Apologies for our lack of blog posts, but we have been mainly posting on Facebook.  We would therefore encourage you to like our 'Bonawe House Holiday Cottages in Taynuilt, by Oban' page.

Amazing fires have been raging throughout the highlands after such dry weather.  These are Beinn Duirinnis, the hill opposite our house with the quarry.  The 'ring of fire' was on Tuesday when the fire started along Loch Etive by Glen Noe.  The other photos are from our doorstep.
The fire is now out, but the whole hillside is black.  It's amazing how quickly it will recover with green shoots in the spring.

Damon has been updating our website, so please do have a look at our new pages for Oban Holiday Cottages. http://www.bonawehouse.co.uk/local_area.html
We have a special offer for any bookings in Honeysuckle and Holly Cottage between 7 April till 11 May with 25% discount for our blog and Facebook friends.
Renate

Whales and wild life

Have a look at Sea Life Surveys on Facebook if you want to see the amazing number of whale and dolphin sightings of the coast of Oban and Mull at the moment. The sea life centre is also busy with seals at the moment, which is dial with smaller children.

Chicks

9 more chick were hatched in the incubator earlier this week. So we now have 8 fully grown chickens, 4 3 week old chicks (which are looking a bit scraggy at the moment as they change from down to feathers) and 9 tiny fluffy chicks. Not sure what we are going to do with them all, or how we are going to house them until we can work out which are cockerels and which are hens.

All fun and games at our Oban accommodation

Cruachan abseil

We are holding a sponsored abseil down Cruachan on Sumday 10 June for the school's outdoor fund. It's open to anyone so if you're interested please contact renate. The abseil goes right down the middle.



Two guests were telling me this morning about their day yesterday. They went to the Loch Fyne festival, just outside Inveraray. Saw buzzards, saw a man holding a golden eagle on his arm. While trying to take a picture of wildlife, two porpoises were further out in the loch. And of course finished off with some deer along the road. And that was just the things I remember.

My day yesterday was up some mountains north of Fort William. It's fantastically clear at the moment. I could see right over to the snowy mountains of Cairngorm.




We sat outside for lunch today, taking a welcome break from tge marathon task of painting the outside of the house. This evening we are planting up window boxes.



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Start of the season and Clematis Cottage

It's the start of the season with the Easter holidays being busy as usual.  Damon has been busy with Clematis cottage during the winter, we hope you like the results!  We're very proud of what's been achieved.

It's been a full strip back to bare walls, then insulating the walls and replastering.  The floors have been raised to give great views out over the front of the house, and all that space has been insulated too.  A hard wooden floor to top it all, and we got permission for double glazing in this property too.  

Torr na Locha

We have just had a lovely weekend at our cottage Torr na Locha on the Isle of Mull. It was a chance to set up the cottage after the winter, and as always it was fabulous weather! We sat outside drinking tea and having lunch. While we did some odd jobs and cleaning, the kids entertained the cheeky sheep and the new cows.




I even got some eggs from Mark's chickens that the kids collected in the morning for mother's day.




This photo shows the views you get from the bath.




Last week's kayak in Loch Etive.




The highschool children were very excited by the 'one show' being in Oban on Friday. A sport relief effort to run from Tobermory to London. We were waiting for the ferry and 'snapped' them.
Renate
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First daffodils - clematis windows

Our first daffodil appeared rather lonely yesterday among the snowdrops. The other sign of spring was the frogs on the road on tuesday night with the heavy rain, all coming to spawn.




Out with the old, in with the new. New windows for Clematis, which is the last of the works that needs doing to complete tge insulation of walls and floor throughout. Obviously a solid wooden floor on top plus new bathroom thrown in.







And finally, out with the old, in with the ....... Older. Barbara has been given an old piano that is a better quality and in concert pitch for the Edwardian. We have given our old piano to Ardmaddy holiday cottages through freecycle.





Renate
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