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

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Bonnie the deer.

Drove to the shop at Drumblair for their lovely fresh free range eggs and also into Holm Village Shopping Centre opposite for our favourite Glenfiddich mince pies. Took the long route home via Inverarnie and past the sturdy herd of highland cattle out in the snowy fields.

The fields were much snowier here than we have experienced at home and the temperature was about minus 2C. Stopped to see Bonnie the rescued deer in her pen. She always comes racing over so fast when called by her name that it is difficult to actually take a photo of her. She loves human company and is so friendly and we always think it is absolutely magical to be able to stroke a deer at such close range.

See her in action and read her story and you will appreciate why she is so tame and lovable.

Labels: , , ,

posted by Lyn @ 7:33 PM 0 comments

Saturday, November 22, 2008

That was the week that was.

A real wintry start to the week with strong winds and driving rain. Quite a few trawlers chose to use the Great Glen route to avoid the choppy Pentland Firth and several ferry routes to the islands were cancelled due to the high winds. The RNLI Loch Ness Lifeboat has been seen out on training exercises. We were quite surprised to see 'The Lord of the Glens' cruise liner travel along Loch Ness towards Fort William. It glided silently past in the dusk of the late afternoon with a light shining from the front mast.
The wildlife has been abundant in the colder weather. The red squirrels have been daily feeders on the nuts. In the morning the various birds wait in the nearby trees for their breakfast menu to appear and the tiny, but bold, coal tits fly round the table impatiently as I put out their favourite sunflower hearts. Male and female pheasants have been sauntering up the driveway and then hop over the small fence and disappear down the bank. Deer have suddenly emerged out of the bracken in the surrounding forest and munch on the leaves of the blueberry bushes.
Had snow flurries yesterday for most of the day and we woke up this morning to find it had laid on the high ground opposite. More is forecast for today all over the country with temperatures well below freezing tonight. Definite log fire and a few warming drams called for.
Needless to say there were some who chose to sleep through all these exciting events.

Labels: , , , , , ,

posted by Lyn @ 11:27 AM 0 comments

Thursday, November 06, 2008

Trip to Pitlochry.

Went for a day trip to Pitlochry-about 100 miles down the A9-to MacDonald the Butcher's to fill up the freezer for winter. As we drove through the edge of the Cairngorm National Park the snow became more prominent on the mountain tops. The Cairngorm ski season has opened one month earlier this year because of the heavy snowfall on the mountains during late October.
After a stroll down the high street and a look in most of the shop windows,several of which were adorned with christmas decorations,we left our order with the butcher and went away to have lunch. Drove to our secret location up the hill behind Pitlochry village along the colourful autumn lanes. Enjoyed a picnic on the bench by the pond gazing at the wonderful reflections and watching the ducks and cygnets which have grown since we last saw them in May.














After collecting our meat order from the butcher we had a leisurely drive back home and looked forward to Aberdeen Angus roast beef.

Labels: ,

posted by Lyn @ 2:06 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Tourist group meeting

Drove over to The Whitebridge Hotel for a meeting of the South Loch Ness Tourist Group. A very good turnout of members at the meeting with a lively discussion covering various topics followed by a warming lunch. The snow is still laying quite thickly amongst the autumn colours and clearly silhouetting the stag and his hinds in the nearby fields. The scenery was spectacular and we all agreed that this is an amazing place to live and, more importantly, for people to visit.
Enjoy the slideshow...........

Labels: ,

posted by Lyn @ 4:28 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

After a very cold night and a sky full of stars we woke to clear blue skies and snow laying all around the house. Went up to Aspenwood and found the guests had ventured out to enjoy the picturesque scenery. The cottage always seems to sit cosily in Farigaig Forest overlooked by the dramatic mountains opposite.
The numerous red squirrels are still regular visitors to all the nut feeders and hopefully they will continue to appear throughout the winter as they do not hibernate. Last Saturday we saw some squirrels digging in the grass behind the cottage and realised they had buried some nuts to enjoy later.The Nut Fund is going very well thanks to all guests who have 'bookmarked a squirrel'.
As I look down the loch towards Inverness a wall of white is heading this way and Urquhart Castle is disappearing in the approaching snow - beautiful.







Posted by Picasa

Labels: ,

posted by Lyn @ 12:14 PM 0 comments

Monday, October 27, 2008

Snow on tops.


The first heavy snowfall of the year fell overnight on ground above 1000 feet. We woke up to see the mountains opposite covered in snow. The forecast for tomorrow is for a chilly northerly wind with snow showers during the day laying at lower levels.......watch this space.

Labels: ,

posted by Lyn @ 4:48 PM 0 comments

Monday, October 13, 2008

Stag near Aspenwood

Guests staying in Aspenwood Cottage last week were walking casually up the driveway when they noticed a large stag on the path ahead. It was standing quite still and staring at the two strangers approaching. Steve realised he had not got his trusty camera with him and, although very excited, he managed to keep his cool and slowly turned round and went back to the cottage for the equipment.When he returned the stag had not moved a muscle and thus the evidence was produced.Only when Steve and Barbara tried to get even closer did the stag turn tail and run off into Farigaig Forest. Thanks for sharing your photos.

Labels: , ,

posted by Lyn @ 8:56 AM 0 comments

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Wildlife at Aspenwood.

It's a wonder we got any work done at the cottage on Saturday as every time we looked out of the lounge window more squirrels appeared. Managed to get this photo of three of them before they chased each other along the fence and up the aspen tree. As we went out of the back door we noticed a deer standing by the garden furniture munching away and quite unfazed by our presence.
Our American guests staying at the cottage came down to see us on Friday afternoon for a chat and showed us a video they had taken of a pine marten running along the fence at Aspenwood the day before and eating ferociously from one of the nut feeders. Needless to say the squirrels were nowhere to be seen as they are the pine martens favourite food. Our American guests are on an extended holiday in the UK so I will post the video here when I receive it as promised.
We checked the nut feeders on Saturday and found one of them needed extensive repair work as the wire had been crushed by the pine martens very sharp teeth in his effort to extract the peanuts. So now we supply peanuts to birds, squirrels and pine martens - costing us a fortune!!

Labels: , , , ,

posted by Lyn @ 8:43 AM 0 comments

Sunday, June 08, 2008

The story of Bonnie the deer.

A tiny 2 day old deer was found beside her dead mother on the hillside in one of the forests nearby and the keeper took her home. She was fed with lambs milk in a baby's bottle and was very nervous. The owners devoted a lot of time and TLC to her. When she was weaned she was put out with the other wild deer calves hoping that she would be accepted and mothered by another adult deer to be able to live back in the wild. Three times she returned to the house where she has now lived for the past 9 years in her special enclosure in their large garden. She is now very tame and can be bossy at times to their dogs who are very protective of her and bark to deter curious visitors.She loves shortbread and crisps and is thoroughly spoilt.Look out for her in the garden of Woodside Cottage on your way to Inverarnie or Daviot. She will come running over when called by her name.
Watch Bonnie in action.

Labels:

posted by Lyn @ 2:27 PM 0 comments

Monday, June 02, 2008

Deer visits Aspenwood.

This handsome youngster was a welcome visitor to the garden area near to the birdtable at Aspenwood Cottage last Saturday morning.We are pretty sure it is a male deer as the downy antlers are now beginning to be quite prominent.We are always amazed by their huge ears.He was quite curious and allowed us to take several photos before bounding back down the hill to mum. When we arrived home they were both feeding on the grass and bracken on our front bank and seemed very happy and content in the warm sunshine.

Labels:

posted by Lyn @ 4:50 PM 0 comments

Friday, May 16, 2008

Wildlife around Aspenwood Cottage.

Red squirrels have been spotted in the woods surrounding Aspenwood Cottage and appear to have great fun chasing each other up and down the trees and playing amongst the bluebells in the undergrowth. They are very quick and do not stop to pose for a photo!

The resident deer have been frequent visitors around the cottage and most guests have seen them during their stay.
The mum and her offspring enjoyed being the stars of their own movie.....hope you enjoy it too.

Labels: , , ,

posted by Lyn @ 1:12 PM 0 comments

Friday, March 28, 2008

Deer - deer

Mother deer and her offspring, which is nearly a year old now, are regular visitors now that the snow has gone and both enjoy munching the forest foliage and mowing the grass on the bank in front of the house. They come quite close and are not too alarmed when we go outside to watch them - although the mother naturally maintains a watchful eye and ear to protect her young who is getting quite bold.
It is very pleasing to watch them confidently wandering about the grounds quite close to the house inspecting certain things in 'their garden' as they go.

Labels:

posted by Lyn @ 3:10 PM 0 comments

Web Optimisation by TSF