Settling Back In: Cosy Scottish Cottage Slow Living & Big Plans 🏡🔥| Ep64 – Our Move to the Country

After a lovely break away, we’re finally back home in our little Scottish cottage and easing ourselves back into normal life again. It’s been a slower week as we catch up with work and get used to the dark winter evenings… but there’s still plenty happening behind the scenes!

This week the long-awaited garden cabin finally arrived. It’s much later than expected, so we’re now battling winter weather, rain and fading daylight as we try to prep the small courtyard and create a level base before we can even begin the build. This one’s going to be a challenge! ❄️🪚

Meanwhile, Johnny is busy designing posters and flyers for the village Christmas party (where he’ll be Santa again this year!), as well as the Hogmanay Hoolie in the village hall. We honestly love being involved in these community events — it makes this little village feel even more like home.

It’s also been one full year since removing our old open fire and replacing with efficient log burners, so it’s time for the annual chimney sweep. Let’s just say… we’ve been doing something wrong, and the amount of soot in the chimney proves it. Oops! 😳🧹🔥

Adam adds a few lovely decorative touches to the newly refurbished porch, and shows off a handmade rug he couldn’t resist bringing home from Tunisia. And to finish the week, we settle in for a cosy fireside chat with Benji snoozing by the log burner — the perfect way to ease ourselves back into cottage life.

Thanks for being here with us every week. ❤️

Johnny, Adam & Benji x 🏡🐾🌱

📍 Chapters

00:00 – A cosy intro with drone shots over our village & cottage 🏡✨
01:02 – Johnny & Benji settle back in at the cottage and chat about our week 🐾☕
02:20 – A big moment: after weeks of waiting, the wood cabin finally arrives! 📦🏚️
05:11 – Countryside walk with Johnny & Benji, chatting about the cabin plans… can Johnny persuade Adam to help? 🚶‍♂️🐶🌲

09:08 – Johnny shares his poster designs for the village Christmas kids’ party & Hogmanay Hoolie 🎄🎅🎶
11:27 – Preparing the courtyard: planning the cabin location & lifting the patio to create a level base 🔨🧱
16:57 – Back home with Johnny & Benji: the dark nights and winter weather slow down cabin progress 🌧️🌙
17:39 – Can you believe it’s been a full year since we installed the log burners? Time for the annual chimney sweep! 🔥🧹
21:21 – A delivery for the cottage: freshly printed Hogmanay posters ready for the village 🎉📬
23:57 – Adam adds some decorative touches to the porch after our recent makeover 🪴🛋️
28:48 – Adam shows off a beautiful handmade rug he picked up in Tunisia 🧶🌞
30:11 – A cosy fireside moment with the three of us as we wrap up this week’s episode 🔥🐾❤️

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹
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These days are running slow. Sunsets and shores far from home. It lights are shining on the sea. No place on earth ever be. And I could try to just follow the swell. But I’ll never find this anywhere else. You are a soppy individual, aren’t you? We’ve got upside down dogs. Welcome back. So, here we are back to the cottage, back to normality after our amazing trip to Tannisia last week. I have to say it is nice to get away, but it it’s nice to get back to your own bed as well. So, what have we been up to this week? Not a lot, to be honest. Obviously, we were away last week, so we haven’t really got back into any projects. We’ve both been super busy with work. Um, there are plenty of projects in the pipeline with regards to cottage renovations that we’d love to get back into. Uh, well, some are more eager to get back into projects than others. But, yeah, like I said, plenty in the pipeline. We just uh we just need to get the ball uh rolling again. It’s been quite a busy week. Um, so what I can do is uh show you just the little tiny things that we have been up to uh this week. I have to admit I have have had some problems with my microphone. Uh so a lot of video clips this week won’t have any audio. So you’ll need to unfortunately put it with my voice narrating over the top of them. But I’ll do my best. Let’s go and jump back and take a look. Today is the day our wood cabin finally arrives. And I’m giving the friendly driver Craig a hand to unload some of it. A while ago during the summer months, I mentioned that we were going to build a cabin in the small courtyard at the back of the cottage so that we could use as additional storage space and a small workshop, office or studio. Because that space at the back of the cottage is quite small, we needed to order a bespoke size from Power Sheds. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Once unloaded, Craig talks through everything that’s included on the pallet, and he even offers to help build it. Or maybe I misheard him. Oh, what a good lad. The cabin is still on the drive on its pallet, and I’m hoping we can get around to building it sometime. time soon. The problem is that at this time of the year, it’s dark by the time we both finish work, which leaves only weekends. And guess what? The weather forecast is awful for the next few weekends. So, this is the space where the cabin will sit. It’s not a huge space, so we wanted to maximize the space available. The smallest standard size cabin available is 10 ftx 12t. Now, that would fit in this area, but it would be a bit of a squeeze and it wouldn’t leave any room to access the sides of the cabin to treat it and for future maintenance. So, we had a bespoke cabin made at 10 ftx 10 ft. This will leave us enough space to access the sides. And as I mentioned earlier, this will be perfect as a small workshop or studio or perhaps a posh dog house for Benji. What do you think about that, Benji? Huh? I’m quite annoyed actually because we ordered this cabin back in the summer and I had anticipated it would be delivered early October because the lead time from Power Sheds was around 9 to 11 weeks. It’s only just arrived this week. So, it’s actually taken about 16 weeks. If it had arrived in October, the weather would have been okay still given that it would have been autumn. But now we’re slap bang in the middle of winter. Christmas is just around the corner and it’s just the wrong weather to start fuffing about building cabins and things like this. Um, so given that the weather was looking rubbish, uh, Adam and, uh, Ian, their suggestion was to just hang for it until spring next year once the nicer weather returns because we don’t want to be building this in the howl and rain wind and, uh, and sideways rain. Um, but then there’s the issue of storage. It can’t stay on the driveway until spring because even though it’s still in its packaging, it will probably be ruined and it’s in the way sitting on the driveway. Uh so Ian had suggested uh contacting some of the local farmers to see if they can store it in one of their barns over the winter uh until we’re ready to build it in spring, much to my dismay, because as you know, I wanted this built now. I don’t want to wait until spring next year. We’ve got it now. So, I did actually check the weather forecast again this morning and it has changed. I think there is around 20% chance of rain on Saturday and it’s not as windy as it is today. And Sunday is sunny all day, but it is forecast to be freezing. Now, I don’t mind working in the cold. I just don’t like working in the wind and the rain. So, what I now need to do is try and talk Adam into helping me assemble this cabin over the weekend rather than uh having it stored in in one of the farmer’s barns over the winter. Um, so we’ll need to wait and see. The whole thing may still go ahead or it may not. So, watch this space for a walk. Well, folks, it’s almost that time of the year again. Christmas. Can you believe it’s come around so soon? It doesn’t seem 5 minutes since last Christmas. So, you know how Adam and I love to get involved with all of these different village activities and events. And this year, of course, is no different. So, last year, I offered my services to dress up as Santa for the village kids. handing out gifts to them and they absolutely loved it. Uh so I’ll be doing the same again this year, but we’re having uh a village Christmas party for the kids. So I’m currently in the process of designing a flyer and poster. Uh and what we’ll do is we’ll get these printed out and hand them around, post them through people’s letter boxes in and around the village. Uh we’ll put some posters up in the notice boards, uh the community notice board and probably in the in the pub next door. But what do you think? It’s quite good, isn’t it? So obviously it’s an aerial shot of our village in lock. There’s our little cottage. How cute is that? So the other thing I’ve been working on is the um hogmanet uh event posters for the hogman event. So we’ll be having a hogman hulie in the village hall. Um so this is the poster that I’ve designed. Obviously I blocked out some of the parts here because um it has uh somebody’s email address and telephone number on there. I don’t want them to suddenly get inundated with 11,000 phone calls all pleading to come to the Crawford John Hogman Hulie. But uh who will be playing at home hulie is um a local band uh called the we squeeze. So, it’ll be traditional Scottish music um with a kay uh so obviously there’ll be a bar there. There’ll be dancing, snacks, raffle, um halftime open stage and late night jukebox. So, that should be good fun. Adam and I both had a really really good time at last year’s Hogmanet party. So, I’m sure this year will be no different. So, I just need to finish these off. Uh hopefully I’ve got time to get them sent off to the printers. Um, I think the deadline is in around 30 minutes in order to get them delivered for tomorrow. So, I better get back to it. And unfortunately, my microphone was on the blink again here. But what I’m doing is measuring the gradient on the patio so that I can start to plan a level base for the cabin to sit on. The cabin must sit on a perfectly level base to avoid potential issues opening windows and doors further down the line due to the structure twisting and warping. I had planned on using these adjustable pedestal risers to create a level base, but I now realize that the gradient of the patio is far greater than I had first anticipated. A 170 mm drop at where the front of the cabin will sit. So, I need to raise this front area by 170 mm. The maximum height of the adjustable risers are only 60 mm. So, because they’re not high enough, my next plan is to stack paving slabs taken from the center area, as this area won’t be seen anyway once the cabin is built, to create the height I need, and then use the adjustable risers to fine-tune the height until I get a perfectly level on which I can build the wooden base. Heat. Heat. Oh, okay. So, I think that’s about level to be honest. That’s not bad. Obviously, this isn’t the piece of frame. This is just a rough piece of wood I’m using to try and figure out um how high this end needs to be. So, I’ve got the smaller adjustable pedestal at that end just because the frame needs to be uh raised off the ground. It can’t be sitting directly on the ground. And then with the two two height slabs and the higher pedestal here, I think that’ll work. Heat. Heat. Okay, so it may not look great, but it’s all a little bit of trial and error and messing about adding slabs and adjusting the risers. to try and get the correct height. A task made even more challenging when we realized the patio also had a gradient running not just from the back to the front but also from the left to the right. And with that we decided to call it a day as it will soon be dark and it really isn’t worth starting to build the cabin just yet. So that will be a task for tomorrow. But then again, perhaps not. So, there you go. The cabin has arrived. It doesn’t look as though we’re going to get it built anytime soon given the awful weather and the dark nights. Um, as it is pitch black by the time we’ve both finished work at this time of the year and the next few weekends. The weather is looking awful. So, God knows when that’s going to be built. I really, really, really don’t want to um have to store it in a farmer’s barn somewhere. Um I’m sure it would be fine, but I just want to use that space this winter. The point the whole point of getting the cabin was so that we have a a big enough outdoor space um in the the dark nights and the horrible weather in which to do DIY projects, whether it be painting something, whether it be uh you know, chopping wood or whatever. Um then next year the plan is to um insulate the inside, have power to it and uh and have it as a a small studio uh workshop space. So when will it be built? Don’t know. Your guess is as good as mine, but just keep watching. Uh if we get a if we happen to get a nice Saturday or a nice Sunday, I don’t anticipate it will too it will take too long. The website says um on average it takes around 2 days to build it. So, we’ll see. Do you remember when we had our stoves installed? The log burner stoves. Well, it’s that time of the year where they need chimney sweeping. So, I’m not sure if you remember Vicki from uh the installation gives a wave. So, she’s back to give our chimneys a sweep. So, um obviously we’ve got this one in the living room and we’ve got the one in the bedroom. It’s important to keep the chimney swept. uh every 12 months. Is it once a year? Once a year. Just to prevent the buildup uh of soot from the uh from inside the the liner in the chimney. If you remember last year, the chimney was a right state inside. It was all rubbly and bits of stone falling down and everything. So, we had uh liners put in and uh we had the log burners installed because it’s the most practical and safe option and more energy efficient than the open fire that that was uh originally in here. As well as sweeping the chimneys in the cottage, Vicki will also service and clean both stoves. And while doing so, she discovered that one of the bricks inside the stove was broken. This can happen from time to time, usually as a result of chucking a wood log into the stove rather than carefully placing it in. Oops. But not to worry, Vicki to the rescue and she can replace this broken brick. It’s a messy yet necessary process. There was far more soots came out of the chimney than Vicki had expected. So, it really is a good job that we’re having them swept. Oh my god. Um, that’s a lot. And like I say, this this glassy stuff that you’re seeing is too much moisture in the timber or the sap if you’re burning soft wood. And obviously that then sticks to the ladder and gradually makes that hole smaller and smaller. Apparently, one of the reasons for so much soot buildup could be burning wood that is still slightly too moist or soft wood that can contain a lot of sap. U, but that’s all down to moisture content in the timber. So, so the wood we’ve been burning is too too moist. Yeah. Yeah. It’s got slightly over moisture content. So, ideally, it needs Well, moisture content for timber for burning on stoves needs to be 20% or less. Um, and that’s the core needs to be 20% or less, not the outside. Cuz it can be mistaken where you test it on the outside and it may say it’s 14%. Brilliant. I love it on my fire. Great. The inside might be about 29, right? So, again, obviously that’s too high. So, but it will still burn. You won’t get any heat out of it. Your glass will go black. Um, you won’t it won’t do any good to your flu. Um, cuz that that buildup um and I cannot stress it enough, timber is key. So Vicki recommends using kiln dried hardwood instead. It may cost a little more but will be far more efficient and economical in the long run and better for the chimney and the stove. As part of the service, Vicki will also give areas of the stove a quick spray paint if needed to bring them back to looking as good as new. Should we go and see what it is? Huh? Come on then. This way. Okay. What is this? I think I know what it is. It’s probably stuff from printed.com. So, what do you think about that? Isn’t that great? So, we’ll put, like I said, we’ll put some of these in the up in the pub and we’ll um we’ll post some through people’s letter boxes and so on uh to uh to push the event. It will be good whole who wholesome community fun. And the village hall is literally just 2-minute walk from our cottage. So, no messing about having to get taxis home and things like that. Now this is Oh, nice. So, the Hogmanet Hulie logo on the poster. I thought, wouldn’t it be great if we repurposed the photo booth that I made for VE Day out of old palettes, if you remember? Then I repurposed it again for the Halloween and people had great fun having the pictures taken behind the photo frame photo booth thing. So, I thought, wouldn’t it be great if we repurposed it again for Hogmanet? Uh, paint it dark blue, similar colors to the poster. But if we have the uh the title, the Hugman Hulie from the poster, if we have that blown up and printed on a a huge foam board, and my plan is to cut this out and stick it at the top of the photo frame, decorate it with lights and things like that, and then once again, people can stand behind it and have the photo taken. So, that will sit in the village in the village hall during the uh during the party. How good is that? See, I knew my creative skills would uh come in handy someday. What do you think, Benji? Do you like it? Nothing for Labradors, I’m afraid. Do you want to come to the party, huh? Maybe Labradors are invited to the party. You’ll be running all over the place having good fun, won’t you? What’s this, Adam? This is a antique bird cage from Tunisia. However, it’s not something that we picked up. It’s something my mom got when she went to Tunisia many years ago. Oh wow, that’s lovely. What do you think of put on that? So, I was thinking this would kind of look perhaps nice in the porch. I’m just going to put some little lights on it just to Yeah, you Looks good. Yeah. See, quite creative sometimes, aren’t you? What do you think, Benj? Right, go and get your thing to finish this off. Okay. It’s like Christmas again, isn’t it, Benji? Oh, you like Christmas, Benji, don’t you? So, what I bought is a handmade rustic simple little bench to go in here. And I’ll explain why in a second. If I can get the packaging. There we go. Let’s be packaged. quite smell the the the new the wood the it’s the wax or whatever they’ve used on it. Mhm. So my thinking was as much as I like the little antique chair Yeah. It’s It’s not the most practical of things. So, the antique chair can go somewhere else. That might go in my office. I might integrate that as part of the office design. And this handmade rustic bench. Oh, no. It doesn’t fit. God sake, man. I thought I’d measured it. Does this Will this push up any further? Oh, there we go. I knew I’d measured it probably. There we go. Do we believe that Benji? I So, I thought this rustic little bench would be a more practical use of the space because not only can you sit on it while you’re putting your shoes on, you can actually store shoes under it. So, it’s used as a shoe rack instead of that horrible cheap and nasty thing that we’ve got that was in here previously. Yeah. So, I think that look better. Don’t you? Mhm. And then we’ll just find another space for the antique chair to go somewhere else. So, is this now finished at last? Yes, this is properly finished. We’ve even painted and touched up the other little bits on the ceiling there that needed finishing. Finally, let’s move on to the next project. Next, Adam shows off a new handmade rug he brought back from our recent trip to Tannisia. They can take up to six months to make. I think he said this one took about two months to make, but it’s really the quality is just amazing. It’s super thick. You’re going to like this to lay on. This be nice for dogs. It’s too nice for Labradors to lay on. Stinking it up. Where’s that going to go? In front of the fire. Yeah. So, it’s going to replace this one. We’re going to um refurbish and redecorate this room and uh that will look lovely on some new floor. Yeah. Wood flooring. Well, this is Nice and cozy in front of the fire, isn’t it? Drinking hot chocolate. That’s me till March. That’s you. I’m not moving till March. You’re just going to stay here in front of the fire till March. Yeah. You just keep bring the wood in. Bring me food. Hibernate. Yeah. Oh, speaking of winter, we’ve actually got our first Christmas card. Can you believe that? Already. Yeah. So, this is from one of our viewers very kindly sent us uh Christmas card Jay and Dave and their dog Doney. But look at this. Tada. It’s a 3D Oops. Have I broke it? No. Is that Benji? There we go. Is that a Labrador driving it? It is. It’s like a 3D Christmas card with a truck and the Christmas tree and presents in the back. And who’s that, Benji? Is that you driving it? That’s cool. So, thank you very much, guys. Thank you. Although, we haven’t even started thinking about Christmas yet, have we? I’ve done absolutely nothing. I know. I know. Well, we’ve got Christmas presents for Benji. Somebody’s sent presents for Oh, yes. one. It’s um one of our followers has sent Benji’s first Christmas presents. Yeah, that’s right. But um you can’t open them yet, Benji. So, no, they’re put away. You’ll need to wait until Christmas. Come here. Saying you need to wait till Christmas. So, that’s quite cool. Thank you very much. Um it’s such a shame we couldn’t get the cabin finished this week. Well, there’s a lot to prep before we can actually start building cuz the ground’s slloy in many directions. Yeah. So, you got to get that get it solid done totally level. Mhm. And then you It shouldn’t be too bad, but unless it’s level. Yeah. Yeah. Well, hopefully the thing is the weather’s changed now. So, it’s it’s um it’s the forecast is rain for the next 10 days or something like that. So, brilliant. Hopefully, if we get a dry spell, we can tackle it another weekend. But until then, it’s just going to have to stay on the driveway in his packaging. But I think I think on that note, I think this is a perfect time to wrap it up for this week. Do you? Mhm. So, once again, guys, thank you very much for watching. We hope you’ve enjoyed this video. Not a lot has happened this week, but we’re still getting back into the swing of things after our break. Um, if you enjoyed this video, as always, remember to give us a like and subscribe if you haven’t already. Have a fantastic week and the three of us will see you next week. Bye for now. See you. Benji, you’re going to say goodbye. That’s good chocolate. But it is where I could just go to sleep. It’s nice and cozy, isn’t it? Mhm.