At last - Australia!

December 22, 2011

Catriona and I left Edinburgh on December 6^th.  We flew via Heathrow and Singapore to Melbourne, where we were met by my nephew David Hunter, his wife Caroline and their three children, Matilda and Louie, 4, and Archie, 2.

We stayed in Melbourne for three days and had a lovely time.  Though I know David and Caroline well, from their days in Edinburgh,  I had not seen them for several years , before the twins and Archie were born.  Catriona met her first set of Australian Cousins!

From Melbourne we flew to Brisbane, where Ian and Alison were waiting.  It was absolutely wonderful to see them again and to know that we were not flying elsewhere for a time! 

5, Blue Hills Drive has had a few alterations since I last visited in 1999.  The latest is newly finished – a lovely sun room and outdoor BBQ area, at the rear of the house.  Tonight the Christmas tree lights are sparkling there and a heap of presents lies under the tree.  It is strange to be sitting in shorts and T shirt in the evenings!  The days have not been too warm, though when we visited Townsville earlier this week it was over 30C there.  We visited friends in Townsville and went out to the Great Barrier Reef, where we snorkelled – amazing!

Tomorrow my niece Valerie, Mark and the children Laura and William arrive from Sydney.  Catriona has not met cousins Laura and William, 13 and 10.  It’ll be lovely for her to have some younger company!  I am very much looking forward to the next few days too.

After New Year we head to Singapore and we’ll visit friends there too, before heading home on January 10^th.  I’ll be back in touch after that.

I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a Good New Year.

Ann

Catriona     22/12/12:

To my surprise I really enjoyed the long flights with Singapore airlines! I loved Melbourne with Louie, Matilda and Archie. Archie is very cute and Louie and Matilda were great fun! We went to the Eureka tower and (surprisingly!) I wasn’t scared of the height!  From there we flew to Brisbane , where Ian and Alison met us.

We have been to the Darling downs zoo and I LOVED seeing the Wallabies and Kangaroo’s! 

Ian and Alison have had turf laid in the garden and we have been watering that daily, but no matter what I do I ALWAYS end up wet! 

Tomorrow Valerie, Mark, Laura and William arrive and I’m looking forward to that! 

We are heading into winter

 Here's Ruah beside a very confused early summer flowering poppy.

 Thursday, 17 November 2011

Hello

We have had a very good spell of weather, with sun most days from dawn till dusk, while the east was often shrouded in thick mist.  The forecast tonight is threatening us with some wet weather – well, most of us have tidied up and pruned in the garden, even weeded, so we cannot grumble.

Last month I was thinking that I’d get a good bit of cleaning done, with the last guests gone.  Well, the linen is all washed, bleached, folded carefully and wrapped up, the duvets and pillows are all tucked away – and that’s it……  Not a huge achievement in nearly a month, but I have been busy!

I’ve been laying out the essentials for the forthcoming trip to Australia and, much more time consuming, getting all the Christmas presents into bundles – Plockton, Inverness, Edinburgh, New Zealand and of course Australia.  There are little and large heaps everywhere!

Today I posted lots of little parcels and so have one bit of carpet showing again!  Today too I’m going to marzipan three small Christmas cakes and decorate them – I shall not ice them – I do not think they will travel well that way.   They are for Moira and friends down there.

Later on I may give myself either a very good feeling or the very opposite, when I try everything in the case and rucksack!  I think Ian is beginning to wonder what on earth I’m planning to bring – so am I, just at this point!

Catrona and I leave Edinburgh on Dec. 6 and go first to Melbourne, where David, my nephew, and his wife and three little children live.  That’ll be great fun!  We know David and Caroline but have never met Matilda and Louie their four year old twins, or Archie, their younger brother.

On December 11 we head for Brisbane, where Ian will meet us.  It is an hour and a half drive inland to Toowoomba, where Alison will be home from the Uni. – what excitement!!   Alison of course keeps the web site running smoothly.  Just today she straightened me out – again.  Thanks Alison.

I’ll write from Toowoomba and let you know what we have been doing – and our future plans.  Till then, I hope you are all well.

Ann

The nights are creeping in........

 Sunday, October 16, 2011

The photos were taken today - two in glorious sunshine and a little disgruntled Ruah, bathed and clipped!

Bob and Cathy Shields, from Mildura, Victoria, Australia, will be dropping in this weekend and staying a couple of days.  These are my last booked guests of 2011 and so next week, weather permitting, I’ll begin the annual house clean – good to get that out of the way long before Christmas.

Long before Christmas this year anyway, Catriona and I will not be here!  We leave Edinburgh on December 6 and return on January 10, having visited relatives in Australia and stopped over in Singapore on the way home.  I’ll tell you about it all in a later letter.  We are vexed not to have enough time to visit the New Zealand relatives.  Next time, I hope……

If you ask anyone what sort of weather we have had this summer, you’ll likely be told “shocking”.  But I disagree as, when the family was here, off and on for weeks during July and the beginning of August, we did not have a jumper or raincoat on and the little boys wore long sleeved shirts, long trousers and hats – after being covered in suntan cream!  They often went swimming – yes, in wetsuits! – in the evenings, just very near the house, though the coral beach was warm enough for the children to discard the wetsuits.

Before and after the summer months there was and has been really bad weather……  My double red hawthorn tree, nearly nineteen years old, was flattened in May.  Stalwarts Ruari, Calum and Don winched it up and into a deep trench and, so far, it looks good – still erect, thanks to pulleys, ropes and stakes!  Time will tell.

It is our October holiday for the schools.  They have two weeks.  A lot of the local people with children have taken the chance to get away for a few days. 

Moira, Colin and the three younger children (Sam’s back at Uni.) are off to Alton Towers for a couple of days.  As the Edinburgh schools have another week of holiday, perhaps the children may come here too.  I hope so!

It’s very windy but sunny too.  I hope the photos show that. That's Calum leaving the pontoon, on a seal trip.

Till next month

Ann

Autumn 2011

As you see, Ruah and Amber are the best of friends.

My lost property cupboard now includes two pairs of trousers, navy and cream and a M&S top.  Do they belong to you?  And if you have arrived home with an extra electrical lead and you stayed in the East bedroom, then it comes from the radio beside the bed!  Many guests use the bedside table on which the radio is to charge phones or plug in computers - so to unplug a wrong lead is the easiest thing in the world to do.

I’ll not order a new lead yet, as I’m sure mine will come home!

The weather since I wrote has been really poor and it has been a struggle to get much done in the garden.  The late summer flowers have taken a bad battering, while the lawns and hedges have galloped onwards and upwards!  The forecast for the next week or more is better, thank goodness.

It’s been a busy few weeks at home and in the village.  As well as having guests most evenings, I had double glazed panes replaced in the front porch.  The men have to come back with another big pane, for the east bedroom.  A bird flew straight into the corner and cracked it.  A sea bird, species unknown, was found two or three hundred yards away, with a broken neck – the culprit, we presume.

There has been a 25^th wedding celebration, with quite a lot of the Irish nation invading us!  And last Saturday Calum (the Seal Trip)'s very popular son Malcolm had his 30^th party in the hall.  Both of these celebrations were open to all of us and were very much enjoyed by everyone – thank you!

 The schools have ten days of holiday next month and I hope some of the children will be here from Edinburgh.  It’ll be before the clocks go back an hour and so still bright in the early evening.  At present it is getting dark by 8.00pm.

In a week it’ll be Alison’s birthday – Happy Birthday!

It is a year now since John died suddenly, while at work in Edinburgh.  I have been grateful to be very busy, keeping the house going and meeting friends old and new.  I’m pleased to have been given an excellent health report after a last check up and aren’t I fortunate to have a lovely family in Edinburgh and my soul mates at Heron’s Flight, Ruah and Amber?

Ann

Summer holiday photos

Taken at 9.30pm, when the sun was still high in the sky.  The bay had a lot of yachts in that night.

The boats drifting past the starting line in the long distance race - Sam's in "Delight", with the yellow sail.

A delighted Daniel showing off his crab catch - he is covered from head to toe to stop sunburn!

At the rock in my front garden is my grand-daughter Catriona and her little gang of friends - only one is a Plocktonian - the rest all come each summer - one from Singapore!

Summer's flying by!

August 21st

I feel a bit like a lost property shop this month, for I have found spectacles in a  dark grey case in the front porch (were you doing a jigsaw?), a waterproof jacket (in the “old furniture” bedroom wardrobe) – its label says US Basic ***, M size.  Lastly I have acquired a very pretty pair of ear rings in the same bedroom the other day – I am certain they belong to the young girl from Brescia, Italy – no more address than that…..

Please get in touch and I’ll post with pleasure!

Quentin and Berengere from Paris arrived on the 18^th, with a lovely mug, little chocolates and an Eiffel Tower keyring – how could they guess that I love my collection of keyrings?  I have my morning coffee in their mug now.  Thank you both! 

After various permutations of family being here over six weeks, Sam left on Thursday, having returned from a six day cruise to the north, with his regatta skipper, who has a small yacht.  The good weather had kept up and the winds were very favourable, so the cruise was a great adventure.

The weather has become much more unsettled and cool but I am still busy with visitors and have a good few bookings till around the end of September.  After that I’ll think about a big tidy up and a few days in Edinburgh, perhaps. 

The garden has been easy this year as a friend’s daughter has grown veges in that part of the garden, while Colin and Moira did a great job on the front lawn and wild trellis, which are looking much better.  Sam and I kept the front and side hedges in trim and a friend mowed when necessary.  It is quite a big area and I am glad of any help, for the moment anyway!

I have decided to have self catering weeks available, at Heron’s Flight, at Christmas and New Year.  If you would like to come then, please get in touch directly to annheronsflight@btinternet.com   A ll the facilities and accommodation are on www.heronsflight.org and on the Plockton Web.

It would be fun to have you here during the festive spell!

In the meantime, please pop in if you are in this part of the country….

Ann

Coral Beach, Plockton: Catriona and Ann, Ruah on the rocks and Sean on the coral sand

July News

18/7/11

This has been the month of the flowers!  Thank you all for bringing and sending lovely summer flowers to me – Anne and Michael, Hieke, Arndt and your parents, Geert and Anna and the family, “Big John” Townend -  I do love flowers

Last Saturday I motored to Inverness and had lunch with Moira, Catriona and Sean.  The children came home with me, much to the delight of Ruah and Amber!

We had a wonderful week.  The best day of summer to date was on Wednesday and we went to the Coral beach, along with several other Plockton families and several visitors too.  It’s quite a big double beach with coral sand – not too pleasant for little people’s bare feet!  There are little lumps of white and pink coral all over the place – Catriona found a lump of about three inches across – a treasure to take home.

We spent a lot of time fishing at the pontoon.  Catriona caught two fish and Sean a huge crab!  The rock in the front garden again became a play area, with the children’s imaginations running riot!  Ruah had a lot of games of football, while Amber, a sore leg attended to by the vet and now better, watched the proceedings from various vantage points in the garden.

My niece Sandra has eight quite un-tamed Hebridean sheep and Catriona and Sean fed them for two days – a big responsibility and thrill.  The children have two dogs, a cat, a rabbit, two hens, two chicks and three hamsters, a big and a small brother, so un-tamed sheep held no fears for them!

We met Moira on Saturday and Ruah and I travelled home alone and arrived at the very quiet flat in time for tea.  The big end of the house was occupied by a Belgian family for the week.  Geert and Anna stayed here five years ago and it was so good to welcome them again.  They brought two of their three children, a friend and her daughter – when they left yesterday (how tidy the house was – thank you!), Anna said she and Geert would be back in another five years!

Tonight there are two couples sharing the house with me – from Sweden and Germany. B&B life is certainly varied and very interesting.

 On Thursday I hope Sam will arrive, probably on the evening train.  He’ll be here till after the Regatta, which ends on August 6^th. 

Moira, Colin, Catriona and a friend, Sean and Daniel will arrive on July 30^th I hope.

Till then Ruah, Amber and I will welcome guests from all over and we look forward to meeting you, perhaps?

Ann 

18/7/11

Soon be the shortest day!

June 16, 2011

Hello

I have had a lovely time, with many visitors calling in, staying for a day or two and old friends being here too.

Yet again, Angela and Richard Hough had good weather during their week’s stay!  Cid and Di Warden were not so lucky…. Heike and Arndt, here four years ago, brought Heike’s parents all the way from Belgium last week. Thank you all for the lovely flowers!  A friend came in to the be-decked house the other day and said “It’s not your birthday – is it?”  They are all going strong – Arndt, pop over from Belgium, reach up and water the hanging basket, please!  I shall get the steps out and not balance and fall off a chair….

This week Malcolm and Denise Bain (Malcolm painted Yarrow, Sponge and Ruah before) have returned and they have been joined by Henry and Laura from Florida.  As the weather is really unpredictable, a “Plockton” jigsaw is rapidly taking shape.  The photo of Henry and Laura was taken at 10.40pm, when the yachts in the background show just how light it is at that time here, in June.

In the last six weeks we have welcomed guests from eleven countries and a first from Cyprus!  Thank you for coming, one and all!

Though we cannot guarantee the weather in the North West of Scotland, I can guarantee a very warm welcome at Heron’s Flight!

Ann

Visitors again, a new Heron's Flight pet and Ruah's summer hair cut

Hello,
Here is a photo of guests who stayed with me for the last three nights. It was lovely to see Alan and Lyn Hughes again. They brought Margaret and Tony from West Australia. It was such a pleasure to have you all staying at Heron's Flight - open for business again after some little time.....

I have a cat again!
Amber has come from Moira in Edinburgh, for a holiday or perhaps for ever, if she settles well.

In Edinburgh Amber very seldom wanted to go out - we'll see what she prefers in Plockton.
I hope she will go round about the garden soon - she would not do it today as we have a huge gale accompanied by heavy rain.

Ruah is very pleased! Amber is a BIG cat so Ruah and she look each other in the eye as they stand!  I have not weighed Amber yet, but I imagine she may tip the scales above Ruah.

Ryan, Moira's one year old black labrador dog, will be missing the sport of poking juvenile fun at Amber...

Lastly little Ruah has been severely clipped in readiness for the summer (which we all hope will come soon!) In this first photo, she is certainly NOT best pleased - but is much happier in the second photo!

Time's flying -it's well into May....

May 8th, 2011

It has been quite an eventful time since my last news.

On April 5th I was again in Raigmore Hospital, for the closure of an ileostomy. The hoped for three or four night stay stretched to twelve. Restrictions of no lifting, no pushing, no pulling, no gardening etc. are easing and I’ve been driving for a couple of weeks – what a relief!

I fully intend that visit to Raigmore to be my last – ever!

Ian and Alison arrive home in Toowoomba tomorrow morning. They have been round the world, visiting Europe where they had a fantastic Rhine cruise and I missed a holiday in Paris with them…… They visited friends in the United States of America and flew home via Auckland. Alison succumbed finally to the cold Ian had been doing his best not to spread over the globe – she is arriving home with pneumonia. I bet your own bed feels just so luxurious, Alison and Ian.

The Edinburgh family is flourishing. Sam phones and sounds on top of the world, Catriona emails, with little funny faces at the end of each letter, while Sean and Daniel perfect their football and trampoline skills. I am hoping that they will all spend a good length of time here in the summer holidays, as I missed them at Easter.
.
My B&B/self catering life begins again on Saturday. I am really looking forward to that! My diary is quite full and I look forward to meeting again some very good friends.

If you have not yet visited Plockton, perhaps you will soon. Ruah and I would like to meet you.

I’ll write again soon.

Ann

Photo from Edinburgh

Having just published a post with Ruah and Charlie in the limelight, I really should add a photo of the children - the best I could do with four to focus on the camera!
Ann

Late March,11

The clocks change this weekend.
25/3/11

I’m in Edinburgh for a few days, staying with Moira, Colin and the family. It is a busy household! Today Moira was working in Perth but Colin had time off and did the school runs. I went to Gullane to visit our first cousins, “the twins” Ann and Margaret, having deviated on the way south yesterday to visit Celia in Blackburn and Dorothy in Bathgate.

The schools have a half day on Fridays so Nicola, Catriona’s friend, was here, after Colin had taken them all to the park for some pretty vigorous exercise, I know! Sean was not finished at that – he still had football practice, after tea. The girls and Daniel had decorated a double sponge cake for pudding – lovely!

Tomorrow Catriona has dancing – she has been at classes since she was a little girl and she loves ballet, jazz and tap. By the way, she is no longer little – eye to eye with me this visit!! She’ll be eleven on April 15th.

Sam comes home tomorrow for the Easter holidays. We are all looking forward to seeing him. I was hoping that he might come north for a while, however I know now I’ll be in Raigmore Hospital from April 5, for a few days – and taking it easy for a week or two after that. Sam can come for a longer time in the summertime, when there is much more activity and plenty of sailing. The other children will come then as well and Moira and Colin will be around at Regatta time - a lot to look forward to!

It is now the 28th and I’m still\in Edinburgh – going north tomorrow, I think! Ruah has been happy to be with her cousin, Charlie. Ryan, the one year old Black Labrador, still tends to beat Ruah up – his idea of playing. Ruah is not amused….

It has been good to be of a little use – taking the younger children to school, doing some laundry, helping in the garden and taking Sam out to lunch!

I am looking forward to getting B&B and self catering under way from May 14th. Not having had guests at all last year makes this beginning all the more exciting!

I hope I’ll see you during the summer.

Ann

Late February news

The full moon has passed; the sky was such a deep colour, with many, many stars twinkling. That day was beautiful too – no clouds in the sky and not a ripple on the loch.

Into this peace some of us dared to crash – engines roared as the fishing boats left the harbour and garden shed doors creaked open, lawn mowers were oiled and cajoled into life. At Heron’s Flight the hedge trimmer savagely chopped off the dead heads from the heathers. It was fun!

At the end of the afternoon we believed that spring had arrived early. Tomorrow we might be proved wrong. In the north west of Scotland there are very few consecutively good days, at this time of the year, anyway………..

I started writing this a few days ago and since then there has not been a dry day! The wind has reached gale force on several occasions and the sun has not put in an appearance.

I was in Inverness today to pick up Sam, who is here for the weekend. The Edinburgh – Inverness morning train broke down before the journey began. After a while another train arrived but there was no hope of Sam catching the Inverness - Plockton connection. Ruah and I drove to Inverness to meet him. The sun shone all the time we were on the east coast and, guess what? Yes, it was blowing and raining on our return to the west.

 Our weather keeps us all guessing, but we are very seldom worried by it – unlike Queensland earlier on and Christchurch so recently. We in this country are so relieved that family and friends in both places have escaped relatively unscathed.

Moira, Colin and the family are all well. Sean and Daniel have started Tai Kwan Do classes and are getting rid of some of their boundless energy with that and of course their football training. Catriona is still dancing – ballet, jazz, tap. Moira and Colin manage to fit in work, as well as acting as chauffeurs to various venues in the city…..

Sam’s enjoying student life. He works hard. About once a fortnight he pops up at home, much to Mum’s delight especially! He has a good meal, while his laundry is done!

Ruah was put on a new eating programme recently. After 4 days of guzzling things changed!! So little Madam is now on a restricted diet, to lose the weight she piled on! She’s having at least one long walk daily and treats are out. We are still friends!

Very regretfully I have phoned Ian and Alison and said I would not be able to meet them in Paris at the end of April. My consultant surgeon says there is no chance of me running off on holiday so soon after surgery. I now know the op. will be sooner rather than later. If nothing else, this episode has taught me that one has to quickly realise that the wheels of the NHS grind slowly!!

 I’ll be here all summer and look forward to meeting many of you.

Ann

Heron's Flight Website back on air

I am delighted, and not a little relieved, to report that Ann's website, Heron's Flight, is now back on the air, after several days of being AWOL. Neither Ann nor I are heavily 'techie' and the frustration factor of 3-way dealing with each other and the hosting service has been enough to drive me at least a little way to drink! But all fine now, I hope (with fingers crossed behind our backs).

The next post will be by Ann I'm sure, who has had her own ups and downs of late!

Thanks to many of Ann's newsletter and website readers for your nice comments about the newsletter and the website - it's a real labour of love! This is a photo of me, with a visiting dog next door.

Alison Hunter, Ann's webmaster.

January news

Christmas in Edinburgh, with Moira, Colin, Sam (home from Uni.), Catriona, Sean and Daniel was fun. Our Christmas dinner, at a Chinese Restaurant, was a success, with the little boys clearing their plates. None of us wanted to eat that meal at home, without John.

On January 10^th Ian and Alison, who as you know live in Toowoomba, were fortunate to live in a high part of the city. When the floods we round the world witnessed poured down into the area, they were not swamped, but the incessant torrential rain did flood their basement - garage, one bedroom and, maybe worst of all Ian possibly thought – the wine cellar! Some of the lower part of Toowoomba was a disaster area with scenes a little like an inland tsunami. As we all saw on TV, night after night, the floods caused a lot of damage and inundation throughout many parts of Queensland, including Brisbane, and the loss of over 20 lives many of whom were in the Lockyer Valley between Toowoomba and Brisbane ……

Ruah and I came home the Wednesday after Christmas and on New Year’s Eve I watched the bonfire and fireworks from the house. On the first and second of January friends popped in to say “Happy New Year” I was totally speechless when Moira and Catriona bowled in, especially as Catriona had phoned seconds before, saying a visit to Tesco was on the cards! The call was made from my gates – checking I was in!

We had a lovely two days, visiting round the village……

Since then I have at last moved into the Granny flat. It is amply big enough. I do miss my Rayburn cooker and coal fire, though!

Friends, who are having their house (in the village) completely renovated, are staying in the other end of this house, so I suppose I’m gently dipping my toe into my latest venture – self catering.

My chemotherapy has finished and I have one small op to have, before finally saying goodbye to doctors and hospitals. I have been very lucky to have sailed through all my treatment, which began last March, without trouble.

I am looking forward now to seeing Ian and Alison in Paris at the end of April – that will be so exciting!

Then it is back to work! I shall be ready to welcome guests, whether self catering or B&B. Do visit my web sites www.heronsflight.org and Heron’s Flight self catering accommodation on the Plockton Web.

It is a little late to wish you all a Happy New Year – but I do it anyway. 2011 can only be better for our family than 2010, when we had so much sadness.

I hope your year is a happy and successful one.

Ann