Posts Tagged: Highlands

Venturing North, Aim Highlands, and a free fatsia

Dreams of Venturing North this Autumn and Winter As I write this, light rain is falling on Inverness, but it’s still warm enough for me to be sticking with my summer working-from-home uniform of shorts and a t-shirt, and to be optimistic about another mini heatwave before summer ends. I’m a sucker for Highland summers…. Read more »

Jubilee? It passed us by.

The bunting is down Well, it didn’t take long to get that red, white, and blue bunting down, did it? That might be because we didn’t put any up. Did you? If you did, I didn’t see it. The only house I saw that was displaying any patriotic bunting belongs to the (Conservative) councillor who… Read more »

Highland Hospitality – the contrasts.

Highland Hospitality – the contrasts This past week it hasn’t felt like being in the Highlands at all. The sun has shone and there has been warmth in its rays, out of the breeze. The birds are singing, daffodils are bursting into joyous colour, and there’s a feeling of hope in the air. Spring weather… Read more »

Awards are a win-win

Is that a glimmer of optimism on the horizon? I’m no economist, as my accountant will confirm, so please don’t quiz me for details about the strength of the economy or the impact of the twin whammies of Brexit and Covid. And whatever you do, don’t hold me to any of my hazy predictions about… Read more »

Ghillie’s Taste of the Highlands… and other stories

Ghillie’s love letter to the Highlands The thing about recipe books is that even when your kitchen shelves are overflowing, even with the unlimited foodie inspiration of the entire internet in your pocket, there is always room for another cookbook. And the newest is usually the favourite. That rule certainly applies to the newest to… Read more »

E-bike bliss, plus jogging-on & Bond bugbear

Hi-Bikes? Ooh, hello! E-bikes in Inverness? Just £3 for a three-hour trial? Irresistible. Last Saturday morning, with Daughter #1 and her partner here for the weekend, we each downloaded the Hi-Bikes app, uploaded our details, and looked for available bikes. We chose the Inverness Campus rank; more scope for getting used to them in a… Read more »

The Highlands’ dark secrets, plus theatre, and ounces?

The sobering History of the Highlands and Slavery It’s a while since I’ve swum in Loch Dochfour, but when I do, I always pause mid-stroke and take in the beauty of Dochfour House, that orange-ochre coloured Italianate mansion sitting amid formal gardens on the north shore of the loch. It’s a house that speaks of… Read more »

The hunt for Nessie is over!

The search is over. Nessie has been found! Regular readers will know I’m fond of dunking myself into lochs around the north of Scotland. Back in the good old days we used to call it swimming – it now seems to have attracted the tag ‘wild’. But whatever we call it, I like getting cold… Read more »

Through the eyes of others

Holiday friends, with benefits. This week, good friends from Manchester have come to stay. In more normal times this would hardly be news, but it’s the first time since last March that anyone other than our immediate family has spent the night, and it’s the first time we’ve welcomed these friends to the Highlands. In… Read more »

Charles Kennedy: Our loss.

If you’ve not yet watched BBC ALBA’s hour-long documentary about Charles Kennedy, can I suggest you add it to your TV watch-list? ‘Charles Kennedy, A Good Man Speaking’ profiles the late Highland MP from his upbringing in the family croft at the foot of Ben Nevis, through to his burial in its shadow five years… Read more »