Jonathan: No, this not about that great 60s-70s English blues and rock band of that same name … though come to think of it …  No, no – must keep ‘on-subject’! This post is about Eight Askernish. Ten Years after renovation was completed (just! – only just!) and our first ever self-catering guests arrived! Ten years after to the day, 27 May 2006.  Penny Ritson – and her husband, from Warwick on Eden in Cumbria (coincidentally just down the lane from where we used to live in Wetheral, when Denise and I were first married).

For us then, in 2006, buying a property – especially one in such poor condition – to renovate and let out was a major project – way out of our experience and comfort zone!  The house had to be stripped back to just the bare concrete walls (and even those needed repairing): even the concrete floor was ripped up and all the incoming services replaced. In fact that turned out to be just the first of so much other and far bigger building projects … but that’s another post, for another time!

Here’s a slideshow from back then. And if Penny Ritson is reading this and would like to return some time, we’ll be happy to offer a generous discount as a thank you for putting up with our beginners’ blunders!

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Both Denise and I would like to take this opportunity to thank our neighbour Domhnaill Iain MacIsaac of 9 West Kilbride South Uist for his hard work and patience in renovating Eight Askernish, and ten years of collaboration on so much building work and other projects. Tapadh leat, DJ!