Some work on the house

I have been busy the past week re-painting our hallway and stairwell.  It was a green and red colour but I have opted for a lighter colour on the top half which has brightened it up no end.  We also had some of the wooden sprockets replaced outside as they were totally rotten.

Mandarin Duck

Across the bridge in Blairgowrie in Rattray there is a park called Davie Park and in the park there is a duck pond and recently spotted has been this splendid lone Mandarin duck, so I got a few photographs.

Scenes around Dunkeld

Behind with my blogging again.  Here are a few photos taken in Dunkeld on Santa Day, a couple of weeks ago, unfortunately we were a bit early for the parade, maybe next year.

 Some more Perthshire Produce available in the Deli in Dunkeld.

December at Loch of Lowes

We had a dusting of snow last night and a few heavy flurries this morning but didn't really amount to much but the roads and pavements were very icy today.  The children had stayed overnight in Edinburgh with their Aunt and Uncle so I nipped along to Loch of Lowes to watch the birdies. The squirrel event I mentioned a few blogs ago had been cancelled due to the weather.

 The goldeneye duck is a diving duck and is a winter visitor

 Cheeky red squirrel

 Woodpecker

 Red poll

 Jay

A brambling and finches

I've said it before but you can easily lose track of time just sitting and watching the wildlife at Loch of the Lowes.

Edinburgh Outing

Yesterday the children and I and my mum went through to Edinburgh to meet my youngest brother and his wife as we were going to see the 'Nutcracker' at the Festival Theatre and very enjoyable it was as well.  Here are just a few random photos taken on our day out.

Perthshire Chamber of Commerce Star Awards 2011

Yesterday evening we attended the Perthshire Chamber of Commerce Star Awards at Crieff Hydro Hotel.  The B&B had made it through to the final four nominations in the Royal Bank of Scotland Customer Service Award - to cut to the chase we didn't win.  The other three businesses in the Customer Service Category were a beauty salon, a tyre business and a ready-made meals food delivery company - a totally diverse mix.  It is very difficult therefore for us to benchmark the B&B against the other businesses customer service as we are all so different,  even though customer service is our main objective.  We had a very enjoyable evening and delighted that the B&B made it through to the awards.  Congratulations to everyone that won.

White Tailed Eagles and other Perthshire Wildlife

On Tuesday evening I attended another great event entitled 'White Tailed Eagles and other brilliant Perthshire Wildlife' at the Birnam Hotel in Birnam, by Dunkeld.

There were three great presentations the first was about White Tailed Sea eagles and their re-introduction to the East Coast of Scotland.  The sea eagles are establishing well on the West Coast with Mull being a popular viewing destination.  They are huge birds and I have never seen one, but they have been sighted overhead very close by and I now know another local place to spot them, which is a nice wee run out even if you don't spot an eagle.They are not yet breeding on the east as the birds are not yet mature enough but I think they have hopes for next year.

The next presentation was by RSPB Vane Farm just down the road at Kinross.  I'm ashamed to say I haven't been down to the reserve for years although I was down at Loch Leven at Easter.  It really is a brilliant place to visit and is great for children.  At this time of year the loch is visited by thousands of geese which overnight on Loch Leven, bit of a goose B&B! Vane Farm is open all year with plenty of events and there are great walks around Loch Leven.  Hot of the press is that Vane Farm will be re-naming themselves as RSPB Loch Leven, as Vane Farm gives the impression it is a farm.

The final presentation was by our very local Scottish Wildlife Trust's Loch of the Lowes talking about the Ospreys, red squirrels and all the birdlife the centre attracts, always a popular place for my guests to visit.  The centre is currently on Winter opening hours until the 29th February from 10.30am -4.00pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  On Sunday 4th December there will be a red squirrel event at the centre and you can learn all about the little beauties with Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels.  I would also encourage you to report your squirrel sightings on their website.

The evening finished with a lovely local produce buffet.  Big thanks again to Fiona and Sarah from Perth and Kinross Council rural development programme for arranging another super evening - look forward to the next one :-)