Fay and Emma are two personal trainers delivering outdoor fitness in the heart of Aberdeenshire. Their company, Match My Workout, is all about inspiring people to try new things and challenge themselves.

Their workouts are inspired by elite and professional athletes; the duo try these athlete’s training sessions and record the process, breaking down techniques for their clients.

Our friend Zara Gordon Lennox is a wife, a mother to her four children and a step-mother to three step children.

Zara moved from England to Speyside in the Scottish Highlands to help her husband, Angus, take over the running of his family’s estate, Gordon Castle. The family are, amongst other things, restoring their 8 acre walled garden which has meant that Zara has become a full-time gardener…!

Here, Zara talks to us about her month in the countryside.

We first met Federica when she was general manager at The Fife Arms and were instantly drawn to her infectious personality and insane local knowledge of Scotland’s flora and fauna (which, by the way, has earnt her her other name of Italian Ghillie).

We could wax lyrical about Federica until we are blue in the face but instead, we’ll let her talk about her favourite month in the countryside.

Mel Shand is an artist, author, photographer and game keeper’s wife with a long association with The Good Life Society and Glen Dye Cabins and Cottages.

Her daily life is lived close to nature and her creative work echoes that proximity.

Who better to ask about a favourite month in the country?