Author Archives: sarah

Well, after an oddly warm end to 2015, it’s suddenly the sort of temperature that feels ‘normal’ for early January. We’ve even had snow… … and very beautiful it was too. This scene is on the walk round the wonderfully-named … Continue reading →

05.11.2015 My favourite Autumn challenge is on… to try to make good use of all the apples from our three small trees! The results can be quite colourful as you can see, using other locally available ingredients such as bramble, rhubarb, plum, … Continue reading →

25.10.15 Last week – in the build-up to Autumnwatch – Steve and I visited Caerlaverock’s Wetland and Wildfowl Trust centre which is just the other side of Dumfries from McMurdoston. So far there’s little evidence of BBC activity but what is … Continue reading →

12.09.15 What an odd Summer it turned out to be. I only have to look at the state of my veggie plot to realise that it has been distinctly abnormal. Other than the potatoes, nothing has grown much. We had … Continue reading →

25.06.15 Once again this year it would seem that, when applied to June,  the word ‘flaming’ is more of an expletive than an adjective. The weather has been distinctly odd and my veggie patch is as confused about it as … Continue reading →

26.05.15 Amongst many interesting and highly energetic guests recently (two of whom were well on their way to John O’Groats from Land’s End by bike), we were lucky enough to have an amateur astronomer staying in Swallow Cottage last Friday. … Continue reading →

23.04.15 Spring at McMurdoston only officially arrives once the swallows are back… and I’m glad to say that they arrived a couple of days ago. They seem to appear in the area, disappear tantalisingly for a day or two and … Continue reading →

28.3.15 The clocks go forward tonight and here at McMurdoston there are all sorts of encouraging signs that Spring really has arrived. The primroses are starting to flower, with the odd cowslip leaf also in evidence, and we were delighted … Continue reading →

27.01.15 Happy new year! We did our usual bird count last weekend and thought you might like to see the results. We did our count between 11.30 and 12.30, so missed the big feeds at either end of the day, … Continue reading →

10.12.2014 The Tough Mudders are returning to McMurdoston! On June 20th and 21st 2015, Drumlanrig Castle is hosting a gruelling event, designed for anyone who likes a bit of a challenge – a challenge, that is, of the mud-splattered/bone-crunching/nerve-wracking kind. … Continue reading →