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Thanks go out to the 800 odd people who made it along to the Insider, especially to those who played, worked so hard or tidied the place up. There are some fantastic pictures gathering on our flickr group and our facebook page. This is what the Scotsman had to say about it. There are further musical experiences in the pipeline for August.

Two weeks of tweaking and tidying later and things were normal enough for Simon and Emily’s wedding. They went for a humanist ceremony in a field of waving buttercups. I will post a few pictures from that when I can.

The Insider just had a very nice write up in the Caledonian Mercury and we have built this stage in the woods from scrap and Inshriach trees which I hope will be used for all sorts of fine entertainment in the future, like a hobbity Scottish Glyndebourne.

It has been a week of such activity I have been slow to spread the good press Inshriach and especially the yurt have achieved. This lovely article in the Times was the result of Tom and Catherine’s visit last weekend and since then the yurt has been the scene of one fine party and one successful proposal. It also been in the Express. Some time this week it’s in the Mail and rumour has it that Esquire are about to feature it. BA are running something about it in their inflight magazine, the Scotsman are heading this way soon

Since the Times article came out an Saturday we have confirmed the outstanding Daimh to headline our Sunday Insider Folk Session, following on from Macmaster and Hay and Charlie McKerron, and we are building an extraordinary stage in the woods.

For more details about the Insider have a look at the blog devoted to the festival, then book some tickets and join us.

The latest arrival here goes by the name of Monty Zoomer and is a pure Jocker Sprussel, sporting the head of a spaniel on the body of a Jack Russell. For the time being he is making a mess and trying to run without falling over himself.

He arrived just in time to be sweet and clumsy for Tom and Katherine Whipple who were writing a piece for the Times about a romantic and isolated weekend in the yurt. Its going into a camping supplement later this week. So much for isolation, it was a weekend of food and boats and walks and company, plus the ongoing Insider castle build. The yurt was resplendent with its pink doors and over the weekend they watched fascinated as a pair of wasps, seemingly oblivious to their presence, weaved a little nest in the roof, a papery shell with hexagonal compartments for eggs, which I have to now remove before the next rental.

St. John is a long time visitor to Inshriach. Yesterday he kept 4 beautiful brown trout. Maybe it’s their diet, maybe the exercise from the constant current and occasional floods but the river trout taste far better than the fish from the stocked loch on the farm, firmer, fitter and with much more flavour.

We include fishing in the rental here but if you come fishing please bring your own equipment, we don’t lend kit because inexperienced fishermen tend to lose or tangle it and experienced fishermen wouldn’t want to use my quirky dated rubbish. Our stretch of the Spey is a shade under 3 miles, varied, scenic, technical but very rewarding once you get to know it.

The first rental in the yurt arrived yesterday so this week has been a scene of frantic activity. We have carved out a bathroom in the farmyard for said yurters, had license meetings for the Insider and undertaken a major salvage operation on behalf of the festival (see Medieval Knieval). On top of that the Joe Acheson Quartet made an outstanding appearance at the Old Bridge Inn and to top it all off the yurt gained some cushioned, smoky pink velvet door liners studded with brass buttons.

The Insider is now 5 weeks away, the license and the line up just need a polish and we are about to hit the highlands with our motley PR campaign.

Get your tickets at www.insider2010.com

Last weekend Aviemore hosted the Vans Dawn of the Shred snowboard comp, a spectacular end to a season in which more snow fell in Aviemore than for the winter Olympics in Vancouver. In fact it’s snowing again today and Inshriach is available for the first 2 weeks in May if anyone fancies a last minute shred of their own. Thanks to my neighbour Woody for the pic.