Yes, surely it must be spring now - the daffodils might not yet be out with us but the clocks have changed and... this morning I went for my first run in my shorts since about last November! Now I know all you keen runners out there will be thinking what a wimp but high up in the Monaliath Mountains there are still large patches of snow so it is not too warm yet. From where I parked the car, I followed a good trail for 3 miles rising over 1000ft before hitting the 'hard stuff' ( wet, boggy heather and rough grass!) which I followed for a further mile. From the high point of my run I could see over miles of snow capped mountains towards the north west coast - absolutely wonderful - well worth the pain in getting there!

Well finally after much deliberation by Highland Council, two tourism developments on the shores of Loch Ness were yesterday given the go ahead . The first is for the main cruise company on the loch, Jacobite, to develop new harbour facilities and visitor centre. The other by the owners of the Loch Ness Exhibiton Centre in Drumnadrochit is for the development of the existing lochside facilities. Many people have misgivings about the two being given permission for a number of very valid reasons. But at the end of the day, from the visitor perspective, they should substantially enhance the visitor experience of Loch Ness. All being well, Jacobite expect to start on their development this year.

Lovely local news story yesterday which was widely covered by the press and TV. Fifty years ago the Beatles played in Dingwall, a small town 11 miles north of Inverness, to a mere 19 people! It was just before they became famous with the release of their first top ten hit, 'Please Please Me' and they had to compete that night with local favourites,The Melotones, who were playing just along the road in the village of Strathpeffer to a sellout 800 audience! Now they are trying to track down the 19 people who attended the Beatles concert. As I say, great story but it got me thinking why - it would not have been news if this were in some large city, it's the fact that it occured in a small community in the Highlands and I think today there is still very much a feeling amongst musicians that playing the small rural venues is not only very special but almost a right of passage and I for one have to say I'm very glad! Recently we have had up here in the Highlands mega new supergroup Mumford & Son playing a whole host of small venues and personally, with one or two exceptions, the best music concerts for atmosphere that I have ever attended were at Farr Village Hall 20 miles from Evergreen and Pitlochry(in rural Perthshire) village hall in 1993!!

Inverness Half Marathon today. Fantastic event and this was it's 27th year and... the worst running conditions since it began! It had been snowing heavily in the Highlands over the past 24 hours and as all starters, including myself, lined up it was a 'wonderful' mixture of rain/sleet and snow. Then, as the race headed out of the centre of Inverness and up to the higher ground we had strong gusts of wind to contend with. But, we are made of hardy stuff up here in the Highlands and 1hr 47 mins later I staggered over the line a very sorry bedraggled but happy figure. Roll on next year.. well, maybe!!

Beautiful day here on Loch Ness. The sun has shone all day, even on Evergreen - the first signs of Spring for sure, as our location on the south side of the loch means that we don't get any sun between November and February! Have used the time to attack the garden and start tidying everything - what between dead leaves, broken branches and the odd tree requiring to come down (either because it has grown too large or is simply unsafe!) we certainly have our work cut out over the next few weeks. What makes things worse is that as I work I keep thinking ' ah yes I must see to that also, this is going to need changed this year, I need a new shed etc etc' which is mildly depressing on such a beautiful day....