Loch Ness Newsletter -  November 2011

Hello Everyone

This is exciting for Graeme and I as this is the first newsletter since we closed Evergreen and it is now being sent to both our Evergreen and Hazelgrove guests. Our Evergreen guests and those who subscribed to our newsletter will be quite used to our monthly updates. But for the majority of Hazelgrove guests, welcome! We hope that you will enjoy receiving a monthly newsletter telling you about what has been happening around Loch Ness and beyond.

At the end of October our local public hall in Gorthleck held a book, CD and DVD swap. The idea is that you bring along at least a couple of items and once everyone has arrived with their "donations" and everything is on display, then the floor is open for you to choose the same number of items you brought in a swap. A similar event was held in Spring this year with the theme being accessories - jewelry, scarves, gloves, hats and handbags. That one was much more geared up for the ladies but the book, CD and DVD swap has a great mix of male and female participants. This type of event gives you an opportunity to de-clutter but more importantly, the event is a great way to raise funds for a charity as any items left over (and I assure you there are plenty as people normally bring much much more than they take away) are donated to a local charity. Both events have seen the extra items being donated to the Highland Hospice which has eleven shops throughout the Highlands. In addition, it is a great social event as well and as there is a small entry fee, it also raises some funds for the hall itself. All in all a win, win, win situation!!

It has been unseasonably warm of late across the UK and we have not missed out on this in the Highlands. I think is it almost 3 weeks since we had any rain during the day and we have been treated to cloudless blue skies and sunshine which have made the autumn colours just look amazing. I should have put my camera in the car permanently to try and get that "perfect shot" but I think I am probably a bit late now. I can however picture it in my head which is great for me but not much use for sharing!

Since it has been such great weather we have been encouraged to get out into both Evergreen and Hazelgrove gardens to do some tidying up and also to continue with the cutting down of rhododendrons in Hazelgrove. It's not that we don't like rhoddies but many are now very old and straggly and it is better to cut them down and let them regrow (which as you may know, happens very quickly) The rhoddie we cut down in the spring in Hazelgrove has about 2 foot of growth already and looks much more healthy than the old specimen we took away. Being surrounded by trees there are of course masses of leaves to rake up and remove from the borders and I find this kind of therapeutic.What I don't like however are the larch needles which just stick to you shoes and then you find them throughout the house!

The 9th Inverness Film festival has been running for the last week at Eden Court theatre in Inverness and on Sunday evening we went to see Red Dog. This is an Australian film which is based on the legendary true story of the Red Dog who united a disparate local community while roaming the Australian outback in search of his long lost master. Graeme and I loved the film - it makes you both laugh and cry... and we would really recommend it to all you animal lovers out there.

Good news to report on the running front for Graeme. His patience has paid off and the injury he picked up in the middle of October is now fully healed so he has started to get out on some short runs again. Because the days are now so short if he wants to go out later in the afternoon then the head torch is a must. As you may remember there are not a lot of street lights round us on Loch Ness! But there is an up side to this - when the skies are clear at night we get the most amazing display of stars because there is no light pollution. The plough has been particularly bright over the last few nights. I'm not very good at recognising the constellations but the plough is an easy one to identify, as is orion's belt.

But to back to Graeme's running - he has been advised that he has to do some other form of training other than just running and with a bit of help and advice from a friend he is now the proud owner of a shiny new racing bike. I don't really know a lot about bikes but this looks a fabulous machine and is very, very light. The tyres are really thin (as is the saddle) and as well as the bike he has had to purchase lots of gear to go with it - the most important of course being a helmet. I managed to get some photos of him on his first real outing on Sunday out towards Farr and have put a photo of man and machine onto our facebook page.

This evening I am going across to Drumnadrochit to see Calum's Road. This is the stage version of the fabulous book by the same name which tells the story of Calum MacLeod of Raasay (near Skye) who in the 1960's started to build, single handedly, nearly 2 miles of road from his home in Arnish, at the north end of the island to the existing road at Brochel Castle in the south of the island. It is a quirky little tale of one man's fight against the local council and his determination and desire to have a road which he hoped would bring a new generation of people to the depopulated north end of the island. It took Calum over 10 years to complete his road!

Till next month

Graeme and Fiona