Happy Hogmanay.

To everyone who made it to Aviemore this festive season and especially to those who joined us both for a fabulous week in the house and for an almighty party in the barn. Aviemore has been heaving all week, with musical evenings in both Ord Ban and the Old Bridge Inn, from whence the John Langan band first footed us and took us through to the small hours. The hill has been packed with skiers, the snow conditions are the best for years and the forecast predicts little change over the next few weeks.

There have been the predictable repercussions of life below zero. It hit minus 18 last night and hardly scraped above minus 5 during the day, the sledging here has been brilliant, not all the bathrooms have worked all of the time, the farm flat burst some pipes and flooded the garage and every day has included time spent digging and towing out cars. With our next booking 10 days away there are still 9 folk who say that its safer to stay on than to try the roads and who I suspect will remain cautious as long as the food and whisky keep flowing.