A quarter of an acre of heather, mud and a few trees at Fernilea on the Barrisdale estate on the Isle of Skye.
It's only taken us a total of 16 months from seeing the plot, deciding to make an offer and going through the tortuous process of acquiring planning permission, dealing with three parties - the seller, the Scottish Ministers and their solicitors to finally, finally complete on the deal.
Oh, there is one little thing that has to happen before we get the paperwork - a final check by the sellers to confirm that those sneaky Scottish Ministers haven't sold the land from under us! Really. Anyway, apparently that is a mere formality required by Scottish law. The cash should be winging its way to the sellers and we will have title to the land. Even if, as is often the case, we don't actually get to see the paperwork for some time "oh, that can take anywhere between four months to a year, but you are the owners" I did ask for a copy of the sale documentation just to be sure.
So celebration last night was a bottle of Tesco's finest pink sparkle rather than champagne. Decided that we will wait to see the paperwork before we go that far.
On the basis that we really are the new owners and nothing's going to stop us now, we have instructed our architect to make haste with the building warrant submission and agreed that we will travel to Skye at the end of November to complete the spec for tendering the build. This will catch up a little of the time we have lost. We could actually be breaking ground by the end of January. Yes, this is looking a little tight in that my job ends next October - perhaps that's the element that will encourage Grand Designs to get back in touch (they clearly need a bit of drama and we don't offer much)
Have booked into the Ardvasar Hotel for the weekend - in the full knowledge that there is a birthday party plus karaoke on the Friday and a Christmas party plus live music on the Saturday. The nice man who took the booking has promised a quiet room for us.
Back to the hills for the first time in 8 weeks today - travelling, various injuries and Scottish viral infections have put us "on the bench" to use a footballing term. Off we went to Ben A'aan in the Trossachs, a small but perfectly formed hill with stunning views from its summit. A bit of a struggle getting to the top and a few very sticky patches of deep, deep mire. Also plenty of small children, a gang of old women and a couple of people wearing (originally) white trainers. It felt good to be out and about again - windy and cool on the summit but a sheltered spot was found for lunch. Great views to bigger hills with a sprinkling of snow on the tops but not very good light so the camera got taken on a trip for nothing.
Back to the car and home via the Dukes Pass. Glorious autumn colours at the moment, especially when the light of the rising or setting sun catches the trees. Who needs to go to New England ? - come to Scotland.
Once we get to Skye we will be posting photos of the plot which is now OURS. Wellies required we think. Till then ......
