Well, winter has certainly not hit us as badly as some places. Very cold, but little snow - two days so far when the post hasn't got up. As you can imagine, the slightest fall of snow makes getting in and out of Carradale very tricky.

Anyway, just to remind you that there is still room for Christmas, though New Year is booked up. We never seem to be very busy at Christmas - people like to be in their own homes. But you do get a Christmas tree if you come!

Lots of bookings already coming in for next year. After two years of keeping prices the same we have had to put them up a wee bit but hope you still feel the cottages are good value. Talking to friends who have rented in other parts of the West coast, we are far too easy going. Pay when you leave, leave the place tidy (some cottages have a cleaning regime laid down to the last square inch of hoovering) , and of course dogs are more than welcome.

Nice new flat screen TV in Mhairi's and we'll get some for the studios as well. Friends in the village who will be nameless, still have their original 35 year old TV, but we feel you deserve better! And who knows what other little improvements we might come up with. Blinds on the studio front doors! Mike realised that some regulars actually brought a curtain along with them; we had just never thought that whizzing into the loo might cause privacy problems!

But we've still to work out how to fit them up.

This is when Douglas Cottage comes into its own. This very murky photo of the chimney with a wee puff of smoke coming out is supposed to show you that now that winter is nearly upon us you can have a lovely cosy little cottage with the wood burning stove puffing away. The last couple in - who come into the category of very frequent visitors - actually brought all their own fuel as they are clearing out Mum's house! Heaven knows what was burnt in there this week.

Mhairi's has a nice wood burner as well, while Colin's just relies on winter sunshine streaming through the windows.

Well, I know you will all be worrying whether Dougie our neighbouring farmer has got the barley in, so he can get away to his beloved Iona for a week's holiday. It's O.K., it's in. This was a glorious day when they started cutting, then followed by awful rain, but it dried up again and now the field is full of sheep.

A wonderfully clear night last night and so it's back to star gazing. We have no light pollution at all and looking towards the bay over the months you can get a marvellous idea of the constellations as they drift round. Last night there were lots of shooting stars, and now we are coming up, hopefully, to more sun spot activity we should start seeing the Northern lights.

The other night I was very confused by a large orange globe drifting towards me, but I think it must have been a Chinese Lantern (the huge gangs that book all the houses at Saddell are prone to releasing things like this!!!)

For the first time since April we have a wee respite! and only because we had a cancellation. Cottages have been busier than ever this year and we have had so many super people to stay - and lots of lovely very well-behaved dogs as well. But it was all out on Monday for an empty few days - just as well as the wonderful Catherine who looks after them for us is on holiday. In such times Mike and I get down to the changeovers. For years Mike managed the Caravan Site on Carradale Bay and there is not a thing he doesn't know about cleaning, so they usually get an extra dust when he's on duty. Two days of heavy rain didn't help things on the drying front - life in Carradale without a tumble drier would not be funny. But all the cottages have them which does help.

Out brambling at the week-end and got about 2lb in half an hour - they make wonderful jam. Hazelnuts are good this year but having picked pounds one season and ended up with 1/4 oz by the time I'd spent a whole evening shelling them, I just cheat and buy them on the Co-op. We have terrific chanterelles in the woods behind us as well, so country living has its perks.

I tell a lie! the swallows haven't gone at all - met about a hundred of them on my beautiful morning walk down to the Bay. Sadly there was actually ONE OTHER PERSON there , and not even someone I knew. He said he hadn't a clue where he was which seemed strange as he was staying on the caravan park at the far end. A lot of people arrive at the park and never find the rest of the village, the harbour, the shops. Or they put on their hiking boots and gaiters, get out their GPSs, and head for the hotel. That's Satnavs for you.

Autumn always hits Carradale early, and the chestnut tree along the road is beginning to turn. Always the first to come out and a real sign of Spring, it's now going a lovely orange. The colours on these nice sunny days we've been having are super - expecially if you get up to the trig point on the Deer Hill walk. Loads of purple heather, red rowans, and black brambles - Scotland at its very best.

And the swallows have all suddenly departed having had their usual get together on our telephone lines before they set off on their amazing journey.

We are having our busiest September ever, but don't forget our last minute booking offer of 25% off - there may be a wee gap for you; not to mention the ridiculously low rates on October.

Had to show you the passion flower; despite the awful winter it has survived and is flowering away. This plant started off with us in the early eighties, then didn't survive a very cold winter we had in the nineties- BUT Dorothy from the farm next door had taken a cutting, and was able to pass a bit back to me, and so it goes on. Dorothy's didn't survive last winter, but I know she'll be round to get a cutting soon.

And all this is just to show you what a lovely mild climate we have here.

In a couple of weeks I'm off to Cornwall to check out the gardens there and see if they can compete with ours. I feel the Eden Project may be slightly grander than Gigha, but will it be as nice?

We've bought a picture! Well you may wonder what that's got to do with holiday cottages, but it just shows you what nice things you can do when you come and stay down here.
Lots of good artists and galleries in Mid-Argyll and last week-end they opened their studios to the public, so it was a lovely excuse for a tootle round. We started in Tarbert, and finished in Crinan, going by the highways and by-ways via such hidden treasures as Slockavullin and Crinan Ferry.

The area just reeks of ancientness with its standing stones and chambered cairns; it is the centre of the old kingdom of Dalriada , and the first Scottish kings were crowned at Dunadd. There are raised bogs and fabulous wild flowers and deer keeking at you out of the trees. Yachts locking out to sea at Crinan , and beavers at Loch Coille Bhar.

Start at Kilmartin museum and have a really delightful day - and you might buy a picture.

A hectic week-end in Carradale. Two concerts - one of Friday and one on Saturday. Both packed out, and set in a relaxed way round tables, with a bar. Friday was modern, and definitely for the youngsters, but Saturday was a good old fashioned Ceilidh with some of our local stars. Lorne is a fabulous professional piper, while the Gaelic Choir are Mod winners. You can't get better than that. And it all ended up with an enthusiastic dance.

Then Saturday was a great day at the Cricket Club with the President's eleven playing the team. don't know who won but they had great fun. Here we have Donald, Laird of Torrisdale (70 this month!) and Brian, skier, cyclist, tennis player, and cricketer.

Yesterday the village was out of water, so we were very grateful to be on our own supply.

A trip to Glasgow on Tuesday to get the car serviced, but also the chance to top-up cottage supplies -there is only so much you can get in the local agricultural store,but they do have a fine selection of loo rolls!

So, a new microwave for Mhairi's - the last one was getting a bit contrary , and after all it was well over 10 years old. And also some nice striped Jamie Oliver crockery - does food taste better off Jamie Oliver crockery? You know, I think it does. We have some Jamie Oliver huge pasta bowls and Mike's pasta is superb.

Anyway, having got domestic issues out of the way, we went to the 'Glasgow Boys' exhibition in the Kelvingrove Gallery. What a treat. Difficult to pinpoint why it was so good, but they were just very fine painters. And it's always a treat to go to the Kelvingrove. A magnificent building - like so many Glasgow buildings - recently re-furbished and just buzzing. Not like a museum at all.

If you don't know Glasgow then have a night there on the way up; it's a really wonderful city - masses to see, superb people , great eating places, and a real treat.

Friday night took us up to Skipness for one of the famous Skipness dances. These are few and far between, and very precious . For serious dancers only!

A good wee Scottish dance band plays, while we all birl around doing (the simpler) Scottish dances - Stripping the Willow and Gay Gordoning as hard as we can. All shapes and sizes and ages attend and the hard core who are always there welcome visitors with open arms (literally).

We have the most superb tea and cakes half way through, and round the evening off with a splendid raffle.

Loads of money is raised for the church and we all go home feeling well pleased with our efforts. If a dance is on while you're around don't miss it. Even if you're not a dancer, it's a very special evening.

Disaster on Saturday morning when we were cleaning Colin's Cottage - the washing machine went mad and spun itself into oblivion! Water all over the floor and a dead washer. Fortunately our old friends Freda and Adam, who come every year, were moving in and were most understanding about the gap in the kitchen.
However, despite living in the wilds, we are getting a new one delivered tomorrow so problem solved. But these are the little things that go wrong all the time, which hopefully none of you even know about

Help! An unexpectedly awful day yesterday, but at least none of us have to worry about the water running out. Woken by such heavy rain that we had to forego the Sunday long lie and get up (as we are adding to the house, there are no slates on the roof and rain and polythene make a noisy combination). Then in the afternoon a real gale blew up and battered all the trees and shrubs, so we felt pretty sorry for anyone camping. Cottages are best!!!

The clematis outside the workshop has excelled this year; however the star event of the week was not my clematis, or the Village Hall EGM, but Alen down at the pier setting the hillside on fire. We have a marvellous and dedicated retained fire crew and the other day they went hurtling past the wondow in their wee fire engine. Alen had thrown out some hot ashes and the next thing the hill behind the shop was ablaze. Not surprisingly the large house behind called the fire brigade , but Alen would have none of it.'Controlled burn', he said, 'my land, no access' he said. So the fire brigade went and put it out anyway.

Tuesday was the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Village Hall and there was an amazing turn out of about 80 people of all shapes and sizes.

The Hall Committee were fed up because no one came to the AGM, nobody supported their activities, and we didn't deserve a Hall so they were going to close it if we didn't do a bit better.

Elizabeth , the Chairwoman, started off by saying that nobody would stand for the committee, whereupon about 20 people raised their hands who were all longing to go on the Committee, be Treasurer, Secretary, Youth Club Organiser etc.

So they were all voted on and then we all went home.

Another lovely week-end and perfect for cutting silage. Here's Gus from Saddell in his huge tractor cutting the fields in front of Mhairi's. It always seems a shame when these lovely swaying buttercuppy fields turn into these neat rows of grass, but they'll soon grow up again. At the back is Carradale point, purple with rhododendrons, and in between is the bay.

Recently on Sundays a flying club from West Kilbride have taken to flying in and landing on the Bay in their planes and micro-lights which is a bit of fun, as long as they don't run you down when you're paddling.

Well, another week of dry warm weather and our visitors are enjoying the beaches and walks of Kintyre. Most have the sense not to be too ambitious - the narrow roads are best taken leisurely, and not for doing huge long trips. There is always the statutory visit to Campbeltown - which can disappoint so best combined with a trip round the distillery, or a run across to Machrihanish. And Gigha is a must! But otherwise you can spend days pottering around the local forest trails, or wandering down to the Bay.

At the moment forestry operations near the village offer a fascinating view of modern timber felling. The Forestry Commission don't mind you watching, and the amazing machines that trundle up and down the hillside chopping up trees to exact lengths for precise purposes are really state of the art. The operators have GPS, computer control, and about three telephone connections and know precisely what should be felled and where.

It's always very sad to see much loved trees suddenly disappear, but at the end of the day it is a crop and it's because of this that we have such wonderful trails and paths all around us.

Heavy rain at last so the gardener's are all delighted - and now it's going to clear up to more sunny weather. But we are in the throes of adding a room on top of our house and it's VERY noisy inside when it rains, so not much sleep.
anyway , don't worry when you arrive at the cottages to find one apparently in the throes of building; you're not in Spain, it's just Mike's folly!

Being brought up in a village 800' above Edinburgh, I always thought that anything other than leeks and lupins were totally exotic. On my first trip to the south of England I saw a passion flower and was determined that one day I would have one. So one of the joys of the west of Scotland is the wonderful things that will happily grow - even despite last winter. So I now have my passion flower, the wisteria is coming into bloom, I have 5 different species of abutilon - the star being the blue version which is found in countless estate gardens up and down Argyll, and meconopsis grown in abundance.

So if you are a keen gardener, or just love trees and flowers, you will find a wealth of beautiful gardens to visit, unusual plants to spot, and delightful untamed corners , and no one will stop you wandering anywhere.

What a great holiday it's been, with the place really busy and wonderful weather. They've even been seen in swimming! Of course it is the best time of year in Carradale; all the wild rhododendrons are coming out and the hills are covered with great patterns of mauve and pinks; the bluebells and wild garlic fill the woodlands . And now you'll have to put it off till next year.

Big sailing event up in Tarbert this weekend with some very swish racing yachts whizzing around Loch Fyne competing for Tunnocks chocolate biscuits (no, that's a lie, they actually have silverware). The view from the hill above the loch with all the coloured sails and spinnakers is quite a sight.

So that's it; start of the summer season; everything up and running. Time for a visit

The cricket team lost again.

By a lot of runs

Carradale Village Hall.

Like most places we have a super and very essential Village Hall, but no one goes to the AGM in case they're voted on the committee. Thus it was that on Friday, just as the fish pie was going under the grill, Matthew comes rushing across the yard and says we're needed to make up the quorum. So off we go (oven off first) . The committee are fed up; they've all done their bit for years (Edna for 37 years as Treasurer), so they're going to close the hall. That'll show them! It's been done before, very effectively, so we'll see how it works this time.

And the pie was fine. (Friday, Wilma's fish van - don't forget)

The burning question of today is - do we want to own an airport?

The old RAF Machrihanish airfield outside Campbeltown has been offered to the community for £1. And they'll clear all the contamination. It's a huge area, boasting the longest runway in Europe, and at the moment it has the Civil Airport in one corner , and a company making towers for wind turbines in another ( it's great fun if you're in Campbeltown when they're driving these huge towers to be loaded on a ship at the harbour. EVERYTHING has to stop!)

But a Community buy-out requires at least 50% of those eligible actually to vote and there doesn't seem huge enthusiasm. We received our ballot papers this week, so we'll see what happens.

Nice morning for a gentle drift up the glen on my bike; unfortunately when you drift up it usually means there's a wind behind you and you have to battle all the way back down. Carradale is not a cyclists' paradise. Too many steep hills in and out of the village. However cycling through the estate and down to the bay is a nice lazy way to spend your days, and some of our adventurous visitors whizz off across forest roads to Tayinloan or down to the Mull. We are officially on National Cycling Route no 73 , but it slightly lost it's point when the ferry to Ireland stopped.

Audrey is our ironer. We have wonderful system whereby I nip round to her house and leave a bag of ironing in the conservatory, and a day or two later there is a bag of meticulously ironed sheets in our porch. And if she's away, Brian - ex RAF so he is also a well trained ironer - takes over. And their cats just love sitting on the top of the bag.

The cricket team WON yesterday. Well done. Arran obviously had a visiting professional who they sneaked in the week before.

It's not easy being a sportsman in Kintyre. You don't just leap on a coach and drive for half an hour to your match. No; every Saturday you can meet shinty players on the Portavadie ferry heading for Tighnabruich, golfers on the Mull ferry heading for Tobermory, or - as was the case last Sunday - cricketers on the Claonaig ferry heading for the Sannox Oval. Surely the most glorious cricket ground in the U.K.

Sadly for our chaps in their first league match of the season they didn't excel. Sannox finished their innings at 286 for 6, with one of their batsman scoring a double century. Carradale were all out for 36.

My turn for Friday cakes today , and as I hadn't baked where to go? Paterson's the bakers of course. In summer, with more visitors around, the shop really gets going with all sorts of goodies. I was able to bag the last of Roger's brilliant chocolate cakes and some Empire ( which I still call German, don't forget the war) biscuits. Some Stornoway black pudding (the very best) and Victor James Fintry tablet. What a haul. With the dog McUgly in the car I had to keep an eye on the basket all the way home.

And talking of baking, there is a meringue war going on at the hotel. Someone was seen pocketing a meringue at the last funeral tea! Marcus will have no truck with such behaviour. People are taking sides.

Booking today to go to a concert by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at Crear. Crear is an exceptional venue on a hillside above Kilberry. It is a beautiful conversion of farm buildings and you sit and listen to exquisite music overlooking the Paps of Jura; we cannot recommend it enough and if there is a concert on during your stay, you must go. They even serve wine and canapes at the end and you can chat with the players. All on the CREAR web site. And if you don't manage a concert a trip round to Kilberry is still worth while; you can get lovely bar lunches and meals in the Kilberry Inn and the scenery is all very dramatic. Unfortunately it's the only detour for us it the road between Ardrishaig and Tarbert is closed, and being single track this can lead to severe problems - Tesco lorries in ditches etc etc. doesn't happen often.

OTTERS.

A few sightings recently which is quite rare for round here. Mike spent a while watching one recently at an UNDISCLOSED LOCATION, but actually pretty near the cottages. And Sandy spent the other evening watching three of them fishing in the sea at Grogport, so that's a nice little evening ploy for you. They are quite friendly wee creatures so if you are lucky enough to come upon them you can get quite close. It's nice to think of them trundling around inland - we once saw one swimming away in a loch about 2000' above Kinlochleven.

And if you like creatures like this, why not take a trip to Loch Coille Bharr at Crinan where beavers have been introduced. Even if you don't see the beavers, it is an exquisite wee loch with a delightful path wending through the birch trees. And at the head you can sit on a bench dedicated to our old friend Roger Larsen, forester there for many years, and take in the wonderful view.

This is the dog McUgly. It's a VERY flattering picture, but not as flattering as the one in the Oban Times which enticed me to drive for over two hours to the rescue kennels at Barcaldine to collect him. What a shock to find a fat brown thug prancing moronically around his pen, and Fiona saying 'we don't think he's house trained' and 'you'll never get him to Carradale without a dog guard'. Ha! How wrong we were. He is a delicious dog with bags of character and slimmed down he doesn't look quite so bad. So when this fearsome brown face peers at you through the bars of the gate when you arrive don't be scared - he just wants to get into bed with you.

An excellent walk up Rhonadale Glen yesterday serenaded by millions of cuckoos, after we'd said good-bye to our cottage week-end visitors. Met Marcus and Mo from the hotel with their telescope out eagle watching. This year the eagles are nesting again and rumour has it that there are two eggs in the nest, so lots of exciting bird watching ahead of us.

The Drama Club plays in the Hall on Saturday were a great success with a large turn-out; as tends to be the case now we weren't sitting in serried rows, but were casually around tables in night club style. It was a pity they hadn't booked the drinks licence in time. Fortunately our friend Audrey was in the know and produced a bottle and 3 glasses from her bag so, while everybody else knocked back the diet coke, we were able to enjoy a cheeky little Merlot!

Well, here we go. Another brilliant morning in Carradale and unfortunately the shock absorbers on the MG Midget will have to wait while Mike paints the windows of Mhairi's cottage and I tend the Chilean fire tree which is just ready to burst into all its scarlet glory.

Glad to see Argyll's MP was safely returned and will now be helping Nick Clegg form a government, or something.

Some people seem to have be having some problems with paying their deposits on-line. If you're not happy that the thing has worked just give me a call (01583431683) as we know immediately if Paypal has taken your money. I know at first I didn't realise that paying by Paypal can take any card and you don't need a Paypal account.

Well, another great Spring morning here in Carradale. Great splashes of lime green tucked in among the dark fir trees across the road where the beech trees continue their erratic unfolding - why do beech trees come out in fits and starts? And last week the swallows swept into Dorothy's porch and their summer quarters. If you stay in Mhairi's cottage you can watch their progress and listen to their constant comfortable twittering.

Still waiting for the Argyll and Bute election result; always the last - well, all these islands - but we imagine it will stay firmly Lib Dem. and then what?

And what's on in the village this week-end?

Well the Drama Club are presenting their award winning (twice) play so there will be a good turn-out for that. Village Hall 7.30. Quite a bit of coming and going in the cottages - as we let for any day and any length of time it needs a well-regulated calendar to keep track. And our new on-line booking system is really keeping me on my toes. But so far we haven't tried to squeeze seven families into one cottage at the same time.

The cricket club are beginning to get into full swing; imagine, Carradale with a thriving cricket club? Great stuff Robert. Huge new screens and covers have appeared on the football field (which terrify the dog McUgly as he whizzes on his evening walk) , and it looks like being a very enthusiastic season. We'll keep you posted!