RETIRING

A new life in a new house looms on the horizon,August the 24th to be precise.
It is with great sadness that I leave the Castle as I will have such a lot of memories and love for the old place.
The fact is,we can not keep up with all the work required to keep it up any more,the house,the guests,the entertaining,the gardens,require constant attention and we need to retire and let the new generation take over.
We are moving to a small farmhouse just 2 miles down the lane,next to my daughters farm.I say farmhouse,that is what it once was but it has been gutted and modernized by the previous owners,to make a modern,clean,easy to look after  home with a pretty garden and a small paddock.
In the master bedroom there is a picture window which frames the peak of my beloved mountain through a gap in the trees,so I can see it when I wake in the mornings.

I will visit often,but it will be good not having the responsibility of it,but I will miss it and it will be hard to adjust to a life......put out to pasture......
I will post photos of the new house when we move but here are some photos of the place we are leaving.

I am busy packing up ,sorting out what to take with me,we have to down size big time.!! The charity shops will do well out of all the donations coming their way and the family are benefitting from the leftovers as well.!!
I will still be on line until August then I will be off line until September as we will have to get the internet installed in our new location etc,when they will do that is anyones guess.
I will still post as ..Views from the Castle..out of sentiment though it should be ..views from the farmhouse.!!
Have  a good week.
Carolyn.

LIFE IN THE GARDEN

A lot has been happening in the last few weeks hence my lack of posts to date,the winds of change are blowing and new beginnings are afoot,but I will tell you all about our news at a later date when things are finalized.
In the meantime here are some photos of the fauna and flora I have taken in the garden this week,quite a bumper crop for me,everything  was there just begging to have it's photo taken.!!

 The squirrel,one of a pair eating the young newly developing pine cones.

 A bank vole eating the wild garlic flowers.There was a family of them but could not get them all in the shot.

  All the baby birds are being brought to the feeder to be fed.

 The sparrow hawk with it's prey,plucking it before taking it to it's mate to be fed to the chicks.

 A kestrel on it's nest

Foxgloves growing in the wild part of the garden.

I have had great fun following the wild life this week,even though the weather has not been good.I have managed to get these photos in the very brief moments that the rain stopped and the sun peeped out.
I wish you all a pleasant week,have fun.
Carolyn

FUN WITH BUBBLES

You are never too old to enjoy blowing bubbles,we did it as children and children of all ages  can still be kept amused with some soapy water and a bubble ring.

At the weekend three generations of children passed the time laughing and trying to blow the biggest bubble,my son won first prize for the biggest bubble,his daughter won for blowing the most bubbles in a single go and Grand dad won for putting up with bubbles being blown at him in an attempt to land them on his head or pop them on his beard.!!

The photo I wanted to put up of Freddie chasing the bubbles would not load,but here is one of him by the lake,he has discovered he can now swim,no photos of that yet,but hope to show some next time.
Have a good week.

Carolyn.

BOB

Some time ago a foal was dumped on the mountain,my daughter was told about it and she  with the help of some neighbors,went up the mountain to rescue it.

The foal was in a really neglected state,its coat  was eaten by mites,it was starving and it had really bad infections in it's eyes. my daughter decided to keep him,she got him seen by the vet and after a few months,he had put on weight,his coat was improving and the infection in his eyes cleared up,unfortunately one eye was so badly damaged that it left him blind in that eye.

He was named Bob,this is him while recovering.
It is two years since this photo was taken,just look at him now.....

He is a beautiful animal,so gentle and affectionate,my G daughter loves him and he will soon start to be broken in for her to ride,by the horse whisperer method,much kinder than any other method. when he gets to be ridden,I will post my G daughter ridding him.
A happy end  for a very lucky horse.

I have a photo of the squirrel ,who must love me because he seems to pose for me every time I see him.just had to show you this.

Don't you just love him.!!
Until the next time....
Carolyn.