Progress Report Number Six

Posted by Stuart and Susannah Macpherson - 16:11 on 07 January 2010

I feel I should start off by saying that Susannah continues to be in good health three years on from her treatment, and we would like to thank everyone for their kind support and concern. Aurora and Liah are still thriving. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for Flopsy the bunny rabbit, or Daisy and Bubble the gerbils, who all passed away this year. Before their passing our menagerie had grown this spring by the addition of nine ducks and later 20 ducklings and a number of baby bunnies (which as you can imagine delighted our girls!) Boy those ducks are promiscuous and we talk about rabbits. These ducks make Tiger Woods look like a choirboy. All joking aside we, and many our guests have thoroughly enjoyed watching the ducks waddle around the property. Anyway twenty plus ducks were proving quite a handful so we found a new home for most of them, no not the chef’s freezer, a farm near Culbokie.

I am delighted to say the growth of the business this year has been phenomenal, despite the doom and gloom predicted by the media. The strong Euro and our ever-increasing repeat and referred guests have combined to give us unprecedented levels of business over the last twelve months. Of course there is a down side to all of this…. I have been playing significantly less golf than I would like.

My cautious bank manager has not managed to quell my optimism despite his gloomy predictions for the hotel industry in the short term so I’ve been pushing on with manageable bite sized projects. We’ve proceeded with converting the room know as the Tartan Bistro (latterly used as our wine cellar) into swanky new toilets, which we are delighted with. We also managed to employ a much-needed roofer Marc Beagent (GM, Chris McLeod’s brother in-law who was between contracts) Marc was a real trooper and battled on during a horrendously wet period of the summer, fixing and replacing as much as he could in six weeks. Hopefully we he will be back again in the new-year to continue what he started.

Another accomplishment this year by Charlie, Rory and Anna has been the addition of a winding path around the lawn on the entrance side of the building. It takes you past the duck pond, up to the top end of the property and snakes back round to the car park. We’ve placed a few benches between the magnificent old trees to enjoy the surrounding wildlife and the good views of the architecture. A wendy house has also gone up, hidden amongst the trees on the other side of the house for the kids. I have been tempted to let it out several time this summer when we’ve been sold out, so be sure to book early for next summer as you never know where you might be accommodated!

2010 will see us slowly begin the bedroom and bathroom refurbishment that we have all been looking forward to starting. We will be fitting this in around our quieter periods of the year not to cause any distruption.

Susannah and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and patience, your encouragement truly helps us have the patience and perseverance to recognise our vision for the place and each year we get a step closer to that being achieved. It would be remiss of me not to highlight once again the wonderful staff that have helped make 2009 so successful.

Yours sincerely,

Proud owners
 

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