Merry Christmas from our house to yours

This has been a week of firsts.

After two years of hopping into the 40cm wide plastic shower enclosure in the caravan, a little like an upright bakelite coffin with a temperamental hot water supply, you have no idea how fabulous the first shower in our house bathroom was.

Even the process of getting out of the shower with room to towel off properly, in temperatures that were warm rather than sub glacial felt so good!

We’ve still got lots to do to finish the bathroom, but that will come in time.

Then there’s the kitchen. We have a fast and responsive induction hob, two great ovens, and a sink, tap and dishwasher that are a pleasure to use. It’s all about as far from the caravan kitchen experience as it’s possible to get.

You only really get a feel for a kitchen once it’s built and you start using it fully. The flow is important. As is the efficiency and ease of use of the appliances. For all your design, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they say, and I’m so relieved to say that it’s a pleasure to use.

It will never be this empty or tidy again, so even though it’s not finished, I’ll show you it now.

And although we’ve been busy moving things over from the caravan and finding boxes of our things, I did open something that I love.

It’s my smoking bothy. A talented Scottish ceramicist called Louise Balmire at Wild Clay makes these, and they’re things of beauty. She sent me one last week and I’ve been dying to put it out. The incense cones go into a compartment under the chimney, making it smoke. There’s a little LED tea light in the compartment behind the window to make it look like a light is on. I know that it’s a small thing, but it makes me so happy to watch it!

Family is arriving soon, complete with dogs and cats. Chaos will absolutely reign this Christmas. I won’t know where anything is, and we’ll probably test the as yet untested limits of our heating and hot water systems.

But we are in, and it feels like home already. And to welcome loved ones to the space that we’ve worked so hard to build for the last two years feels wonderful.

I don’t even have a tree up yet, let alone electricity to some of the rooms, but it is so good to be here.

I wish you and your loved ones a happy, warm and peaceful festive season. With love from the tired but happy crofters on a windy hill on the Isle of Skye.