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

The bright red berries of the rowan trees bring some welcome colour to the garden. Several years ago we had a 'waxwing winter' - when swarms of waxwings have a food shortage in their native Scandinavia so they fly over here and gorge on any rowan berries they can find. They can strip the trees within minutes. Nature is a wonderful thing and there is always a plentiful supply of tasty treats for the birds and wildlife to eat all year round. The red squirrels love all kinds of nuts especially the pine nuts inside the cones. I have been putting monkey nuts out on the ground lately as we saw a squirrel run past the back of the house and up into Farigaig Forest. The hazel nuts are appearing on the trees. We spent most of Bank Holiday Monday with a friend and a chain saw hacking away at the hazel trees along our track. It was getting difficult to drive the car out to the main road so we chopped alot down - much easier now. The hazel trees grow like weeds and the rain has accelerated their growth this year. It was very hard work and now there are loads of hazel nuts on the ground for any creature to take away.

Last Saturday a Catamaran Race took place on Loch Ness. The competitors started at the village of Dores at the eastern end of the loch and raced to Fort Augustus at the other end. They then turned round and returned to Dores - a round trip of about 50 miles. The weather was not very kind on the outgoing journey but the sun shone as they returned home, making for a more pleasant trip. We enjoyed watching all the colourful craft tack and turn and try to keep upright.


For more on this race .

Woke up yesterday morning to be greeted by a total 'white out'. Could not see anything but a thick white mist in front of us and we wondered what sort of day was before us. However, by 11 o'clock, the white heat haze had disappeared down into the water of Loch Ness revealing a clear blue cloudless sky above. Several cruisers appeared out of the haze on their way to Fort Augustus and beyond. This coming Saturday there is a catamaran race from Dores to Fort Augustus and back so will try and record it. We made the most of the day and after calling in at the Drumblair stores for oddments of shopping, bird seed and fatballs { the birds eat us out of house and home } we came the long way home. Travelled on the B862 - the main road linking Inverness and Fort Augustus - we saw that hay making had been in progress. Could see the sprawling city of Inverness, the fastest growing city in Europe, and the Moray Firth in the background. The purple heather is beginning to bloom on the hills and is going to be magnificent this year. Drove home past some wonderful Highland scenery and both said how lucky we are to live here.

Most of the juvenile robins are in different stages of developing their famous red breast. Although it can appear rather scruffy looking at first it should be in its full red glory by late summer. They can make quite a noise in the morning if I am late puting out their breakfast as if to remind me to hurry up. This cheeky young one watched from a nearby branch as I crumbled up the bread and it flew onto the table while I was still there. It is almost fully coated but still displays fluffy downy white feathers below the red. On the way to Inverarnie Stores yesterday to pick up the newspapers we saw the unmistakable big wings of the osprey above us heading out to Loch Ruthven on a fishing trip. The sun picked out its white speckled underparts but it was just too far away for a photo. Might visit Loch Ruthven this week - famous for the Slavonian Grebes that breed there every year. Noticed colonies of house martins flying low and skimming over the surface of Loch Ness catching and eating insects on the wing. A good number of chaffinches, great tits, blue tits, robins and siskins visit the bird feeders every day. The sparrowhawk has been zooming about and, needless to say, every bird suddenly disappears from sight not wishing to end up as a light lunch for the hawk.

As we stood looking out of the lounge window and enjoying a glass of champagne on our 36th wedding anniversary today a sparrowhawk suddenly landed on the tree outside - what a wonderful present. Cheers everybody. To find out more about this magnificent creature visit sparrowhawk info.

Labels: birds

Had a weekend of showers broken up by the occasional bright spell but the changeable weather didn't deter the hardy boating life. Apart from the usual hired cruisers and yachts we saw some different craft taking advantage of the waters of Loch Ness.

Woke up early this morning and was greeted by a night sky full of stars and 'The Plough' constellation very visible over Loch Ness. The day dawned with a clear blue sky and a perfect reflection in the waters of the loch which we have not seen for quite a while.

The haar mist is drifting in from the North Sea today and I can just see across to the other side of Loch Ness. Even so - cruisers and yachts keep looming out of the mist in a rather eerie fashion. Not the day for outside jobs so worked with my sewing machine and finally finished recycling the curtain material that used to be in the bedrooms at Aspenwood. Made a rather smart cover and cushions for the settee in the conservatory which seemed to impress our 2 ' loch ness monsters' Maisie and Daisy who instantly claimed it as their own. Still - it was too murky to go out and play [they don't do murky!] but they didn't know what they were missing. Lately there has been a flurry of new chaffinch activity and a large number of them suddenly descended on the bird table and on the ground below in a feeding frenzy. Today they could enjoy their lunch in peace.

Drove over on the top road to Fort Augustus intending to park and walk casually along the Caledonian Canal looking at the various boating craft. Fort Augustus was very,very busy with people sitting out by the canal bank in the sunshine and others walking about and pointing cameras everywhere. Caught a glimpse of some very tall masted yachts waiting between the lock gates to be let out onto Loch Ness. The road is also a swing bridge so everything stops for the tall boats to come through.The car parks were full so we drove out of the village and turned left to the lesser known Auchterawe Woods. Went for a relaxing circular walk breathing in the lovely fresh air and had the woods to ourselves. Spotted clumps of early flowering heather under the trees - usually abundant on the hillsides during the month of September.

Labels: birds