From the freezer into the fire

You know that things are becoming dire when the abnormal suddenly becomes the normal and we accept it with a true feeling of gratitude. That is what has happened this winter. This morning when Anna looked at the thermometer she was actually happy to see that the temperature was hovering around minus 20. For most of the past week we have been watching as the level sank to minus 32 at it’s lowest. Any one who reads my blog regularly will know that I love wintertime but there are limits to what this Scottish body can stand.


One of the things, which we gave a lot of thought to when renovating our new house, was the insulation aspects. Because the house was a log frame and had been built in the 1800 the upstairs especially had almost no insulation at all. The thing was though, it did have amazing beams in the ceilings and we didn’t want to lose that aspect of its original character. To make sure the insulation was going to work we needed to have 30 cm and then of course the thickness of the covering wood. Using eco fibre blown in to a frame that was constructed throughout the whole upstairs area, we were able to make sure not only of the depth but also that each and every corner would be properly filled. This also allowed us to pick the beams that we wanted to show and cover some that didn’t look as good.

It’s not such a sexy subject I know. But believe me the time and money we have spent on insulating this place couldn’t have been used any better. I can now look out of my windows at a countryside frozen and covered in snow, from a room which is warm and draft free. Sheer luxury as they say!

The whole moving thing was an adventure that had its high and low moments. The highs are all centred on how great it is just to finally be here. To walk around a place which has for so long been nothing but a building site and is now a finished home, one which has lived in your imagination but is now a reality is an awesome feeling. Anyone who has renovated a house will know what I mean. The journey from start to finish is hard but ultimately at the end you get a home which is exactly the place you want to live in (that is the hope anyway). The best day for me was when I could walk from one end of the house to the other without getting my feet dirty! That’s when you know the place is finally yours.

The low points were the extreme pressures of moving with a one year old kid into a house that was not completely finished and knowing Christmas was one week away. It is not something I would recommend you try.

We are here now though and we all love it. The neighbours have been amazing, many of them have visited already and welcomed us with gifts, telling us with real passion how happy they are that once again the farm is back to life. This is a new start for us and one which is so different to anything I have ever tried before. I must say I´m looking forward to the challenges that I know are around the corner. This summer we are going to try to start a farmers market on the farm. Right now it’s just an idea but with the help of a few friends and the good will of all the local producers I think it could be a very good additive to life here in Sunne.

Both Anna and I want to say a heartfelt thank you to the people we left behind on Ed. You made our time there fun and we will miss you all. Ed is a special place to live and our neighbours there were some of the nicest and friendliest people you could meet. I don’t know how I am going to manage without the help of Tommy and Thomas, but, thanks guys for always being there when I needed you.

I am a foreigner here, but I never feel like one. This place has welcomed me with open arms and I´m excited to see what the next part of my life here brings. Whatever the challenges may be I know that with the friends and family and amazing customers I have around me its not going to be a problem.

Please write and tell me what “you think”?

Keep warm. /David