Blog

Mar 25th

2014

By marionmccune

Wildlife Recap

These are the creatures we have seen in the immediate vicinity (our garden or within a mile of the Donich) since we moved in back in October. Pine Marten Badger Fox Otter Red Deer Red Squirrel Short tailed vole Field mouse Bat Heron Buzzard Falcon Garden birds -Tits (great, coal, blue), Robin, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Thrush, […]

Mar 25th

2014

By marionmccune

Bats and Deer

This has been a very exciting week for us on the Wildlife front. Not only did we get to meet one of the badgers, and see the encounter between cat and pine marten – but yesterday we saw two new arrivals. The first was when we were sitting in the dining room watching dusk fall […]

Mar 22nd

2014

By marionmccune

Badger Thrill

Last night I had just put the nuts out for the wildlife when I happened to look out of the window. There was one of our badgers munching away. Luckily R’s sister who is an excellent photographer (her photo included below) was here – so we very quietly went outside to see if we could […]

Mar 21st

2014

By marionmccune

When Cat meets Pine Marten…

Since before we moved here I have been a bit worried about the cats and some of the wildlife we have here. Although I have joked a lot about Tora having a girlfriend he can’t bring home because she is a Pine Marten, I did have it at the back of my mind how awful […]

Mar 19th

2014

By marionmccune

And then there were none…

As suddenly as they appeared – in one day all the frogs have departed.  Where last week there was a writhing mass of slimy bodies ‘revelling in the joys of fornication’ now there is only a great mass of frogspawn.  Let’s hope we get a decent crop of froglets which will eat some of the […]

Mar 18th

2014

By marionmccune

Food Glorious Food

We’ve certainly changed our shopping patterns a lot since we moved here. Generally for the better I will say because when we lived in Livingston we were constantly in and out of the local shops. There was rarely a day that we didn’t walk past the Co-op and buy lunch – which was nearly always […]

Mar 17th

2014

By marionmccune

Climbing the Steeple

I’d had it in mind to climb Benn Donich on Sunday – it seems ridiculous that we have lived here for nearly six months and haven’t managed to get up ‘our’ mountain (well it is at the back of our house). But when we got up in the morning, it was a typical Goil day […]

Mar 14th

2014

By marionmccune

The Gardener

Two of the vegetable beds are fully dug now. I’ve not been getting on as fast as I would like because of having a lot on and it being generally backbreaking work of the sort that tends to get put to the back of the queue. I’ve done about half of bed three as well… […]

Mar 14th

2014

By marionmccune

De graz is Riz

Spring iz sprung, De graz iz riz, I wonder where de boides iz? De boid iz on de wing – Dats absoid; De wing iz on de boid. Which is just as much as to say that spring has now arrived. There will be bad weather to come I am sure – and we even […]

Mar 13th

2014

By marionmccune

Scouts and times past

Lochgoilhead is a major centre for the Scouting Association. They have a residential base here and their season seems to have started now because we have seen groups around over the last few weeks. Often I feel quite sorry for them because they are out canoeing and abseiling and having to be jollied along in […]