"Atholl Palace is a wonderful place to visit. The staff are very helpful and polite, nothing is a problem! The food is amazing and the rooms are made up daily. This is great for either a weekend break or stay for a week. Great for couples or families. The spa is also brilliant and relaxing. Book now and stay, you won't be disappointed!"
March 2013
As we move into the 2nd half of March, spring seems a very long way away.
The first few months of the year have been cold and pretty dry. The burns and rivers are below summer low so by the law of averages we are due a wet spell before long. But spring will arrive in its own good time, it always does. Certainly the birds are gearing up for another year. Fat pigeons are waddling around on branches, cooing and cuddling up to one and other and some have even started to build their nests. The red squirrels are chasing around the lower parts of the trees, round and round they go chattering away all the while. The mallards are back on the ponds. Sleepy groups of males, on the pond fringes, just waiting for a female to return from her egg laying before pouncing on her....again. There is nothing gentle about mallard “chatting up”, nothing gentle at all.
The lack of hard frost has given the plants an easy ride, so far, and the various viburnams are very good this year. The crocus are trying hard to make a show but the cool, ever wetter weather isn’t making life easy for these lovely spring flowers. Last year our daffodils were poor, far too many blind heads but this year all the signs are that we are going to have a tremendous show. Most of the flower heads are full so great things are expected and a good show of daffies always lifts the spirit after winter.
The outside swimming pool has gone. Ever increasing costs spelled the end of the pool which has had a couple of moves over the years. I am told that the original was down where the fountain now stands and was shifted in the eighties. But a splendid inside pool has meant that outside usage dropped so a garden and seating area has replaced the pool. It’s a real suntrap so lavender will grow well in the beds by the spa. Two beds of fragrant, floribunda roses have been planted and the grassed area will be planted very soon. A big, freshly painted urn acts as a centre piece and the whole area looks well. It will be a lovely warm area to sit out with a drink or hold a reception during the summer.
But before summer we need spring. Everything does to warm us up. Innes
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