Lots has happened since my last blog, Christmas and Hogmanay came and went and was a great success all round. Lovely people all having a great time, all we could ask or hope for.

We gained our 2 AA rosettes, not as many as we would have wanted but as good as we could expect on a first visit – watch out for more!

In February we were in the final three for Hotel Restaurant of the Year, sadly we were runners up! I was in the final three for Chef of the Year at the same awards, again sadly I was runner up! Never mind though, we were the only ones to have two nominations, it also means we will get another crack at winning next year.

The sun is shinning as I write this, in fact the weather has been fantastic for weeks now, cold but sunny – better than cold and wet!

I continue to write the odd piece for the Press & Journal and they keep writing about us, which is even better, we’ve had lots of business as a result. I am also due to start writing a regular piece for the Dumfries Standard starting next month.

There’s a new chef/cooking programme starting on Channel 4 soon, yes yet another one! It’s called Iron Chef’s, I did an audition for it last month and while I didn’t get on this series they have said they will use me on the next series. Probably best really that way if it is a good show then more people will be watching come the second series and it will give us greater exposure and if it is not a good show I will know to turn the opportunity down!