We all get truly fired up at this time of year when the first flushes of colour erupt and emerge through the soil. All is neat and tidy and in control before the madness of summers prevails with all its flourish and abundance.
I have lost count of the packets of seeds I have sown and the amount of trays which have germinated is growing by the day. Followed shortly by the monotonous and laborious task of pricking out and potting on.

I have been delighted that Sam has shown a modicum of interest in our horticultural pursuits this year, he was persuaded to buy a goodly amount of heritage seed potatoes from a local supplier and started out in his endeavour to plough and furrow in the field with great gusto. This enthusiasm did start to wane slightly when the task in hand proved to be a rather mammoth one however perseverance and sheer bloody mindedness won out and we now have a rather large bounty of potatoes to look forward to. This green fingered craze was further displayed by John who decided to grow carrots and celeriac to enter into the Nairn show. I have never truly understood this male fascination for growing the longest, biggest anything’s I can only assume it has similar connotations to other manly traits.

I ‘m not however going to disparage or demean this fab day in any way as I want my treats, cake, washing up done, breakfast in bed……………………

We are collecting elderberries this weekend and harvesting our apples and pears. The plums have just finished and the chantrelles are slowing down, as are the last of our tomato vines in the greenhouse. Did get a few nice potatoes today and some fresh parsley root. Chefs are making more jam next week with the last of the local berries and brewing some cordials to last through the winter.

We may not have missed the tax rises and the benefit cuts – but we seem to have missed an awful lot of unpleasantness that those less fortunate have not.

We had a brace of Hotel inspectors in to see us the other week. After all these years we know many of them, but in this case neither of them had been before. Inspectors generally come singly, book in advance, and do not declare themselves until checkout in the morning. At this stage they will sit down with whomsoever wants to discuss the visit, and go through their experience.

Some individuals in the industry seem to resent the inspecting bodies, but we have found them to be helpful, informative, and extremely knowledgeable. Anyone who visits several hundred establishments a year, and is trained in the job normally has a lot to offer if you care to ask questions beyond the “how did
we do?” level. Many inspectors have been chefs, hoteliers or wine buffs.

We certainly live in area of outstanding natural contradictions (beauty too of
course) Last week we had howling gales and snow, this week we have T shirt
weather (if you come from round these parts) and snow drops, winter aconites,
cyclamen and crocus miraculously sprouting all around us.

I would have had more time to admire them if Wendy had not decided that the
greenhouse needed a makeover. The entire frontage came out – all eight metres-
and was replaced by new timbers. This is work enough but of course we then
had the inevitable change of paint colours, why it is inevitable is a matter of
mystery to the average male, but inevitable it invariably is.

No complaints though some thirty litres of timber preservative, floor paint and
wall coatings the greenhouse is now a thing of beauty – or it will be when we
have scraped the paint dribbles from the glass.

If you happen to be wandering round our walled garden this Spring or Summer
do pause to admire our handywork, but be warned that anyone disagreeing with
the choice of colours will be badly beaten with a four inch paint brush!

Ian and I did breathe a momentary sigh of relief as the paint pots were stowed
away, but only until we realised that this now clears the way for the frenzied
planting of the first batch of seedlings, which in turn leads on to pricking out and
then to planting out and rather a lot of weeding.

Wonder if the potting shed needs the roof replacing?

I was reading a rather depressing article in a magazine the other day which was quoting statistics about the increased deaths, marital break ups, crime etc which occur around Christmas (added to which we have the Mayan prophecy of Armageddon this year) – all very gloomy.

We at Boath have decided to ignore all of the above, bury our heads in the snow, and endeavour to have a really good time.  To this end we have been chopping wood (to keep the home fires burning) erecting festive trees (5 to date) and strewing garlands, pine cones, holly and mistletoe around the premises with little regard to the purveyors of doom and gloom.

Charlie has Turkey, Venison, Pheasant, Pork Belly, Beef and a host of tricky and delicious accompaniments on the go (and some rather festive vegetarian dishes too) and the Mulled  Wine is improving in the cellar. We find that like Christmas pudding, it improves with a little age, this of course is probably true of the majority of us too.

We have dug out the motorised snow plough (which was completely redundant las t year) in the hope that we get just a dusting of snow. It appears that the bookmakers are betting against a White Christmas, but here in the far flung North we can generally be relied on to beat the odds.

Christmas shopping has taken a bit of a back seat with us in recent years as the children have become adults, so we are hoping for a Christmas filled with friends, family, a touch of goodwill and a complete absence of Armageddon. We wish the same for all of our friends out there.

Merry Christmas!!

It would seem that we have become a nation of involuntary renters. By this I mean that it would appear that on an increasing number of occasions when we think we have bought an article or service it turns out we have in fact only rented it.

Bruce Willis recently made headlines attempting to affirm his family to retain the rights after his death, to the thousands of iTunes music tracks he has purchased – Read the small print!

Artists are entitled to part of any profit you make from selling on one of their paintings (does it work the other way round if you sell at a loss?)

Many photographers now routinely keep the rights to photographs (particularly wedding pictures) for which they have already charged fairly large amounts of money.

My least favourite are the Performing Rights Society. I have no gripe against artists being paid for performance of their music (being a complete luddite I still buy CD’s and DVD’s and do not do free downloads) but these people are in a different league.

Anyone who purchases a TV and puts it in a room where a non resident of that property watches it appears to require a licence from PRS. Despite the fact that makers of TV programmes pay vast amounts of money to use composers tunes, and the fact that we all pay an annual licence fee the act of listening to programme theme music on the TV apparently entitles them to monies.

Do you have a phone which plays music whilst it is on hold – beware the PRS. Do you play your radio at work -beware the PRS. Does your car horn play the first four notes of “ Money, Money, Money” by Abba? Well you know the rest!

It is always heartbreaking to cut down an old tree (or any tree) and this one was too far gone to use for anything but firewood. A slightly smaller one came down in the gales two years ago, it was perfectly healthy so we brought in a mobile sawmill and had it cut into planks which we hope to use in the grounds. An old gent from the village rescued some of the larger lumps and turned them into salad bowls. Most of the rest was chipped and put on the beds to stop weeds – a fairly successful recycling exercise (apart from the fact that it all cost a fortune!)

We now have some large spaces where we will plant more trees. We will not see them grow to maturity, but there again those who planted our existing trees did so as an act of faith that future generations would enjoy and cherish them.

We too have faith!!

On returning from the trip I started to reflect on what it is we do here. Awards are lovely (and the press is good for business) but they are incidental. I doubt very much whether any hotelier is making a fortune in the current climate – but it can be intensely rewarding in many other ways. We live in a lovely house in a stunning part of Scotland, we eat good food, and we get to drink decent wines, but we also get to meet the most charming and interesting people many of whom have become friends
over the years.

This weekend we had a house party for a couple who first came to see us a decade ago. Family and friends from all over the world flew in, the weather was stunning and I think that all of us here had nearly as much fun as they did. We have certainly made new friends and we are sure many of them will return to the Highlands.

Right now they are all winging their separate ways to the USA, Sweden, Greece, and all parts southerly, the sun is shining on our beautiful autumnal trees and we have had a rewarding and satisfying weekend with old friends. Not a bad job is it??

It’s been sometime since we wrote anything – which does not mean that we have been idle!! Busy over Christmas and New Year with family, friends and a number of guests who have become firm friends over the years. Apparently the firework display at New Year was one of our best and was certainly enjoyed by our neighbours and some villagers who turn out to watch each year. Thinking of passing a hat round next time!

All the snow and ice has disappeared for now (although I do not remember a February when we did not get some snow and frost) but Spring is beginning to show with our Witchhazel tree in flower and the first Snowdrop shoots appearing. Lots of pruning and hacking down of unwanted shrubbery ongoing whilst we are in the middle of a major redecoration phase in the House. Charlie retained his Michelin Star and his fourth Rosette and is planning the latest phase of his ever upwards and onwards menu changes.

Every time we look at a newspaper or hear the news there seems to be more doom and gloom, but when the house and garden are looking good and Spring greenery  and lighter evenings are with us, it’s difficult not to be a little upbeat and glad to be alive!