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

This year we have had regular visits by a swarm of long tailed tits at the nut feeders. Although we are used to watching the other varieties of tits, great tit, blue tit and coal tit, enjoying the menu on the bird table and feeders, we have not had the pleasure of seeing these small creatures before. They fly about in gangs and in winter they roost in these groups in the woods nearby, huddling together on the branches for warmth. They are about 13cms long which includes a tail of 8cms long which is distinctively black and white. Their plumage is black and white and dappled with a delicate shade of pink on their chest, top of the wings and at the base of their body where their long tail begins. Somewhere in the surrounding Farigaig Forest are their intricate oval shaped domed nests waiting for the eggs to be laid in late March to early May. Maybe this year we will be fortunate enough to see their young for the first time ever.

On the way back from Inverness we never tire of the first sighting of Loch Ness from the village of Dores. Snow now covers the tops of the mountains and a sprinkling of frost lies on the grass but the sheep just keep munching away. No huge snowfall as yet but just odd flurries of snow during the day followed by a sharp frost at night.

Labels: Loch Ness

During January we close the cottage to guests to allow us to carry out maintenance jobs and put in place any new additions. It is refreshing to have a change of routine and take things a bit easier. In fact this month is when we take our holiday.
Saying that we have;- laid a new laminate tiled floor in the kitchen & dining area, reupholstered the 5 dining chairs, had a total spring clean of all cupboards and contents, updated and revised the Places to Visit pages in the cottage Information Book, created a new Walks file with an extensive collection of laminated walks and at the same time I have been busy with my sewing machine making new cushions/curtains/bedding etc. On the website front we have added new videos to the Video Gallery and updated the Wildlife pages.
Maybe next year we will book Aspenwood for a month!!

After a wet and windy week the temperature dropped below zero at night and the rain turned to snow. Woke up to a beautiful picture postcard of the mountains opposite covered in pure white snow. Had a slight flurry of snow at lower levels but it did not lay. Went for a walk down to Farigaig pier breathing in the lovely crisp clean air and crunching on the frosty path. Great.

It is not unusual to see Pine martens in the area quite near to the cottage. The family staying at Aspenwood Cottage over New Year were out for a walk and were thrilled to see one climbing up a tree in Farigaig Forest. A neighbour saw 3 recently running down the lane towards Lower Foyers. We are lucky enough to see them quite regularly so watch the video and see them in action near to the cottage.

A mixed selection of weather patterns this week. We did not have the high winds here on New Years Eve which caused Hogmanay festivities to be cancelled further south in Glasgow and Edinburgh due to safety factors. The temperature has been very mild for this time of the year and nearly in double figures with warm westerly winds blowing up the Great Glen towards Inverness. Today it is quite calm and, even though it was not actually raining, the moisture in the air was enough to produce this beautiful rainbow. We burst into song!

Put up some new larger and sturdier nut feeders which attracted a variety of birdlife during the day. Always exciting to have the Great spotted woodpecker pay us a visit and he stayed for quite a while.