From the West coast
of Scotland
A fascinating ten-year archive of letters from one
the most beautiful parts of Scotland,
its people, places, landscape and wildlife.
"Strachur is a small, sleepy, sprawling West Highland village spread along the north eastern shore of Loch Fyne - the longest sea loch in Scotland. This is a very dramatic and beautiful part of Scotland, full of ancient history, magnificent forests and wildlife..."
Pamela MacKinnon's
Letters from Argyll
- September '98 Introduction
- October '98 Half Hung Archie
- November '98 Magnus Barelegs
- December '98 Pantomime
- January '99 Storms and Gardens
- February '99 Campbells and midges
- March '99 Macleans and birdsong
- April '99 Loch Eck and Spring
- May/June '99 Dunoon and Squirrels
- Summer '99 Glasgow
- Autumn '99 Colour and Rowans
- Winter '00 Siskins and Finches
- Spring/summer '00 Puck's Glen
- Autumn '00 Macbeth and a Squirrel
Winter/Spring 2000
- Spring 2001 Town and Country
- Summer 2001 From Scotia to Dunadd
- Winter 2001 Bridge over the Atlantic
- Summer 2002 Cowal and 3 Squirrels
- Autumn 2002 Smiddy and Stones
- Winter 2002 Bagpipes, deer and jays.
- Spring 2003 Rest and Be Thankful.
- Summer 2003 3 lochs and a castle
- Autumn 2003 A Beaut of an Isle
- Winter 2003 The bonnie banks
- Spring 2004 The Hollow Mountain
- Summer 2004 Kintyre Peninsula 1
- Autumn 2004 Kintyre Peninsula 2
- Winter 2004 Arrochar Gateway to Argyll
- Spring 2005 A Walker's Paradise
- Summer 2005 Scotland in Miniature
- Autumn 2005 Skye - The Misty Isle
- Winter 2005 Across the Water
- Spring 2006 The Crossroads of Scotland
- Summer 2006 Calling all seafarers
- Autumn 2006 A day out in the rain
- Winter 2006 A Winter's Day Out
- Spring 2007 A Favourite Place
- Summer 2007 Bonnie Galloway
- Autumn 2007 Port Appin
- Winter 2007 Loch Fyne and a Fine Dram!
- Spring 2008 Snow mountains and Spring!
- Summer 2008 A Walk in the Park
Siskins and Finches
Hello there and a very happy new millenium to you all. As you can see my PC did not blow up at Hogmanay...
Siskin
As I write, the snow is turning to blizzard proportions and gales are to start soon today! Our red squirrels have been munching since dawn but I reckon Spring is not that far away as I spotted some greenfinches and siskins feeding yesterday. Daffodils and crocuses are peeping through the soil - they've been peeping for some weeks now - and I noticed yesterday some daffodils in a garden on the Loch side are about to flower.
January was beautiful here. Almost the whole of January was swathed in bright sunshine - very unusual for us - with lots of very frosty nights but it seemed to break the winter up for us. However February has come in with a bang and brought us back to reality.
Greenfinch
The highland ponies paid me a visit yesterday. They look so cute in their shaggy winter coats and Tess the youngster is filling out well. They should be back in our field soon.
The builders have finished phase 1 of our renovations to the cottage, and phase 2 starts next week. With luck and a lot of hard work we will be 100% ready for our guests when they start arriving in May.
With that in mind I'm looking forward to attacking some painting - when the storm's over, the sun is out, and the sky is blue - and I could do with the exercise!
"Where the magnificence of the scenery is matched only by the beauty of visiting wildlife."
Text and photographs © Pamela Mackinnon.
Yours aye,
Till next time...
Pamela
February 2000
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