Highland Games, Golden Jubilee & Olympic Torch Slideshow: Elizabeth’s trip from Ballindalloch (near Glenlivet, Aberdeenshire, United Kingdom) to 2 cities Tomintoul and Fochabers was created by TripAdvisor. See another United Kingdom slideshow. Create a free slideshow with music from your travel photos.

Glenlivet in Spring and Early Summer

Glenlivet in Spring and early Summer
The crocus are pushing their heads up and I can see hints of yellow which is good as last year at this time the land was buried in feet of snow! Our local farmer is ploughing his field ready to put in the barley and has already completed one field. The seagulls have come in land for this chance of some extra food.

Farmer ploughing followed by seagulls

Spring in Glenlivet and area

It seemed like the winter would never end! I even escaped to Texas for 3 weeks in March expecting on my return in early April that the daffodils would be in bloom and a real feeling of spring would be in the air. It was around 20 April before it seemed like spring was finally coming the area. However by the time of the Whisky Festival at the end of April everything was starting to look green and this has continued slowly through May. We have had lots of sunshine, but bitter cold winds for much of the time. However it is now beautifully warm and sunny which means that the grass needs to be cut regularly again! During the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, I took the opportunity with various friends to go out and about in Glenlivet and Speyside and had a lot of fun taking photos. The Stramash, lots of people with fiddles and accordians making great music was a great night of entertainment. The Whisky Fair in Dufftown was popular as ever and this year had the added bonus of pipers, piping people into the hall at the start of the day. The Dufftown Pipe Band played in the square in the afternoon again drawing a crowd. There were tastes and talks galore in the Memorial Hall, at distilleries, on the train, at restaurants. Everywhere you looked there were people from all over the world enjoying themselves.

There were walks as well and I participated in a walk up Glen Avon (A'an) on Sunday morning to the Ailnack gorge in the snow!! The lovely warming and tasty lunch in the Clockhouse restaurant was welcome. The afternoon was spent visiting the River Spey at Grantown on Spey, the Farmer's market there and watching the Cavalcade of mountain bikers and horses being led by the Badenoch and Strathspey Pipe Band through the town. Made some time for some culture and history as well attending Whisky Kisses the new musical play which premiered at Glenfiddich and visiting both Ballindalloch and Brodie castles.

A year of Photos in Glenlivet and Speyside

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Ballindalloch Castle, Buckie and Portnockie

The remainder of May has been beautiful with lots of sunshine, although until the last few days it has been pretty cold. The gardens, countryside and seaside are all looking wonderful in this my favourite month of the year. It could be because my birthday is this month. The rhododendrons are in full bloom at Ballindalloch castle and with my annual pass have made several visits this month. I am always delighted with the range of colours in these beautiful plants. The rock garden and the path to the rose garden are looking exceptional this year. It was lovely to spend sometime there with family and friends. Ballindalloch castle in April and May is a must for any photographer from happy snapper to professional as the landscape goes from the daffodils of early spring to the array of flowers in summer. The colours are fantastic. The next day as the weather was still looking good, we decided to head for the coast and visited Buckie. One of the few remaining fishing villages or towns in the region. We arrived in the late afternoon in time to see several fishing boats returning with their catch. I spoke to one of the fishermen and asked about his catch of prawns. He said it was very poor. Buckie is also where the RNLI lifeboat lives which has saved many lives along the Moray Firth. As the sun was still shining we headed further east and ended up at Portnockie. Where a short walk along the coastal path took us to views of the Bow Fiddle rock. Again it is a magical place for photographers, but it is also a great place for walking along the coast on the coastal path. While we were there we saw many gulls nesting, watched a few yachts pass by and ships further out to sea. We were not lucky enough to see seals, but there are many places along the coast where you can see them as well. This is the time of year to also visit Troup Head which is along past MacDuff to see the gannets, razorbills, guillemots and puffins nesting. This site is now protected by the RSPB who have a warden on duty daily who will tell you the best places to see your favourite bird and let you know which ones have chicks. It is great to live in an area where we have the mountains, countryside and sea all within an easy drive.

Summer is here

Summer has arrived in Speyside. After our late winter and short spring, it is great that summer has arrived. We had family visiting last week and I took the opportunity to visit the gardens at Ballindalloch castle. My sister-in-law, Jane is a keen gardener and an artist. She loved the gardens and was very impressed by all the hard work that goes into maintaining them. She loved the selection of plants in the border by the entrance to the castle and could see that it would be a riot of colour for the next few months. The rock garden also looked great, but my favourite time is in spring when the azaleas and rhododendrons are in full bloom adding lots of pinks and reds to the many shades of green. We were just a little early to see the walled garden's many variety of roses at their best, but already there was a wonderful fragrance in the air with many different scented roses just coming into bloom. Apart from all the beautiful flowers and trees which are any gardeners dream there are now some llamas to visit as well. It was lovely to see the baby llama who is exceptionally cute.

After walking around the garden and driving around the Speyside area, I started thinking about the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival Photographic Competition for 2009. Full details of the contest and how to enter are on the Greater Speyside Website.

Ballindalloch Castle, Speyside

Ballindalloch castle has been home to the Macpherson-Grants for 500 years. The castle and gardens are open to the public from Easter to 30 Sep every year. I went along to their open day on 5 Apr and found that the daffodils were looking wonderful. I take out an annual gardens membership so that I can visit the gardens in all different seasons. The rose garden is beautiful in summer and the rhododendron path to it shows fantastic colours during May and June. The rock garden has excellent colour in spring with azaleas and rhodendrons. There is a play area for children and a dog walking area as well as walks beside the river Spey.