News Page!   Joyce's Blog ! 

May 11th

availability for next weekend [16th May]

There is still plenty of availability through the week and for next weekend. The weather is still hot here and looks good for the week ahead.

May 10th

Naturewatch 

Various guests have spotted the following; Otter down the shore   at Loch Morar, just feeding and looking for crabs. Red deer in close proximity down the Rhu road;  flock of feeding Terns just at the mouth of the Caimbe and a  rabbit swimming across the Caimbe at full tide !

Goldfinches, whinchats, greenfinches, and I heard a curlew, they must be breeding, they are very elusive during the breeding season but I did hear one

I also hear that there  are Mackerel about, further north   anyway. lots of them, it must be the heat bringing them in

May 9th

The girls in swimming tonight .27 degrees here today 

Sorry the site is now full for Friday night.

May 8th

Its so hot here and  perfect for camping !No midges and no wind. Beautiful.  There is still some availability for the weekend, call me on  my mobile. The forecast for the weekend is rain but if its anything like last weekend when they forecasted rain for the  Sat and Sun and all we had was 2 hours rain on the Sunday, it might be worth ignoring .

Shellducks and Whimbrels are breeding , Swallows are here,  Redshank and Lapwing breeding as well

April  30th

The weather is so good here in Arisaig. Even if its raining in Fort William its still lovely and quiet and sunny here on the caravan site.

April  22nd

availability

The site is fully booked now for July until 16th august. The first May holiday is also full and the 23rd May is full for that week also    

April 17th

Forecast is really good for next week as the cold wind at night is to go away and temperatures are to soar to 15 degrees  .Now thats good news,the grass will grow

More sunsets but each one is different. Last nights one

April 16th 

Summer is here. Not just the weather but the pony as well. My friends mare called Summer has come over to foal then visit Kyle the stallion. And since she has arrived the sun has been shining non stop Such perfect weather ! The ground is drying out   at long last. The forecast for the weekend is perfect sunshine and there is plenty of availability on the Caravan site . Just call me on my mobile to keep you a place

April 11th

The twites have arrived. I heard them 'jingeling' then saw a little flock of them. Also someone on the caravan site saw two pair of swallows.

The weather is lovely and to stay good all week. Hope you can come for a visit.

Missy is settling in with the rest of my ponies. Fingers crossed she can run with the stallion soon [ Kyle below]

April 10th

The weather has been much more acceptable for the last few days and the forecast for the weekend is  not bad at all . Well there was even a mad person swimming in the Caimbe the other night.

Birdie news; the Widgeon are all still here, I don't know, they are winter visitors ? They should be away by now but there's still a flock feeding off the eel grass, they might be like the geese and stay over. That's okay because unlike the geese they don't feed of reseeded fields, and new growth in the crofts. The Whoopers swans, they have gone north, up early the other morning I saw maybe 20 or so fly past. Beautiful and evocative.

Lapwings are here, Redshank too, Wind chats and Skylarks, all summer breeding visitors. And the Shell ducks, my favourites, there is a pair that come every year and feed when the tide is high, early in the morning. This morning driving to the ponies I had the window down and saw them so clearly and close up, they have such bright red bills ! So pretty. And the Curlew too, my second favourite bird, a pair have stayed over the winter to breed ! I see them every morning. There haven't been any breeding pairs for a long time here. Twites are still to arrive, too early yet maybe with this dreadful cold we have been having. Not a blade of grass and no germination. I've planted up most of the vegetable garden under fleece. I'm way ahead of myself this year.

I bought an old mare for breeding. She's a mare with nice bloodlines and has good limbs, good feet, nice topline and very pretty head. She will  suit well with Kyle and  the bloodlines cross match in the right places. Shes 19 but  bred a foal 3 years ago and she will bred again. Unlike women  ponies  can breed into old age.

 March 29th

A handsome boy has come to live in Arisaig. His name is Turin Hill Kylemor and he travelled a long way from Holland to be back in his native Scotland hopefully to have some wives and  highland pony children.

He had a long journey and lost a lot of weight, but he will build up again.

Special boy,Shared between his beloved mum in Holland , Marty, and Mairi Page and myself.

March 25th

Em, if you made it here for Easter and stayed, congratulations for being so hardy. If you stayed at home where it was warm here's a picture just to make you feel better.

Come on its not often Im wrong about the weather.Your job is safe Carol...

Anyway that's the last of winter out of the way, its going to be all good now

Forecast for Easter weekend

Arisaig weather will stay fine and dry but chilly at night. Ignore all the warnings of snow they do not apply to Arisaig.

   We are open  now and Pup is waiting to see you...

March 14th . Easter Availability

There are still Caravan and tent pitches available over Easter and until the end of March but for the week beginning  the  5th April possibly limited availability now.

Caravan site is more or less  open and ready now .

This has been the first real day of spring like weather and  I'm predicting it to improve by the middle of next week and for a dry and warm spell lasting a fortnight.

Lots of Bird life here on the Caimbe just now, still winter visitors that haven't left [ flocks of teal and widgeon, flocks of yellow hammers]  Curlew that have seemed to have stayed on this winter and must be breeding now, flocks of Lapwing just over that are pairing up, pairing Mallards, pairing Shelducks and  flocks of Skylarks just over.

Cattle have wintered well and not due to calve until may, no foals due this year, ponies have wintered well too but numbers have been reduced here.

Look forward to seeing you all !

March 9th Update

There is still availability in the caravan site from 20th March and over the Easter half term. For tent pitches please send me a text on my mobile  a day or two in advance and I will  either get back to you with a weather update  or book you a  tent space. Sorry that I cant really do advanced bookings for tents as they are so weather dependant.

We've had nothing but rain and wind here now for weeks but that's maybe a good omen for a long dry spring, starting in a fortnight.

Jan 29th Update

The old static at the entrance to the site has been demolished. Sorry I will not have any caravans to let this year as I had hoped.

The weeks from mid July until mid August are now fairly booked up for  touring caravans. There is still availability for the Easter holiday

I now have my new brochures and sent out today to all who had requested over the last few months

                                                                                                          Merry Christmas from all at Invercaimbe

                                                                                                                            Christmas Eve 2007  

News Page!   Joyce's Blog !                                                                                                                                                                                  

Dec 11th

The time is flying by and it will soon be Christmas. The weather has not been settled and it continues to rain, no bad gales just monotonous wind.

Sad news for those who will know Tara my mums dog. She was put to sleep at home, it was planned as she had collapsed a few times and was failing fast, so she did not suffer any.

My Mum was upset before hand but relieved afterwards.

The news of Bill is that he only stayed at Cathys for a few days. If anybody knows where he is can you get in touch as I have a lot of mail for him here. Hope he is well.

Nov 23rd

We have had the first snow on the hills so it is feeling a lot colder now. Rhum looks lovely with a dusting of snow  and  at sunset and sunrise the hills are bathed in a pink glow. The weather is settled here and has been for the best part of a week now. Everything is easier when the weather is dry and settled.

Down at the wilks to day I had to think how lucky I am to be outside in the fresh air, with noone to bother me, plenty of wilks and easy conditions. Mergansers, Widgeon, Curlew all doing their thing round about me and  well the price is very good justnow so every wilk looks like gold to me.

Roslin and Lewis were very excited  the other night when they followed a big fox all the way home over our road in Tammys car, they are not so keen on the idea that he might be wanting to eat the white rabbits who live in the holiday house garden. My husband Ruaridh came across an otter  on the way to Mallaig[ a live one] but nobody in this house has seen the 'Puma'  yet. That will probably be sighted more around New Year time....

Nov 9th

Bill did not go far..he is staying at Cathy's site.  Well, he will have more shelter over there.

I often get asked the question 'What do you do in the winter?' You know, when the Site is closed, what do I do ?

Well here you go, its winter now and here is a summary of my day today

6.30 am  Get up and go and feed the mares and foals in the stables, hay, water, breakfast, then put some hay and feed in the back of the landrover and go of and feed the cows out on the moor and three other sets of ponies.

7.30 come in and have some toast and jump in a bath if Ive time

8.30 Ros and Calum out to school by then. Set the fire and prepare the dinner, do the laundry feed the dogs

9.00 away to the wilks down Back of Keppoch. I leave the car and walk about a mile across the beach and pick wilks for about 3 or 4 hours, sometimes its rough weather and you have to battle against the wind to find a sheltered bit. Thee are not many wilks there now ,15 years ago I would get twice what I get now. Then I carry them back to the car and thats the worst bit

1.30 After eating something I go and muck out and get in coal and veg or potatoes for dinner,maybe make pancakes or bake if theres nothing in the house

Then its getting dark so I light the fire and put the dinner on and put the mares and foals in for the night.

After dinner I can do what I like and Ive started knitting but usually I iron the sheets for the holiday houses or clean or whatever  because its usually blowing a gale and thats it for the day.

When theres no wilk tide I have a pony or two to break in, Ive done Yogi Isabella and Aisling this autumn but I need to finish Aisling off now and that will give me something to do untill xmas

So there you go and Im quite happy so long as Ive got the company of my children as theres never a dull moment with the two of them

Tues Oct 30th

Today  'Bill' has left the caravan site.......

Mon Oct 29th

Winter is here. Geese are flying south, we had the first hailstones last night and its dark by 5 o clock.

The wind and rain are back and the animals are all needing fed. The Caravan site is closed and  the ponies can graze down there now.  I light the fire at night and  the mares foals are inside .

Thats Bunnacaimbe in the winter. Soon I will go down the shore and collect wilks as I cant be idle during the day. The money will help for Christmas. Its sore but I need the money as they say, ha ha.

Weds Oct 11th

We have had some amazingly warm sunny days lately, a perfect October  and for the children on holiday from school a last chance to play on the beach  and ride the ponies before the November gales and rain set in. The bird life on the Caimbe has been increasing with winter visitors arriving. About 20 Whooper swans flew over heading for Loch nan Eala [Loch of the Swans] at Mains Farm in the village and I was very excited to see a small flock of Goldfinches feeding on thistleheads at the side of the road, I've never seen them before and thought they were just lovely, I had no idea they came as far north as Arisaig. There are Curlews and Widgeon here for the winter as well.

All the cows are going away to the Black Isle this winter, just the old cows and the calves can stay here. Its just the price of feeding this year with the bad summer  for making hay its hard to find good hay and the cobs are up by about 40%, so they can eat silage up there, I think it will work out cheaper and less work for me feeding so I should have time to knit  some tea cosies . Well in reality I will probably justify my existence by going to pick wilks like I used to do before I got married.

The ponies will still be here and I will start feeding them soon, the breaking in is coming on well, Yogi is ready to go to his new home now and Aisling is riding out on the beach. Thank goodness for the good weather so I could break them in when it was quiet.

Audrey Portnadoran's pony Aisling, that was the first time he had a rider on [me]

Mon Oct 1st

For those of you who were here in Sept when the weather was bad, apologies for the picture. This was today, the good weather continues and the site is very quiet. The sun sets are amazing too, setting behind the Squrr of Eigg at this time of year. Perfect weather for a cruise round the islands as well

Fri 28th Sept

The peaceful calm weather that  has come in with the high pressure is perfect for breaking in young ponies. They don't have the excuse of being suddenly startled by a gust of wind or something flapping to take of down the field with you and throw you off. I don't land so well nowadays so I need to be sure of the pony before I slide onto its back for the first time, Usually I can tell by signs that the pony is ready, he blows quietly down through his nostrils, has his ears and eyes 'soft' and responds to you when you give him a comforting scratch. So then I just sit on and give lots of praise and scratches.

Today I had spare time to go over to Audrey's and sit on her home bred 3 yr old, Aisling for the first time. He was really happy and relaxed about it all so I will do this kind of thing every day now until he is riding out quietly on the beach. Yogi was good today as well , I was able to do a little bit of schooling in the field with him, teaching him the basics. Its so rewarding bringing on young ponies and horses, you feel that you are giving them a good start and they will then  find an owner who will give them a home for life.

With  a third of the gardening done [ weeding, pruning and mulching up with well rotted horse manure]  I came in this evening and with the help of Roslin  I  set about doing a baking for the weekend. Well I washed my hands first, Ros whisks the eggs and puts the flour through the sieve, she remembers all the recipes and can just about turn the pancakes on the griddle. So now there's plenty in  and I can make soup and stew tomorrow. I cant be bothered traipsing all the way up to Fort William every week for  a visit to the supermarket, when there's plenty vegetables and potatoes and basics. However my teenage son has other ideas, he seems to think that there's nothing in the cupboards but he doesn't realize that there's plenty there it just has to be transformed by his mother .

Thurs 27th Sept

As promised the weather is now perfect. There should be a very slight frost tonight but after that temperatures will rise slightly and a really good weekend is in store with no wind and warmer temperatures. There is plenty of availability in the Caravan Site!!!!

I have loads to do in the good weather, store potatoes, manure the gardens, and heaps of cleaning etc outside and in. My cabbages ,carrots and potatoes are immense !It must be all the poo from Champion Highland ponies. Anyway the calm sunny weather here is also great for breaking in horses so here is Yogi with Tammy on ,hes coming on really well now

Sun 23rd Sept 

Its been a wet and windy week for the  few intrepid guests in the Caravan site but I promise after the Full  moon comes in this week the wind will settle down. [Tuesday] The Autumnal Equinox is today

unsettled weather and wild skies [see below] are expected.

I have been breaking in Yogi, the part bred, this week. Its not usually a great idea to break horses in when the weather is bad, but he has taken it all in his stride. So far so good and we took our first steps yesterday without a handler on the ground, he listened to me and wanted to please. Photos to follow of his progress

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AVAILABILITY FOR 2008   

Caravan Site availability is limited now from 27th July untill August 10th but not altogether fully booked yet.

Mon 17th Sept

The sun came out today but along with it a cold northerly wind. Winter is here but the Caravan site is busy tonight, Richard from Cumbria is here in his converted Landrover/ambulance thing, its really cool and has a heater that doesn't use my electricity !

We brought Yogi down from Newtonmore yesterday and he is in the stable getting regular visits from me and starting his breaking process, he wore a bridle today and followed me around at the end of a rope listening to commands.

We dosed the Highland cattle yesterday against parasites especially Liver fluke, anyway the size of Bo the calf who couldn't suck because his mums teats were too big! He looks amazing now on all that milk

He might be good enough to be a bull and show at Ingilston

Ruaridh's Highlanders beneath Ruthven Barracks                                                                   'Bo' and Donna

Sat 15th Sept   The weather is particularly bad today and not suitable for camping !

Our Otter is back, a biggish male has been sighted, he usually appears when its murky and wet and can be seen from the caravan site down in the Caimbe looking around for crabs under the seaweed.

Hopefully I will have some photos too post soon.

Tomorrow I am heading up to Newtonmore to collect a 3 yrold gelding from my father-in-law, he has been bought by my friend Heather and I will start him for her over the next few weeks then he's going south . Yogi is a reg part bred by the Cleveland bay stallion out of a Tersk/Highland mare and looks about 15.1hh. I hope it stops raining as I need good weather to break in youngsters

Thurs 13th Sept

Forecast for the weekend ahead . A good day on Friday and dreich  on Saturday [as usual] then clearing up on Sunday and hopefully staying good for a few days.

Plenty of availability so no need to 'phone in advance. I will be here all weekend

Weds 12th Sept 2007

Hurrahh !!!I have finally learnt how to edit my own website. Now I need a cup of tea. Look forward to the excitement of catching up on all my news and news of the caravan site and croft 

Meanwhile here is a picture of my darling daughter Roslin riding her pony Holly at a show on Sunday. They were 2nd and 3rd and Remee, our other Shetland pony was Champion Mountain and moorland  with Roslins little friend Edward Lee showing him . Great fun was had by all.

 Willie Weasel who came to visit the caravan site a month ago. Thanks to Richard for the picture.

An outdated Map to show you the way