We’ve been here in Scotland for almost a month now and unbelievably the weather has been wall to wall sunshine. We have hardly had any rain at all and it’s been glorious. Some of the locals don;t seem to know what on earth is happening as they never get this type of weather here for long periods like this. How lucky are we?

Housesitting and Helpxing

Currently our hosts, Tina and Norman, are still away on holiday and we are looking after their house, their dogs, and their holiday accommodation business with another couple of Helpx helpers, Brooke and Michael from our favourite country New Zealand.

We have a work schedule for these few weeks with details of what needs to be done where and on which days. Now we love a schedule as it means we know exactly what we are doing and enables us to plan our time off etc. So between the four of us we’re balancing all the jobs and enjoying the sunshine as much as possible. Each couple gets two days a week off and we try and get our daily tasks done within 4 or 5 hours.

Making the most of our time off

We try to get out and about on our days off and occasionally after work on busy days when we’re not too tired. Most of the work we do is fairly physical so we do find that we are often shattered by the end of the day. However we make a big effort to explore the local area and have spent many afternoons in Aberfeldy and Pitlochry. As we move into June it’s becoming noticeably busier with tourists and camper vans and so many hikers and cyclists. It really is such a beautiful part of the world.

Edinburgh Pick-up

We had to pick up Tina and Norman from Edinburgh airport which is around 90 minutes from here and it was great to see them rested and tanned after a few weeks with their family in Barbados. The return to Pitlochry turned into a noisy busy affair though as it was also Brooke and Michaels last evening before leaving and Brooke’s Mum and friend joined us all for a few drinks to say hello and goodbye.

Au Revoir to our Kiwi Friends

It was so sad to see our two Kiwi worker friends leave the next morning and we’d been living and working closely for our whole time here. I’m sure they’re going to miss living here and we will certainly miss them. Hopefully we’ll be able to keep in touch and you never know we may get together again soon. They are all off to the Isle of Skye for a few days before continuing their travels in Amsterdam and Paris after that. Have a great trip Brooke and Michael, keep in touch.

Birks of Aberfeldy

Our next day off was on Sunday so we decided to revisit one of the lovelier walks that we did last year and headed off to Birks of Aberfeldy. It’s a brilliant walk up the Moness Burn alongside countless waterfalls and over bridges and was made famous in a song by Robert Burns.

We love this walk and I’m sure we’ll have to have another visit before our time in Scotland is at an end. It’s so picturesque and quiet and absolutely glorious in the Scottish sunshine.

Drumcroy Lodges and Wester Clunie

We’ve been lucky enough to be able to stay in one of the lodges at Drumcroy but as we’re well into holiday season we have had to move back into the family house at Wester Clunie near Pitlochry. It’s a lovely friendly house and we really feel like part of the family. Busy and full of action with the five dogs all after attention and affection and so different to the quiet life at Drumcroy. We’ll be here for a couple of weeks then we have another week planned at the lodges.

05/06 -12/06/2018