Glenlivet and Tomintoul in the Snow

Looking out the window this morning made me think of this video that I did a previous year as it looks exactly like this again today. It is a real change from earlier this week when I was out in glorious winter sunshine and no snow!

A year of Photos in Glenlivet and Speyside

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Snow, Snow and more Snow in Speyside

We had a very quiet Christmas admiring the snow which was not too much at this stage or so we thought. We decided to go for a walk by the River Livet as we often do over the Christmas period. First problem was the snow was too deep for us to park in the usual spot. We managed to park under Drumin Castle as Charlie, the farmer had been through it to feed his animals. However when I saw Steve disappear above his knees on the way down to the river, I decided the walk was off at least for that day. We were able to drive up to the cottages and popped in to see some of our visitors who have been having a great time sledging and just chilling out round the lovely fire in the cottages. We had supper at the Croft Inn and it was delicious, but they commented that the snow was slowing down the number of customers that they would usually have at this time of year.

We had a lovely sunny day between Christmas and New Year which made me rush out and take photos although parking was difficult and there was still plenty of snow. Now we are at the stage of wanting the snow to stop! It has snowed all day today. Steve went to Tomintoul and could not believe how much snow there is there. The good news for the ski resorts is they are having the best year for a long time with lots of sking over Christmas and New Year when the roads were open.

Smugglers Walk in Glenlivet

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival lasted 10 fun filled days this year with many distilleries not usually open to the public throwing there doors wide. As well as lots of whisky tasting in Dufftown, Elgin, Keith and many places in between. There was also a Whisky Fair in the Memorial Hall in Dufftown which was incredibly busy this year. There were ceilidhs and stramashes, Robin Laing and the Final Music Event was in the Alice Littler Park in Aberlour. This was a spectacular evening of music ending with a wonderful firework display sponsored by Walkers of Aberlour. It was a fitting finale. On Sunday we went out to enjoy the fresh air and beautiful scenery of Glenlivet following the Smugglers Walk guided by David Newland. It was a beautiful day and everywhere looked really green and fresh. It was great to learn about the edible plants that we see on walks without realising how important they used to be to people living in a remote area like this. Visiting Drumin Castle and sampling a dram of Benromach where the barley for the whisky was grown locally was good for the whisky lovers. I love to walk beside the River Livet and it was great to share the chance to see little dippers, ducks and other birds as we walked along. We saw a little dipper feeding her 2 chicks. We walked to the Packhorse bridge and met up with a photographer from Homecoming Scotland who wanted to record our walk. It was interesting watching him work and I got the opportunity to take some interesting photos as well. Steve gave a nosing and tasting here with The Glenlivet Nadurra which everyone enjoyed. We then walked by the Falls of Glenlivet (small, but beautifully formed) along to the Glenlivet Hall and then on a small side road round to the Croft Inn for a delicious lunch of homemade soup and delicious sandwiches. It was a wonderful walk. After lunch, I went with my Swedish friends, Paul and Kerstin to Tombae to see the primroses, dog violets and lots of other wild flowers.

Autumn in Avonside and Glenlivet

This autumn it has been a joy to travel around Speyside from our holiday cottages in Glenlivet up to Tomintoul and along to the Victor Gaffney viewpoint which has stunning views to Ben and River Avon then back down to Glenlivet stopping off at the Packhorse bridge at Bridgend of Glenlivet where along with autumn colours, I found harebells still in bloom. We had a sharp frost in early October which suddenly gave us lots of wonderful colours. We also had the first snow of the winter lying briefly at Bluefolds cottages. Ben Avon and the Cairngorms have had a beautiful covering of snow for the last week.