Days Out from Bluefolds Holiday Cottages in May

April and May have been beautiful months with lots of sunshine and in April lovely warm weather. It has been cooler in May, but still with lots of sunshine. I have taken every opportunity to get out and take photographs around the local area. After a trip to the Braes of Glenlivet where the Braeval distillery was looking very smart and hard at work distilling whisky, I took a walk along part of the River Livet looking out for wild flowers. Later I took a trip across the River Spey at Marypark and along the back road to Grantown on Spey before heading for Boat of Garten to the RSPB reserve to see EJ the Osprey sitting on her 3 eggs. I plan to go back later and see her when the chicks are hatched which will be any day now. View photographs from this trip at: http://picasaweb.google.com/ejbluefolds/DaysOutFromBluefoldsHolidayCottages#

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

Winter in Glenlivet

Thomas Telford bridge over the river Spey at Craigellachie

Walking on the Speyside Way near Craigellachie

Holidaymakers enjoyed the snow and sunshine in Glenlivet and Cairngorms over Christmas and New Year. The Lecht and Cairngorm ski resorts were very busy. The visitors to our cottages had to walk up the hill except for the lucky ones with 4 wheel drive! Since the New Year the snow and ice has gradually melted and the last few days have been warm, but there is a lot of winter left!

Watching the sun go down at Lossiemouth east beach

Lossiemouth east beach with view to Spey Bay

Blairfindy castle close to the Glenlivet distillery

Ducks on frozen pond at Cooper Park, Elgin

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

I have found this slideshow facility which I hope you will enjoy. The photos make a change from all the snowy ones that I have been showing lately!

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Whisky Festival - Cavalcade and Music

The most amazing day of the festival for photographers. It was great to see something different happening on Speyside. The first time that a horse cavalcade has been involved and the new Spirit of Speyside Flag. After following the horses for the afternoon and watching them ride behind the band through Aberlour it was the turn of the River Spey to be the central focus for the flag. A heavy shower of rain did not detract from the Flag being brought down the Spey by the Ghillies and handed over for the Musical Even finale of the Festival. I guess Pipe Bands are used to getting wet - the Dufftown band certainly did while playing manfully as the boat passed under the Penny Bridge. The Evening concert including the Broxburn Pipe Bands, dancers, Fochabers Fiddlers and finally Capercaillie was a magical end to the day culminating in a fantastic firework display.

Changing Weather at Bluefolds, Glenlivet and Cairngorm

On Saturday, my cousin, Jennifer was to help us with the painting in Glenlivet cottage. The first problem was that there was about 6" of snow on the road to the cottages and we had to abandon the car at the farm about 1/2 a mile from the cottages. You could think that we struggled through the snow - but we waited until Steve arrived with the girls who were doing the cottage turn rounds! I know it is cheating, but it meant we were fit to get on with the painting. The weather remained snowy with some heavy showers which let to Jennifer being able to sledge on a run behind the cottages. She loved it!
On Sunday after all our labours over the last few days, we went for a typical day out from Glenlivet starting with a visit to Drumin Castle (Lair of the Wolf of Badenoch in an earlier time), the views to the River Livet and River Avon are lovely and it was easy to see why he chose this spot with panoramic views. The castle has been made safe by the Crown Estate, Glenlivet. There is also a lovely walled garden and the daffodils will be in bloom in another week. We drove past the Glenlivet distillery which is currently being renovated and along a little side road which gave views back to the distillery and Ben Rinnes still with a cap of snow and on towards the Ladder Hills and Tomintoul. Ben Avon (pronounced A'an) was still looking very snowy and it would be a good day for sking at the Lecht. We stopped for hot chocolate and cake at the coffee shop in the Whisky Castle. Both were delicious and it was good to see that there were quite a few shoppers visiting on a Sunday. Kathy stocks a wide range of goods and Jennifer found some warm hats which were put to good use later. It was a beautiful sunny day until we reached Cairngorm for a trip in the funicular! Everything changed as we approached, the wind increased in speed and soon we were in a mini blizzard. As is the usual case in Scotland, if only we had been there 2 hours earlier! The trip up the mountain was wonderful and we braved the outside for a few very cold minutes to get some photos. It was hard to believe the change in temperature from Tomintoul to Cairngorm. We were amazed at the number of people sking, although we knew earlier in the day the car park had been full, as we could see the spaces where cars had left. We caught the last train down the mountain at 1620. We passed many skiers in the blizzard still making there way down the slopes as well. We drove back to Glenlivet via Carrbridge. The bridge was looking beautiful in the evening light and the river was very full. As we drove back to the Grantown road we saw that the blizzard had passed and the mountains in the Cairngorm range were once again looking wonderful with their snow caps. We crossed back across the River Spey at Grantown and drove along enjoying the light shining on it. There were quite a few weekend drivers around so it was fine to enjoy the trees, river, light and beautiful skies. It had been a wonderful day out, we were ready for our supper and nice refreshing glass of wine.

December in Glenlivet and Speyside

The sunrises, sunsets and hoare frost that we saw during the Christmas and New Year was wonderful. The cold, dry weather was a joy. The visitors staying at Bluefolds Cottages had a wonderful time. 4 of them spent their days sking at the Lecht. We went for walks by the River Spey in Aberlour along the Speyside Way and down by the River Livet to the confluence with the River Avon. We met the local farmer going to check on his cattle in the field by the river. He too was enjoying the dry weather. He lives beside Drumin castle and said that there had been lots of visitors to it over the Christmas period. The collage shows the frosty view to Ben Avon along with a stunning sunrise and sunset and beautiful frosted leaves.

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.

Winter in Speyside

Having returned from a holiday in New Zealand it was time to get the cottages ready for the Christmas and New Year visitors. Although we had some cold weather over the period, it was unfortunate that there was no snow. The weather has changed a great deal over the last 8 years since we have been living in the Speyside area. For the first 5 years snow was guaranteed normally between Christmas and the New Year. In fact, for 2 years we were completely snowed in. Instead this year it was frosty which is also pretty, but not much use to the youngsters who wanted to go sledging or sking! However the Glenfarclas and Aberlour distilleries were open between Christmas and New Year so at least the adults could get some New Year cheer. Early in the New Year, we had some lovely snowy days and I rushed out to take photos at the Packhorse bridge in Glenlivet. Another day when I was walking by the River Spey, I walked over the Penny Bridge in Aberlour and saw this beautiful heron fishing. During February we had some beautiful weather which led to my husband going to play his first golf of 2008 on a glorious sunny day.

Autumn in Speyside

I really must get into the habit of writing up the blog on a regular basis! There is always lots of beautiful scenery to photograph and things to see and do around Speyside. The autumn colours were wonderful like the photo on the left of the River Spey between Rothes and Craigellachie. Between February and the end of September this is a wonderful fishing spot where I often see fishermen up to their waists in the cool Spey water. I haven't seen anyone catching a fish yet, but maybe I didn't wait around for long enough. I was driving over to work at our cottages at Bluefolds in Glenlivet and could not resist stopping to photograph Ben Rinnes on the way up to the cottages. I just loved the light on the wild corn and the colour of the hills. Alice Littler park with the Aberlour Church looks great in autumn too.

More Spring Sunshine

Rushed out this morning and headed for Aberlour and just had to find a place to stop and take this photo looking down on the River Spey and Aberlour. Every time I go out at the moment, I just stop and take photos as all the colours are so fresh and vibrant. I had not remembered how many colours of green there are in spring in Speyside. I was lucky enough to get close to a lapwing on the moor in Glenlivet. I think they are beautifully coloured birds and it is great to see them nesting in Speyside as is the fact that curlews are also nesting here. The weather looks set to continue for several more days. Pre-digital cameras, I would have worried about running out of film, but this is not the case now!

Aberlour in sunshine

It was such a beautiful sunny morning that I had to rush out to take more photos of spring. This is an iconic spot on the river Spey at Aberlour by the Penny bridge. It looks wonderful with the blue sky reflected in the river. After a little while some fishermen came along to add to the excitement of the river. I wish I had seen them catch a fish! The river Spey is a a famous river for fishing salmon and people pay lots of money to do this. The light had changed with more cloud in the sky and more wind, by the time the fishermen started which was better for them as if there is too much sun the fish can see the fishermen and avoid being caught!

Speyside in Springtime

Spring arrived early in Speyside this year. The daffodils have been in bloom since early April and looked great when I walked beside the River Spey on the Speyside Way at Aberlour on 15 April. It was lovely to see the cherry blossom and the early leaves emerging as well. The Alice Littler Park beside the River Spey is a delightful walk, through all the seasons as there is a lovely range of trees beside the river which go from dramatically bare in winter all the way through to gorgeous autumn tints. The walk through the park is on the Speyside Way which stretches from Aviemore to Spey Bay.