2009 Summary

This is mainly for the benefit of Christmas letter readers and summarises our whole year, not just the house build.

2009 Begins
It has become a bit of a tradition for the Coon family to go away at New Year. Usually we head off to the west coast of Scotland but now that we actually live there, it’s more fun to go somewhere else. In 2009, we also liked the idea of going south so that we could meet up with friends and family. We found a cottage miles up a valley in deepest Yorkshire and Emily and Richard joined us there. John’s sister and brother-in-law Kathleen and Nicholas joined us for a couple of days, and at New Year, Richard’s folks Sharon and Steve arrived. We were fortunate to have lovely weather, cold and crisp and sunny and so we went for some delightful walks. In the evenings we made use of the games room where there was table tennis, snooker and darts, or did jigsaws or played scrabble. It was very relaxing after the mad rush to get things ready for Christmas.

John, Emily and Richard started their training for the Carnethy hill race in February. When you have completed 21 races, you are presented with a quaich and this is John’s target. 2009 would be his 20^th year so our trip to Australia couldn’t take place until after that. Flights were booked for the following Monday! Lack of training meant that times weren’t fantastic but they all enjoyed it.

We used the time between New Year and Carnethy to finish off the jobs that had been rushed for Christmas and to do a bit of homework about the places we were going to.

Two Months Holiday
Having promised Jo and John that we would visit them this year, we bought two round the world tickets and stopped off at Los Angeles on the way and China (Suse was lucky with the timing and managed to catch a tai chi training trip) and India (John refused to go to China because of the country’s poor track record in so many areas) so booked an environmentally friendly walking holiday in northern India) on the way back.

We were worried about the temperatures so made sure that Los Angeles would not be too hot for us. 30 degrees seemed ok so we planned to book a campervan and tour the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Painted Desert and Las Vegas, as per the campervan hire leaflet. We were rather surprised to discover that the campervan would not have any water in in case it froze. Our first lesson – they work in fahrenheit in the U.S. of A! So plan B came into being and we booked a car and motels, using vouchers from the free magazines.

The planned trip which we had read about obviously didn’t involve getting out for a walk at any point so it was quickly shelved. We went to Palm Springs to see the immense wind farm and the place which gave its name to the typeface we used for many years printing the magazines. From there we went to Joshua Tree National Park and fell in love with deserts. Route 66 took us to the Grand Canyon which was everything we had hoped.

Words can not describe the constantly changing views in the sun and snow and we were lucky to be there off season. We went round the east end of the canyon and headed north through more deserts and Indian reservations to Las Vegas, where we booked a night to see Love, with Cirque du Soleil. It was a fantastic show and well worth the urban detour. On our last day in Los Angeles we booked a tour round the major places that you’d expect – Venice Beach, Chinese Theatre, Holywood sign, Farmer’s Market (saw John Malkovitch!) Beverley Hills and Sunset Strip. We decided that we would like to go back to the Grand Canyon when it isn’t so icy and walk through it.

Jo and John met us at Melbourne after a reasonable 14 hour flight, thanks to the travel scrabble, crossword and killer sudoku books. That night we went to the equivalent of the League Cup final which Melbourne Victory won. (I think that’s good!) Then it was a quick tour of Melbourne and a visit to my cousin Marion and Michael before we headed off to Tasmania.

An old hill running friend had moved there several years ago and we stayed with him and got some tips for places to visit as well as crewing for them in a Wednesday evening yacht race. Tasmania was lovely in many ways and on a manageable scale after the sprawl of Melbourne. Our trip was beginning to look like a tour of World Heritage Sights with Cradle Mountain the probable highlight. Unfortunately we hit bad weather there and didn’t quite make the top.

We experienced some pretty extreme weather in Victoria too – an earthquake (originally thought to have been Elliott the cat jumping off the table), the bush fires which were still burning but past their worst and high winds which closed some of the parks we passed through on the Great Ocean Road. A hurricane was also threatening to wipe out parts of Queensland (Fraser Island) which we hoped to see. Before heading north with Jo we fitted in another visit to my cousin and my aunt who had returned from visiting my other cousin in Adelaide.

Jo had booked 2 weeks leave and had pretty well got the trip organised. We flew to Cairns and drove up to Cape Tribulation where the rain forest meets the sea. The humidity wasn’t unbearable and I was fascinated by the fruits that could be grown. Back in Cairns we went snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef. It was our first time doing anything like this and once we got the hang of it, it was just amazing.

We then flew south to Brisbane and went on a 2 day trip to Fraser Island which is made entirely of sand. Still more world heritage sights! On the way, John had lost his wallet so he was rather preoccupied about how this would all pan out with a passport and Indian visa in there as well. We needn’t have worried. He had left it on a wall in Maroochidore and it had been found by someone from the bowling club who had handed it in to the police. We bought a bottle of malt as a thank you but the finder refused to accept it or even let it be put behind the bar, or raffled. Meanwhile when the lady at the campsite/motel heard about our plight she invited us to stay at their bungalow near the Glass House Mountains. Aren’t people just so kind? After a visit to the Mountains and to Australia Zoo, we returned to Brisbane for 3 days before all going our separate ways.

It had been a busy but very enjoyable visit, and wonderful to see Jo and John in what is now their own environment. But more adventures were to come!

China
I was immediately overwhelmed by being unable to read or speak the language. With a note of the hotel in chinese script and the English translation (Fraternity Hotel, Sun Palace Park Road) but nothing in pinyin, which is the phonetic pronounciation of the chinese, I couldn’t ask anyone where to go and they couldn’t understand the English. It was a problem that arose quite often! I had 2 days before the rest of the group arrived and did it all on foot, except when I got lost on the way to the Lama Temple and asked a teenage girl for help. She took my arm and pulled me along to a tube station, pulled me on the tube and pushed me out at the right station, waving goodbye as the doors closed!

Opposite the hotel there was a park and I went there to practice tai chi in the mornings before breakfast. It was full of other people doing tai chi, qi kong and all sorts of exercises, including ballroom dancing. Once the others arrived we got down to serious training with Professor Li of the Deyin Institute in Beijing. We also had time off to visit various places, the Great Wall, jade factory, silk factory Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.

We then flew south to Wudan Mountain (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon country) and made a pilgrimage up the mountain but I didn’t learn to fly through the trees, despite some more training with one of the monks. From there we went to Deng Feng and Shaolin and trained with one of the oldest martial arts schools, before seeing the show that night, dressed in hired ex-army great coats. It took place out of doors over more than a kilometre of the mountain and included flying sword fights and some remarkable choreography and music. I bought myself a sword there, hoping that some of the magic would rub off! Then it was a very long train journey back to Beijing and a trip to the Beijing Opera, organised by one of the group whose friend is the only westerner to perform in Beijing Opera and now directs it. There was one more day for shopping and sightseeing on our own. It was a fabulous, unforgettable trip.

India
John meanwhile had not fared so well. To start with, his plane was delayed in Brisbane which meant that he would miss his connection in Singapore. As it is all one ticket, they delayed the plane for him and two other travellers but he arrived in Delhi in the middle of the night. He had booked with Village Ways, an organisation which takes you to remote villages for walking and accommodation, thus providing employment where it is needed. They were very good about the revised arrangements and he was met at the airport and taken to his hotel for a rest before an abbreviated tour of Delhi. He wasn’t impressed! The train journey to Kathgodam was also not straightforward but he eventually made contact and began his walks. It soon became clear that there was a mis-match between John’s idea of an “all day walk” and what the guides had found suitable for most of the other walkers in the past. The food was vegetarian, there was no alcohol and although eventually, this was ok, lemon tea can only take the place of Deuchars for so long! However, with so much “down time” in prime walking terrain, it was only a matter of time before the guides were dumped and he went off on his own which was infinitely more enjoyable. The scenery was magnificent, the walking trails more than adequate because they are the only links between villages and the weather very kind. John did meet other people doing similar things some of whom were also disappointed with the lack of walking but there were also others who found the walking more than they could comfortably manage, especially if they were incapacitated with stomach upsets – fortunately John missed out on the Delhi belly syndrome and stayed healthy. His impressions of India remain pretty extreme, the poverty in the countryside may allow some of those people who chose to remain to get by without a total loss of dignity. In the larger towns and cities, however, this by and large, doesn’t seem to be the case. Throwing rubbish out of your back door wherever you live seems to be the norm. Occasionally burning it in the streets seemed to be an alternative but mainly it just lies around giving the dog packs somewhere to forage. He doesn’t think he’ll be back!

The flights back to London went ok and we met as planned in Heathrow to make the final leg back to Edinburgh together. It felt kind of weird being back in a country where you could read the signs and understand the chatter around you and it took several days to get used to it again.

Altogether, we had a wonderful trip and, although it is hard to justify on environmental grounds, we felt it was valuable culturally!

Larick House
When we arrived home in mid April the first thing to do was to get some drainage in the vegetable garden, then rotavate it and plant a few things. We were too late for seed potatoes but got peas, 2 kinds of beans, beetroots, shallots and leeks going. There were lettuces too but the chickweed got them. Any tree that pokes its head above the plastic tree protector gets eaten by deer and we worked out that the memorial trees we planted for John’s parents were drowning. We moved them to a drier spot and will have to see if we’ve got them in time. After a lovely spring, it was a dreadfully wet summer and we didn’t make much progress in the garden.

It was certainly nice to be out of the caravan. It’s still there and I can’t believe we spent a year and a half in it. Meanwhile we have camped illegally in the house.

Breaking Val’s rule again, we had a deadline of Christmas, thanks to Jo and John coming back on holiday and wanting to spend Christmas here. Key events upstairs were getting the wiring and plumbing done, hardboarding the rafters so that we could get the insulation in before winter, getting a stair designed and installed and the upstairs bathroom functioning. The office has been moved up to its new home and we are able to see how the dining room and living space actually work.

On the whole, I think we are both very happy with it all. The very cold weather at the end of 2009 really tested the log fire theory and we’re relieved to say that the house was toasty warm even with -6 outside. You do have to keep the fire going all the time at the moment as there are still some cold spots upstairs and in the downstairs hall. Next year. we will try to get certain things done before the building warrant expires, rather than get an extension. We will then at least be legal. Next summer will see more time spent on the garden and landscaping and we’ll get back to the decorating and so on next winter.

The full story can be read on our blog www.larickhouse.co.uk

The Family
Starting at the top, so to speak, Mum is still going strong on her own at Merryvale Avenue. She is becoming more unsteady and losing confidence but she is at last accepting help from Social Services in the form of an emergency button, attendance at a Falls Prevention Class and home visits from a chiropodist and a hairdresser. Her eyesight is not so good now but there doesn’t seem to be a solution to that. Of course the house and garden are impossible for her. A gardener comes from the council sometimes but not often enough. We are reconciled to the fact that she is going to stay there and just hope that it can be made safe for her.

Joanna and John are still in Oz but thinking of making some changes. They were on the brink of buying a new house with government grants when they discovered that, being self-employed, John had to have 2 years’ tax returns, so that fell through. It turned out to be a lucky escape as he was made redundant just as we arrived in March. It took quite a time before he found something permanent again as brickies are no longer on Australia’s ‘most wanted’ list – apparently it’s hairdressers who are needed now. As they are not full citizens yet he had no help at all and the government have now said that you have to be resident for 4 years instead of 2 before you can take the citizens’ exam. Fortunately, as a nurse, Jo is unlikely to ever be out of work but she had been cutting back the hours in preparation for starting their family.

As for Emily, working in the construction industry here has been pretty nerve-wracking but one way or another the Livingston depot has been able to pare itself down and survive – so far. It has meant more responsibility and more hours to get the work done but she has risen to it. With neither Emily nor Richard able to change jobs, she and Richard have bought a lovely one and a half storey detached stone house in Stonehouse, just off the M74. Richard sold his flat in Prestwick very easily and they moved in in August. Emily’s flat needed a bit of damp work doing to make the Home Report look good so she is just about to put it on the market now. The commute for both is not ideal but this is not the time to go job-hunting. Emily has also taken on two kittens, Bourneville and Cocoa, who rule the house. Hope Lodge is going to be a lovely home for them all.

 

Life in Tarbert

It’s been three and a half years since we bought the plot and two and a half years since we moved here. We planned not to get involved in very many activities until the house is finished but we keep meeting really nice, friendly people who entice us out. We’ve been lucky with our neighbours so far but Andrew and Rosie, from whom we bought the plot, are moving to Skye next summer, with Tom and Kate and we will miss them.

We were very sad when another neighbour, Jenny, died of cancer not long after we returned from Oz. She was able to stay at home until the very end, thanks to Marie Curie nurses. There just aren’t enough of these specially trained nurses around so we wanted to raise funds to train more. Suse, along with Diane, Fiona and Sean, had their hair shaved and set up a web page for donations. We are very close to our target. Not having seen herself in a mirror for 2 years anyway, Suse wasn’t too bothered, but it was quite a shock for John. Suse still feels the cold on the back of her head and wears woolly hats a lot!

The lack of hair has had certain advantages for our new hobby, kayaking. Our good friend Ali the architect got us to join her on Monday evenings in Tarbert Harbour. The coach, Dave McBride, is very enthusiastic and generous with his time. We have ventured outside the harbour walls, once to Easdale Island – no, we didn’t paddle all the way, Dave took the kayaks up to Seil Island on a trailer and we paddled from there. The plan was to circumnavigate the island but conditions were too rough and John capsized, purely to entertain the 300 or so spectators who had come to the World Skimming Championships, you understand. Dave caught the trip on video and we have a copy! All this made us decide to invest in dry suits for early Christmas presents and, of course, on our next trip out in scary rough conditions, it was Suse who decided that she should test the efficacy of the dry suit. Since then we have been across to Ardpatrick Bay in lovely calm conditions and seen sea otters close up and personal. Whether or not we eventually decide to splash out (ha ha) on good sea kayaks, paddles, spray decks, buoyancy aids and something to transport the boats is another matter. Emily has a couple of general purpose kayaks which she will not be using at Stonehouse and which would get us out on the canal or inland loch. Meanwhile, the dark nights have seen us going to Lochgilphead pool to practice rescue and self righting techniques, including rolling, which neither of us has managed yet.

Suse is still working on Lothian Life which is keeping its head above water, just, less thanks to advertising and more thanks to affiliate marketing (when people click on a link and buy something). Are there plans for a Kintyre Life? Hmmm, not yet. One of these days, she plans to get back to novel writing and has been finding old manuscripts in the garage which may yet see the light of day. Internet publishing is all very well but a good old-fashioned book is very satisfying.

John works relentlessly on the house and even Ali says, ‘John needs to get out more’. We went to 3 of the Scottish 6 Days this summer and organised an orienteering event in November so we are looking forward to being able to do more orienteering next year. However, we are very aware that we could easily wipe out all our eco credentials if we hit the roads too much.

While John is resuming playing the guitar, Suse has found a group of people in Tarbert who do Tai Chi – it’s a different form but she still goes along and does the qi gong exercises, then practises Wu style in the corner! She has also joined the Book Club, who meet once a month and has been to a couple of meetings of the Big Green Tarbert Initiative.

We don’t miss the roads and traffic and only occasionally the shops, galleries, cinemas and theatres of life in the Central Belt. It’s surprising how busy it’s possible to be here, not just in our own wee bit of house and garden but also in the village and surrounding area. We are also looking forward to having more time to explore the local countryside in the campervan and by kayak. It would be a different life without the internet and skype but we have no regrets at all about moving here. We have entered a quieter, more spiritual phase of life and are loving it!