Tig Cottage Holiday Home

08/09/2025

I had all of these books growing up!

It’s kinda sad that modern life means so many of us don’t see autumn come in like the mice did these days.

Autumn at Tig means spotting the blackberries in the garden and along the hedgerows in the nearby walks from outside the door.

It means not being quite sure if you need a jumper or a jacket, but enjoying the weather anyway.

It means feeding the birds in the garden (we provide the bird seed) and seeing if you get a woodpecker or nuthatch along with all the other regular visitors.

It means cozy dinners in the dining room before late night stargazing from the garden.

But only if you book now!
Find us on Airbnb and Booking Dot Com by searching for Tig Cottage and / or Ballantrae, or visit our website.

Remeber, repeat guests can book directly for less!

This weekend marks 45 years since the first publication of Brambly Hedge Autumn Story back in September 1980.

28/08/2025

Forming an orderly queue for breakfast…

We supply vinehousefarmshopcafe bird seed for our human guests to provide to our year round residents here at Tig.

As autumn and winter draw in, there’s more and more need for seed.

Don’t let the birds down.
Book your autumn and winter stay today!

27/08/2025

Last rose of the summer? Maybe… but the leaves on the trees are green and gold, and the birds sing and the river burbles.

26/08/2025

If your dog could talk on this International Dogs Day… they’d ask you to book Tig!

Why?

✅ enough peace and quiet to let even the most reactive dog chill out

✅ allowed anywhere in the house

✅ a variety of beaches (wild, tame, rugged, touristy) all between five and twenty five minutes drive away… and all dog friendly!

✅ walks from the door and more short car rides away

“But,” you, the caring owner? would cry out, “there’s no enclosed garden! How can I just turf you out in the morning or last thing at night?”

“Take me for a little stroll instead, we can see the stars - did you know Tig is in a dark sky area? Maybe we’ll see bats, or owls, and you know how I’d rather have a walk than being chucked out alone!”, your wonderful pooch would reply.

Availability across September through till the New Year via our website (for booking dot com or Airbnb links) or direct booking.

25/08/2025

Failed miserably to catch how beautifully blue the sea was. Not an issue with capturing how blue the sky was in the garden!

25/08/2025

Having carpet cleaned the floors, put sofa cushions on to wash (having first spent twenty minutes wrangling the cushion out of the cover - let’s not think about putting it back!), my reward now is to lie in the hammock (mine, too much injury potential for guests) and watch the little birds swooping overhead.

24/08/2025

Not shown - the kingfisher that flew off just as I raised the phone to take its picture. Typical.

I’d never seen one still in real life before. Just a flash of blue. So today was special.

It’s been a tough couple of weeks at Tig on the booking front. Two week long stays for cancelled which - in the autumn months - are tough.

People are getting more strident.
Must have hot tub
Must have fully enclosed garden

A hot tub is phenomenally expensive - even one of the inflatable things from Lidl. Because it’s not just the price of the tub. It’s the heating, changing the water and the chemicals after every guest, regardless of use or not…

The fully enclosed garden - it’s enough to make me cry with frustration. I own eight dogs. I know exactly why people want a fully enclosed garden - so they can turf Mutley out in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning without needing to put more than a dressing gown on. I get it because I do it at home. But four years in, and I know that people don’t clean up their dog mess when they have their dog on a lead. I have no faith that Mutley won’t p**p on the ridged decking, and I’m pretty sure no one is going to be trying to get any runny p**p up (or even washing it away).

But mostly the fully enclosed garden would turn Tig’s garden from the wild country cottage garden it is today (this morning has seen rabbits, frogs and deer) into a p**p and p*e stained compound. And a small one at that.

Yet when people with dogs (responsible dog owners who don’t just want to leave their dog in the garden) come to stay, they love it here.

I wish I knew what to do.

18/08/2025

Sure, there's lots of places to visit in the world... but here's three of the reason our guests love coming to Tig Cottage.

Some guests choose us deliberately, seeking us out after recommendations from friends and family.

Others find us online, browing the booking sites or wandering through Facebook.

However you find us... we know you'll be glad you stayed.

Spaces available throughout the autumn and winter (yes, Scotland is lovely in the winter!)

16/08/2025

Sometimes... it's the unexpected adventure that ends up being the best thing ever.
Most places in Scotland in September are pretty full up.

Good luck getting in the Highlands for less than the cost of a kidney (or two), Edinburgh is in full "fleece the tourist" mode, and the islands are pretty but you'd better have good sea legs.

Meanwhile, South Ayrshire gets forgotten between it's noisy, flashy, basically England really, neighbour, Dumfries and Galloway, and the Disney-fied Highlands, with lots of middle aged women looking for magic stone circles going back to the 1700s (look, I've done the same, so I know what I'm talking about). and old-enough-to-know-better guys pointing from a lay-by to the middle of nowhere because that's where James Bond's house was CGIed many years ago.

If you're looking for Jamie, you're not going to find him in South Ayrshire (although little bits of Outlander have been filmed nearby). And you won't find anything James Bond here (although there was a real life Allies secret military base during WW2 just up the road).

But you will find all kinds of beaches (dog friendly, too), rolling countryside, woods, and forests (we're in the UNESCO Biosphere, you know), ruined castles and stately homes (not ruined), and peace and quiet that will calm your soul. At night you can watch the light of thousands of stars, and maybe even get a glimpse of the northern lights.

Tig Cottage is an award winning dog friendly property in the rural hamlet of Heronsford, just five minutes drive from the seaside village of Ballantrae, about an hour from Ayr and ninety minutes from Glasgow.

Sleeping four (one double room, one twin room), Tig is described by guests as peaceful, tranquil, calming, soothing and "a home away from home". We get repeat guests year after year... and let's be honest, we all know that doesn't happen unless somewhere is pretty special indeed.

Find out more via our website, or book online at booking dot com or Airbnb (look for Tig Cottage, KA26 0LL). If you'd like to book direct, contact me via Facebook messenger or call 07912682412.

10/08/2025

Although we’re not the highlands, we do have hills!

09/08/2025

⭐️ Will You Help Keep Tig Open? ⭐️

It’s award time again!

Last year we came second in the Dog Friendly magazine’s award in our category.

And it’s vote time again! You can vote for us if you voted last year.

The link is in the comments as if I put it in the main text, Facebook won’t show you the post!

Please vote. It’d mean so much to me!

03/08/2025

What a wonderful find in our guest book!
Bring your doggy family to Tig this autumn... they'll love it!

(thank you to Graffitipro.co.uk and Doodle_ling)