After a cold early start to the day, both Jen and I with Meg and Gracie headed over to Castle Howard for another walk and to admire the Daffodils which have just come into full bloom at the moment.

It was an uneventful ride along the A64, and just 10.30am as I parked the car in the car park at Castle Howard. The weather forecast for the remainder of the day was pretty good with Sunshine forecast and rain later. The sun was just beginning to break through the morning mist as we made our way through the courtyard and booking office. The road train is not yet running and the house will be opening towards the end of the month. 

As we came out of the booking office, under the arch and headed towards the house the western lawns are awash with daffodils, it was a pleasant walk alongside the daffodils to the Northern front of the house, on route for the Boathouse café down by the North Lake. I was beginning to look forward to a coffee and slice of Caramel shortbread sitting at the waters edge at the café, only on arrival to find it closed, I presume that it is only open on weekends till the season starts at the end of the month. To take my mind of the food and drink, we decided to head up into Ray Woods and had a very pleasant stroll through the trees, coming out at the other end adjacent to the derelict monument to Venus. The views across the farmland were absolutely stunning, the sun was shining, a lovely blue sky, we sat and watched a pair of Pheasant as they grazed through the grass on the side of a field and watched a pair of Buzzards circling high in the sky above the trees close to the Mausoleum. Walking alongside the boundary wall we headed uphill to the Temple of the Four Winds, stopping to have another rest and to admire the views from this higher vantage point. A beautiful early flowering Azalea was in full bloom its white petals, tinged with pink glistening in the morning sunshine, we watched a small group of walkers as they made their way over the fields towards the new bridge. We stayed on this eastern terrace and made our way back towards the house. The daffodils are in full bloom at the moment along both sides of the terrace all the way to the time capsule and makes for a wonderful sight. On arrival in the courtyard we headed over to the courtyard café for brunch, sat outside on the decking the sun was extremely warm, with both Meg and Gracie sheltering under our table to get some respite from the sunshine. It was hard to believe that here we are in the middle of March and we are sat outside in our shirt sleeves enjoying our brunch. What a wonderful way to end a very pleasant walk around the grounds.