So what's with the title for anyone who may be reading this, I've quoted the names of two of my favourite 80's songs, Fantastic Day by Haircut 100 and This Is The Day (your life will surely change) by The The.
When I started this blog over 6 and a half years ago it was going to be about my journey of changing the life I currently lead in East Yorkshire for a new life in Scotland. For many years, since I first visited the Isle of Skye in 1997 I felt a major pull towards wanting to be there full time. With each holiday up there Skye felt more like home and 'home' felt less like home when we returned.
So over the years we have been deciding how to drop out of 'normal routine working life here and how we could possibly move up there and eek out some kind of existence. Tricky!
When we sold the last property we owned in 2007 we seriously started looking for property up there. We had had such problems with awful neighbours in the unpleasant village of Holme on Spalding Moor we lived in which was the biggest mistake ever. A week after buying our house we realised we had not done our homework on the area and wanted to move straight away. The house was put up for sale as soon as was possible and took over 2 years to sell at the height of the property crash. It left us in a bit of a mess mainly ill with stress but it left us fearful to ever buy a property again incase we had more horrid neighbours or incase we couldn't sell it quickly for if that dream opportunity came up on Skye.
We decided to rent after that, to give us the freedom to up sticks at a moments notice and escape north.
Thinking we would find something fairly quickly on Skye we suffered a cold, damp dripping cottage near Beverly for a year. No opportunities came along in Skye so we had to rent again and the place we ended up was this current freezing cold, damp, spider and mouse infested hovel which I can't believe i have survived now for over 7 years. I've pretty much hated it since the first winter which was a nasty shock to the system but we stumbled on always thinking we would be gone by the next winter. It didn't happen we had such lows not finding a house on Skye that half way through and following an illness with my partner we gave up and started looking at Wales as an easier moving option. That didn't ever feel like home so after 2 years searching Wales we said it's always been Skye that stole our hearts so lets just do it before we get even older and more decrepit.
Forgive me if this is boring, this is more an account to myself of why I started this blog. Most of my plans have had to remain under wraps so the blog turned into more of an account of crafty things, food, coffee and trips out.
But back to trying to escape from this house and we looked at every option and decided we had to make an opportunity ourselves and we could just about afford to either find 2 small houses and make a living with a holiday cottage or we have 2 houses built. We found an option to build and set about finding some land. A few options fell by the wayside but we finally bought a plot just over 2 years ago. Then came the battle obtaining planning permission and lets just say the first year of owning the plot and employing the services of an architect practise to create our dream went totally pearshaped and cost us dearly as we tried to stabilise from a problematic situation.
Another year on and in the hands of a decent practise of architects we have finally made the progress through planning and to the point of work starting on our project.
A fortnight ago we went up to Skye to see the first work on our plot from when it was a sheep field, as we saw it a year ago, to having foundations laid. (below)
Not only have the foundations been done but the timber frame kit house we are having built was delivered to the site on the last day of our holiday last week and we were able to see construction start. This was such an amazing surprise at the speed in which it happened. The panels arrived on the back of a lorry in the morning, the walls were up by lunch and at teatime the roof was on. So on October 2nd I can honestly say it was a fantastic day and the day my life will surely change.
(below, the house arrives on a lorry)
The walls go up and progress is quite rapid by lunchtime
By teatime the roof is on
I can see the fruits of all our suffering over the last 10 years finally blossoming. I will soon have the secure feeling of a roof over my head again and by the end of the year I can walk away from this miserable existence here to a new life and look forward to new opportunities and new ways to try and earn a living as we will pretty much be penniless when we get up there until the holiday let takes off.
So that's me out of the closet. I know some people have asked why on earth do you stay in that place when you are so cold and miserable but I've not wanted to reveal what I've been up to to many people incase it casts a jinx over things but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
The idea was to document the build on the blog but I won't be able to go up there again now until it is ready so it's a shame I won't have more work in progress pictures.
Whether I carry on the blog after completion remains to be seen as I've started using Instagram, I will also have to find time to do a Facebook page & website for the holiday cottage when ready so do please join me there when I reveal the details if you fancy a look or if you fancy a holiday in the future away from it all on the edge of the world it would be lovely to see you.
(for information, the holiday let will be a small modern single storey, one bedroom 2 people, larch clad with tin roof, and sorry no pets as we are next to a sheep croft)
