Carrick – The Blue House

We’ve decided it’s time to move on. We’ve achieved so much since moving to Uist in 2002 – more than we could ever have imagined at that time ; but back then we were in our mid 40s, and now … Well, we feel we’re ready for fresh challenges in a different context, better suited to our circumstances. The truth is that, these days, when we’re thinking of the future, we’re not thinking of here.

So, next year will be our last in the business of self-catering cottages. Our last guests will wave farewell on or before 2nd October 2021. Even before we first told others about this, we were already well-booked for 2021, but as the news has spread, we’re getting a ‘second wave’ of bookings and enquiries for next year ; and for the coming winter months, too. So if you’re thinking about it, don’t just sit and think, go on and get it done!

Carrick Eriskay : Painting the East Wing : First around windows and doors and thin areas

Carrick Eriskay : Painting the East Wing : Last – remove the downpipes and paint the boards behind them

The iconic blue paint on the larch cladding is nearly 12 years old and still looking good – from a distance, at least.  It doesn’t flake, but wears away – and fades – slowly, with areas with less thickness (or taking more of a battering from the weather) looking thin first.  It’s a very, very expensive paint (strictly, an opaque micro-porous wood stain) from Finland  – where they know a thing or two about wooden houses.  Being an eco-friendly paint, it’s water-based, and requires reliably dry conditions : we don’t get those until the letting season underway, making it difficult to schedule.

Funnily enough (well, not funny at all), the Coronavirus shut-down in April and May has provided us with the perfect conditions to get both the East Wing and Cross-Wing done : both the light blue vertical boards and the dark blue eaves.  We had just enough paint still in stock – left over from the original painting, in fact – to complete this work ; which is a relief, because, with no income coming in, it would have been difficult to justify spending £300 plus perhaps £15-£20 p+p for a 10 litre tin!

We painted the West Wing three years ago – it’s more exposed and deteriorates quicker.  In future, however, we want to have to paint only a small section of the whole house in any one year, so we will paint one ‘section’ (defined by corners) each year – which will be easier to fit in where there’s an odd day vacant between lettings in spring or summer.