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

Everything seems to have calmed down lately. The temperature this afternoon is about 9C and the water on the surface of Loch Ness is much calmer than of late with a pleasant westerly breeze drifting along the length of The Great Glen. Over the weekend we saw the first boating craft of 2008 - a rather smart private cruiser and even a yacht out on the waters passing Urquhart Castle and onto Inverness. Most of the snow has melted from the mountain opposite although there will still be thick snow at higher levels. The deer have been visiting frequently quite near the house and kindly mow the grass for us down the bank. Seen 2 red squirrels run across the road.

The birds have been on a feeding frenzy and the 'dawn chorus' has been much earlier than other years. Put up a nut feeder and a hanging fat ball from a branch quite near the back of the house and it is the favourite haunt of the various birds of the tit family. Chaffinches love the sunflower seeds provided and the robins and blackbirds aim for the bread. The blackbirds tend to make a right mess with the bread and flick in over the side. They then grab a large piece and zoom off noisily into the forest. Nothing goes to waste. Wood mice and voles silently appear under the bird table clearing up any remnants of food.