A month of contrasting weather...

Pretty, wintery scenes near Appletree luxury self catering holiday cottage near Drymen, Loch Lomond

Very cold weather this February has produced much cold weather.  Apart from being good for our apple orchard (the cold kills the unwanted bugs) the weather has produced contrasting views and conditions in the space of a few days.
Last week the Endrick Water burst its banks on the flood plain by Drymen Bridge.  
It didn't take long to drain and a few days later the water had gone and was replaced by sunshine and snow...

Drymen Bridge this week

Drymen Bridge last week - with another ten feet of water!

The flood plain by the bridge, an area which forms part of the show ground for the Drymen Show (one of Scotland's oldest agricultural shows) works very well.  Quick filling up after heavy rain and then dispersing - flowing into Loch Lomond - within usually 24 hours.

Last week's flooding

This week dried up with a dusting of snow. The Luss Hills are in the distance

Last week the water must have risen around ten feet (3.3 meters).  The skies were dark and everything was wet.  This week bright and cheery with a dusting of snow.

View of Strathendrick Golf Clubhouse from the bridge last week

Strathendrick Golf Clubhouse this week

Even the cold wet dark days are impressive in this ever-changing landscape.

Last week the waters came over the top of the river bank here - quite a height!

Further down the road near Finnich Toll, not far from the Devil's Pulpit, the water form a puddle in the road has splashed onto the adjacent fence and trees causing a myriad of  small icicles..

Icicles on the fence near Finnich Toll

Splash from the puddle create the icicles

Further up the Endrick Water still we found some good icicles on the bank at Gartness.

Icicles viewed from the bridge at Gartness