Golf, Tea, Wildlife Park, Petrol, Dinner Vouchers with 7 nights in Lochearnhead cottages

Highland Cow at Auchingarrich

Briar Cottages self catering holidays, Lochearnhead are giving away local hospitality and activity vouchers for selected 7 night bookings in Briar Steading and Little Briar  cottages, valued between £15 and £80.   Check out our monthly offers on our price list.  Book 7 nights in May and June to receive free tickets to Auchingarrich Wildlife Park, Comrie   You will be awarded 4 tickets with luxury Briar Steading and 2 free tickets when you book Little Briar Cottage. If you prefer, use the voucher in the coffee shop where they serve delicious snacks and lovely cakes indoors or outside on the wooden deck looking over the children's novelty play park and the beautiful Strathearn Valley.

Golfers will appreciate our July vouchers for both cottages.  2 can play from Little Briar cottage and 4 can play from luxury Briar Steading or 2 people can play twice. The 2 and 4 player vouchers are for 18 holes at St Fillans Golf Club, St Fillans, at the east end of Loch Earn.  The course is quoted at Sandy Lyle's favourite inland course. No wonder it is very picturesque as well as a great course to play on. The voucher can be used at weekends as well as week days. Its your choice. Show the voucher again and again over the course of your weekly stay and you can arrange

St Fillans Golf Club, St Fillans, Loch Earn

any number of 18 hole rounds at half price.

September visitors will receive vouchers for Afternoon Tea at the luxury Four Seasons Hotel,  St Fillans where pets are also very welcome. Enjoy views over Loch Earn while you tuck into a sandwich with your favourite filling followed by scones, tea bread, shortbread and pots of tea or coffee.  Luxury Briar Steading bookings award 4 vouchers and pet friendly Little Briar mean that 2 vouchers will await your arrival. Look out for other vouchers for dinner and drinks in The Chef owned Lochearnhead Hotel and for free petrol from Lix Toll garage 5 miles from Lochearnhead.   Keep checking for additional vouchers throughout the year or telephone  Kim and Fraser with any queries and to book 01567 830 443 or 07917 416 49.  Remember that you can fish free of charge, launch and moor a small boat or canoe, use the summer house and picnic spots within the three acre gardens and ask for a shot of our hot tub too!    Twitter @Briarcottages 

Holiday cottage Scotland- Last chance to fish on Loch Earn!

Guest Stefanie fishing on Loch Earn 

Alert! The end of the fishing season is looming on Loch Earn.  You can still book the last week 1-8th October or book a 3-4 night short fishing break in Lochearnhead.

Trout fishing is not permitted after October 6th.  I suppose fish need a break too and they can get on with the business of creating more fish.  Could they possibly sense the end of the fishing season?  Every year we witness trout flipping into the air making water rings on the 6th October.  Is it coincidence?  I imagine that they are celebration flips as they shout "yipeeee we made  it".  Is it only young agile fish that do these gymnastic turns?  I wonder what kind of tsunami ring would be created if Loch Earns record breaking catch of a 26lb 10oz trout could flip. That would be one for YouTube.



It has been a great year for our guest fishing folk. Nobody beat last years family record of over 50 trout caught in a week, however, there were some good quality brownies and rainbows landed.  We have had seasoned professionals here with impressive technical gear and three novices (including children) managed to catch a fish on their first go with a simple rod and a few maggots, - much to their and our delight.



Guest Steffanie from Frankfurt in Germany sent us the above photo of her fishing on Loch Earn . She may not have caught many but its surely the quality of the catch that counts.  Hugh and Anette from Edinburgh(pictured below) launched their fishing boat from our slipway.  You do not need to buy a permit to fish anywhere along our 250ft garden or from the jetty.  If you go by boat then it is £25 for a weeks permit or £9 per person per day. You can bring your own gear or hire tackle from the Lochearnhead Post Office. You can buy maggots and floats there and in the local store too. 

Hugh and Anette bring their fishing boat to launch at Briar Cottages 

Briar Cottages in Scotland are available in all seasons. Once the fishing stops the pheasants appear, the hills and bracken turn to rust and Briar Steadings wood burning stove and Little Briar's outdoor chiminee become poplar for Autumn and Winter short breaks. As for the deer...they have already started to come into the garden for grass in the rear garden slope.  They will come closer and closer to the cottages in search of plant food to keep them going in colder weather.  A remarkable sight if you are lucky enough to spot them. Some people consider them a pest,  however they are just doing a bit of pruning.  They left one leaf on our Laurel bush last year and it came back in full glory in the spring.  Telephone now to book up the last of the fishing dates for 2011.  Kim and Fraser: 00 44 (0)1567 830 443 or mobile 07876 122 505. http://www.stayatbriar.co.uk/

Luxury cottage launched in time for Christmas and New Year in Scotland

Luxury Briar Steading reflecting Loch Earn 

At last we can announce Briar Steading our luxury holiday cottage with the best views south over Loch Earn in the village of Lochearnhead.  You have to experience it to believe it. The interior furnishings are based around  mixed shades of blonde to dark wood with soft furnishings in a range of cream, taupe, tan, brown and black. These complement the warm tan hues of the seam of rock that we uncovered behind the house. They also work well with the local stone that has been used in the hearth around the wood burning stove. The same stone was used for the garden walls and front of the house as it was to renovate Briar and Little Briar Cottages within the three acre gardens.  The rock face behind the house is made more impressive by water cascading down it from the hills.  In fact a geologist will probably be able to read time lines into the layers of slate and stone with intermittent calcite and quartz. A visiting Cree Indian once told us that volcanic rock and quartz is usually in evidence around gold.  We know that gold has been found around this region for centuries but alas not in our garden so far!



Stunning views of Loch Earn from the lounge

We have organised the last of the stone walls in the garden to be finished within  2 weeks. This means that we can take bookings for Christmas and New Year. I would not mind staying over the festive period myself come to think. The views are second to none thanks to the full glass patio doors in the lounge and the bedrooms and Loch Earn is just 70 metres away. Guests will be able to wake up to an ever changing picture looking out to the loch from the bedrooms.  Both bedrooms have their own en-suite facilities so couples, friends and families will be able to have their own space. The King bedroom is at the East gable and the twin room at the West with the open living space separating them. The master room has an ensuite with a Mira shower over the steel bath and the twin room has a large walk in wet room area both with gloss marble effect wall and floor tiles.

Fully Fitted Linear Cream Kitchen

The kitchen is fully fitted with a 70/30 fridge freezer, a washer dryer and  a dishwasher. The open plan living area is spacious and warm as it faces south and is well insulated. The wood burning stove is a bonus feature for winter. The living area measures 26ft from the patio doors to the kitchen at the back. In fact the whole cottage is c110sq.m.  Prices will range from £500 in the low season to £950 for a week in the high season.  Briar Steading is available for 4 people during Christmas ( you could be the first to book!) with a Christmas tree and a food hamper at £800 for 7 nights and around New Year including free tickets to the village Hogmanay party with a live band also at £800 for 7 nights.  Please call Kim or Fraser Tel 01567  830 443 OR 07876 122 505 and see more  information and photos on our website http://www.stayatbriar.co.uk/ .



Wood-burning Stove in  Briar Steading Holiday Lounge



The Briar Witch Project, Lochearnhead at Halloween

  

Cross eyed pumpkin trying to be taken seriously

  

Shy Pumpkin Girl

Perhaps Halloween at Briar Cottages self catering in Lochearnhead, Scotland should have been eerie and creepy.  After all, the setting is perfect. There are no street lights and it is very dark at night unless the moon is out. There are real bats in the area. The stags rutting over the last few weeks in Achraw Hill behind the cottages sounded a bit like ghosts and goblins in a haunted mountain. 

Pumpkin loving the sunlight instead of moonlight




More Tommy Cooper than Frankensteins monster


Fraser was put in charge of the Briar Witch project. All he had to do was set up some frightening masks and evil pumpkin heads. Somehow he managed to make them all look very cute or comical, a bit like Casper the friendly ghost. I love the cross eyed pumpkin.  We lit a few fireworks on the night of the 30th October 2010. This also happened to be Fraser's birthday. They were set up on the slipway in our garden on Loch Earn. 

New luxury Briar Steading, Autumn

We viewed them from the patio of our luxury new build cottage Briar Steading, in front of the full length patio doors and windows.  The views from there are exceptional.  The fireworks were a great success against the black loch and sky. The only things that were glowing were the pumpkin heads placed on top of the 2ft high garden lights. They looked as though they were floating in mid air over  Loch Earn. What fun. Another memorable weekend at Briar Cottages in Scotland. Pumpkins are effective and easy to carve but for me, you can't beat the childhood smell of a Halloween carved turnip, neep or tumshie with a burning candle inside.



Squashy pumpkin more frightened than frightening



Garden gnome plays Briar witch

Weather or not to book holiday accommodation in Lochearnhead

Thank you to everyone who contacted us to enquire whether or not our holiday cottage in Scotland is knee deep in snow and out of electricity. Don't worry! This is Lochearnhead. The village seems to have its own wee magical micro climate and I am beginning to wonder if the fairy knoll in the Lochearnhead games field plays a part in our protection. We feel a little guilty that friends in Aberfeldy and Auchterarder have been reporting 2ft of snow or more. We had a light snow fall of an inch and a half making the village really pretty from Tuesday last week. There has not been a flicker of a difference to our electric supply. There really is something magical about the weather when you are staying in Lochearnhead. Maybe it is the towering hills back and front that shelter us. Maybe it's our south facing position at Briar Cottage and our holiday cottage Little Briar. I am in no doubt that a big factor is the A84 and A85 road gritting team. They are so thorough and attentive that we have never even seen snow landing on the main roads all winter. Also, they are extremely courteous and pull in to let the traffic past at every opportunity. So, we have been enjoying the picturesque scenery of snow (and deer) covered Glen Ample opposite; yet we have been traveling on the roads to neighbouring towns and villages without inconvenience. Our guests prior to last week took a picture of Fraser on his tractor in the paddock. Last weeks guests went walking in the snow and today the garden lawn on Loch Earn is green again with the daffodil stems well on their way.   By all means spare a thought for those who have been out of electricity, deep in snow or sleeping in their cars but please don't feel sorry for us here in Lochearnhead. Oh.....and please don't tell anyone about our smart and efficient road gritters in case someone poaches them!

PS: Easter week 10th-17th April is currently available (Little Briar self  catering cottage Perthshire sleeps up to 4 in 1 double and 1 twin bedroom@ £500 -Call me (Kim) or Fraser 01567 830 443 to enquire or book )