Spring is the best time

I'm with Monty Don when it comes to the best time of the year - for us, spring wins every time. He loves the greenness and I love the spring flower colours. The forsythia buds just beginning to burst and the yellow sunbursts of crocus and daffodils cheer up the grayest of days.  Tatties chitting and some even planted up in the bags we tried last year - a great way to crop if space is short. Still a wee bit too cold to sow the beans in the ground but planting them up in pots ready to go in is the next job on the garden list.  I did read that old gardeners dropped their trousers to test if the earth was warm enough but we don't go that far at Roslin Cottage. Neighbours and all that...
Across the road from the cottage purple crocus have been planted along side the daffodils and with the blue sky and sunshine what a lovely picture they make. We watched as the 'snow horse' melted off the top of 'the ben', or at least that is the shape we see from our side of Callander but it depends on where you are and how the imagination works, what you see as Ben Ledi loses her winter coat.  Yes, spring is round the corner, the best time in the Trossachs.

A new lease of life

The last coat of paint has dried, a beautiful mellow copper colour to bring out the earthy colours of the stones, carpet cleaned, furniture all back in place and our Kirtle room is now ready to receive the first guests due in this weekend.  Well, there was a slight panic as I hunted through the various duvets stored in the loft, yes, we have summer weight and winter quilts in single, double and somewhere in between, but could I find the superking needed, no, but that was because it had been put to the laundrette while we were doing the redecorating. Duh!   Retrieved and resplendent it now sets off the new colour scheme beautifully.  We hope you agree when we get the new photos taken for the website. Meantime here is one I took earlier.....
 Our new 'pet' is now in residence too, no worries, no allergies to fear, for this pet burns wood very efficiently.  We are converts to the warm delights of the wood burning stove - I am almost disappointed the summer is coming around so soon.  Well, almost....
Just as one job finishes, the next starts here at Roslin Cottage- over the last couple of days we have had really lovely spring weather so we got out in the garden.  We have had to make a few changes there as the winter storms tore off a branch from our old, very large and much loved cherry tree.  It was in danger of more branches coming down so we reluctantly had to have the whole tree cut leaving a stump of about four feet.  We talked over many ideas of what to do with it to keep it as a feature.  It was while we were on our own wee holiday to Madeira last November that we saw an idea to copy in the Botanical Gardens there (an island worth a visit).
There they had taken palm leaves, filled them with soil, planted them up with different plants and wired them round old tree stumps.  Very simple, very effective. Back home we have made our own version with old hanging baskets (never enough time to water them in the summer now anyway), moss and spring bulbs all now spiralling round our old cherry - a new lease of life!

Well that was a surprise!

It took longer than we expected and it will cetainly be worth it in the end but when we set off to get plastered together we might just have led you a little up the garden path. And if you know the garden path at Roslin Cottage it goes up quite a long way but it was for a good reason. We're nearly recovered now.   For it was stones, all to do with stones and plaster walls that had hidden them away for generations. Now with Sid's hard work on the old plaster we have found another beautiful stone wall in the bedroom we call The Kirtle for that is the old name of our cottage.
  It started last year when we had decided that a wood burning stove would be a good thing to have in the cottage - we collect our own wood and are very environmentally aware.  This way we could have a gentle heat in the dining room which would go through the cottage and save on other fuel.  As always,  though nothing is straight forward - best laid plans of mice, men, Lucy and Sid and all that...
Now a couple of weeks on and the new stove goes in next week, that's a job for the professionals so we have called on the Scottish Stove Centre who are based at Croftamie to do that.  Meantime we are going to repoint the wall in the bedroom with proper lime mortar and build in the old fireplace we found bricked up with some lovely old stones. Busy times...back soon.

We're going to get plastered

We've been planning doing something together for ages as we don't get much chance over the summer (sailing, gardening and all that), then all of a sudden it's Christmas and New Year and so much going on again. But finally we're going to do it - this weekend!
Of course we've both done it before with other friends, in our other lives, but this will be so different as this time Sid and I will be doing it together. 
Och, we've been steaming before, and that was good fun too but never plastered. Proper head banging, top to toe plastered. Can't wait! Counting down as I write...
We got all sorted out yesterday, everything's ready, you have to do that in a B&B, just in case guests come knocking on the door. Our clothes are all set out - we both like to dress for the part and now, today's the day.
 I'll let you know how we got on - soon.

Happy New Year

It's been a great start to the year with time to catch up on family and friends. We have welcomed a few guests in over the year too. A long time ago a friend gave me a little placemat which said 'Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life'. Not being one who makes resolutions (because I know myself too well) this year is going to be different in that this is going to be my mantra.
Happy New Year to you and yours- and here's wishing that what's for you won't go by you.

7 years and still running

It's hard work running a B & B, no getting away from that, but the upside is that we have met so many kind and interesting folk since we opened for business in March 2005 with many guests returning (we bribe them with extra toast from Mhor bread).
It took 6 months to remodel Roslin Cottage first but as she is over 300 years old I suppose that's not bad for an old lady. Now all rooms are ensuite and guests tell us we have managed to keep the character of the cottage - though maybe they just mean Sid :)
We can see in the loft where the roof has been built up to make the second level as the story is that our cottage, called Kyrtle Cottage then and the Myrtle cottage next door, were built for two sisters. We've not had time to look into the history properly but maybe when we retire that will be a project. Come to think of it running the B&B was to be our retirement project but Sid still goes out freelance being a chef and I have a wee part time job which fits round the business.
 Sometime in 1950 the name was changed from Kirtle to Roslin and that can be confusing as we are not near Roslyn Chapel as you might think. Mind you we have had guests travelling to stay with us having been to the Chapel to visit first but it is a couple of hours drive up the M9.
Callander is on the road to the Isles and if every guest sitting round our breakfast table went to Skye on the same day then it would surely sink - it is a favourite destination and rightly so.

An artist's impression

We had one of those special moments this week when one of our guests asked if she could draw us a picture instead of putting a comment in to our Visitors' Book. Now with a little help from a friend you might see what Noreen has made - a beautiful pen and ink drawing of our garden, complete with visting black cat on the scrounge for scraps in the hedge. Thank you Noreen and hope you are enjoying the rest of  your trip.