Hello everyone!

If you are visiting the site for the first time - welcome! If you are a regular visitor to Hillockhead then I hope we can tempt you back again soon!

We are just coming to the end of a very busy summer season, we've been very lucky weather wise and have missed the torrential rain that most of the country has experienced. Today is a gorgeous day, the sea is sparkling and it's lovely to see all the children playing outside. Tess our dog has been a big hit and is never short of anyone to play ball with!

Family Business

We have now been here over a year and still feel the same wonder that we did when we arrived. It's a real family business, you will see Nynke (age 11) cutting the grass on the ride on lawn mower, Tony (age 14) is in charge of the games room and snooker table and great at organising competitions - snooker, football or rounders! Kelly (age 16) is my chief assistant on the Saturday changeover day - and (usually) keeps me sane!

Dolphins

We have had many visitors and friends staying this year, which has been lovely, last week Pete's family came over from Holland and we had a huge reunion - there were 20 of us! One of the highlights was a dolphin trip we made with "Dolphin trips Avoch" (down the road) - we came across a large group of dolphins swimming just under Hillockhead, they approached the boat and were jumping and flipping right there next to us! They are lovely creatures. We were also lucky enough to see sea otters playing down at the beach.

Wild Mushrooms

New discoveries have been wild mushrooms growing down at the beach - lovely cooked with cream and wine.... (I have some in the freezer should anyone want to try them) and also wild hazelnuts!

A Walk or a swim?!

One particular family who visited us in June will not forget their walk down to the beach and along to Rosemarkie.... We forgot to check the tide times and after walking for about half an hour were cut off by the tide! We were determined to carry on (lured by the thought of drink in the Plough!) so the only thing to do was to strip off from the waist down and wade through the water! It was quite an adventure but lots of fun.

New

Chanonry cottage:

Ready early October, laminate floors and jacuzzi bath! Great for those with dust allergies. Part of the long house and has the same fantastic views that Rowan and Juniper have.

Sutor Creek:

New pizza restaurant in Crommarty - very good reports!

That’s all for now!

Hope to see you soon

Michele