We love this time of year – it’s like a Winter Wonderland! Well, we’ve had snow early this year; the first came in early November and as I write this, it’s been snowing for days.  It’s supposed to last for at least another week and then well into December and beyond.  I am sure it’s […]

We’ve started to see a few more red squirrels in the garden recently.  But they’ve been hard to capture on camera.  Jimmy saw one at the bottom of the garden, running along the low wall.  Then he zipped up into one of the trees.  But luckily today I caught one out of the corner of […]

Last weekend I took two Pinewood Steading guests to experience the delights of a nearby beach – Rosemarkie Beach on the Black Isle. And also Chanonry Point, which is (officially) one of the best places in the world to spot Bottlenose dolphins. We drove via Beauly and the Muir of Ord over to the Black […]

My husband, Jimmy, and I recently took ourselves to Fort Augustus (an hour’s drive away) and decided to jump on one of the Loch Ness cruises.  There are two main companies you can go with (basically from opposite end of the Lochs).  So, we jumped on ‘Cruise Loch Ness’ for a one hour trip.  Booked […]

This time of year, there are lots of Highland Games taking place. Over the summer (from May to September), you have the chance to visit over 80, taking place on islands and in towns, villages and cities across Scotland. It’s the place best to see a combination of international athletes, local communities and visitors coming […]

We’re lucky to be able to share wonderful photographs taken by a recent guest when they went to Glen Affric.  They took a walk around Dog Falls, which is a beautiful forest stroll through ancient Caledonian Pines. This type of forest is considered to be one of the few truly natural landscapes in the UK. […]

We love the Highlands of Scotland all year round, but Springtime holds a certain charm for us.  We feel blessed to bask in the glorious colours that this season brings with it.  From the blue bluebells, to the yellow gorse and fields full of rapeseed.  And when you get a couple of those sights together, […]

One of the many good things about our location here at Pinewood, is the multitude of places to visit, mountains to climb and activities to pursue.  This month’s blog will focus on some of our recommended activities to do in the nearby area (watch out for a future blog specifically on walking and mountains). So, […]

One of the best assets in Pinewood Steading is undoubtedly it’s kitchen!  And I’m a big cook and I really love it when I have the opportunity to use the kitchen.  If you can take your eyes off the stunning view (which looks out towards the Beauly Firth), the kitchen is a super size and […]

Do you like a good local walk? Why not have one when visiting a local community wood. We are very spoilt here at Pinewood by having two great community woods nearby – Abriachan and Upper Reelig.  Reelig is a short 2 minutes drive from the Steading, or for a slightly longer walk, you can actually walk […]

This was our first winter in our new home and we were blessed with many friends, family and neighbours visiting us over the Christmas period.  We were spoilt to have snow, and even for a few days we had a snow blizzard, but we still managed to get out into the garden to build a […]