Page 56 of The Christmas Highland Lodge

I could only imagine how that news about yet more second homers would be received in the area!

Things were moving at pace elsewhere too. Representatives from Ronaldo’s had dropped by Christmas Crackers to introduce themselves and to take a look around.

The man and woman, both in their thirties and well dressed, had been polite and professional, but it was clear they were intent on making their mark and had ambitious plans for transforming the shop into a rustic Italian restaurant to reflect their other city-based ones.

Once they had taken measurements and chatted to Mum, Orla and me, they departed.

I was left with an empty pang of sadness after their visit, but then acceptance took over.

Once they had set off, I made my way up to the cabins and Rowan Moore House to make sure Ruth was aware of which families were arriving on Christmas Eve and in which cabins our guests would be staying and for how long.

I hadn’t seen much of Blake over the past week, since his surprising and heart-warming gift to Natalie and her dad. I’d caught glimpses of him a couple of times when he had come up to meet with Max and Stephanie. He had waved and smiled, asked how I was and then moved on. I suppose that was a big improvement on how we had been with each other before.

In the meantime, I’d managed to come up with some wording for the launch of the naming of the cabins competition and wanted to run it past Max and Stephanie:

Magical Occasions Cabins are just that – magical!

And that’s why we want you to come up with an original and appealing name for each of our four wonderful, cosy cabins.

Take a look at the photos of our revamped cabins and then come up with a name that suits each one.

You might want to take inspiration from nature, book characters, countries or cities around the world. It’s totally up to you. Just use your imagination!

Once you have your four suggestions, please email your entries to the following email address with your name, address, and a contact telephone number, no later than 3pm on Christmas Eve.

We will choose the four names we like the best and the winner will receive a three-night stay for a family of four in the cabin of their choice, together with a New Year Hamper, kindly donated by Mrs Crill of Sugar ‘n’ Spice bakery and Mr Hughes, owner of Pop the Cork, both local and respected businesses in Craig Brae.

These luxurious hampers contain everything from delicious lemon shortbread, two bottles of champagne and three delicious fresh loaves, to water crackers, Scottish salmon and a selection of cheeses.

So go and take a look at the photos of the cabins on the Magical Occasions Cabins, website and social media accounts, get your thinking caps on and come up with names we won’t be able to resist.

Good luck!

Max and Stephanie approved the competition wording straight away, saying they thought it was a great idea and another perfect way to engage with the local community and get them involved.

‘I’ll get that typed up and posted up on the website and social media this afternoon,’ I assured them. ‘Thank you.’

Rowan Moore House was like the cover of a Christmas card. Stephanie had two smaller Christmas trees, decked with simple gold lights, stationed at the entrance, together with strands of holly, studded with red ribbons, framing the archway of the door.

Inside the huge hallway, she had erected another larger tree. This one was draped in the rose-gold lights and decorations she had bought from Christmas Crackers.

I dropped by Kim’s office to collect details about the guests arriving on Christmas Eve. Then I decided to take a wander up to the cabins before I headed back.

I still wasn’t relishing saying a final goodbye to Christmas Crackers. In fact, the closer it came, the more I found myself dreading it, but not quite as much now as I had been. At least I had the cabins to focus on. They were definitely taking the sting out of the unhappy state of affairs. I was so grateful to Mum for all her extra help, as well as Orla and Vivian for throwing themselves into the deep end, and to Stephanie and Max for trusting in me and giving me this opportunity in the first place.

As I trampled over the dry twigs in my long boots, the sky, pushing through the ceiling of woodland, churned with low, heavy clouds and the wind chill was brisk and biting.

Snow on the way, perhaps? I crinkled my nose. There was a running joke in the family that I could ‘smell snow’. I used to insist I could and Mum and Dad would tease me about it.

I reached the four cabins and stopped to appreciate the sparkling wreaths on each of the doors, the Christmas trees sat on their porches and through their windows I could see their individual interiors: pastel blues, golds, burgundy and apple greens.

Wooden soldiers winked out at me; encrusted star ornaments and festive decorations shimmered through the glass.

I heaved a sigh of relief, mingled with apprehension. I could only hope our guests appreciated it!

I bundled myself deeper into my long belted coat. The wind from the east was cutting a chillier swathe through the trees.

I decided to start making my way back home so I could crack on with updating the website and socials with details about the cabin names competition, when something landed on top of my head.