Background

My wife and I both lost our respective partners at a relatively young age. When we were lucky enough to meet we both quickly appreciated that "life is for living", (in homage to my late mother who used to say "You're a hell of a long time dead so enjoy your life as best as you can!") we seized the opportunity and married within a year of meeting.

We married under a chuppah on the banks of Loch Lomond in 2013, an idyllic and beautiful location. Many of our friends who celebrated with us still speak fondly of that special day. Not a day passes without us still commenting on how lucky we are to have found happiness together for a second time.

When we met we were both based in the south east of England and decided on a fresh start elsewhere - so we both took early retirement. Where better then than to find a holiday home in a remote village in Speyside, Scotland in the centre of the Malt Whisky country?

As the only (orthodox) Jews locally, life is never dull, despite having 5 shuls and a kosher bakery in the village - all in our house!

To give some appreciation of our location, we can walk to the Macallan, Aberlour and Cardhu distilleries, but walking back after a distillery visit can present rather more of a challenge, especially as it is uphill back from two of these distilleries.

In addition to the peaceful, lovely scenery and lots of distilleries, we also have a local cooperage where whisky barrels are refurbished and repaired prior to use or reuse. Unfortunately (?) some barrels have damaged parts which cannot be repaired. These parts are set aside and offered to local residents. Most people use this as fire wood, but it is also possible to use the wood for other purposes . This is really the beginning of my story and the whisky barrel wood items are made in my large shed in the north of Scotland.