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

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.

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

Good morning.  My name's McUgly and I help Trish & Mike with the cottages. This is me doing my bit in the office.

My other duties involve checking the cottages while Trish puts in the tea and biscuits, just to make sure that Catherine has got them up to scratch, keeping the log pile replenished ( I can usually manage two or three small logs a day), and welcoming visitors when they arrive.

I particularly like it when some of the visitors are dogs;  since my dear friend Ginny passed away I have been a wee bit lonely and it's terrific meeting new friends ( and of course my old friend Toby ,( a regular visitor). I show them where the best smells are, direct them to the forest walks, and if they are townie dogs I gently explain that when you're in the country you don't chase sheep, kill hens, or demand to go and see the vet just because you've been bitten by a tick.  Wimps!  One visitor's dog last summer (fortunately not staying with us) actually despatched four of Mike's lovely wee black bantams, so it does happen. And just so embarassing for everyone.

Sadly I really don't get on with alsations ( or German shepherd dogs which they now call them, but it doesn't fool me) so I'm afraid they're not allowed in.  Sorry chaps.

I have been slightly confused with the new pricing system although Trish has explained that they've made it much easier so I can take on more of the bookwork. Anyway it does seem to be very easy - a flat nightly rate with a couple of discounts.  Just phone me up if you're stuck.

Anyway, time to get on with tidying up the kitchen floor - have a nice day.

NEW PRICING REGIME!!!!!

Fed up with working out different weekly bands for all the cottages then getting them on to our various web sites, coupled with the fact that most of our bookings are now short stays, we have totally changed the pricing system to make it (hopefully) easier for everyone.  We just have one nightly charge throughout the year - £75 per night for Mhairi's, £60 for the studios - and then two basic discounts.  Book well ahead and you get 15% off, book at the very last minute and you get 20% off.  We'll see how it goes.

For those old stagers who come every year in high summer,  and book well ahead, you will find quite a reduction in your rate.  Book now!!!!  Be tempted!!!!   Or leave it to the very last minute and hope something is free.

As ever you can easily book on line and already the site is set up to accommodate the changes.

After a dismal summer, slightly compensated for by a stunning autumn, it is quite a thought to be gearing up for 2013.  In an effort to ensure it will be a mild winter, we have just put huge winter tyres onto the car - memories of an epic night when I spent an hour pushing our large Passat up Saddell brae while Mike leaned out of the window shouting 'push harder'  made me insist we take some sort of action. The ignomy that night  was that all the little cars with narrow wheels whizzed past us waving gaily.

Anyway, all we can hope for is a bit of dry weather, and no collapsing Rest and Be Thankful.

See you soon.

Well, at long last we have replaced the enormous three piece suite in Mhairi's  with something just a wee bit more suitable.  Transforms the room.

We are great fans of Sofa Choice in Glasgow who made us a brilliant bed settee for the new room in our house, and have now come up with a pair of dinky sofas for Mhairi's, with stools to match.

As there were people in the cottage when they arrived they were deposited in the shed at the bottom of the yard.  Next day was a monsoon and I gaily game back from my lunch time walk to report to Mike that the drains didn't seem to be working very well.  He was off like a rocket to discover the floor of the shed awash . Sandy off on paternity leave, me incapacitated as usual (no, the hip not the hip flask) ; so he heaved the sofas up on blocks and we prayed that they were O.K. - and they were.  Now nicely ensconced in the living room and you will just love them..

Well, despite the dreadful summer, Dougie has got the barley in and Mike has picked his apple crop.  All seven apples.  But it's only the second year and last year he only got one.  And they are huge and very appley tasting so he's pretty proud of them. The tomatoes are hopeless and while from afar the garden looks lush and healthy, close up we see that it's just all weeds. 

Not a busy summer for Carradale, but the cottages seem to be busier at beginning and end of the season so we are REVIEWING OUR PRICING STRUCTURE for next year.  Don't hold your breath but we will have some changes. When we started they were the same price all the year round and there is a lot to be said for that, with things like last minute booking etc giving discounts rather than complicated bands.  It's O.K. on our own site but when you have to put all the information onto the other sites we are on it becomes very tedious.

The famous Carradale duck race was held last week-end  - the Glasgow 'September week-end'.  Not quite as busy as previously but they made over £4,000 which will go towards re-roofing the church. 

Off to clean a cottage - the wonderful Catherine is on holiday, but I will introduce you to our new helper , Laura, next time.