Welcome to 2012!   Congratulations to Ian and Katy on their wedding, and we were so happy they decided to spend their honeymoon in Letter Steading.   The Christmas decorations and tree were up and they thoroughly enjoyed their stay - no snow unfortunately.   We had a lovely family in for the Christmas week - they too were hoping for snow but it has so far eluded us apart from the odd smattering here and there.  What we have had are some spectacular storms with the loch looking more like the North Sea.   Lots of trees down which is always sad.   We had a power cut but luckily we have a generator so it's not too much of a problem.
We had a good time at  Hogmanay with a large groups of 20-something year olds staying over - lots of good food, a lot of beer and wine and some warbling on the karaoke machine.  Great fun.
We purchased three new go-faster sledges for the kids to use but t'was not to be!  I'm sure they'll get some use as winter goes on.....
Bookings are coming in thick and fast so if you want to visit us take a look at the availability calendar and we'll see you then!

November update - well, I would like to say that the weather has improved but sadly it has been rather wet!!   But guests are still enjoying the cottage with the wood burning stove stoked up, relaxing with a nice meal and a glass or two.   Bookings are coming in thick and fast for 2012 - thank you very much.   We look forward to welcoming old friends and new.........let's hope next summer shows us a little bit more sun and a little less of the wet stuff!

Where has the year gone??   time has flown and soon it will be (dare I say it!) Christmas!!!  We have some guests booked in for Christmas week, but prior to that we have our special honeymoon couple staying (he popped the question on the top of Ben A'an.....awwwww....)   Had a superb wedding from the cottage in July, congratulations again to Cim and Natascha, it was a VERY special day.   And next year we have another honeymoon couple  coming over from South Africa.   Love is in the air.....
The weather, I fear, has not been kind to us this year.  But everyone so far has enjoyed their stay at Letter Steading despite the rain and the wood burning stove has been working overtime.
I promise it won't be so long til the next blog!

Well, what a lovely time we had at Natascha and Cim's wedding.   The week was beautiful weatherwise, though it has to be said the actual day of the wedding wasn't the best.....but still, the bride looked stunning, the bridegroom handsome, and a good time was had by all of their German friends over for the 'do'.  The Byre Inn stepped up to the mark and gave a fine wedding reception - wonderful food and bonhomie all round!  Fantastic!!!


The weather for our latest guests has been a mixed bag to say the least and today it is a tad wet!!!   Our chickens look rather bedraggled but are still laying, bless 'em.


Bookings are slowly coming in for next year, thanks everyone!

Hi everyone!   Where does the time go??   Already well into July and our guests have been enjoying the peace and quiet of our lovely Loch Katrine.   Weather - well, it's been mixed as you can expect from Scotland but we have had some lovely days as well as our fair share (some might say more than!) of rain.  The midges haven't been TOO bad this year so far so perhaps our midgie-eater is working.  Excited about next week as we have our first wedding here at Letter Steading - well, Natascha and Cim are getting married in our lovely Trossachs Church nearby and having their reception in our local "The Byre".   Really looking forward to it!

Well, guess what we spied in the garden helping himself (or was it a herself?) to fat from the wild bird fat block?   A cheeky pine marten and what a surprise that was, as they are usually nocturnal creatures and shy away from people.   Apparently jam sandwiches are a favourite so I've been putting them out to try and see it again.  I'd rather it ate jam sandwiches than my chickens!

We have seemingly lost our fight to keep the  deer in our area - some of you may remember that the Forestry Commission changed their plans to surround new planting areas with deer fencing, and decided to put in a six mile long fence instead.   The residents have been so upset by it all - some of our near neighbours have lived up here for nigh on 40 years and are so used to glimpsing these fine beautiful creatures.   It is shameful of the Forestry Commission to make such changes and cut our deer off from their woodland cover and winter forage in the harsh snowy months.  Shame on you Forestry Commission Scotland.

Having had three gloriously sunny, dry weeks the last two weeks have been pretty damp.   Our guests in the cottage haven't been able to enjoy the new decking much but they have loved sitting in the Wendy House with the chiminiere blazing.   Apparently it helps the wine go down better.....!!!!
Our chickens are fed up with being wet but are still laying well.....good girls!

We're just about to book up our tickets for the Jazz Cruise on the SS Sir Walter Scott - on Sunday 3rd Oct at 3 p.m.   The Callander Jazz and Blues Festival goes from strength to strength every year - have a look at the website http://www.callanderjazz.com/
and it spans the weekend of 30th Sept/1st and 2nd Oct.

Let's hope the weather improves but every cloud as they say, at least the bracken isn't so dry and liable to catch fire again.    Not sure if the police caught the culprits who started the Loch Katrine fire but we hope they did.

We've had the most amazing dry sunny weather for the past three weeks or so.   So much so that the grass and bracken is so dry it is not hard to set alight - as has been shown in the press recently.   Unfortunately for Loch Katrine some idiots decided to set up camp (not allowed on the lochside here) and lit a fire......then decided to leave it and go fishing and guess what?  yep, the tent caught fire and so did the hillside.   What a thoughtless act!   Let's hope they are prosecuted for their reckless deed - one of our residents houses was very close to the blaze - had the wind been in a different direction it doesn't bear thinking about what might have happened.  Tut tut!!!

Hi Folks!   Well, we're now booked up until November so it's going to be a busy time this year.....we've had some lovely guests staying already and already they have been enjoying both the new decking area and the "wendy house".   In fact, last night we enjoyed a barbeque inside it with Iain and Mary, our great friends and neighbours - got the chiminiere up to maximum heat and enjoyed Iain singing and playing on his violin.  What a fabulous evening!

Sorry for not updating for a while - we've been busy using a short spell of not having guests staying to spruce the cottage up ready for the busy year ahead.   And Gordon has been very busy outsde - the decking area is fabulous and we're sure it will be popular in the good sunny weather.  Then the adult 'Wendy House' is finished now, and looks fantastic.   Our present guests have used the chiminiere already!  Fantastic views, snug and warm inside with logs burning......what more could you ask for.  Well, maybe a glass of wine or two??.......

On the deer front the battle still goes on - the deer caught above the fenceline will now be feeling the effects of little forage and the cold wet weather, and snowy conditions at times as well.   This is a time when the deer will be at their lowest and I particularly feel for the pregnant hinds.   We still want the fence down in places to let the deer down to be able to shelter and find food and intend to carry on the fight. 'Tis a crying shame that man (in this case Forestry Commission Scotland) can inflict stress and starvation on our wonderful native species.

On the finer note, yesterday I saw about 30 Hooper swans at the Stronachlacher end of the loch - a lovely sight.   The woodpecker has been heard many times, the frogs are spawning and today the sun is shining!  Wonderful!!!

Beeeeeautiful weather this last weekend, today the loch was like a mirror, the sun was shining all day long and not a cloud in the sky!   Spring is here????   hmmmm....I think there is still plenty of time for more snow......

We have already had one couple staying in the cottage who got engaged whilst staying with us last year.   Ian proposed to Katy on top of Ben A'an - how romantic!   Congratulations to you both and we are looking forward to your return visit soon.

Then last week we had visitors from Germany - Natascha and Cim - who are due to get married in the Trossachs Kirk this summer.   Gordon and I are so looking forward to being part of their happy celebrations....very exciting!

Hi everyone, Jan here.   I've decided to put this blog page on the website to keep you up to date with all the goings on up at Loch Katrine.  We may live in the depth of the Trossachs National Park, but things do go on!
Gordon and I spotted a beautiful red kite a few days ago - we knew it was a red kite because of its' fanned out tail.  It was marked on its' wings so is probably from the Argaty site near Doune.  What a lovely sight!

Gordon took some guests up to the top track a couple of weeks back when the snow was still on the ground to take in the marvellous view of the Loch from high.....follow that with a walk down through the ancient forest and our guests were very happy.   But the highlight was spotting two otters playing on the track by the burn - what an amazing sight!!  We really didn't know that otters would be glimpsed so high up the hill but perhaps it's a winter thing and there is more to eat up there??  Who knows.....