Saturday, July 02, 2011

"Little house in the Highlands"...sounds rather nice!

Location, location, location - and lots of it!
We drove by this little place the other day...looks just about perfect for the two of us.

It's located in Cairngorms National Park, here in Scotland, which would be really nice. (We have, of course, great memories of the years we spent in Banff National Park in Alberta.) It is, admittedly, somewhat more isolated from the amenities we became accustomed to in the Bow Corridor, but the hiking and hill-walking is literally right out the front door. Come to think of it, these self-propelled outdoor pursuits that we love are right out the back door...and, um, the side door too! Now, how cool is that?!

We didn't actually see a "For Sale" sign posted, but it doesn't look occupied and it seems that it may well have been a while since anyone has actually lived there. Having said that, the property does look well groomed and cared for and I think the hundreds of sheep that dot the landscape are probably keeping a good eye on things.

The sheep are nice and even pitch in with the grounds maintenance.
We noted the two chimneys, which means a fireplace at either end - that's got to be a vast improvement over "central heating" where there is only one heat source in the middle of the house. Winters are cold and snowy here in northern Scotland so whoever built this place knew what they were doing. We'll certainly have to address windows and doors - they're missing. The roof needs some work as well but there's no real hurry for these upgrades as the current weather is reasonably warm and sunny.

Nice lines, simple design, twin fireplaces.
The house doesn't appear to be on the "grid", however, so we'd probably have to consider either solar or wind power as possible energy sources. Our thought is that we could locate a windmill on the nearby hill. (See top image.) We'd need a really long extension cord (or however that tech stuff works) but the bonus is that we could also hook up a TV antenna to the top of the wind mill. We should at least get some decent BBC programming that way. Cell service? Nope, I don't think so but we've got our ham radio equipment - could just add another antenna on top of the wind mill. Now, this is really starting to come together!

As for internet, we're not quite sure how that's going to work - yet. We have, however, seen some travel trailers in the Park and I know that some of the more sophisticated campers have a satellite connection for internet. We could just flag a tourist down every so often and ask if we could have a few minutes of online time in exchange for, I don't know, something.

Now there is the matter of the neighbours, just down the road.

Well, frankly, I'm not particularly impressed...
it's just not cosy.
They planted some trees and built this..."castle". Who are they trying to impress? I mean, really. Sure, it's  a pretty nice and all that but do they really need all that space. I mean, it's just the two of them. And the thing is, their place is affecting the property taxes of us more modest folk. Oh well, that's OK. I'm thinking that they probably host some great parties...AND, I'll bet they have internet!

This whole thing is sounding better and better.

The strange thing is...living in a little croft house in the hills of Cairngorms, does sound rather appealing. Hmmm...

Now what was the name of that property agent? :)

Duncan.


Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention, these cool guys asked me if I wanted to join their band. I said, "You bet I do!".

Rockin', "Highland" style - "shaggy, unkempt, and wild"! Yes!
Rock on!


PS: Happy Canada Day weekend everybody back home!
Another PS: The "neighbouring place" is Braemar Castle. (It is rather impressive!)

12 comments:

  1. Well I don't know...I think between you and David the saying "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" is really being demonstrated. He wants to move here and you want to stay there.
    Love the surrounding hills, but not the house...the accompanying sheep would be cool though.
    L

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  2. Hmm...that's an interesting observation, L. The grass is definitely "green" here - no question about that. As for staying here...hmm, it's a thought. I do like these hills and there is the little croft house...

    :) D.

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  3. There is one very important thing I don't recall your mentioning. Aqua, potable water. Everything else looks great, no nosey neighbours to look in your windows when you get them fixed, just the sheep, and just think how self preserving you can be with all that land around you, growing your own veggies and with the sheep to fertilize things for you. No crime and your sheep body guards. Wonderful. I love it. You know I adore my space. Dream on Baby.
    Love, J.

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  4. Hey, J, you're making it sound even better! :)

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  5. Ya and now that I see the band I can tell you would fit right in!
    L

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  6. Yeah, but I told the guys, here's the deal - I'm not wearing any animal skins! And that's final. Donnchadh.

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  7. Love the band. Is Joan going to join too? I'm beginning to wonder if we'll see you again, you are having so much fun.
    J.

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  8. No way, J, the "Highland" rock band just for us guys. Oh heck, that's what I was afraid of, everybody's going to think that we're just having fun here! Honest, we're doing serious stuff too - but the fact is, we love that too. :) D.

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  9. Hi Duncan and Joan,aye, the romance of the Highlands is addictive. As Burn's wrote:
    "My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
    My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer -
    A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe;
    My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go".

    David A.

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  10. Thank you for that, David. And I'd say that's from someone who knows all about the the "romance of the Highlands"! Great to hear from you. Duncan.

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  11. Thanks, Duncan! When I get the chance from time-to-time, I love to visit your site. It's so serene and peaceful. I long for your adventures. You take me places I only dream of going. So I thank you. -Barefoot TJ

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  12. Great to know you're there, TJ, and glad to have you with us. With all your work at the BRS, there can't be much time for extra adventures! Warm wishes to you and all the Georgia folk and safe, "peace-full" running. :) Duncan.

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