The weather forecast looked pretty good for today so I put the two dogs in the car and headed off to Castle Howard to photograph the daffodils and Azaleas.  It was just after 11am as I pulled into the car park. I took the dogs for a walk around the cricket pitch first and on into the woods heading towards the gatehouse to get rid of some of their enthusiasm bearing in mind they had been out with me for an hour or so before breakfast!

I changed my jacket when I got back to the car, picked up the camera gear and booked in to the ticket office, for such a nice day it was relatively quiet, not many tourist coaches in today. From the ticket office it is a pleasant five minute walk to the house passing the walled garden on the right, to the left the grass meadow is awash with daffodils which look to form a huge yellow blanket on the floor. On walking past the house the sun was shining and the house looked absolutely magnificent bathed in the spring sunshine. We made our way over to the South lake and walked along the water’s edge, stopping every now and then to take a photograph. Meg and Gracie are getting the hang of things when I have the camera in hand, I drop their leads and tell them to sit and wait whilst I take the picture, then reward them with a little treat after I have them back in hand so to speak, they think it is great fun, mind you it is costing me a fortune on little doggie treats, but worth it. From the lake we made our way up to the Temple of Four winds, the views back across the lake and over the Howardian Hills in the opposite direction are beautiful, we stayed for about five minutes just taking in the views and having a bit of a breather too. From the Temple we walked into Ray Wood, some of the Azalia were in full flower and looked lovely, walking past the reservoir I caught a glimpse of some of the carvings on the bottom of the central monolith. The walk through these woods is quite pleasant with some unusual trees and shrubs many just waking up after the winter. The sunlight was shining on the remnants of the small stone pyramid, covered in moss under which hides some unusual carvings. We spent a further twenty minutes or so wandering along the tracks amongst the trees. From there we made our way back to the top of the hill and sat on the bench to admire the views of the house and the terrace of daffodils which line the pathway back to the house.

By now it was mid-afternoon so we headed back to the car, I put the dogs into the car and headed back to the coffee shop for a pot of tea and sandwich which I brought back to the car where we had a pleasant picnic sat outside under a tree, Meg and Gracie thought it was great fun! Another lovely walk,  but time for home.