I did not see the weather forecast last night but as I had a free day today, I checked my ‘weather app’ around 6.00am this morning and it made gloomy reading, my morning papers weather report was much the same, with rain forecast all morning and thundery showers later in the day. That aside I was up with Meg and Gracie just after 6.00am, the dilemma ahead of me was do I take them for an early short walk close to home and after breakfast head over to Castle Howard for a longer walk or do I do a longer walk with them now and stay at home later so as to miss the predicted heavy rain. We had already had some overnight rain which had stopped earlier, and although it was quite wet underfoot it was very mild at 12c all be it grey and cloudy.  I chose a short morning walk close to home and for the forty-five minutes we were out it remained dry and actually quite pleasant, so after a quick breakfast we jumped in the car and headed over to Castle Howard for a longer walk around the estate followed by brunch and a ‘doggie breakfast’ for Meg and Gracie.

After a steady drive up the A19 and A64 we arrived at Castle Howard just before 10.00am, although still quite grey and cloudy the sun was trying to break through heavy cloud and the temperature had slowly risen to 14c. As we made our way across the pebbled courtyard to the ticket office the sun managed to come out and it remained out for the rest of the day till late afternoon by which time the temperature had risen to 17c. After exchanging pleasantries with the ticket office staff, we ventured outside and followed the gravelled drive alongside the Walled Garden, the leafless Magnolia bushes which line the drive were laden with huge pink and white flowers shaped like the candle bulbs we have on our standard lamp at home. We had a browse through the Walled Garden admiring the neatly cut lawns, hedges and flowering shrubs in the borders, one which caught my eye was the colourful ‘Oregon Grape’ its tightly knit yellow flower heads the size of tennis balls looked striking in the morning sunlight. Clumps of ‘Wild Bleeding Hearts’ were in full flower and looked quite stunning, their pink trumpet flower heads fringed with a lighter pink hanging from their upright stems. In other parts of the garden several beds were full of White and Yellow Tulips swayed gently in the morning breeze. We left the garden through the beautiful wrought iron west gate and followed the lime terrace up to the house. The Daffodils amongst the terrace had passed their best but flowering Wood Anemone, Yelow Primrose and Cowslips added some lovely splashes of colour under the trees. Walking along the gravelled south terrace passing the house on our left, we headed over towards the Atlas fountain, stopping to admire the bright red tulips in the stone raised flower beds which looked quite dazzling in this morning’s sunlight.  Leaving the tulips behind us we walked back towards the house and along the grassed gentle slope to the entrance of Ray Woods. The majority of Daffodils which cover the grassy slope have passed their best but some of the later flowering varieties were still able to put on a good show. Every now and then Cuckoo flowers would pop up through the grass, their upright stems bearing delicate, small, pale pink flowers. On reaching the top of the slope we stopped for five minutes to admire the view looking back towards the house and Atlas Fountain and to watch the Greylag Geese causing havoc on the South lake. With Meg and Gracie suitably refreshed we continued through the wooden gate and into Ray Wood, passing huge swathes of flowering Wild Garlic its small white flowers are a visual treat as well as being an early pollinator for the insects and butterflies which live in the wood. Following the grassy trail, we continued our walk heading for the Temple of Four Winds in the distance, Yellow Archangels were flowering through the woods their yellow florets providing a good food source for the bees. What was most striking though were the flowering Rhododendrons producing a pallet of beautiful pastel colours from deep red, pink, lilac, and white.

Clusters of late flowering Daffodils added lots of colours at ground level as well as the beautiful yellow Dog Tooth violets (Erythronium), their large flower heads bobbing about in the light morning breeze. The Cherry blossom trees looked a picture too, heavily ladened and covered in beautiful white and pink coloured blossom.

Leaving the woods at the Temple of Four winds, we walked around the Temple, admiring the distant views and vast expanse of agricultural land and farmsteads to our left and the Mausoleum and the New Bridge to our right.  Gracie was looking slightly tired at this point, so we took a little short cut and continued along the South Terrace back to the house and onward to the Courtyard where we enjoyed a very pleasant brunch with Meg and Gracie who also enjoyed their doggie breakfast too. Gracie none the worse for her adventure and made a full recovery after her sausage breakfast and cup of tea, sleeping soundly in the back of the car during the journey home.