Plans from the past for the future?

Yesterday I saw myself with a few minutes to spare so I decided to try and do some sorting out of the office- clearly I had no intention of finishing the job as that would have taken more spare time than I not only had yesterday but also thought I would have over the next year but at least it was going to be a start. So off I set on the first drawer of the filing cabinet and under the heading of plans. Indeed it soon became clear that Rowena had already made a start as it seemed remarkably well organized.

Indeed at the start was the file of approved plans and drawings linked to the official colored sheets of paper from the council and historic Scotland. As I trawled through the file it soon became clear the huge amount of work not only in compiling the pans but clearly in all my parents had achieved before I returned creating the basis of Eriska and then the work I tried to carry out along side them and finally the recent work Chay and I have overseen to get Eriska to where it is today.

The next section was the plans we have and those not quite completed such as the last phase of the staff accommodation which is nearing completion now and the planned sports hall which has been an ongoing project although now that we have planning and building control it is the time we have no funds to complete but at least we are ready! Then there is the ongoing saga of the Library extension which is to have a glass structure to the lawn offering dry coffee drinking in the winter and midge free cocktail consumption on summer evenings not to mention more viewing space for the badger nightcaps later in the evening!

Finally I came across the file simply labeled - plans- it was all the ideas my parents had had and never managed to complete - from the ballroom in the old courtyard, to removing the bar from the library and creating a secret passage from the hall from where drinks could be discreetly served, to the addition of another floor over Skye and Soay with a further 5 bedrooms. Whilst I always new there had been discussions along these lines I had never really been aware that they had taken the concepts from mind to paper and indeed had plans drawn up and submitted to the local authority.The biggest challenge with any development always seems to be the area you face at that current time whether it be raising funds or overseeing constructing or securing materials but probably the biggest challenge is initially envisaging the vision and then being able to translate that from idea to paper and then insurng the transposition is accurate and that it will work. Clearly my parents were not short of ideas nor the ability to move these forward - if only I had half of those skills heavens knows what Eriska would be like today!! 

Anyway the great thing is that when I next suggest something to my mother and she believes it is another step to far I can at least remind her of the potential steps to far her and my father took in the past and probably reenact the discussions they would of had that at least there was no harm in asking the planning department about proposals, then there is no harm in gaining permission and finally we have the permission now lets get on and do it! Indeed without their vision back in 1973 Eriska as we know it would never have got onto the planning board never mind out of the ground!