Definitely heading north of the border ...

A big step in the right direction this week.  
I will be working in Alloa so we will be looking to live somewhere in "Central West Scotland" for a couple of years which will see us through the build on Skye and have us living much closer to Skye itself. Handy for those trips to see progress, make decisions and mull over where and how we are going to use the croft.

Now the only thing we have to do is find an actual house to live in; must be somewhere nice and quiet with good views and close to hills / mountains. Not too much to ask surely. Had a quick look around while up there for interview and think we should be able to meet these criteria.
Alloa is the north point of a triangle formed by using Glasgow and Edinburgh as the west and east points. Just across the Forth river, it is in the smallest county in Scotland, Clackmannanshire.
Travelled by Easyjet from Bristol for the interview - plane delayed so arrived in Scotland in the dark, on unfamiliar roads in an unfamiliar car which made for an interesting drive to the hotel - which had stayed open especially for my arrival. I finally arrived at 23.00 hrs and they were very professional and gracious about the whole thing. I'm not sure the alternative option of a night in a Peugeot 107 would have left me quite so chilled the morning of the interview! (It's the size of a smart car but with the addition of two very small back seats)
We already have a short-list of properties to look at and it only runs to 15 at the moment. Sounds vaguely familiar to a couple of months back when we were looking for plots to buy.
The completion of this house sale will be end of September / beginning of October so we have 6 weeks to sort it all out! Are we worried? No, just another part of the great Scottish adventure.


Plans for the next few weeks then:
1: Pack up the house
2: Find somewhere else to live
3: Charlotte and Richard's wedding
4: See as many people as possible before we pack our bags and are off.
5: Settle into new rented house then a week's holiday in the Lakes.
6: Start new job.


We are eagerly waiting the contract from Dualchas so that we can sign up "officially" and start to design the house for real. Drainage and topographical surveys all quoted for and approved by us. Ready for the off!