Blogs from Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

Geo: 56.6117, -3.86593We arrived at our cottage, Croftness Bothy exhausted and ready for Saturday night tv by the log burner. Some little body had other ideas though and proceeded with mission demolition and danger through every nook and cranny of the cottage. It made us realise just how 'Isaac proof' our own house has become and the prospect of a week with open planned living and no stair gates seemed almost infeasible. Luckily, the next day we became much fonder of our little cottage after it happily welcomed 3 generations of friends. We had a wonderful time together. Firstly meeting the landlord's daughters and their ponies and then walking to the Birks of Aberfeldy. The Birks are very understated and truly beautiful. Everybody managed the pleasant walk through the forest and thankfully there was more water ... read more

Well midsummer has come and gone - for once the weather held up and so lots of people came. There was music, fires, food and drink etc and I think a good night was had by all, including the bunch of young German lads who'd heard about it in Killin and came along to investigate. They seemed to get into the swi(n)g of things and had a night to remember. Meantime work progresses outside. The main patio is finished, we've had lettuce, huge cabbages and lots of potatoes from the garden and have planted flowers round the patio/terrace and some hedging, which the horses have tried to eat. Very few words to cover hours of labour digging over the garden and removing literally tons of stone/rock and countless dockens, nettles, thistles buttercups, couch grass etc. We ... read more

Nothing to do with the diggers and levellers of history and a lot to do with JCBs wielded by a man with artistry in his soul. The digger came back and built up a terrace along the front of the house and then shaped the garden, including building a wall to hold the terrace in place, with a broad path along the bottom of the terrace. Then the hill at the bottom of the garden, which was actually all the top soil from the site was levelled, and spread over the garden. Willy is now digging it over by hand and removing the large boulders which were inadvertently hidden in the topsoil. He's probably overdoing it and is full of aches and pains... everyone say "aah!". ... read more

So its goodbye to 2009 and welcome 2010. Like the rest of the UK the weather has been the main event of late. We haven't had the volumes of snow suffered by most of the UK. In fact since the first snows, a week or so before Christmas, we've escaped with no more than the occasional light shower. The roads between here and civilisation have been kept clear but access to the farmyard has been impossible other than by 4x4. So all other vehicles are left at the road end. We're still without our own car which still in the garage while Peter, the mechanic, tries to source a replacement fuel pump (either reconditioned or from a scappy). Meantime we've the use of an old (N reg) Peugeot 105. Hogmanay was a bit quiet as Tombreck ... read more

I know our last entry was supposedly the final one but this blogging thing becomes addictive. Not a lot of change since our last entry, but lots of little things - we sold our other house and over a hectic week in late August moved our bits and bobs here so that it now feels like home. The tempo has dropped dramatically and I find that I can spend a couple of hours just looking out the window watching the changing light on the loch and hills, the changing colours of the leaves and the local birdlife. We've said goodbye to the martins so no more aerial displays each morning and evening. Socially things seem to be winding down for the winter, although there was another good party complete with spectacular bonfire last weekend for Ben's ... read more