The Annexe - St Cyrus

16/02/2025

Welcome packs for 2025 now include homemade bread as well as (much reviewed) delicious home baking and free range eggs from our chickens.

20/12/2024

Happy winter solstice.

07/10/2024

Not often up late enough to catch a glimpse of the aurora

16/09/2024

Beautiful sunset tonight

07/09/2024

Thank you weather. We have enjoyed two consecutive days of blue skies and wall to wall sunshine. Scorchio! It is often like this early September. Cut flower garden weeded and mulched. Still some beautiful colour thanks to Rudbeckia and verbena.
Sadly after really hot days we get a sea haar rolling in which will quickly cool things down. Hey ho.
Fingers crossed for a few more days like this to round off the year.

25/08/2024

20/08/2024

They say you reap what you sow. I love this time of year. The outlook from The Annexe is a golden vista. All around us are fields ready to harvest. The barley fields are particularly beautiful as they billow in the wind. Often the light is better at this time of year and we get some magnificent harvest moons. As our season comes to a close we are pleased to say that our hard work has also paid off. Despite a slow start to our season we have literally been flat out since May and only have a small 4 day window at the end of this month left. Apparently, according to our booking agent, we can’t be 5* because we are not ‘contemporary’ enough but we know from our guest book and reviews that people appreciate the efforts we make to enhance their stay. Our guests all receive a welcome pack which includes home baking, fresh eggs and seasonal veg when available. Weather permitting we often host pizza events. All of these ‘extras’ are provided with our compliments. Although we will continue to accept bookings for as long as the weather holds, we are at the mercy of the weather and whilst we are enjoying the last of the summer/autumn, we know it won’t last. Feel free to message direct if you are looking for a short stay.

29/05/2024

So nice to receive good reviews

17/01/2024

Not easy when you have short legs

17/01/2024

If this is as bad as the snow gets then that’s fine. At least the sun is shining and the dogs love the heightened scents. Our roads are untreated but the farmers do their bit to clear a path. In a couple of days it will be gone ….and we will be back to rain!

31/12/2023

We’ve had our last beach walk of 2023 in what was the calm after the storm. What a year it has been. We were so lucky to have many fantastic guests throughout the summer and the pizza oven was a hit. We’ve enjoyed some amazing skies but since October we have been on the receiving end of one storm after another. It has been relentless. Our road infrastructure has been badly affected with many bridges damaged by raging rivers. More trees have come down making access to and from The Annexe a challenge to say the least. Al has been busy with his chainsaw so plenty firewood for the house and hardwood for the pizza oven. Wee Pip is now on borrowed time. She has been diagnosed with a malignant tumour but we have decided that surgery will not gain us anything so she will just live the best life for as long as she can. She still smiles on a beach walk. It is her favourite.
So what for 2024? I must get my act together and put together a website. We have a new gigantic polycarb tunnel so more and more home grown veg and flowers on the cards. I think we deserve a brilliant summer and we look forward to welcoming guests old and new to The Annexe.
Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year.

13/08/2023

13/08/2023

Making no apology for this but today it is all about the swallows. We were worried that numbers were down thi year but today the call has gone out and they have congregated at Shieldaig for a feeding frenzy. Sadly it signifies that the summer is coming to an end but despite some disappointing weather, we have enjoyed loads of fabulous guests in The Annexe with still some more bookings into October.

22/07/2023

Getting more adventurous with the wood fired oven. Today after cranking up the heat for a batch of pizzas, we still had enough heat to bake a sour dough bread and roast a chicken on a bed of home grown veg. 🔥

10/07/2023

So, the wood fired oven is built and we had a lovely pizza night with guests. DIY pizza followed by mackerel cooked over the embers. A fabulous addition to our holiday accommodation. Looking forward to hosting more pizza nights and getting more ambitious with things to cook outdoors

11/05/2023

At long last the fog that has been plaguing us has lifted and we are enjoying some much needed sunshine. The dogs and I went on a bit of an unplanned hike today but I forgot my phone so no pics. Now we’re just chilling

11/05/2023

Can you tell what it is yet?

04/05/2023

Today’s walk was along Seaton Cliffs just north of Arbroath town centre. There is good parking at Victoria Park with loos and (today at least) a toastie van. It is a cliff path with some areas of unstable cliffs but well signposted and easy walking but if you have a dog you need to be sure they aren’t too adventurous! Our hearts were in our mouths a few times as Pip explored some of the edges! THe cliffs are red sandstone with loads of caves, erstacks and natural arches. It seems (to me at least) to support a healthy colony of nesting fulmars and cormorants. Apparently it is also a good place for dolphin spotting but honestly today was a bit blustery to hang around for that!