The March of Lavatorial Progress

Snow is forecast which comes as a bit of a shock after 2 dry, springlike weeks without a drop of rain and temperatures rocketing to a surprising 22 degrees. Needless to say the Hydro scheme has switched itself off through lack of water and the grass has started growing leading to a reluctant servicing of gardening equipment although I have managed to put off any grass cutting so far, perhaps the snow and sub zero temperatures will delay this awful moment for a day or two.
Compared to most modern homes a Baronial Castle has a slightly lower ratio of loos to other rooms and their fittings are inclined to be best described as ancient. Recently sturdy loo seats although carefully varnished at least once every 100 years or so have started to split and crumble. After a few complaints I have been forced to search for replacements; what a bloody minefield! There are literally thousands of shapes, sizes, designs, materials and fittings. After several failed fitting attempts I was forced to fall back on the John Lewis Department Store in Glasgow and seek advice. Once again I knelt before the seat less throne and things did seems to be going quite well although loo seat fitting designers need their heads examined. However disaster struck when I ripped open the pack of washers and bolts to discover half of them missing! Another round trip of almost 200 miles to the loo seat shop was called for and after endlessly studying the merchandise hey presto I found a British made job with really simple fittings with the added bonus of being biologically active and destroying 99.9% of all known bugs including Bird Flu. So now if you call at the Tower of Glentrollaigh you will be confident of a safe a comfortable visit to the kazi with no risk of contracting woodworm.


Before the Drought struck Glen Trollaigh a few rainy days showed up the winter ravages to our gutters with many bent and damaged by snow, so drips everywhere. Unfortunately it looks like a bit of a re-design and I can just squeeze the word "gutters" onto the bottom of my "things to do" list without being able to tick anything else off! How one envies the time when one simply lifted the phone and a tradesman would appear and sort all these things out for you; however the financial distress of gentle nobility are all too obvious in the highland glens. Yours Aye, Archie, The Baron Trollaigh.