Our Helpx stay in Scotland isn’t just drinking whiskey and eating haggis, it involves a fair amount of hard work and busy days too. There are a lot of individual tasks such as cleaning and gardening but this week we got involved in something a little different.

Hello Polly

Due to the unpredictable climate in Scotland it can be difficult to grow and nurture plants so our hosts, Tina and Norman, decided to build a polytunnel in their garden here in Pitlochry. Quite a serious task requiring a real team effort. We don’t normally get to work on multi-person construction projects (I may be selling it a bit much here) but it was a real change to be part of the six person, and five dog, team building the tunnel. Obviously the tunnel would be named ‘Polly‘.

Hopeless instructions written by a six year old and amateurish videos filmed by idiots were no help as we all got involved. Brooke and Michael, the Kiwi Helpxers also staying here, made up the team and we set to on a constructive days work to get ‘Polly’ completed.

By close of play we found ourselves with a finished polytunnel which even though I do say so myself, was pretty professional looking. Just the twenty thousand plants and pots to put in it now! Great to be involved in creating something from scratch though, just hope ‘Polly‘ stays standing until we leave!

Pitlochry, Aberfeldy and Foss

As we’ve mentioned before there are three separate sites up here that we work and live on, all around ten miles apart. There is the main house at Pitlochry where we have a bedroom and ensuite. There are the lodges at Aberfeldy where we work cleaning and gardening and stay if one of the lodges happens to be available. Finally there is the big country house over at Foss where we clean and garden but never stay.

Our daily work changes depending on whether guests are arriving or leaving so we never have the same day twice and are constantly moving from site to site. Makes it all more interesting.

Staying with Tina and Norman in Pitlochry is lovely as we all get on so well and with their parents Peter and Joan living there it’s a lively busy place to stay. However we absolutely love staying over at Aberfeldy at Drumcroy Lodges as the scenery is fabulous and it’s just so relaxing once we’ve finished work just to sit and chill or go for a walk in the beautiful Scottish highlands.

There are six lodges on the site all named after local rivers and lochs. Lyon, Rannoch, Farragon, Cluny, Tay and Tummel. We’ve stayed in three of them so far and to be honest they are all equally comfortable.

Don’t talk about the Weather

Usually the weather up in Scotland is a little on the wet and dreary side with occasional nice days but since we arrived in early May it has been absolutely beautiful and the past week has seen wall to wall blue skies and sunny days. So let’s no talk about it too much in case it changes and just make the most of every day.

Barbeques, Airports, and a Tank

Last week Tina and Norman jetted off to Barbados for a couple of weeks in the sun so we drove them down to Edinburgh airport and they kindly allowed us use of their car over the two weeks that they are away. It’s probably the biggest car/truck/tank that we have ever driven! Huge. But great for picking up supplies and transporting tools and sheets etc around the different sites.

The night before they left we had a wonderful barbeque where Brooke and Michael and the neighbour Annie all popped in for a noisy, fun-filled, alcohol-fuelled party. Great fun.

We have only been here for two weeks but it feels like a lot more as the days are so long and every day is different to the previous one. So much of our time has been spent outdoors with the sun rising early and the sunsetting well after 10pm. We’re loving it.

18/05 – 23/05/2018