Autumn in Argyll

Karell and David spent a long weekend at the cabin October.

David said: "We had a really relaxing time. There was a lot of rain, but without it we wouldn't have been able to see the spectacular double rainbow near Kilchrennan on the way down. And it meant that when we went on the Avich Falls walk on Friday afternoon, the river was in full spate; foaming and powerful.

"On Saturday we walked down to the the crannog remains and saw a huge osprey hunting over the loch. Then we went round the Oakwood trail, enjoying the colours of the turning leaves and bracken, and then headed back to the cabin for a late lunch.

"It was great to be warm indoors, reading and relaxing, watching the trees swaying in the wind through the picture windows. We put out nuts and seeds and enjoyed seeing the great tits, coal tits, blue tits and robins flying in to get at them.

"Couldn't have been better. Thanks very much."

Red squirrel holidays

Katharine Lay, her partner and 3 children piled in to the cabin for a very enjoyable week in August: "We reckoned it probably had the best situation of all the cabins - I could spend hours just looking out of the window. The birds were always entertaining too, and we had a great red squirrel moment on our last evening when one came and had a good go at the peanuts as we ate our supper. The bilberries were abundant, and the whole area just so beautiful."

"WE HAD A WONDERFUL TIME"

Joanne and her family spent May bank holiday at our cabin at Dalavich: "Just a short note to let you know how we got on at Dalavich. What a long winding road!
The primroses and the bluebells were still out (so were the midges) although for the first few days we had quite a lot of rain so that cleared them for a while.
Gorgeous setting with loads of wildlife around the area. Had a lovely time the cabin is cosy and quirky the boys loved it.
Visited the Dalavich community centre a few times in the evening; we enjoyed playing badmintion and we tried out the fishing rod but I think it takes a little more patience than we had to catch anything. We fed the birds: they were on the bird table within seconds.
After the bank holiday weekend the weather picked up and we got to see how gorgeous the area around us was. We had a fantastic time." The pictures show Loch Avich (a short walk from Dalavich) and one of the burial chambers at Kilmartin Glen, one of Scotland's prehistoric sites.

Christmas at Dalavich

We had a wonderful Christmas at the cabin at Dalavich, with visits from friends and family and fantastic weather. It was bright and dry, but frosty - the trees and the loch looked amazing. This is a photo of Ben Cruachan shining in the sun. And the other is of standing stones in the church at Kilmartin Glen - some many hundreds of years old - some just 300. It is a 40 minute drive from Dalavich to Kilmartin, one of Scotlands most ancient monuments.
For information about booking our cabin in beautiful Argyll, go to www.cottageguide.co.uk

Dalavich delivers calm and wildlife

We heard from Gideon and Gaynor, who spent a week at the cabin with their boys, and Gideon told us:
"The lack of loch view was more than made up for by the feeling of being in the wood with no one else around - but with the comfort that there was. Lovely cabin, really well-made, great design with great use of space, comfortable, calming.
"The boys enjoyed the chance to expolore the surroundings in safety and loved playing by the loch and in the wood. Gaynor and i loved the late night and early morning walks with the dog, seeing the early mist over the loch or the late sun. The dog loved the woods and swam in the loch every day.
Without needing the car much we enjoyed the Oak Wood Trail, the Avich Falls walk and the Loch Avich Walk, all easy for all ages.
In fact we did the 5 mile Loch Avich walk setting off at 7.40pm and returning in the dark as a treat for the boys. Glen Nant also a treat of a walk.. our 22 month old managed it all 2.5 miles on his own and loved it.
"Watching black throated divers dancing and hearing their call over the still moonlit loch was something to behold. The red squirrel came calling many days as did hundreds of tits and finches. We saw foxes on the road and numerous deer.
Also buzzards galore and two osprey - a real treat.
"It's a very relaxing space and we had great weather. We walked every day, shorts the only gear for us boys, and waterproofs not needed much just t shirts and tops."
All this more than made up for an outbreak of wasps (a new plague from ever-active Mother Nature at Loch Awe) and a man-made disaster - the handle on the grill pan has disappeared! Upgrading of the cooker for next year definitely required.
It had been a wonderful summer at Dalavich - of course there has been rain but often it has been wetter here in London than up there. Thanks to all our guests for their comments - we hope to see them all again soon.

Dalavich waterfall

It has been a wonderful summer - for Dalavich. Days on end of sunny weather, though I think this week is not so good. Julian Hudson & Leen Van Nieuwenhuyze came over from Belgium for a holiday: "We had a great time. The cabin is very well equipped, which helped things run smoothly," Julian told us. They kindly left some DVDs and fishing things for future guests to enjoy. Now that's the kind of cabineers we like!
I always feel guilty when it rains when we have guests - as if it is my fault! But as Dave always says, it takes a lot of rain to fill a loch as big as Loch Awe.
And it takes a lot of rain to make this too. It's the tumultuous Falls of Avich, just a short walk from the cabin. Water, woods and wildness - that's Argyll.

This is Carol Keelan; she and her husband Chris, both qualified language tutors, bought the former Dalavich primary school and have turned it into lovely little apartments with kitchenette, sitting room and bathroom and roomy, comfy bedrooms. As you can see they kept the theme of school days. To find out about booking one of the apartments, check out the link on the right of the blog. They are offering special fishing holidays where a qualified fly fishing coach, Willie Dewar, will teach you the basics. Willie is an experienced fisherman who really knows what he is doing. If you would like to book a cabin, or one of the apartments at the village school, and learn to fish in some of Scotland's best waters, contact us for more info. They are also offering English Language tuition for visitors from Europe who want to experience a wild holiday, and brush up on their business or tourist English at the same time. What a great idea!