The site the house is going to be built on, is a little awkward, sloping and rocky. With help from Ian and Julian and their diggers we have managed to put a beautiful access track in, create a patch of garden (grass already growing!), terrace and dig down for the foundations. Julian and his 20 … read more…
Author: Rosie
Digging the site
We finally have both our planning permission and our building warrant through! As we had never submitted building plans before, neither of us knew what the warrant would entail, but luckily Alex found his way through and we are now approved and the site is moving on…we definitely saved money doing it ourselves, but maybe … read more…
Milling the wood for our house
We moved to the woods over 3 years ago, since then we have been working towards building our house. We have taken our time so far, as we have been having children, running the business, sorting out planning and building warrants and all the other bits of paper needed! The first part to all of … read more…
Relaxation Retreats – Can Indulgence be Eco-Friendly?
This article was recently contributed by Su Beeton, our Highland Relaxation Retreats were used as an example of alternative retreats in the UK… Relaxation Retreats – Can Indulgence Be Eco-Friendly? Getting away from the daily grind once a year is a must for almost everybody, and while the thought of jetting abroad to a sun … read more…
Just returned after a quick break in Perthshire, we stayed in a stunning glen, surrounded by Red deer and heather. We have come home to a busy time. The rain today meant time in the poly-tunnel, but I never really seem to catch up with everything I want to do; there is still a pile … read more…
Natural Dyeing
We have just finished fencing part of the clearing in the woods and today we moved our Shetland sheep in. They were so happy to be on fresh pasture again and the lambs loved it. The clearing was full of wild flowers including our first Orchids and although there are lots of them all over … read more…
Natural Dyeing weekend
Today was day one of our June Natural Dyeing course. We seemed to have every sort of weather, but we kept the fires going and foraged for dye plants including, Bracken, Broom flowers and tree lichen. We managed to chop, sort, mix and make 4 lovely dyes, but will end up with about eight different … read more…
The house build -getting the wood out
We have had such a busy couple of weeks here in the woods. We have been putting in the forestry track and extracting wood for the house build. Our ewes have also now had all their lambs. Unfortunately the last of them had twins and rejected the small female. So we have ended up bottle … read more…
Natural Dyeing in the Highlands
We had a fantastic weekend of natural dyeing, creating nearly 30 different shades, a complete rainbow of beautiful hues. Over the weekend we dyed with; Gorse flowers, elderberries, tree lichen (small amounts from fallen branches), madder, cochineal, indigo, turmeric and and onion skins. We had eight dye pots on the go at different times, two … read more…
Gorse in the Highlands
The Gorse is coming out everywhere up here now, looking really beautiful, the yellow is so vibrant. I have just returned from a week in Wiltshire where the fields are covered with oil seed rape a different kind of yellow compared to up here, but both looking and smelling good. I love the smell of … read more…
