I was up and out at 5.30am this morning with Meg & Gracie for an early morning walk around Brayton Barff. It was a lovely morning, dry, 14C and the sun was shining brightly, the lone Marsh Orchid on the Top of Tap Hill was in full flower and looked good in the early morning sunlight. We had a shorter walk this morning because after breakfast I had pre booked a ticket for a 9.30am walk around the grounds at Castle Howard with Meg & Gracie, I cannot believe it was four weeks ago since our last visit. It was a steady drive along the A64 which took 45 minutes today, on arriving in the car park I took M & G for a quick walk around the cricket pavilion before heading over to the stable courtyard and booking office. It was 9.35am as we headed over to the walled garden, the sun was shining, a lovely blue sky and the temperature was hovering around 16C. I have never been here as early as this before and I felt as though I had the place to myself. After passing through the garden, we headed over towards the house, along the South Terrace, over to the right it was nice to see the Atlas fountain up and running again after its spring clean. Passing the time capsule, we continued up the hill towards ‘Ray Wood’ stopping several times to look behind and admire the view of the house and the South Lake. After reaching the top of the hill we passed through the gate, turned left past the small cottage/workshop to the open reservoir. I don’t often visit the reservoir but occasionally pop and have a look especially at the central pedestal, to see if I can see the carvings of aquatic creatures and plants, carved into the pedestal, some were visible today but unfortunately the majority of them were below the waterline. After our walk around the reservoir we continued our walk through the woodland, there are nearly 800 species of rhododendrons in the wood, many towering high above my head, all different shapes and sizes, some having already flowered, others in full bloom and along with varieties of Pieris, hydrangeas and viburnums, the wood was a picture of colourful shrubs, as well as the different colours the scent from these flowers filled the air with a lovely sweet scent that drifted through the woodland. After about an hour or so we made our way out of the woods and headed for the ‘Temple of Four Winds’ The sun was still shining with a lovely blue sky, we sat on the grassy bank next to the temple to admire the views across the Howardian hills, the Roman Empresses standing on the steps of the temple certainly have some magnificent views in front of them. From the Temple we made our way down the grassy bank to the ‘frog pond’ to admire the view of the ‘New River Bridge’ and Mausoleum in the distant. A pair of swans gracefully glided through the water with one of their signets following close behind, the Canada Geese were far more inquisitive and about fifteen of them came paddling across the lake to check out Meg and Gracie who were standing closely at my side. We made our way along the waters edge, stopping to admire all the Marsh Orchids in the undergrowth, and the statue of the piper boy, before we climbed up the embankment to the ‘Southern Lake’. The water was flat calm with lovely reflections of the house shimmering gently on the waters surface. We sat on one of the wooden benches for 5 minutes for a break and to give the dogs a drink of water, I was amazed by all the tiny Tufted ducks on the lake this morning, all being quite vocal with their distinctive call. We continued along the southern edges of the lake, through the trees and headed for the Atlas fountain, it looked absolutely splendid in the morning sunshine. From the fountain we made our way back to the courtyard, I was hoping for a little brunch in the Courtyard café, but alas it was closed today, so we headed back to the car and the journey home. Another lovely morning with the dogs walking around the grounds at Castle Howard.