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.

I love the poem below written by a visitor to Bluefolds in April. She has summed up perfectly for me what a holiday at Bluefolds can be like. It is called:

Look Through the Window

View to Cairngorm mountains

Look through the window
What do you see
The beautiful Country
A Fest for the eye

Look at the sky
What do you see
The stars shining bright
A moon that is full

Look at the ground
What do you see
The peat for the Whisky
A land full of hope

Black faced lambs in the field

Look at the pastures
What do you see
Sheep that are grazing
Lambs at their side

Look at the mountains
What do you see
Snow in the distance
On top of the world

Look at the weather
What do you see

Watching the weather over the distillery

A moment of sunshine
The clouds come and go

I've seen through the window
A glimpse to admire
Time stood still
At Bluefolds for a while

 Ann O'Donel

14 April 2011

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#

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!

View all

Get your own

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.

Winter has come to Speyside

We have just returned from our summer holidays, in Chile and the Falkland Islands where we enjoyed the start of their summer, to a winter wonderland. The weather is certainly making us realise that Christmas is nearly here. I can't remember when we last had this much snow before Christmas. Everywhere looks beautiful as long as you only need to sit and look at it. Steve and his helpers have been over at the cottages getting them ready for our Christmas visitors, while I have stayed at home enjoying the warm indoors and admiring the snowy hills around! I ventured out this afternoon, now that my car has on it's winter tyres, in beautiful sunshine to take a few photos just in case the weather changes suddenly. There should be good sking at the Lecht and Cairngorms if this weather continues over the holiday season. I had a look at the forecast for the next few days and the Lecht is expecting -6 to -8. This weather is lovely for the Reindeer as they pull Santa's Sleigh around the area. They are going to be at Brodie on 23 December from 10 am to 4 pm.

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.

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.

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.

Easter in Glenlivet

Although, it is bit windy today - great for drying the washing, it is lovely weather for getting out and exploring Speyside and Moray. I have found a great site that offers various lengths of walk across the whole area. See www.morayways.org.uk

Daffodil Time in Elgin - Oystercatchers, Curlews and Lapwings return to Glenlivet

This year we are having an early spring in Glenlivet and Speyside which is wonderful. The oystercatchers have been back for around 2 weeks and have now seen the usual 2 pairs near the cottages in Glenlivet studying their heap of stones. Oystercatchers like to nest on a heap of small stones - it seems like a strange place to nest, but they choose the same ones every year. The curlews are also back patrolling their territory. They nest in rushes near Folds Cottage and spend a lot of the day in the air around the area making their distinctive call. I have also seen fields of lapwings around the area. It is wonderful to see so many in one place. Soon they will be paired up, and nesting around the Glenlivet area. Last year, we had to wait until May before the daffodils were out in Glenlivet, but this year they are starting to bloom. As you drive down through Aberlour and along to Elgin there are daffodils in bloom everywhere. I just had to visit the area around Elgin Cathedral once in the early evening and a couple of days later in the morning to see the daffodils beside the River Lossie as it flows through Elgin and out to the sea at Lossiemouth. If you click on the collage it will open in another window showing larger version of the photos.

Winter snow and sunshine - mountains and castles

On Friday last week, when I was on the way to do spring cleaning at the holiday cottages in Glenlivet, I was sidetracked by sunshine and snow and had to stop and take some photos on my route past Drumin castle, the Glenlivet distillery and Blairfindy castle. When I was stopped, I had a beautiful view of a buzzard overhead with the sun shining on it's wings. Unfortunately, the photo I took is now very sharp - not a high enough shutter speed! As Ben Avon and the Cairngorm mountains were looking wonderful in the sunshine, I had to stop work to go out and take some more photos - the advantage of being my own boss! It always amazes me, even although I have lived in this area for 10 years, how many days in winter we get glorious sunshine whether combined with snow or frost! A friend, Paddy, arrived on Sunday for a short holiday with us. The weather had taken a turn for the worse with rain and high winds, but Paddy loves wind so we were not daunted and had a lovely walk beside the river Livet and saw 2 little dippers, bobbing on rocks in the river which quite captivated us. We also saw banks of snowdrops telling us that spring is really on the way.

Trip to Cullen

Sunday was a day for relaxing away from cleaning holiday cottages. My young cousin Jennifer is visiting from South Africa and my friend Ann fancied a day out as well. As we drove past the Copperage at Craigellachie there was interesting light on all the empty whisky barrels. I just had to take a photo or two. We stopped briefly in Dufftown to see the Glenfiddich distillery and Balvenie Castle before heading over the hills to Huntly. The castle was looking wonderful in the winter sunlight. Jennifer went for a visit while Ann and I walked down to the river Deveron. It was flowing fast and looked very pretty. It was quite mild down by the river. Jennifer loved the castle with all its history and different architectural styles. Next we visited the harbour at Portsoy. The wind from the sea blowing into the harbour was cold! It felt like time for lunch, but most places in Cullen were closed. We went to the Cullen Bay Hotel. Our hearts dropped when we saw that they were very busy, but they were brilliant and were able to offer us a late lunch in an hours time . We made great use of the time by walking and playing and taking lots of photos on Cullen beach in the strong wind. We returned to Aberlour via Fochabers. Fochabers has some truly outstanding buildings. It was a lovely day out.

Snow in Glenlivet

Valentines Day in Glenlivet. We are at the holiday cottages cleaning them for the visitors arriving in the afternoon. There is still an incredible amount of snow lying. The single track road from the B9008 has snow about 3ft on each side of it. Not much choice of where to drive just straight along the track hoping that you won't meet anyone going in the opposite direction! Reversing would be a nightmare. Steve had cut out a track from the gate to the cottage doors on either side there are 3 ft drifts of snow. When the children arrive they immediately want to go sledging, build a snowman and have a snowball fight - in no particular order. The snow is starting to melt, but only people with 4 wheel drive can get their vehicles to the cottages. Steve ferries the other along with their luggage. The view out to the snow from Aberlour cottage is the most amazing I have seen with the courtyard completely filled with snow to about 3 ft. Part of the guttering around the cottage has been pulled down by the snow. It is a good job we put up snowboards all round the sides of the courtyard otherwise the guttering would have gone completely. Good news is that the visitors loved it.

Winter wonderland - Glenlivet at New Year

The hard frost over the New Year period has led to lots of beautiful sunshine which makes the short days seem a bit longer. December and January can be depressing with daylight not happening until around 9 a.m and it being dark again by 4 p.m. You have to rush out as soon as it is light if you want to take photos at this time of year and the shadows are very long by 2 p.m. I had some lovely walks beside the river Livet in Glenlivet and just loved the sunlight along with the frost.

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.

Elgin Cathdral, Speyside in Autumn

On Sunday, after I dropped a friend at the bus station in Elgin, the sun was shining and I thought why not visit the Cathedral. The autumn colours in the park by the Cathedral were looking vibrant and the trees by the River Lossie were gleaming in the sunlight. As a member of Historic Scotland, I decided to climb to the top of the Cathedral to view the surrounding town and countryside. The view to the Abbots House next door was fantastic. On view are a selection of photos I took on Sunday. I recently downloaded picasa 3 beta and discovered the joy of making collages. Picasa 3 from google is a great free programme and easy to use and to upload photos to the net. Today the weather has turned to winter and we have an inch or so of snow outside my window. Hope to get some snowy photos later when the snow goes off!

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.

Summer in Speyside

Scotland-Glenlivet in Summer and Autumn
Over the last few weeks, there has been some lovely weather. We had 2 really hot (for Speyside) weeks in July including the Highland Games at Dufftown. The weather has been mainly sunny during August, but much cooler than July with some days already feeling like autumn is here! I have noticed that the days are definitely shortening. T-in the Park, is in Glenlivet Hall for the whole month of August and seems to be very busy. I popped in today and had a delightful plate of Irish soup! Just shows we are very versatile in Speyside. Thre hanging and fence baskets are all looking good making the hall look exceptionally welcoming. The heather is looking stunning this year and I walked part of the way up Ben Rinnes to try and get some good colours and views. The barley is starting to change colour in this area, although on the Moray Firth coast the barley has already been harvested!

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.