Yellow Daffodils, White Snow, Page Three Girls.

04/08/2005

Awake to a thin covering of snow around the Tower of Glen Trollaigh. We are blessed with a bitter North wind bearing frequent light snow flurries. All the dogs and cats seem to anticipate a fair day, as they are desperate to get out and romp about the policies. I decide, rather unusually to let the whole lot have their head and open the boot room door to release them. Perhaps I have that same yearning for freedom as the blue skies and sunshine appear giving us the unusual contrast of hosts of yellow daffodils against pure white snow and our added backdrop of 3500 foot alpine hills to the north of us. When I eventually get my wellies on and go to round up the pack, I meet up with Mhairi who is cradling the corps of a breeding female Crossbill that has collided with a kitchen windowpane and broken its neck. In some ways a sorry sight and Mhairi is upset, but an opportunity to compare a relatively rare wild bird with the reference book. I have heard them calling around the pinewoods over the last couple of years, and even seen them, I am fairly sure that Crossbills wintered around the Tower for the first time this year. I do so hope that they will flourish. I am drafted in to Arichastlich later in the day when the Daily Record newspaper prints a most splendid photo on Page Three of a naked model with a very small number of Diana Drummond Shower Straps to cover her modesty. The switchboard lights up and e-mail overloads with orders and enquiries, all in the name of PR for next week’s Country Living Fair. I wonder if the reporter will introduce me to the model and I can ask for a signed copy of the delightful image, all in the name of research of course! Yours Aye, Archie, The Baron Trollaigh.