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Petal (the mean looking grey Landrover which is our closest approximation to an estate vehicle) has not featured in these pages for some time, her summer of filming and adventure curtailed by steadily deteriorating health. Eventually it was the gearbox that let go, a crunch, a grind and a bang during a futile attempt to tow out a snowbound neighbour left Petal stranded in a ditch, apparently for the winter. Despite it being well into the minuses last week and Mr Light snr being on holiday he insisted on donning the overalls and getting stuck straight into an engine swap. Now I have just details to sort out before Petal rides again. Mr Light I salute you.

THE [NEAR] THING from danlight on Vimeo.

The Inshriach House / Light family Swede is showing the signs of becoming a fine tradition, having now happened twice (see last years Lord of the Rings). This year the Sound of Music was ruled out because of a heavy dump of snow so John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ got the treatment even though it will be 10 years before any of the cast are old enough to know what was going on.

A couple of excellent developments have occurred. The most satisfying is that I have finally finished the yurt we started on the yurt making courses last year. It is 16ft of steam bent loveliness and the cover for it is being made as I speak. A Victorian bed, some lanterns, a chaise longue and a woodburner and we have a woodland honeymoon suite. A collaboration is underway between ourselves, Alastair Sawdays publishing and Paul Millard from Red Kite Yurts, Paul was so taken by the woodland idea that he has given me another 16 footer to put up nearby and both will soon be available to rent, initially in a basic form but getting more luxurious as time and money allow.

The next lovely arrival is this beautiful Edwardian burr walnut upright piano in the hall which is just a tune short of a tune.

Malcolm Handoll from 5 senses is coming down from Orkney to run a one day bushcrafting and natural fire making course at Inshriach on the 20th February. There are 4 places left on the course and they are £70 each. Drop me an email or contact Malcolm if you are interested.

We are running a spoon carving course in conjunction with the National Park on the 28th February using local birch and coppiced wood. It’s already sold out but we will see how it goes and probably organise another.

Next week I’m off to Callander to see Paul at Red Kite Yurts and get the beautiful 16 foot oak Yurt we made last year finished off. There will be various yurt activities on Inshriach during 2010, starting with another yurt making workshop on the 6th March, and a very exciting yurt camping scheme has just been put in motion. The course will be £75 for the whole day and you can read about our last one here.

Last weekend the outstanding Horndog Brass band played for Ord Ban‘s second birthday party and this weekend sees the Old Bridge hosting three nights of musical entertainment, with the Horndogs coming back, King Arthurs Men, Woodenbox with a fistful of fivers and the official launch party for the Insider, only, in our true tradition of not planning very well, we forgot to do a mail out telling folk that’s what’s going on.

Check out the Old Bridge website for full details.

I have been away from the blog for a few weeks now, largely because there has been so much going on. Last weekend was the annual husky racing championship, being held on snow for the first time in 15 years. There were over a thousand dogs, 200 teams and I pinched this photo from Aaron Sneddon who (unlike me) was actually there.

I wasn’t there simply because Sparrow and the Workshop were playing at the Old Bridge Inn and a session ensued that went some way past licensed hours. We have finally got round to incorporating Backwoods Productions (for producing and publicising events) and have focused our musical attendance somewhat because the Insider 2010 is alive. Last week Sam Lee, the promoter behind the Magpies Nest folk nights in London came to stay and has made himself very much involved. His current specialist interest (among many others) is the hereditary traveller ballads of Aberdeenshire so we may introduce a ‘Balladlands’, and there is talk of combining with the Cairngorms National Park to introduce a much greater firewood and renewables element to the festival. We are also going to start recruiting volunteers, stewards, waitresses etc etc, ideally from Aviemore, so if anyone would like a job please get in touch

Sam and I, and two lovely lady Morris dancers then headed for Celtic Connections to further our causes and catch a few of the potential bands. It put a smile on my face that the 2 headlining bands of Celtic Connections were Session A9 and Lau, who headlined for us in one shape or form last year. The Insider seems to have generated a ripple of goodwill through artists and their management and though we are going to have to put our tickets on sale without a full line up, trust us, it will be a belter.

So, next weekend at the Old Bridge Inn is the official launch party for the Insider, with lots of bands I have mentioned here over the last year including the Horndog Brass band, Woodenbox and a Fistful of Fivers and King Arthurs Men playing. The festival itself will be Friday 18th to Sunday 20th June. Watch this space for updates.

Here we are again, this time being Wintery in Conde Nast Traveller just in time to encourage people to come here in the Spring. Click on the picture and you can see the enormous icicles that surrounded the house a fortnight ago.

There has been so much snow sitting in the trees that sometimes just the noise of a pheasant taking off is enough to break branches. The bigger trees give a biblical groan, creaking and cracking as they go. Only as the snow has thinned round the house are all the broken trees visible so a few days back it became time to dig out our elderly Massey Ferguson, gas up a chainsaw, improvise a snowplough, try to get the drives passable again and start an epic tidy up.

Two days of serious shovelling and sawing brings me to a recommendation. Just when I had totally tied myself in knots I cashed in a token I had been given for a massage from Sally Ann Westcott at Aviemore Beauty. I came out feeling like I was wearing someone else’s shoulders, someone much younger, fresher and more lithe than myself. Whether you were in off the hill, had been cycling, canoeing or shovelling, or just fancied being a little realigned, it is a revelation.

The hill has been closed these last few days, it was gusting 70 plus miles an hour and there were 10 foot drifts blowing over the ski road as soon as the plough had past. It’s a lottery you face by choosing Aviemore as your skiing destination. That left the Old Bridge Inn as the best alternative, Calum Wood and some of City City Beat played the last 2 nights and the pub was heaving with a great atmosphere and lots of friendly faces. It is going to go from strength to strength this year.

The breaking news is that we have quietly started planning the next Insider. It’s to be the 18th to the 20th June, we don’t know who will be playing yet so you are just going to have to trust us but there are some big names in the hat. Watch this space.