Cottage Diary - Aspenwood self catering luxury Holiday Cottage overlooking Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland.

Wrapped up warm [gloves are a must now] and took a stroll up the lane to the post box. The sun was shining on the numerous tall autumn trees covering the high rocky outcrop of Dun Dearduil. On the way back spotted a very acrobatic red squirrel leaping from branch to branch like a monkey - not even stopping to pose for a photo. A rather lonely red-legged partridge ran down the lane and I disturbed a pheasant which flew up noisily from the long grass. Took a walk on to Farigaig pier and heard the deer calling out from the other side of the loch.The temperature has plunged a bit lately but it is quite bright and dry during the day although at night it has been rather windy and rainy. Noticed that most of the conkers on the horse chestnut tree nearby have been blown to the ground overnight. The last fruits of the year,the sloe berries, are still clinging to the blackthorn bushes at the bottom of our driveway. Last year one of our neighbours gave us a bottle of sloe gin she had made and we really really really enjoyed it. Although it is very nearly November - last year we had our first snow on November 18th - there are still roses flowering in a neighbours garden.