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

Today dawned bright but very chilly with the possibility of snow this evening.The sun was shining on Urquhart Castle but we had business to do! Went up to Aspenwood Cottage to wait for the Inspector from VisitScotland Tourist Board. We had arranged to be assessed by the Quality Advisor and be graded accordingly. We were intending to leisurely check that everything was in order when he arrived early. Clipboard in hand he entered every room and opened every drawer and cupboard. Two hours later and after a lengthy chat with us about how we manage the self catering business he finally told us that we had achieved the top end of four star grading - we were very pleased. Came back home to celebrate and relax. Had a swarm of about 30 chaffinches on the driveway and all over the steps of the house and realised they were gathering up nesting material from the ground. Then the great spotted woodpecker came to visit and had lunch on the nut feeder. A good day today. Cheers.
November 30th is St.Andrew's Day - the patron saint of Scotland - so we are going out for lunch to celebrate again - what a life !
Sorry but no pictures at the moment...there is a problem uploading photos in Blogger...loads of complaints so hopefully this will be fixed soon and I will be visible again.

Loch Ness is only used by working boats now and all small pleasure craft have ceased until next Easter. The magnificent 'Lord of the Glens' cruise ship is busy all year round taking passengers along The Great Glen to Fort William and then around several of the islands, depending on your choice of cruise.Trawlers use the loch rather than traverse the choppy Pentland Firth at the northern end of mainland Scotland. After a couple of days of rain we experienced an extremely chilly northerly wind yesterday which blew towards us straight from Urquhart Castle. Unfortunately we saw that the gutters were over flowing and blocked with the build up of leaves and pine needles - not one of our favourite jobs, especially in the freezing cold but unblocking had to be done. Not the usual number of birds about lately but then we have spotted the predatory sparrowhawk zooming about. Noticed swarms of long tailed tits flying past.The occasional greenfinch and blackbirds appear on the bird table when their favourite sunflower seeds are on the menu.

Labels: Loch Ness

Watch the Cairngorm reindeer in the paddock at lunch time.

Had to go to Aviemore on business so finally made the effort to drive out of the village towards the Cairngorm Railway and visit the Cairngorm Reindeer Centre near Loch Morlich - something we have been meaning to do for years. Bought our tickets and went into the paddock area to see a few of the reindeer, although there are still daily hill visits -weather permitting during the winter -to see the rest of the natural reindeer herd in their natural environment.We were really thrilled to see these enormous beasts in their paddock as they headed for their feeding troughs...well it was 12 noon ! Some large beasts and youngsters. Video coming next week....keep watching this space !!


The history of the introduction of this reindeer herd in Scotland is quite interesting.

The temperature has really turned chilly lately and it is beginning to feel like winter has arrived. Last Friday we had the first light sprinkling of snow which lay on the top of the mountains opposite but disappointingly melted during the following day. Woke up to a sharp frost this morning and as we drove into Inverness there was still frost remaining in sheltered places. The sky was crisp and clear and the view of Loch Ness from Dores was excellent. The black Aberdeen Angus cattle were enjoying the winter sunshine in the field nearby which reminded us to place a meat order with our butcher - Aberdeen Angus beef is the best we have ever tasted.

There is now a new 19" flat screen digital wall mounted TV in the dining area, especially useful now that it starts to get dark around 4.30. Also a new Miele dishwasher with sensor wash programmes and a large sliding cutlery drawer at the top.

Enjoyed a lovely relaxing sunday lunch yesterday at Rocpool Reserve Restaurant in Inverness. We both chose to have the roast partridge but felt quite guilty as the red-legged partridges had been on our driveway that morning [relieved to see no red legs on the plate!]. Weather has been a bit unpredictable lately - with showers one minute then blustery winds causing the few remaining leaves to fly all over the place followed by a period of unusual mildness and bright sunshine - never a dull moment. The red squirrels are still scampering about - and,unlike their grey counterparts, they do not hibernate.

Labels: aspenwood