Snowdrops are the first flowers of the year

February marks the beginning of the SnowdropFestival in Scotland. Did you know the Scientific name for Galanthus means milk flower. These lovely flowers are among the first to raise their heads in the New Year, when it is warm they release a fragrance. Look carefully at the snowdrops to see their green markings on the inside.
Cosses Country House has created a woodland trail with information about all there is to see. The shrubbery, woodland and pond are covered with blankets of white snowdrops.

A favourite eating place for the birds in the Vibernum

Many gardens in the area have wonderful displays of snowdrops including Dunsky, Caprington Castle, Culzean and Logan Come and enjoy the beautiful woodland and loch-side walks and car drives, and see the swathes of snowdrops and early spring flowers. Set amidst the truly stunning gardens of Castle Kennedy there is much to explore and enjoy for all the family.

Reflections

Cosses Country House is offering some wonderful holiday packages with fine dining, log fires and luxury accommodation.

Kilgallioch (8)(Arecleoch Phase 2) is just below Beneraird
all objectors to the Kilgallioch should lodge their complaints with Peter Barker, Senior Planner, D&G Council in addition to sending their objections to Debbie Flaherty, Planning Directorate

How will we attract tourists if every view incorporates wind turbines causing noise pollution, shadow flicker , property devaluation, – all of which effects the rural economy.
The legacy of windfarms will be far worse.
In theory every windfarm developer has to undertake to remove the turbines after 25 years but what guarantee is there that this will happen? Companies change hands all the time. This was raised in our local paper last week by someone referring to the situation in Hawaii
and across California where miles of rusting useless turbines are abandoned. That of course is what we see and does not take into account all that concrete underground.
Why when the planners are so stringent on allowing planning permission for building, would they allow our beautiful countryside to be littered with wind turbines?
Look at the way Denmark has been devastated with the installation of 5,100 wind towers – one for every thousand citizens. 300-foot-high steel and concrete towers can be seen from almost every field, farm, hill and seashore and only provide 10% of Denmark’s energy.
Britain’s wind farms have become ‘No Spin Zones’ when cold weather hits. When they were most needed in the recent cold weather from November to January with temperatures of minus 20 celsius, wind power failed miserably. On December 20th Britain’s average temperature fell to minus 5.6 celsius. At 6.30 that evening, the nation’s wind farms, which claim a generating capacity of 5.2GW of electricity, were actually generating a piffling 40MW, the eqivalent of 20 turbines working at full capacity!
Studies show that ‘cycling’ coal plants to accommodate wind generation makes the plants operation inefficient, which drives up emissions. Because the wind is not dependable, electric utilities must keep conventional power plants running so that the lights do not go out when the wind does not blow. Coal and Gas fired generators are designed to run continuously, if they don’t fuel consumption and emissions go up – just like driving a car. An automobile travelling at a constant speed of –say 55mph–will have better efficiency and emit less pollution per mile travelled, than one stuck in stop and go traffic!
There is a huge disparity between installed capacity and actual output into the system – often less than 20%.
Even more obscene are the government subsidies that go into wind power and the greed for these drives the desecration of our beautiful landscape. The reality is that, as Britain flaunts its environmental
credentials by speckling its coastlines and unspoiled moors and mountains with thousands of wind turbines, it is contributing to a vast man-made lake of poison in northern China. This is the deadly and sinister side of the massively profitable rare-earths industry that the
‘green’ companies profiting from the demand for wind turbines would prefer you knew nothing about.

This is the legacy we should leave our grandchildren- not one littered with wind turbines

View from Cosses drive

View over Cosses Valley

Heavily laden Reverand Greaves cooking apples

There are plenty of leaves to sweep up, tulips and wallflowers to plant for the spring. The Main Crop potatoes need to be dug and stored, and we now start on the leeks, parsnips and Brussel Sprouts.
We have already served partridge from Dumfries House, and soon the Crailoch Shoot will supply us with pheasants.

Come and spend an Autumn or winter break with us – we have some excellent special offers