Just when we all thought Nessie had gone on her summer holidays, touring celebrities from the cast of the stage show 'Allo 'Allo were this week the latest to claim a 'sighting' of the Loch Ness Monster. While crusing the loch abord one of the Jacobite fleet (www.jacobite.co.uk ) they caught a glimpse of a 'Nesie-shaped image' on the vessel's sonar screen at a depth of over 700ft!
Another 'explainable' object... well according to Adrian Shine of the Loch Ness project (www.lochnessproject.org ) this one has got him just a little bit puzzled. So perhaps, just perhaps, this 'sighting' is for real. According to the skipper of the boat it is the first time in 15 years that such images have been picked up on the sonar....

Couldn't believe this morning..looked out the kitchen window and who is as the bird feeder -not a bird, not a squirrel, but a long tailed field mouse! Fiona got the camera and took this photo of this most endearing of mice with its enormous ears and eyes for it's size.

I think though that it was taking a chance being this high off the ground and exposed to the odd passing sparrow hawk out for a tasty morsel... Usually we watch the field mice, shrews and voles scuttling around the base of the bird feeder and our previous cats used to keep the numbers down. However our present old cat, Kerry, (aged 17) shows no interest in such activity prefering instead to...sleep, eat, wander around a bit and then, yes, sleep again. What a life!

Final event of Biz-Ness week took place in the grounds of Aldourie castle yesterday lunch-time. Bit of 'fun and games' to celebrate a successful week, it was the perfect way to round off the week. We had archery and team challenge events courtesy of BootsnPaddles(http://www.boots-n-paddles.co.uk/ ) and then following a sumptuous Hog Roast, there was a tour around the castle which is presently being restored to it's former glory. Very soon it will be available to rent on a weekly 'exclusive use' basis (http://www.aldouriecastle.co.uk/) and what a place it will be! No expense has been spared - the rooms are being redecorated to a standard comparable with the very best elsewhere in the UK. And of course there is over 500 acres of grounds to explore..

Aldourie castle has a long history dating back to 1626. It has witnessed the passing of General Wade's troops, the Lovat Scouts meeting before heading off to the Boer war as well as many aristocrats and industrialists in Victorian times....

Aside from our businesses Evergreen B&B and self catering Hazelgrove which is next door to Evergreen, (http://www.hazelgrovelochness.co.uk/) I'm also executive director of an organisation called Destination Loch Ness. It is essentially an organisation which aims to improve the visitor experience of Loch Ness by working in partnership with the public and private sector. This week we are running a series of events for businesses and today I took part in one such event, an IT one appropriately named 'Techie-Ness' down at the Lovat Arms Hotel, Fort Augustus ( http://www.lovatarms-hotel.com/) Great hotel which has been restored and taken to new levels over the past few years by the Gregory family. It also 'hides' a real piece of history- just to the side of the carpark is a small almost forlorn looking stretch of wall complete with gun embrasures that is actually all that remains of the origonal 'Fort Augustus' built in 1718..

Was at the annual Highland Business Dinner last night -great night although a bit warm to be wearing the kilt at this time of year. Anyway, the guest speaker was John Sergeant, one time stand up comic, political commentator and, of late, star of the BBC' Strictly Come dancing' series. He was, as expected, highly entertaining but what shone through about him more than anything was his character - he really is a genuine nice person. Not that he was kind in his comments about political leaders that he has met over the years, far from it, but behind the comments and sharp wit you got the feeling that here was a warm person - the kind of person who would be perfect to work in the tourism industry where a personality such as his would ensure success. We need more of his kind - there are many that I know in tourism who provide excellent service but who would do well to look at John Sergeant and consider how they think they are perceived as a person by their visitors....

One of the great benefits of living and working here on the shores of Loch Ness is that when the sun shines it's very easy just to take a couple of hours off and enjoy. Today has been such a day - glorious sunshine sparkling off the waters of the loch - too much to resist! So late afternoon it was time for another run off up in to the Monalhiath Mountains with friend Ed. After a brutal ascent ( for me at least!) from the summit we were rewarded with amazing views in all directions -Scotland in all it's splendour stretched out before us from the snow-capped mountains in the west to the Moray Firth in the east. Truly life affirming !

Down at our holiday cottage at Colintraive on the west coast this week (see photo). Hoped to get out on our boat but the weather was appalling so we went across to the Mull of Kintyre for the day and travelled down to Campbeltown. Have to say pretty remote - a long long drive from Glasgow unless of course you use the excellent ferries that are the mainstay of life off the west coast. However, what a wonderful day we had and what wonderful service we got wherever we went - particularly at the Bookshop and Gallery 10 coffee shop in Campbeltown. Fantastic! I'm convinced that service in remote areas is often better than you'll get anywhere in a city because they appreciate more the importance of good service to their business success.

I mentioned in a post last week that Aleister Crowley lived only a couple of miles from Evergreen back at the turn of last century. Well, in the 'Scotsman' newspaper yesterday there was an extraordinary article linking Ian Fleming of 'James Bond' fame to Crowley. Apparently during WWII Fleming hatched a plan to use Crowley to trick Rudolf hess in to contacting a bogus anti Churchill group. However, it was halted when the high ranking Nazi parachuted in to Scotland in 1941... What a strange, strange connection!

One of the fantastic things about the south side of Loch Ness is that very quickly you can take yourself away in to very remote wild areas. Today myself and friends Ed and Alex did just that and went for a hill run in the area near a small loch, called Loch Knockie. The ascent was very steep but not only were we rewarded with amazing views of Loch Ness and all of Stratherrick, but we saw three wild goats including a kid. This is the only area in the vicinity where they can regularly be seen and it is largely because it is so far off the 'beaten track'. Have to admit I was rathered tired when we got back but it worth it!