WELL, I can scarcely believe the last bloggy was in December!
What a start to 2019. Once a year we have a group of friends to the Lodges to celebrate not only a new year, my birthday (well there have to be some perks to having a January 6th birthday when all the Christmas and New Year celebrations are over with!) but to look back and appreciate what we all have. Always a great night with food, drink and a crazy mix of music, catering for all ages and tastes, this year’s party did not disappoint! Party over and on with the business!
Hot tubs have been a huge success and we were very fortunate to have amazing weather this February so sitting under the stars in a gorgeous wooden hot tub was certainly not a hardship! We’ve never had flowers at the Lodges, either in containers or in borders as we have regular visits from the roedeer and badgers! Other than the blossom on the trees and the bunches of flowers in the Lodge for our visitors that has been it. However this year Donald made two wooden troughs for the hot tub area and as they are high up they haven’t been eaten by our four legged visitors – yet!!
They have been absolutely gorgeous and a lovely splash of colour, especially when the daffodil bulbs came through after the beautiful blue pansies and little red and pink daisies. We’ll definitely keep these up to date with seasonal flowers.
It’s now April and as I am writing this the temperature has risen, the wind is south westerly and the sky is azure blue. This is a fabulous time of year with the wild cherry tree blossom, the yellow gorse and broom and the amazing fresh green leaves on the Silver Birches. These are easy to capture on a photograph but the distinct perfume of the gorse is not so easy!!!
Our Lochan is buzzing with pairs of ducks already, the moorhens and coots are also zooming about and I am hoping we’ll have the annual visit from the swan that stays for a few days and then flies away. Driving up to the Lodges you’d be very unlucky not to see the deer grazing in the field and as long as they stay there and not at our flowers and shrubs then that is good! Dusk brings the badgers and we have a wildlife camera to record their evening activities. At the feeders we have 4 pairs of jays this year, woodpeckers, blue tits, coal tits, finches, robins and on and on. The peace, quiet and abundant food supply keeps a varied and interesting selection of wildlife.
Whilst the wood fired hot tub is the exciting and trendy new kid on the block, don’t forget about the Jacuzzi inside with beautiful sky views, heated floor, waterproof speakers for that romantic setting and perfect for those who prefer to be inside looking out to outside and being part of nature!
Our relax room with the massage chair, yoga mat, art and craft materials caters for your creative side!
With so much political uncertainty this year, why not take a leap of faith and book your well deserved 2019 holiday at Lodges at the Mains. In line with the short breaks trend we are offering not only 7 nights or more during high season, we are also offering a 3 night break Friday to Monday or a 4 night break Monday to Friday for the same price. So a relaxing, long weekend or a quiet weektime chill out or even a fast and furious action packed weekend or a crazy, hectic and full on weektime break. The choice is yours!
Either way there is SO much to do in the immediate area with historic buildings and sites – Fort George, Culloden Battlefield, Brodie Castle, Cawdor Castle, plenty of outdoor activities – walking in the Cairngorm National Park, cycling, boat trips and dolphin watching – Phoenix Sea Adventures from Nairn – to seeing amazing wildlife, eating in excellent restaurants, shopping in first class outlets and enjoying our wonderful pubs with traditional music, Eden Court Theatre with shows for all tastes and Highland Games, Agricultural Shows and Game Fairs.
Looking forward to seeing you this year, in fact it sounds so good maybe as well as our annual party we should book a week ourselves and be Lodges at the Mains visitors!!!!