Monday 30 September 2013

For those of you who like sitting out under the fig tree in the Douglas sitooterie, you will be mightily impressed to know that it has bourne fruit again this year.  7 figs no less!  All very scrumptious and Mike is enjoying them with his porridge for breakfast.  His apple trees have also been productive, and even our outdoor vine has some teeny weeny green grapes hanging from it's branches.

A bumper crop of brambles too - so far we have 20 pounds in the freezer!  I found a brilliant spot (which shall remain secret) , and we felt very smug last night as we came down with our haul  to meet 2 other bramblers who clearly thought it was their secret spot - and we'd beaten them to it!

A Skipness dance on Friday.  If you are ever in the cottage when one of these is on , then you must go. A wee Scottish dance band, no drink, wonderful tea and buns half way through, and everyone dancing their socks off.  If we go up in a bad mood we come back full of well-being, and congratulate the wonderful welcoming group that organise these cheery events.  What's more, nearly everyone wins a raffle prize! There will be a Christmas one with the terrific Gunna Sound playing, and a crowd of us from Carradale will be there.

Friday 30 August 2013

Just in case you haven't noticed, we've revised our prices.  Again!  This year we offered super discounts if you booked ahead, but of course most people aren't that organised when it comes to visiting Carradale.  It's often a spur of the moment decision, especially when the weather's good.  And what a lovely summer we've had.  Another plunge in Carradale Bay last Sunday - late afternoon when the tide's coming up is perfect. Though most people seem to enjoy just standing in the water trying to pluck up courage!

Campbeltown Music Festival , which was a great success, was on last week-end,  and next Saturday Jane performs another of her plays in the Hotel. What a whirl of activity. And meanwhile we are wondering how on earth we will replace the wonderful Catherine who has looked after the cottages for the last 5 years.  And I'm sure Angie is wondering how she will replace Cath's partner Roger  in the bakehouse.  It's bad enough not being able to get rolls before 9 in the morning - but the thought of not getting rolls at all..................

Cath and Roger are returning to their home area of the Lake District, the delights of Carradale clearly don't overcome the lure of grandchildren! It's taken them about 18 months to sell their house - and there are another 26 on the market so if you fancy moving down you have plenty of choice. 

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Well the busy part of the holiday season is over and the cottages are emptying - although lots of last minute week-end bookings still, it's amazing.

With the good weather to get us started and remind us of all these wonderful summers in the past ( how our memories forget the bad bits) we really had a great time.  Carradale Bay was packed, swimming was terrific, and from up at the Mains we could hear the shrieks and barks of people ( and dogs) thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Every now and then you can see a kite whipping up and down the beach, and we can sit on our balcony and see the masts of anchored yachts bobbing up and down.  Although the new moorings down at the quay seem to have been very successful - although why should it be that the rich yachties don't feel any obligation whatsoever to pay their mooring fees?  Perhaps that's why they can afford yachts and we can't.

Not enough entertainment going on in the village, although the couple of concerts that were on were terrfic , and packed out  And this week-end it's the Kintyre Music Festival so some very good acts in the Victoria Hall.  It's also the Artmap week-end in Argyll with studios all over the place open to the public - makes a super day out. (can be expensive if you fall for a painting).

New settee in Douglas which is very smart - and apologies to the poor souls who had to manage with the collapsing one.  They sent the wrong cushion covers, but we'll swap these on one of our trips to Glasgow.  And a new toaster - if only people would tell us when things break down rather than complaining when they leave!  We're always game to replace anything at any time.

Enough - time to take the ironing up to our wonderful ironer (orshould it be ironeress?) Audrey - who also kindly points out to me that the tea towels are getting a bit ragged. and so it goes on.

Monday 15 July 2013

Well, at last.  After all this time waiting we're having a proper summer.  The poor old garden is weeks late but it's more than made up for it with bumper vegetation and flowers.  Here is a corner of my garden with Mhairi's cottage in the background.

So why are you not all here???  Carradale is just at it's very best with the beach nicely busy and swimming in the sea a very pleasant experience .  There is just nothing nicer than floating on your back with a blue sky above and the Carradale trees and hills all around.

Even the midges retreat when the weather gets dry.

Newswise?  Well there was a very successful harbour day last week-end (when McUgly, dressed up as a pirate and came in second out of two)
But he had a lovely time.

And there are always the odd concerts and entertainments coming up - we never know what's going to be on offer.

For the old hands to the place, The Glen has just been sold and is going to be re-opened as a bar, so that will be another eating/drinking place for everyone.  Coupled with the Hotel, the Ashbank, and our two tea rooms it means we're well provided for again.  Great news. 

In the course of refurbishing the Village Hall library it's been discovered that the roof is in dire need of re-slating so, pending a proper look at the whole thing, we may be in for some massive fund-raising.  Sadly, with money being pumped into us from our Windfarm Trust, no-one really bothers to fund raise these days - just get a grant from somewhere. It's a great way of pulling everyone together and lets hope we'll not rely entirely on others grants if we need to get some cash in. 

Anyway, don't forget that we have generous last minute offers if you feel like sneaking off down here and enjoying the sun, just book on-line and we'll be delighted to see you.

Monday 10 June 2013




O.K, O.K., I know this was supposed to be a picture of Carradale cricket team beating Lochgilphead on Sunday, but I have been far too busy taking advantage of the lovely weather and catching up in the garden.  So this is the wisteria instead, as seen from our balcony. Incidentally they beat Sannox last week so are really excelling this year - just think of sitting on the edge of the cricket field, Arran in the background, hillside above you covered in gorgeous rhododendrons, leather on willow etc etc......................Time to come and visit us!

Wisteria is at least a month late , as everything is, but we're catching up now. The tulips are still flowering beautifully in the barrel up the glen , while the replacement plants I have for there are outgrowing their pots in the green house.  

The village is very quiet - has the recession caught up at last?  And this year  there are all sorts of extras on offer.  TWO tea rooms now - one at the Network Centre which is being run by new people, and the other 'The Green Room' which is in a lovely spot above the harbour;  so take your pick.

The Network Centre has also branched into 'bikes and buggy hire' - the buggies can be trundled off down the forest tracks so the less fit amongst us can enjoy a ride through the Carradale scenery.

A Noufest was held in May to celebrate the life of Naomi Mitchison - for those who don't know of Nou, she was not only a well known authoress, but also the much loved laird of Carradale House.  She had a huge influence on the village, and as we all indulge in Carradale politics, we miss her wisdom and ability to keep us all under control. 

But nothing else to report at the moment - June tends to be a quiet month before the school holiday influx. we'll keep you posted!




Wednesday 27 March 2013

Just to let  you know that Kintyre is up and running and we have electricity, so no worries about coming down to stay with us.

trish  - March 27th


Monday 18 March 2013



We're decorating!  Yes, this is Douglas Cottage at the moment, but you can get a wee peek at the new stripey wall paper.  It's very cheery and designed to put you into holiday mood. The bedroom , too, has been re-done and is in gentle blues to waft you to sleep.  Douglas is a great wee cottage, and very popular in the colder months with it's wood stove.

 Mike has just got 16 tons of wood from the Forestry so there is no trouble about getting fuel!  And the big excitement is an automatic log splitter which will save a lot of time and energy.  It appears that so many people have wood stoves now that getting wood isn't just as easy as it used to be, and our last load came down from Cairnbaan.  No popping into the woods and chopping down a tree - if you get caught the Forestry Commission will just come along to your wood store and take the lot away!

Lots of bookings coming in so we are looking forward to a busy season;  we can't believe that we'll get yet another lousy summer so bring the sun cream. We're all preparing - the Hotel has painted the dining room , the Network Centre has practically been rebuilt, and the Kintrye Way has put in some interesting new routes for the walkers (remember it's easy to do parts of this long distance walk from Carradale)

Look forward to seeing you


Monday 18 February 2013




Well, here we are;  a little touch of Spring in the cottage garden. Spotted these daffs this morning - one of our few dry and sunny mornings in recent weeks, and thought they'd cheer us all up.

Lots going on in the place;  Network Tearoom is well on the way to being re-furbished - nay, practically rebuilt! - so that's a wee spot you can look forward to visiting.  Josie isn't running it this year - there will be much debate as to who can surpass her wonderful baking.  We'll see.

A great night on Saturday in the hotel when Jane presented one of her brilliant plays.  There she was parading around dressed up as Barbara Cartland, and we all had great fun filling in ridiculous forms  - who would have guessed that Duncan Munroe was a true Romeo at heart.  An excellent buffet  added to the spirit of the evening - especially as Tom and Marcus have been wielding paint brushes and the dining room and lounge are looking terrific - very 21st century.

We're off to the pictures to night - Campbeltown Cinema has magnificenly raised the money to go digital, and this seems to mean that they will give us bigger choice of films.  Don't miss a chance to visit if you're here - the cinema is the oldest continually running cinema in Scotland and a visit there is a very jolly occasion as everyone knows each other.  But you 'll be made very welcome!!

And last week we went over to Putchecan on the west side for an evening at the Stargazers Club.  This is the latest Kintyre idea, and if you are at all into star gazing this part of the world is perfect - no light pollution.  I am the proud owner of an 8" reflecting telescope, and if you're good when you visit we'll get it out on the balcony and show you Jupiter's moons. Eat you heart out Brian Cox.

Enough chat for now;  don't forget our new pricing arrangements and book well ahead to get a super discount.

Saturday 2 February 2013


This is Minnie - who is a survivor.  She has survived attacks by fox - when her great friend Rhoda was despatched - attacks by dogs - when all the rest of the flock were despatched - and frequent attacks by the cock, who old age has despatched.  So now she is living in splendid isolation until we get some new birds.  We'll get some in the Spring when they are ready to lay.

But here she is enjoying the sunshine - as are we all.  Kintyre has been really awful recently with continual rain, mud , flooding, etc etc.  It seems worse in the country somehow as all the walks are deep mud and you look out at bare trees and bucketing rain.  Last Thursday we woke to a hurricane and monsoon, thunder and lightning, and then the electricity went off!  But we have a generator which soon brightens things up and in next to no time the workshop was humming .

Cottages empty at the moment - not the busiest time of year - but bookings are coming in and remember book well ahead - or at the last minute - for substantial discounts.

Catherine , our marvellous lady who maintains the cottages, has been off work for a while, but is now back in harness and raring to go so no worries on that score -   although I have to admit that Mike is a very excellent cleaner when Catherine is away.  

The village has all sorts of plans for the summer;  Network tearoom is being practically re-built at the moment, and there is also going to be a bike and buggy hire place based there so you can all spin around the village getting fit.

Look forward to seeing you