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……………………

Rooms have to be kept warmer in a hotel than elsewhere, particularly when we often enjoy the company of guests who are accustomed to warmer climes. It is also normal for people to open windows when they are too warm rather than turning the heating down. The cost of heating Boath House has doubled in the last five years and so we have at last taken the financial plunge and installed a wood pellet biomasss system which in theory should pay for itself in 5 years.

We have utilised the services of a Fort William company who have installed the system to a very high standard with a minimum of fuss and disruption using local time served tradesmen. Its great to see that there are engineers and tradesmen specialising in renewables being trained and employed locally. It is to be hoped that when the University of the Highlands new campus is in full swing that we will see more young people benefitting from the move towards renewables which we see in industry and in newer homes.

The system is due to be commissioned this week in the house, and will eventually heat the greenhouse as well. Watch this space and we will let you know whether renewable energy lives up to its green credentials.

I have been a casual beekeeper for a number of years now. We started off with three hives of the local black bees which thrived for the first three years, then started to decline.  Despite efforts to shore up the dwindling populations we eventually lost the last hive this winter. No sign of any disease, and despite a couple of poor summers we would not normally have expected these losses a few years ago.

The current decline in bee populations is well documented at the moment, and it does seem odd that urban bee keepers are not experiencing the same percentage of losses as those of us surrounded by countryside.

Whilst scanning the internet looking for all things bee I came across these bumble bee hives and bought one to see if it would prosper here. The small hive and the colony arrived a few weeks ago and is thriving wonderfully well, great to see as bumble bee populations are also under threat.  I would encourage anyone who wants bees but no suit, smoker or stings (or honey }to look at these little marvels. There is absolutely no upkeep, but there are lots and lots of beautiful bees bumbling and pollinating round our garden again. Apparently the hive dies out over winter (although some queens will survive to start again next year} but the company simply supply another cassette population next spring, and I believe that for around £70 per annum this has to be one of the best investments we have made for some time – we are going to buy more hives next spring and dot them round the walled garden and orchard..

As I said earlier there is no honey, but there is no work involved either – ideal for the lazy environmentalist and for those of us who love to see those fat, striped little marvels hard at work whilst we sip a glass of chilled white wine.

Check out – www.dragonfli.co.uk/bees/beepol-lodge

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.

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!

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!

Last year with the children all very grown up – Wendy and I  now being the shortest members of the family  – we decided to open the doors for the festive period. I had thought that after all these years of having the place to ourselves at this time we might feel ever so slightly resentful of having to share our open fires and proper Christmas tree with other people.. Actually we had two trees as the first one which, had an absolute guarantee of not losing its needles until after festivities were complete, developed  sudden and acute needle drop syndrome a week after it went up. This could have been a bit of a nuisance except for the fact that we have a long tradition of donning silly red hats and drinking a bottle of Sherry whilst decorations are in progress, so two bottles of Pedro Ximinez was no real hardship.

I digress, the fact is that we all had a lovely and relaxing Christmas with plenty of time to do the things we wanted, whilst enjoying the company of some really lovely chilled out guests. One elderly lady did seem somewhat distressed by the absence of paper hats and plastic trinkets, but everyone else seemed happy with a handmade flask of Charlie’s  secret festive liquor which had been brewing since the previous October.  This plus some of his home made mince pies and Mulled Wine in the afternoons seemed to keep most of the Winter chill at bay.

We were so snug and self satisfied that we are going to do it again this year!

Personally I have no time for computers, and computers have no time for me. I know this as a fact because every time I go near a keyboard something  absolutely crucial gets lost from the memory and an apoplectic wife, or member of our team  has a rant at me. Adjectives such as Luddite, incompetent, thick and the S word get used a lot (I mean stupid, stupid)!

Most people think that computers are programmed machines that do our bidding IF you do things in a rational and computer literate manner. I, on the other hand, seem to be one of only a handful of people on the planet who are aware that these are malevolent constructs intended to make our lives miserable.  The full extent of this misery only becomes apparent when a business loses its internet connection. At a stroke we are blind, deaf and dumb, unable to talk to our clientele or suppliers and also unable to check flight times, cinema information or the quickest route between Auchtermuchty and Achnasheen. How did we manage in the “good old days”? To be honest I can’t remember and so will have to continue with my hate/hate relationship with Mr Microsoft.

Given that the rest of the world is coming to this beautiful country in increasing numbers due to the immediacy of the World Wide Web perhaps I am being slightly churlish – on the other hand I know that “they “ are out to get me!!!!