Newsletter 4

So, England are in the quarter finals of the World Cup, Day 1 of Wimbledon is rained off and the cricket team have struggled against Sri Lanka ……. for those of you who are heartily sick of football in particular and sport in general now is the time to visit us here at Glenan Lodge. The highlands are very quiet at the moment (it’s that football again) so there are no traffic jams and no queues to enter any of the attractions. We don’t expect this to last much longer though, as the various European countries get knocked out their supporters will, no doubt, turn their attention to holidays to cheer themselves up.

Rob & I have taken advantage of the quiet to get a lot of work done in the garden which is now starting to look lovely. We’ve also acquired another dog so have plenty of exercise and training to do.

The snow in March meant that there was plenty of water in the river and May saw the best start to the fishing season on this part of the Findhorn for many years – I heard of no fewer than 12 fish being caught in one day when the water conditions were at their best. There were also Sea Trout seen for the first time for a good few years. Since then we’ve had a dry spell followed by more rain so the fishing is still good. Two of our guests each took a 12lb salmon back to Wales at the beginning of this month and, for those of you who prefer not to drive this far one of them went by Easyjet. We have vacancies for fishing right through to September and have reduced the prices. June and July are now back to pre 2004 rates of £35 per rod per day – July and August £45 per rod per day. Still very good value and if you don’t want to take the fish home we’ll be happy to cook it for you.

On a more cultural note the Inverness Highland Games take place over the weekend of 22/23 July and this year look set to be THE premier gathering in the country as it’s hosting the 2006 World Masters Championships. I gather this is the official World Championship for Heavies aged 40 and over which has never been staged in Europe before. So come and see large men (and women) in kilts tossing even larger trees!!!! Seriously, though, it’s a huge event and there’s something for everyone including lots of traditional music and dancing.

I know we haven’t exactly had summer yet but thoughts are already turning to Christmas and Hogmanay. We’re hoping to repeat the successful Christmas House Parties of 2003 and 2004 and will send you the details within the next few weeks. In the meantime the format is likely to be:-

Christmas – 3 night break arriving Christmas Eve to a Welcome dram and mince pie followed by a candlelit dinner, Christmas Day buffet breakfast, Traditional Christmas Lunch and buffet supper for anyone with room left and Boxing day brunch and candlelit dinner.

Hogmanay – 2 night break arriving New Years Eve to Welcome dram and mince pie followed by a candlelit dinner, New Years day Brunch and candlelit dinner. We’ll be talking to the landlord at the Tomatin Inn nearer to the time to find out what entertainment he has planned for Hogmanay and, hopefully, we’ll all repair to the pub to join in.

As I said, more details on this will follow shortly.

In the meantime we wish you all a lovely summer holiday and look forward to seeing some of you in Tomatin.

Lesley & Rob