more all those little things that we once lost.
And what's kept us going in large part is our great hope is that this secret little corner of the world, this secret glade with a random old Airstream up a hill, will be a haven for all who come.. Especially the faitgued, the weary, the worried, the seekers, and the lovers and the dreamers. A place to find rest, and to laugh and have f
un. Because we all need and deserve that. And I believe that the simple act of seeing the trees, smelling the scent of the forest and the fresh air, hearing the leaves rustle and the birds sing.. It's just good for the soul.
Til next time.
Sarah
xx
..
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