Musings from the Merse
Monday, September 28, 2009
Pondage
One caller asked if this was a bird hide-another:work in progress on a (military style -not Duns Golf Course) bunker?
Well, actually it is a pond. A very small one, covered up until we can get the right kind of water. We miss our rather larger pond at the Old Manse which was quite a selling point. One potential buyer, a couple from down south, who had sneered their way around the building not finding it up the standards of their neo -Jacobean Mansion in Hertfordshire ( 'Yes we have working shutters' 'And the original servants' bells'' Yes.We live next to an Abbey, actually) looking disparagingly at the Kirk and the graveyard and were surprisingly, seemingly impressed by our very natural and rather overgrown and (almost) kidney shaped concoction. 'Oh' said the female:'That's nice. We also have a pond' 'Well' said the male ' Ours is really a lake' 'Yes, echoed Mrs Distaff ' We have a boat on it'
But they didn't make an offer despite us having a green floating polystyrene frog refuge containing about 6 frogs at any one time which do not, apparently, feature in Herts.
And I hope you will notice the latest just got* (last years must have) in the garden of the small house in Duns. A dry stone wall for the wife's terracing arrangements to show off next years weeds, sorry, shrubs, flowers etc.A local stone waller (dyker in some places) put it together for us and its good to know that these old skills are still around in Berwickshire.
* There was a wall there before but totally destroyed by Builder's scaffolding aided and abetted by small scrambling grandchildren feet.
One caller asked if this was a bird hide-another:work in progress on a (military style -not Duns Golf Course) bunker?
Well, actually it is a pond. A very small one, covered up until we can get the right kind of water. We miss our rather larger pond at the Old Manse which was quite a selling point. One potential buyer, a couple from down south, who had sneered their way around the building not finding it up the standards of their neo -Jacobean Mansion in Hertfordshire ( 'Yes we have working shutters' 'And the original servants' bells'' Yes.We live next to an Abbey, actually) looking disparagingly at the Kirk and the graveyard and were surprisingly, seemingly impressed by our very natural and rather overgrown and (almost) kidney shaped concoction. 'Oh' said the female:'That's nice. We also have a pond' 'Well' said the male ' Ours is really a lake' 'Yes, echoed Mrs Distaff ' We have a boat on it'
But they didn't make an offer despite us having a green floating polystyrene frog refuge containing about 6 frogs at any one time which do not, apparently, feature in Herts.
And I hope you will notice the latest just got* (last years must have) in the garden of the small house in Duns. A dry stone wall for the wife's terracing arrangements to show off next years weeds, sorry, shrubs, flowers etc.A local stone waller (dyker in some places) put it together for us and its good to know that these old skills are still around in Berwickshire.
* There was a wall there before but totally destroyed by Builder's scaffolding aided and abetted by small scrambling grandchildren feet.
Labels: dry stone walls, Small House in Duns, The Pond
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The Hutton Effect
Here we were in Duns moaning about the appalling weather and all nostalgic for the lazy hazy summer days of a Hutton summer, dry and balmy as the rain poured down on the Paxton road just beyond the 30mph limit. We are now slightly more reconciled to our new habitat thanks to the current Old Manseians who have very kindly sent Huttonian this image of some of the apple trees partially stripped of fruit and in one case almost uprooted by the fierce winds of last week. All that the feebler Duns hurricane could come up with was removing the metal hood from the steel chimney jutting out of the roof from the wood burning stove and conveying it goodness knows where. No sign in the garden or in the house next door. Fortunately the garden at the S-H-i-D
is very sheltered and our tiny new fruit trees escaped unscathed-both apples still intact on one.
Anyone in greater Duns who comes across the chimney hood and/or scattered remains of Friday's Gurdian blasted out of the recycling bag is welcome to keep the latter
Labels: Hurricane winds, Old Manse, Small House in Duns
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
PATCHY RAIN. YOU HAVE NOT BEEN WARNED
Greeted by heavy rain all over the Small- House- in- Duns this morning I hastened to the BBC Blether Centre to enjoy the Weather Warnings at Ceefax 405. 'No Weather Warnings in Force in the UK' OK' switch to 401: Borders Region in a tasteful shade of green on the weather map : Patchy rain. Patchy Rain ? If this is patchy rain what is ordinary rain like? Patchy as raining only in Duns? The rest of the Merse balmy and arid? Switch to Borders Weather based in Greenlaw; 8 miles away. Gettable at
It has the odd combination of Light Rain and a STORM WARNING Pressure dropping like the proverbial stone By 13mb what ever that might mean. But raining so it is part of the Duns Patch.
Hutton had its own micro climate: dry, mostly-on a par with Dunbar which is the driest town in the UK. And very much dryer than its near neighbours in Paxton and Chirnside. Duns has the reputation of being wet but I notice that this month it has had exactly half the amount of rainfall than Greenlaw; hence patchy rain here and light rain in the ancient capital of Berwickshire. But our patchy rain has in a couple of hours equalled the total for the whole month so far.
And another thing: the BBC Weather gang have dumped their poets who used to compose those pages of fiction on Ceefax: No more whimsical Native American Chiefs : Broken Cloud, High Cloud and Light Mist and those occasional glimpses of Grudian type prognostications :
'Rain becoming Milk Later'
Bring back Mr Fish.
The Greenlaw site has a live webcam here This is fun as it updates every 5 secs. Nice image of a bedraggled pedestrian hurrying through the town, umbrella fending off light rain and gentle breeze- just at the corner of the turn off to Duns before the old Town hall. Press F5 and hey presto he has gone-to a dryer place one hopes. Left up the road to Duns?
To Patchy Rain and safety.
Or did the huge Timber Lorry filling the screen a couple of F5s later get him?
Hope not
Greeted by heavy rain all over the Small- House- in- Duns this morning I hastened to the BBC Blether Centre to enjoy the Weather Warnings at Ceefax 405. 'No Weather Warnings in Force in the UK' OK' switch to 401: Borders Region in a tasteful shade of green on the weather map : Patchy rain. Patchy Rain ? If this is patchy rain what is ordinary rain like? Patchy as raining only in Duns? The rest of the Merse balmy and arid? Switch to Borders Weather based in Greenlaw; 8 miles away. Gettable at
It has the odd combination of Light Rain and a STORM WARNING Pressure dropping like the proverbial stone By 13mb what ever that might mean. But raining so it is part of the Duns Patch.
Hutton had its own micro climate: dry, mostly-on a par with Dunbar which is the driest town in the UK. And very much dryer than its near neighbours in Paxton and Chirnside. Duns has the reputation of being wet but I notice that this month it has had exactly half the amount of rainfall than Greenlaw; hence patchy rain here and light rain in the ancient capital of Berwickshire. But our patchy rain has in a couple of hours equalled the total for the whole month so far.
And another thing: the BBC Weather gang have dumped their poets who used to compose those pages of fiction on Ceefax: No more whimsical Native American Chiefs : Broken Cloud, High Cloud and Light Mist and those occasional glimpses of Grudian type prognostications :
'Rain becoming Milk Later'
Bring back Mr Fish.
The Greenlaw site has a live webcam here This is fun as it updates every 5 secs. Nice image of a bedraggled pedestrian hurrying through the town, umbrella fending off light rain and gentle breeze- just at the corner of the turn off to Duns before the old Town hall. Press F5 and hey presto he has gone-to a dryer place one hopes. Left up the road to Duns?
To Patchy Rain and safety.
Or did the huge Timber Lorry filling the screen a couple of F5s later get him?
Hope not
Labels: Borders Weather, Patchy Rain, Small House in Duns
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
By singing: -"Oh, how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade.
~Rudyard Kipling, "The Glory of the Garden"
Duns is not England nor is the Old Manse but the late Mr K knew a thing or two about gardening and the results of not sitting in the shade (aka shivering in the Borders Sun) are all around us in the small garden in the Small House in Duns. Our soft fruit will never match the abundance of Hutton but it is good to see the first berries appear in an area which a couple of months ago was best grade Northumberland gravel since freecycled away
This summer's theme is Purple-attracts the honey bees who are back this year after being absent last and the butterflies.
Thomas Edward Brown put it:
. My Garden
A GARDEN is a lovesome thing, God wot!
Rose plot,
Fringed pool,
Fern'd grot—
The veriest school
Of peace; and yet the fool
Contends that God is not—
Not God! in gardens! when the eve is cool?
Nay, but I have a sign;
'Tis very sure God walks in mine. 10
(Our fringed pool is next on the list)
Labels: Garden, Rudyard Kipling, Small House in Duns
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Spring is Sprung. The Grass is Riz. I wonder where the mower iz
First spring images of the garden at the Small house in Duns. A labour of love and not of desperation as it often seemed in the vast acres of the Old Manse in Hutton. Its still a three pullover Spring but the Blether Centre has promised us a long hot summer. Cast not a clout 'til May is out will still apply.
Our raspberry plants seem to be the victim of very cold late summer-not a single bud on any of the 11 stalks but 5 shoots have emerged from underground to promise fruit next year at the earliest. The image is of the healthiest survivor
First spring images of the garden at the Small house in Duns. A labour of love and not of desperation as it often seemed in the vast acres of the Old Manse in Hutton. Its still a three pullover Spring but the Blether Centre has promised us a long hot summer. Cast not a clout 'til May is out will still apply.
Our raspberry plants seem to be the victim of very cold late summer-not a single bud on any of the 11 stalks but 5 shoots have emerged from underground to promise fruit next year at the earliest. The image is of the healthiest survivor
Labels: Raspberries, Small House in Duns, Spring
Monday, March 30, 2009
Its Getting Wetter- Official
As an update to the Leak Saga-the Rising Water (promoted from Rising Damp) Investigator from Scottish Water called today. His written report states 'Will recall Squad to re fix' But refix is not the operative word. Apparently the Leak squad are contractors-Scottish Water don't do leaks in house, as it were. Out sourced and out fixed. The lot who came last Tuesday-the ones that dug up the street-reported that they could not find the leak although it was wet enough for a change of boots. Poked around fruitlessly, filled in the hole and went off for their dinners.
So now says Rising Water Investigator, very apologetically,-squad will return and stay until it is fixed.
His judgment so far :
" It's getting wetter"
And from the image muddier-grit is seemingly coming up from the depths of sub-terrainian Duns. But the dirty mud is a puzzle. Perhaps the Squad all washed their feet in it before sealing the hole?
Labels: Leaks, Scottish Water, Small House in Duns
Rubble, Rubble Toil and Rubble
No, not Mackbethian witches, but the wife in her spring gardening frenzy. The Small House in Duns being on the site of a former industrial establishment connected to the food industry long since 'redeveloped', ie knocked down, has a persistent layer of rubble on which the garden has been overlaid. So as she digs around the 'wild' Primroses she will encounter pockets of resistance which are gathered up, scraped of valuable soil and discarded into plastic bags to await planet saving disposal.
Disposal? Berwickshire recycling is second to none with the possible exception of Stockholm. Anything-plastic (not bin bags apparently) clingfilm, food containers, windowed envelopes (not allowed in Norn Iron, newspapers, Coop flyers, tins-you name it, in it goes to the one bag; purple or white it matters not. That's for a Monday collection; Tuesdays:Garden waste surplus to the wife's comprehensive Compost bins but rubble not included. Where is the nearest land fill site?
Think local urges the wife.So Huttonian, wife too busy, takes his usual consignment of bottles and textiles-last years socks,boxer shorts, moth eaten pullovers to the Great Duns Collection Centre. But Get it Sorted First you are urged so I left my two bags of rubble behind as I had never seen a facility there.
Sure enough. bottles satisfactorily smashed and Great Ormonde Street supplied with enough boxer shorts they could shake a paediatric thermometer at, search for the rubble container. None to be seen. A last throw of the dice ask an employee of the GDCC. A very large one was leaning against an even larger large green metal thing ' Can I dump Rubble?' I ask.
He moves aside and behind where his back was resting was a sign :
RUBBLE
So now I know.
Why had I not seen it before. Perhaps the large guy is always there?
But they have a weakness. No batteries accepted.
Just put them in your bin' was the official advice; straight to the land fill in
China? Coldingham?
Dunno.
I must ring up the Borders Recycling Team and find out. But they are elusive bunch. Always playing away one assumes and the Help Line
doesn't
No, not Mackbethian witches, but the wife in her spring gardening frenzy. The Small House in Duns being on the site of a former industrial establishment connected to the food industry long since 'redeveloped', ie knocked down, has a persistent layer of rubble on which the garden has been overlaid. So as she digs around the 'wild' Primroses she will encounter pockets of resistance which are gathered up, scraped of valuable soil and discarded into plastic bags to await planet saving disposal.
Disposal? Berwickshire recycling is second to none with the possible exception of Stockholm. Anything-plastic (not bin bags apparently) clingfilm, food containers, windowed envelopes (not allowed in Norn Iron, newspapers, Coop flyers, tins-you name it, in it goes to the one bag; purple or white it matters not. That's for a Monday collection; Tuesdays:Garden waste surplus to the wife's comprehensive Compost bins but rubble not included. Where is the nearest land fill site?
Think local urges the wife.So Huttonian, wife too busy, takes his usual consignment of bottles and textiles-last years socks,boxer shorts, moth eaten pullovers to the Great Duns Collection Centre. But Get it Sorted First you are urged so I left my two bags of rubble behind as I had never seen a facility there.
Sure enough. bottles satisfactorily smashed and Great Ormonde Street supplied with enough boxer shorts they could shake a paediatric thermometer at, search for the rubble container. None to be seen. A last throw of the dice ask an employee of the GDCC. A very large one was leaning against an even larger large green metal thing ' Can I dump Rubble?' I ask.
He moves aside and behind where his back was resting was a sign :
RUBBLE
So now I know.
Why had I not seen it before. Perhaps the large guy is always there?
But they have a weakness. No batteries accepted.
Just put them in your bin' was the official advice; straight to the land fill in
China? Coldingham?
Dunno.
I must ring up the Borders Recycling Team and find out. But they are elusive bunch. Always playing away one assumes and the Help Line
doesn't
Labels: Garden, Recycling, Rubble, Small House in Duns
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Taking a Leak
As reported before the leak engineer from Scottish Water duly arrived last Tuesday and with the aid of a large digger laid waste a substantial area of the road outside the Small House in Duns. It seemed a big hole for a small leak but I am no rocket scientist, nor even a mechanical engineer and my previous experience in Whitehall concerned a different type of leak. After two hours hard labour he made off-hole dug, pipes patched, rubble replaced, tar spread and dinner consumed
Sadly I have had to report to Scottish Water via their website that if not a leak we have a dribble. Not much of one but a loss of precious water none the less. So no doubt we will have the gang of three once again:
The rising water investigator to flag up the problem, then the Flagger up Confirmer and finally the leak fixer.
But this time I hope it will be, finally.
I wish I had never said that this saga would run and run
Many a true word etc
Labels: Leaks, Scottish Water, Small House in Duns
Friday, March 20, 2009
Creating Facts on the Ground
No, Not in Palestine. In the Small House in Duns. Soft fruit garden. AS Burns never had it :
Spring is Sprung,
the Grass is Riz'
I wonder where the Ras'bries
iz
All the other fruit is showing signs of growth but the Rasps
10 sticks in the ground. Remain just that:
Sticks.
But the one label says: 'Bliss' and the other 'Tulameen'
I think I can see a very very very tiny bud on a Bliss.
Keep you posted (npi)
(No more growth in the next two weeks and its the stick burning stove for the lot)
Labels: Raspberries, Small House in Duns, Spring
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Rising Damp
For some time the road outside the Small House in Duns has been damp, then wet and we noticed water oozing out from near the Scottish Water stop cock hatch outside our gate. The Very User Friendly Scottish Water website allowed us a wide range of contact methods, possibly pigeon post included, but we opted for the e-mail. Like rubbing Aladdin's magic lamp. Quick response (On a Sunday) and action promised next day. Huttonian was pontificating in Embra so the wife received a visit from the engineer bearing a card asking him to 'investigate rising water' Which he did explaining how lucky we were that the mini Niagara was outside our property and therefore Scottish Water's sole responsibilty. He left and according to the wife the leak appeared to have stopped.Road dried up. But on returning much later from Embra I noticed that the rising water had risen, after only one day, and was flowing once more. Looking at the card the engineer had left behind there is a section which asks: Is Work Complete?
The word Yes had been circled and NO ignored.
On to the computer. E-mail re Service Request Number 2556096/87/098-H?-56231 or similar. Within seconds the phone rang. Customer Services. I went through the problem-leak-engineer-Mission Accomplished-more leak-help' Yes said Customer Services Mr Taylor had reported customer absent but customers wife on scene. Rising Water looked into and a repair request flagged up. But why, I asked, had Mr P Taylor indicated work complete? 'Silly Old Pete' said Customer Services.
Well said the middle son in law on a visit 'Work Complete' refers to the investigation of Rising Water no repair indicated. Right on. Logical when you think of it. But yet the water had stopped running for a bit so Pete must have had a crack at fixing it but lack of confidence in his ability to do so had presumably led to him 'flagging up' the problem.
So now the procession starts-first the rising water investigator, then the Flagger up Confirmer and finally the leak fixer.
This saga, I fear
will run and run
(I asked Flickr for an image of Scottish Water-this came up. Our leak is not that bad. Yet)
Later (Friday) the man from Scottish Water who came today is obviously the Flagger Up Confirmer. No actual flag but he left the notice tied to our fence indicating all was under control. No action this day.Monday
Just a thought. One someone at Scottish Water tells colleagues that he is going out for a leak, what exactly does he mean?
Labels: Leaks, Scottish Water, Small House in Duns
Saturday, March 14, 2009
A week to go the official opening of Spring and the first daffs we have seen around here are in the most sheltered part of the garden in the Small House in Duns. Soon the whole county will be lousy with them-no more so than in Hutton in the road down to the Kirk. Visual pollution at its most powerful-until the Rape ripens
Sadly I have free cycled my scythe
The snowdrops are well past their prime and heads hanging in shame for still being around.
Labels: Daffodils, Small House in Duns, Spring
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Post Code Clottery
The old question of the TD15 postcode and the inability for highheidyins to realise that some of it is in Scotland and not in England has raised its ugly head once more as you can read here Obviously the temperatures taken in mild sea side Berwick were not cold enough to justify cold weather payments for the denizens of Foulden, never mind Hutton where the temperature inside the Old Manse seemed to be well under 1C for weeks on end or at least visiting relis used to claim shivering in three layers of fleece. And there appears to be another error, as yet unnoticed in the Berwickshire We inhabitants of the Small House in Duns despite well over two weeks of sub zero temperatures as certified at the weather station in Greenlaw have yet to receive our extra 25 smackers. And this is TD11, all Scottish.
I feel very sorry for the guy in Foulden whose Greenhouse registered -1C throughout the qualifying period with no monetary compensation. My advice, for what it is worth (perhaps even £25)is, unless he lives in an Old Manse, to abandon the greenhouse
and move indoors.
And bully for the Berwickshire. This story is about an anomaly and not an
issue.
The old question of the TD15 postcode and the inability for highheidyins to realise that some of it is in Scotland and not in England has raised its ugly head once more as you can read here Obviously the temperatures taken in mild sea side Berwick were not cold enough to justify cold weather payments for the denizens of Foulden, never mind Hutton where the temperature inside the Old Manse seemed to be well under 1C for weeks on end or at least visiting relis used to claim shivering in three layers of fleece. And there appears to be another error, as yet unnoticed in the Berwickshire We inhabitants of the Small House in Duns despite well over two weeks of sub zero temperatures as certified at the weather station in Greenlaw have yet to receive our extra 25 smackers. And this is TD11, all Scottish.
I feel very sorry for the guy in Foulden whose Greenhouse registered -1C throughout the qualifying period with no monetary compensation. My advice, for what it is worth (perhaps even £25)is, unless he lives in an Old Manse, to abandon the greenhouse
and move indoors.
And bully for the Berwickshire. This story is about an anomaly and not an
issue.
Labels: Cold weather payments, Old Manse, Small House in Duns, TD15
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Plumbing new depths
For the second time in three months the sink in the small house in Duns blocked up. Wrong sort of rice down the plug hole possibly. Not to worry we have an emergency plumbing cover 24/7 including Christmas Day and 29 Feb in Leap Year. And this was an emergency. 5 for lunch and no chance of using the dishwasher which exhales through the same hole as the sink. And the latter full of greasy water. Immobile and unsmiling.
'Home Sweet home serve' was as charming as ever. Promised that a local plumber would call within an hour. In the meantime I did battle with our plunger. A feeble little thing for clearing little old ladies eye baths.It did not even stir the greasy liquid; just irritated it. Off to Mr Pearsons to get a man sized plunger. Two in stock. Massive. Would remove the elephant in the sink, never mind the room and get stones out of horses hooves as an encore. At £1.94, credit crunch price, a snip. Started plunging. After ten satisfying gloops, the water level sank a bit and the plunger disintegrated-the rubber thing coming off the wooden handle showing evidence of perishing in a neat circle. Call Home Sweet Homeserve. Plumber will certainly call back very soon. One was in the vicinity TY12? No TD11. Of course.
Back to Pearsons. Nae bother will get you another one. Picked it up off the shelf. Promptly disintegrated. Another perisher. More expected next week. No thanks. Took the £1.94, the profuse apologies and observations on Chinese workmanship; and left.
Sink had sort of cleared itself. Secret is boiling water and lots of washing up liquid. But still needs a plumber.
Phone rings. The Home Sweet home serve duty plumber. 'Just finishing a little job-you are next on my list'
'Where are you?'
'Middlesborough' 'Middlesborough?' 'Yes. Born and bred'
I told him that as time was of the essence we could probably manage without him. He seemed disappointed. All the way to Duns at Homeserves expense, I presumed. 'Duns is a very long way' I told him.
'Oh' he said. 'Where exactly is it'
I told him. 'Oh' he said ' Not just south of Newcastle? I thought they said. The B*****S''
He put the phone down.
Hard.
(We will find some one in Duns, come Monday)
If we are spared
For the second time in three months the sink in the small house in Duns blocked up. Wrong sort of rice down the plug hole possibly. Not to worry we have an emergency plumbing cover 24/7 including Christmas Day and 29 Feb in Leap Year. And this was an emergency. 5 for lunch and no chance of using the dishwasher which exhales through the same hole as the sink. And the latter full of greasy water. Immobile and unsmiling.
'Home Sweet home serve' was as charming as ever. Promised that a local plumber would call within an hour. In the meantime I did battle with our plunger. A feeble little thing for clearing little old ladies eye baths.It did not even stir the greasy liquid; just irritated it. Off to Mr Pearsons to get a man sized plunger. Two in stock. Massive. Would remove the elephant in the sink, never mind the room and get stones out of horses hooves as an encore. At £1.94, credit crunch price, a snip. Started plunging. After ten satisfying gloops, the water level sank a bit and the plunger disintegrated-the rubber thing coming off the wooden handle showing evidence of perishing in a neat circle. Call Home Sweet Homeserve. Plumber will certainly call back very soon. One was in the vicinity TY12? No TD11. Of course.
Back to Pearsons. Nae bother will get you another one. Picked it up off the shelf. Promptly disintegrated. Another perisher. More expected next week. No thanks. Took the £1.94, the profuse apologies and observations on Chinese workmanship; and left.
Sink had sort of cleared itself. Secret is boiling water and lots of washing up liquid. But still needs a plumber.
Phone rings. The Home Sweet home serve duty plumber. 'Just finishing a little job-you are next on my list'
'Where are you?'
'Middlesborough' 'Middlesborough?' 'Yes. Born and bred'
I told him that as time was of the essence we could probably manage without him. He seemed disappointed. All the way to Duns at Homeserves expense, I presumed. 'Duns is a very long way' I told him.
'Oh' he said. 'Where exactly is it'
I told him. 'Oh' he said ' Not just south of Newcastle? I thought they said. The B*****S''
He put the phone down.
Hard.
(We will find some one in Duns, come Monday)
If we are spared
Labels: Plumbers, Small House in Duns
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Who is my neighbour?
is not the easiest question to answer in the Small House in Duns when the yard/garden/ is tucked away behind the backs of two rectangular sections of terraced housing. One neighbour whom Huttonian is hoping to be able to help with his enquiries has an overflow pipe, in constant free flow, spewing hot water down his wall into our yard and too close for comfort to the woodpile.
We managed by examining the chimney pots and roof profiles in one of the adjoining roads to identify the incontinent property in question. After several attempts to attract attention the door was opened by a two young Eastern European men, fluent in (?) Romanian but had little English. In a mixture of Romanian,Arabic,Old Norse French and a choice Borders phrase or two we managed to establish that (a) they had no idea it was going on (b) they would like to stop it (c) did not know how and (d) their landlord would deal with it but (e) they did not know or could not reveal who the owner was.
And then the water stopped. So they must have tackled Mr Big
That was four months ago and now Niagara is at it again. So let us cut out the middle man and find the Landlord. No one knew. Even in a small town like Duns it is a mystery.
Ask the Council. After 10 minutes staring at a rather irritating notice which said : 'Your query may take longer to answer than you would like. So Please Bear with US' I was told that all the resources at the disposal of the Duns Mediumheidyin's customer help squad had failed to identify the owner. But, nae bother:
The Housing Strategy Team would deal with it
Sceptical as ever I tried the 01835 number. The chap did not ask me to bear with anyone nor was my call being monitored for training purposes. An audible click of the mouse and he could confidently tell me that they had no record of any ownership of that property. But:
He would find out and get digits extracted promptly. "I'll call you back"-he said
He did. Owner, Mr Big, is in Rossshire; agent in Duns. Latter out to dinner but as soon as he had slurped his tea and returned to his place of work the HST would be on to him he would be asked to fix the problem, like, pronto.
That was 1230. It is now 1500. Water still flowing-cooler; the hot must have all gone down the wall.
Action this day as Sir Winston used to say. And if not
It is the thought that counts.
(Images reveal the current weeping eyesores. If Mr Big,you are on the blog, please send your Baillie round, sharpish)
Labels: Housing Strategy Team, Small House in Duns
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Red Stones in the Sunset
could well be the theme tune for today, except no sun. It never really rose so no reason to set. But we do need to get rid of a very large quantity of red stone gravel-from one of the very few quarries in the UK where this stuff comes from-Northumberland and as patronised, amongst others, by HM the Queen. And it is a huge amount, several inches deep and covers the whole top section of what should be the upper(Hanging possibly) garden in the Small House in Duns. Our predecessors covered what used to be a lawn and a Plum Tree bed with the red stones-nice if you like that sort of thing.
But the wife doesn't. So the plan is for a grassed area riddled with soft fruit bushes: 10 rasps, 3 blackcurrants, 2 redcurrants and a gooseberry. Apple trees also poised. All duly purchased from Woodside today. We anticipated that with the red stones gone by this evening we could get working on the earth moving next week. Here we were a trifle optimistic.
We had advertised our stuff on Berwickshire Freecycle with the usual enthusiastic response but the guy, the first to respond, who came all the way from Hawick filled his trailer to the rim. 'I have hardly scratched the surface' he said sadly. And left. We have other people after the gravel-not HM the Queen unless she uses Freecycle under a pseudonym: BlueBlood 1? so its over to them and the groundsmen at Balmoral are very welcome to phone in. There's plenty for everyone. And likely to be a lot
left over
Labels: Red stone Gravel. Berwickshire Freecycle, Small House in Duns
Friday, December 26, 2008
Duns Christmas Show
I am indebted to the junior son in law for this image of a budding thespian performing her one person show in the Small-House-in-Duns immediately after the Queen's Speech. This is the Duns Premiere of the Magic Box.
A rave review is expected in the Berwickshire
Labels: Small House in Duns, The Magic Box
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Christmas Post
Blogging will be a trifle haphazard as the wider Huttonian clan descend on the small-house-in-Duns in relays. Some (6) for Christmas. Others (4) for Boxing Day and the rest (2) for BD+2. Even with the fabled extension open and functioning the 4 non breeders are moving out to an even-smaller-house-elsewhere-in-Duns for 4 nights and the nearly two year old is impeding the great work by having to sleep under the computer, more or less.
So Last Post will sound at 7pm.
Blogging will be a trifle haphazard as the wider Huttonian clan descend on the small-house-in-Duns in relays. Some (6) for Christmas. Others (4) for Boxing Day and the rest (2) for BD+2. Even with the fabled extension open and functioning the 4 non breeders are moving out to an even-smaller-house-elsewhere-in-Duns for 4 nights and the nearly two year old is impeding the great work by having to sleep under the computer, more or less.
So Last Post will sound at 7pm.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Nearly, Nearly There. #6
Well I suppose being 5 months late in a three months job could be worse. Like being 6 months late. We were originally promised in May that the project would be finished-cross my palm and hope to die-by 21 July. The day of the Move from the OM to the SHID. It may be more or less finished by Christmas-but I suspect the latter. At least we can live in it and do without the slap dash-sorry, pebbledash, aka rough casting until the New Year.
Which New Year?
Morning or Afternoon?
Labels: Building the extension. Wood burning stove, Small House in Duns
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Is this the party before?
Could well be asked shortly. Huttonian is marking the move to the-small-house-in-Duns with a house warming (The Hutton event was a Manse Cooling). When serving HM the Q we occupied houses which were purpose made for entertaining and once you got to a semi dizzy height well equipped for the purpose-grape scissors and all. A Counsellor was allocated a dining table which sat 14, a Grade 3 Ambassador 20 and so in until the Grade 1 Ambo could entertain all the occupants of a Routemaster to a slap up sit down dinner if he/she so wished. A Grade 4 Reluctant Dinger has a table which can seat 8 if you are all very friendly and standing room for not many more. So we decided to invite our guests in two standings or shifts (dress casual) -one lot from 6-7-30 the others from 7-30 until we close the bar. Many a slip: people anxious about the weather might come earlier than invited, others might get lost and end up at a Third Coming and so on. No doubt we will survive as numbers are not great.
This is not a new technique. I learned about it from a very ferocious Ambassador of the old school and representing a middle ranking European Power. Underpaid and ill equipped with a tiny residence (Ambos don't slum in 'houses') he entertained reluctantly and frugally. He hit on the two standings technique and timed it to a second throwing people out at 1929 from the First Shift and getting rid of the second lot at 2100, with the fire alarm if necessary. He was so unwelcoming and subject to sudden rages that guests tended not to linger. But one occasion, when he had carefully divided the sheep and goats into the boring but worthy (6 to 7-30) and the slightly less boring but known early bedders 7-30 to 9)he awaited his party with less apprehension than usual.
No one came.
Apparently he had carefully mentioned the times but not the day.
And no-one had risked his ire by ringing up and asking for clarification.
I think we have told our guests which day. Will soon know
If we haven't
Could well be asked shortly. Huttonian is marking the move to the-small-house-in-Duns with a house warming (The Hutton event was a Manse Cooling). When serving HM the Q we occupied houses which were purpose made for entertaining and once you got to a semi dizzy height well equipped for the purpose-grape scissors and all. A Counsellor was allocated a dining table which sat 14, a Grade 3 Ambassador 20 and so in until the Grade 1 Ambo could entertain all the occupants of a Routemaster to a slap up sit down dinner if he/she so wished. A Grade 4 Reluctant Dinger has a table which can seat 8 if you are all very friendly and standing room for not many more. So we decided to invite our guests in two standings or shifts (dress casual) -one lot from 6-7-30 the others from 7-30 until we close the bar. Many a slip: people anxious about the weather might come earlier than invited, others might get lost and end up at a Third Coming and so on. No doubt we will survive as numbers are not great.
This is not a new technique. I learned about it from a very ferocious Ambassador of the old school and representing a middle ranking European Power. Underpaid and ill equipped with a tiny residence (Ambos don't slum in 'houses') he entertained reluctantly and frugally. He hit on the two standings technique and timed it to a second throwing people out at 1929 from the First Shift and getting rid of the second lot at 2100, with the fire alarm if necessary. He was so unwelcoming and subject to sudden rages that guests tended not to linger. But one occasion, when he had carefully divided the sheep and goats into the boring but worthy (6 to 7-30) and the slightly less boring but known early bedders 7-30 to 9)he awaited his party with less apprehension than usual.
No one came.
Apparently he had carefully mentioned the times but not the day.
And no-one had risked his ire by ringing up and asking for clarification.
I think we have told our guests which day. Will soon know
If we haven't
Labels: Diplomatic entertaining, House warming, Small House in Duns
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Oh balmy (climatically) Hutton, why have we deserted you? The temperature has not risen above -3C for 72 hours and the secret garden is seemingly unknown to the sun at this time of the year.
Were we really enjoying coffee and cakes on the garden table and sitting on our bench salvaged from the Old Manse just a few weeks ago? Was that solar light really illuminating our feeble steps? And will the wife's prize Brussels Sprouts thaw out for Christmas? Seems unlikely
But at least its warm inside the house. More than you could usualy say about the Old Manse. Except for the (very) occasional July day.
Labels: Frost, Small House in Duns, The Old Manse
