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John Burkinshaw
Sep 26, 20226 min read
The Road Trip - house eleven, wow!
So off we set from Ardgeith Steading to the next property - The Mill House and Steading at Old Ellick. On the way I called the estate...
John Burkinshaw
Sep 23, 20224 min read
The Road Trip - house ten and the ferry spanner
After the first road trip to Scotland - 500 miles up, 500 miles down, for a 30 minute viewing, together with the aftermath (exhaustion...
John Burkinshaw
Sep 20, 20223 min read
Property Drought - bring in the Big Guns!
Liz : By the end of June I was so frustrated at the lack of quality properties that I decided that maybe the experts could help us. I...
John Burkinshaw
Sep 17, 20225 min read
Things We Love About Scotland - part four
The trip that really lit the fire for the Scottish dream was our ten day tour of the Outer Hebrides. We set off from Oban heading to...
John Burkinshaw
Sep 14, 20222 min read
House Nine - two sides to every view
Salmonhall Cottages, Dornock, Dumfries & Galloway. Offers Over £120,000 A pair of derelict cottages with a very good approximate 150 sq m...
John Burkinshaw
Sep 11, 20222 min read
House Eight - too late
Mid-Dlaziel Farmhouse, Dalcross, offers over £335,000 'Mid Dalziel Farmhouse is situated close to the shores of the Moray Firth near the...
John Burkinshaw
Sep 8, 20224 min read
Things We Love About Scotland - part three
Since Charlotte was about 8, and Amber 10, we have developed a tradition of family touring holidays. For many years, we planned during...
John Burkinshaw
Sep 5, 20223 min read
House Seven - the perfect project
Towards mid-June two houses (or opportunities) turned up in quick succession which both offered the possibility of a project with a...
John Burkinshaw
Sep 2, 20224 min read
Houses Six A & B - for a bit more money...
One of the temptations with house hunting is always a quick sneak peek at houses in the next price bracket up. Like pressing your face to...
John Burkinshaw
Aug 30, 20223 min read
Things We Love About Scotland - part two
Our next holiday to Scotland was Aviemore in December 2006. We had by this time the addition of Amber (aged 5) and Charlotte (almost 4)....
John Burkinshaw
Aug 27, 20226 min read
House Five - buying at auction
As June progressed we got a bit frustrated that 'interesting' property listings had started to dry up, so with the lack of long term...
John Burkinshaw
Aug 24, 20225 min read
Houses Three and Four - missed opportunities
June 2022 By this time we were doing a daily property search online. Liz had saved Galbraith on the favourites tab along with On The...
John Burkinshaw
Aug 21, 20223 min read
Things We Love About Scotland - part one
Liz never went to Scotland as a child, but John does have vague memories of camping and cycling with his parents there - midges and rain...
John Burkinshaw
Aug 17, 20228 min read
The Second House - the one we were both praying for, in different ways
May 2022 John: So, this was the second house - a cottage on the side of Loch Droma. Let's just set that in context. Loch Droma is a...
John Burkinshaw
Aug 14, 20223 min read
The FIRST House - and the first lesson
April 2022 brought us a long weekend, and some much needed down time form work. We scooted off to Essex to stay in 'The Hexagon', an...
John Burkinshaw
Aug 8, 20224 min read
Polaris - the North Star
Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. It is the...
John Burkinshaw
Aug 8, 20221 min read
Welcome to North Star Tranquility
Hi everyone, and thank you so much for joining us! This is the story of our search for a beautiful new home for our (very early)...
John Burkinshaw
Aug 1, 20222 min read
Moving on up!
Retirement - that magic word! For me it conjures up thoughts of pottering in the garden growing my own veg, revisiting my art, writing...
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