Hello!
My new years resolution has to be - become a better blogger!!  
 January this year is a tad different but there is always plenty to do here  and looking after the animals takes up a lot more time in the cold weather.
We had quite a lot of snow on Thursday, couldn't get the car out so I took a walk to Braco for essentials (milk and lemons!) - it was a lovely walk.  
Chirstmas and New Year were much quieter than normal with us sadly unable to have any visitors in the Muckle Howf (fingers crossed our February Muckle Howf visitors will be able to come)   Have to say  I am a bit zoomed out and Ian is definately not a fan but we did manage to do family Secret Santa via zoom which worked a treat and I managed to set it up!
Ian is beavering away to complete the Whisky Howf ( I was going to say he was quietly working away but he corrected me), we are missing Lewis terribly, he is grounded with a back injury - no fun at all.  His skills are much missed.  The wedding cancellation scenario has struck here too,  Hayley and her partner are no exception with their wedding - which is to be a Celidh here, now put back until 2022.  Though Arran and his wife are only in Glasgow we are missing seeing them both at the moment -we will be making up for it as soon as we can!! Thank goodness for WhatsApp - necessary evil!
We are really delighted with our refreshed new look web site and do hope you like it - many thanks to Gigha! We hope to add more to it as we go and one day we will get round to writing the story of how all this started here at Craigheadhowfs! The calendar for booking the Whisky Howf will be on line soon but in the meantime just get in touch by email if you would like to book it.
We have recently had some fabulous photos sent to us by Alan Gray Images - we love them, it is great that Glamping Scotland has so much to offer now and we think our wee corner offering quirky places to stay in  Perthshire is adding some great options for visitors too. 
 

Will be back soon with an update on the animals, progress on the Whisky Howf and our preparations for (fingers crossed) - opening up again on time at the end of March!
Heather Ian & Family.
Ps Our grandsons like to  check the Burrow and Bagend to see if they can spot any Hobbits having Elevenses!  

The sun is out today, the flowers are out, the birds singing -  and we sincerely wish you were here!


We are trying hard to find the positives and make the most of this time.  We have been trying to do the best for visitors who have not been able to come and stay when they were meant to but despite the loud proclamations from government about all the funding that is being made available, the reality is very few people seem to be benefiting from it - certainly not us! Insurance companies too seem to have found a very secure loop hole and have managed to get off the hook without paying out a penny even though our insurance includes business interruption and pandemic!!! I would name and shame but across the whole accommodation sector the situation seems to be the same with them all.  Back to the positives.

Well one huge positive of been  locked in is that work on the new Howf can go on so lots of exciting photos to come soon.  Also we have been spending a lot of time in the garden and with the animals, getting things done that often just stay on the to do list.  
Our three Ryland and three Zwarble sheep are due to have their lambs in the next few weeks which is something nice to look forward to - hopefully will go well and we will have some nice pictures to post.
The donkeys Jason and Spot managed to get out today and were found heading towards the Hobbits - should have had my camera they looked so happy in the sun wandering down to the shire! They did look a tad chuffed with themselves.
The Rhea have been in the large field for sometime now and just love it, this week they have started laying their amazing eggs - at the moment we are collecting eggs from Rhea, Turkey, Hens, Guinea Fowl, Geese and Quail and have duck eggs hatching!  

Ian and I decided to have an evening staycation and chose the Burrow for our night out!  We managed to choose the night of the pink moon and were definitely treated to a special evening!  We forget how much wildlife there is here when you are here everyday, the birds are especially busy at the minute.  We have red kite over every day, oyster catchers, buzzard and lots of small birds.

Some photos  of out and about -

Hello from us all at Craighead! 
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Apologies for the long silence over the winter months and in to Spring!

After a lovely break in the sun we returned with batteries recharged and with lots of ideas for sprucing things up for the season ahead and all so for the building of our very exciting Cruck House.  

Whilst we were away we were contacted by George Clark's team of Amazing Spaces fame which was very exciting.

Well things sometimes just don't run to plan and the rain tried to dampen our spirits a little but we just got going and made really good progress, then along came the dreaded virus with its own intentions!

We are really delighted to be able to say we are opening the Tree Howf, Hobbits and Summer Howf as planned at the end of next week.  Lots of visitors took advantage of us keeping open the Wee Howf over the winter and at the moment are really enjoying be able to escape away from everything to their own space down by the pond!

We have been spring cleaning, replacing things that needed replaced, fixing things where necessary and making some improvements - we are very pleased with the new hand crafted table in the Tree Howf, pictures to follow next week when its final coats of oil have dried and the Tree Howf is set up for its first visitors of the season.

Over the next week or so our two gorgeous Highland Cows will be coming home from their winter grazing - perhaps some of you saw the delightful film on BBC Alba in January of the Highland Cattle on Uist - we are proud to say that is who bred our lovely ladies.
The Ryland and Zwarble sheep will also be coming home and we are expecting them to have lambs in May.
The geese have made a fabulous nest up beside the pond at the Summer Howf and any visitors to the Summer Howf over the coming months will be neighbours with the goose family and hopefully see at first hand the arrival of goslings!
The goats are very happy that the wet weather is finally going and are very keen to get out to play. 

So if you need somewhere to go where you can get away from it all, have your own space, fresh air and time to your self, then do have a look on our calendar for a date that suits.

Ian, Heather & Family

​Ian, Heather & family, wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
We hope you manage to come and stay with us in 2020.  The New Year is promising to be very exciting as we start our really quirky Stone Howf, built using very old construction styles with a Cruck frame.  Follow us on social media or read our blog to watch it grow, to hear about general goings on and to find out about all our animals.

We are delighted that we have so many visitors making the most of the Wee Howf staying open through the winter - we are sure they will love it.  
We are thrilled to be featured in BBC Scotland's Getaways program and believe the episode that includes Craighead Howfs will be aired some time in early January - very excited to see that.

The Tiny Houses Magazine did two delightful articles about Craighead - we were really chuffed!

February will see the main work starting on our very exciting new project!

The animals are currently all in their winter quarters and we will be featuring them in our blogs over the coming months!

Many thanks to all who stayed with us in 2019, for the fantastic reviews and many happy conversations along with some very nice glasses of wine!

Ian, Heather & family.


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How did it get to May!
We re-opened on March 29th and have already had lots of fabulous visitors from as far away as Dubai and as near as Falkirk - they have all loved it so far.  We have welcomed all ages from 16 to 70 plus.  We have had lots of surprise birthday treats and such lovely comments - one we really loved was a 65th birthday treat - a visit to Bagend, a delightful message left in the visitor book declared it her best ever birthday!

The Summer Howf got a make over and we are delighted with the results - a different colour outside, lovely tiles on the floor inside, painted throughout, new curtains, bits and pieces.  A blanket of forget me not is out in front of it and it looks great. 
The Wee Howf has been painted outside too and we love the new colour, sitting on its stilts by the pond, with so much wildlife to watch, it remains one of our favourite spots in the garden.  We have started keeping a note of when birds are seen and have a running list in the Wee Shop that we hope visitors will add too.  The swallows arrived back and got busy straight away building nests - it surprises us every year that they manage to fly all that way for winter and then find their way back to Craighead - amazing!

Our animals have been very busy - spring is definitely well under way!  So far our new arrivals include - quail chicks, Brahma hen chicks, two pygmy goat kids - Hannah had a boy and a girl two weeks ago, 'Bit' the little black and tiny bit of white cat has three kittens - still only 3 weeks old - one was born very tiny indeed and is only half the size of his brother and sister - know lovingly as tiny toots he is hanging on in there at the moment.  We have three Ryeland lambs all girls and doing really well. Very excitingly Hope the pygmy goat is due to give birth on Thursday - we are anticipating twins and think looking at her today they may arrive any time soon.
Our Quails have started to lay and their gorgeous speckled eggs are in the shop. Along with some Rhea eggs and our delicious hen eggs.

Our pygmy goats - Harris and Percy Jackson have decided it is great fun to escape and head for the hay shed - self service reached new limits!

Just as soon as the next kid goats are born we will post a photo.  The little white kid in the pictures with the black boots, we think is gorgeous - he decided to be born backwards and give us a run for our money encouraging him to breath - but within minutes he was proving he has plenty of attitude!!  No names as yet.

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Meet Huff and Puff - the latest additions to our cat team! They have settled in really well and are full of fun.
Last week two swans came to visit, they have stayed and their relatives have now joined us too - it is easy to spend time just watching them - they are beautiful, but true free spirits so not sure how long they will be with us!
We took delivery of the new glamping luggage transportation system this week, tried them out in the sun in the car park - think they are going to be fab!
The Turkeys out in the woodland today really enjoying the early spring weather we are having, daffodils are nearly out - very early!
It will be busy busy this week - with only four full weeks left until we reopen - very exciting!
​Ian & Heather

This handsome couple dropped in today - such a lovely sunny day to start their stay!  We have offered them a season ticket...... do hope they take us up on it!

Last week we made good use of the lovely weather, Ian and Lewis made great progress on the new home for our lovely free range hens - really is a room with a great view!  I snapped a photo early in the morning doing the animal feed round,  the Ryeland sheep having breakfast in the misty/frosty sunrise under the Tree Howf, it was a gorgeous morning.  Ra Ra the wee fergie tractor has been busy moving hay into the hay shed.  
We managed to get away for a couple of days at the end of the week and were treated to some gorgeous Scottish scenery.  There is such a great range of places to visit if you are enjoying a bit of luxury glamping in Perthshire.
Now we are full steam ahead getting ready for our first visitors of the season due in only seven weeks.  The Summer Howf has already had a lovely new floor and is waiting to be painted inside and out.  The Wee Howf is getting a new look, due to be painted outside as soon as the weather lets us - watch this space for photos of its new look.  
We are hoping to increase the animals over the coming weeks, Quail will be joining us soon, we are expecting Ryeland and Zwarble lambs this year and fingers crossed both Hannah and Hope our gorgeous pygmy goats will have kids in the spring too - Ian has plans to build a goat tree for them in their outside space!  We also have two new kittens - Huff and Puff - photos in next blog.
In January we played host - well the Tree Howf did - to an American travel film group working on a short film promoting Scotland in America. We were delighted that Visit Scotland suggested us and assisted.  As soon as we have access to the footage we will share it.  
That is all for now - will be back soon with more updates.