Although it has been a pleasure eating the bees' honey harvest, seeing a rise in the ladybird population and counting the numerous butterflies this year, there have also been some unwanted visitors inside the house - wood worm!

Our beautiful library, designed by John Smith (Aberdeen City's Architect) in 1830, has withstood the test of time for many decades, with the original wallpaper and a lingering scent of pipe smoke successfully transporting visitors back to the late Georgian era.

Recently we have been lucky enough to recruit two dedicated ladies to help clean the book collection, which dates back to purchases made by the 2nd Thomas Burnett of Kemnay in the 1680s. While exploring the curved shelves of our ceiling-height book cupboards with a National Trust curator, who had kindly offered her services, they discovered mini piles of sawdust collecting on the top of some books...

The ravenous bookworm beasties have been busy munching their way through the glorious softer pine interior of each shelf. With the alarm raised, we have done extensive research on how to rid ourselves of these destructive beetles, and duly spent time carefully removing books and treating wooden surfaces appropriately.

Luckily the shelves are only slightly damaged, being substantial enough to last another 190 years. And, although the pesky woodworm will always be a tiresome foe, their presences makes us explore hidden treasures far more thoroughly, giving us a better insight into the life of previous inhabitants of this gorgeous library.