We have decided to reduce our workload by developing luxury cottages and apartments at Columba House. So if you have ever wanted to own your very own peice of The Columba in The Highlands now is your chance. There will be a mixture of one and two bedrooms, most with magnificent views over the surrounding hills, mountains and Kingussie village. Some will be for sale others for holiday accommodation and long term lets.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
New Bungalow
2011 brought a couple of major changes to our lives. One is a brand new home, built to our specification, right next door to the Hotel. We moved in November on a temporary basis, until the Hotel is busier, then we will return to our flat inside the Hotel. James and Daniel and their delightful girlfriends came home for Christmas and New Year and what a super time we all had. The weather has been, and still is, extremely mild so it didn't prevent any of us from travelling around the Highlands and to Edinburgh & St Andrews for day trips. On New Year's Day we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at The Highland Wildlife Park, not to be missed when visiting us. Our new home is gorgeous, underfloor heating throughout, 4 double bedrooms, 2 of which have large en-suite wet rooms with cloudburst showers. Large kitchen/family room, with a wod burning stove, where Bill and I spend most of our time, it also has an "office corner"so we can keep on top of office work. The wood burning stove also opens up into the lounge.
Very large, south facing, patio with a beautiful view of Ruthven Barracks snugling among the hills.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Returning Jan.2011
Return to Artic Scotland
On boxing day we got the dreaded e-mail from our friends who said " get in touch urgently".
It turned out that for the first time in 25 years we had burst pipes all over the place and ceilings were down, furniture ruined and carpets floating. This was caused by the boiler locking out just when we did'nt need it. But thanks to our friends quick thinking and the amazing response of the plumber on boxing day, the damage was kept to 9 areas which included our bedroom. By way of this newsletter we would like to thank everyone who helped us out while we were away. When you ask a friend to keep an eye on the place, you don't expect them to have their Christmas ruined and get wet at the same time.
So here we are in the middle of February with Spring maybe around the corner and Myra and me just getting back into our own bedroom last night.
We have decided that with these current weather patterns we will stay at home for Christmas in 2011 and enjoy and lovely family get together in our new home.
On boxing day we got the dreaded e-mail from our friends who said " get in touch urgently".
It turned out that for the first time in 25 years we had burst pipes all over the place and ceilings were down, furniture ruined and carpets floating. This was caused by the boiler locking out just when we did'nt need it. But thanks to our friends quick thinking and the amazing response of the plumber on boxing day, the damage was kept to 9 areas which included our bedroom. By way of this newsletter we would like to thank everyone who helped us out while we were away. When you ask a friend to keep an eye on the place, you don't expect them to have their Christmas ruined and get wet at the same time.
So here we are in the middle of February with Spring maybe around the corner and Myra and me just getting back into our own bedroom last night.
We have decided that with these current weather patterns we will stay at home for Christmas in 2011 and enjoy and lovely family get together in our new home.
Holidays
Well as many of you know, we work seven days a week from Janaury to Decembeer and for the last few years have taken 4/6 weeks off to catch up with friends and family.
This year we went to California via Liverpool ( Bill's Sister,Daughter,Grandchildren and Nephews as well as old friends) and London to see Myra's Mum,brother and sisters and the rest of the family. This now includes Daniel who relocated from Gibraltor and now works and lives close to Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs. After leaving Kingussie we got stuck in Perth and took us two days just to get out of Scotland
We flew out of Heathrow to Los Angeles ( just before the bad weather, ) the first week was in temperatures up to 85 degrees so we did the touist thing at Universal studios before driving down the Pacific Coast highway to Huntingdon and Newport Beach were we sat and watched the surfers. Then the rains came, and came, and came. Who said it never rains in Southern California. By the time we got down to Carlsbad which was to be our home for Christmas and New Year, something like seven states had declared states of emergency due to flooding. Even San Dieago its'self.
Our reason for staying in Carlsbad was to meet the family of Daniels girlfriend ( Dayna and Dan are very much in love ) Scott,Laura and Lauren can only be described as the most lovely, caring and thoughtful people we have ever met and they made our time with them so special.
We were also lucky enough to make this Christmas a family gathering as James drove down from Vancouver in BC. Daniel flew in from London and Dayna came from Boston. All of which was not without truma due the weather and flight cancellations, but I won't bore you with all that.
Well as many of you know, we work seven days a week from Janaury to Decembeer and for the last few years have taken 4/6 weeks off to catch up with friends and family.
This year we went to California via Liverpool ( Bill's Sister,Daughter,Grandchildren and Nephews as well as old friends) and London to see Myra's Mum,brother and sisters and the rest of the family. This now includes Daniel who relocated from Gibraltor and now works and lives close to Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs. After leaving Kingussie we got stuck in Perth and took us two days just to get out of Scotland
We flew out of Heathrow to Los Angeles ( just before the bad weather, ) the first week was in temperatures up to 85 degrees so we did the touist thing at Universal studios before driving down the Pacific Coast highway to Huntingdon and Newport Beach were we sat and watched the surfers. Then the rains came, and came, and came. Who said it never rains in Southern California. By the time we got down to Carlsbad which was to be our home for Christmas and New Year, something like seven states had declared states of emergency due to flooding. Even San Dieago its'self.
Our reason for staying in Carlsbad was to meet the family of Daniels girlfriend ( Dayna and Dan are very much in love ) Scott,Laura and Lauren can only be described as the most lovely, caring and thoughtful people we have ever met and they made our time with them so special.
We were also lucky enough to make this Christmas a family gathering as James drove down from Vancouver in BC. Daniel flew in from London and Dayna came from Boston. All of which was not without truma due the weather and flight cancellations, but I won't bore you with all that.
Our New Bungalow
Next time you come to see us, you will notice that we have built a bungalow for ourselves on the peice of land that you see just as you turn the corner of the drive. Hopefully this will be finished by June and will be the completion of one of our dreams. This is part of the view from the bungalow which overlooks Ruthven Barracks and the Cairngorms Mountains Ski area.
Next time you come to see us, you will notice that we have built a bungalow for ourselves on the peice of land that you see just as you turn the corner of the drive. Hopefully this will be finished by June and will be the completion of one of our dreams. This is part of the view from the bungalow which overlooks Ruthven Barracks and the Cairngorms Mountains Ski area.
The Economy
Despite the state of the UK and the world we managed to have a reasonable year ( not as bad as expected, but no cherry on the cake ) We therefore decided to continue with the refurbishment of some rooms and upgrading bathrooms as well as creating a beautiful fully tiled new walk -in wet room to one of the ground floor rooms.
We also had an unscheduled redec courtesy of the plumbers who managed to bring down a bedroom ceiling using hundreds of gallons of water into a room which had only days before finished a redec with new furniture etc.
However we like everybody else are looking forward to surviving another difficult year depite all the powers that be and local authorities doing their best to make life as difficult as possible for small businesses.
Despite the state of the UK and the world we managed to have a reasonable year ( not as bad as expected, but no cherry on the cake ) We therefore decided to continue with the refurbishment of some rooms and upgrading bathrooms as well as creating a beautiful fully tiled new walk -in wet room to one of the ground floor rooms.
We also had an unscheduled redec courtesy of the plumbers who managed to bring down a bedroom ceiling using hundreds of gallons of water into a room which had only days before finished a redec with new furniture etc.
However we like everybody else are looking forward to surviving another difficult year depite all the powers that be and local authorities doing their best to make life as difficult as possible for small businesses.
New TVs
New Televisions
As the Highlands was to go digital in October 2010 ( even before London ) we decided to take advantage to renew our old aerial system and replace the analogue sets before the rush. These are wall mounted digital flat screen televisions that now give our guests 17 TV channels and 17 radio stations. Also a built in digital clock and alarm call system.
As the Highlands was to go digital in October 2010 ( even before London ) we decided to take advantage to renew our old aerial system and replace the analogue sets before the rush. These are wall mounted digital flat screen televisions that now give our guests 17 TV channels and 17 radio stations. Also a built in digital clock and alarm call system.
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