After a hectic weekend of housework including shampooing the lounge carpet and moving furniture, we decided to have the morning off and take Meg & Gracie for a walk around the grounds at Castle Howard. 

I was up quite early with the dogs and took them for a walk on the Barff first thing. It was a lovely morning, a little breezy but a barmy 9 C, just as we were finishing our walk, we were treated to a lovely sunrise which was nice to see.

Straight after breakfast I took the dogs to the vets for their monthly check and injections after which we all continued to Castle Howard. This was our first visit since the beginning of August, that said the house and grounds have been closed due to filming sequences since the middle of August and only re opened early October. I and the dogs always enjoy our walk around the grounds and woods, it makes a pleasant change from our walks at home. After purchasing a coffee in the little Courtyard kiosk, we made our way across the courtyard to the booking office and after exchanging pleasantries with the staff we continued our walk towards the house, we popped into the walled garden for a look, all the flower beds had been cleared of their summer planting and work was in hand preparing the borders for the winter. We left the garden through the eastern gate overlooking the atlas fountain and made our way along the gravelled drive towards the southern aspects of the house. The house was currently closed to the public in preparation for the onset of Christmas opening next week, so I could imagine the staff inside were busily going about their business preparing the house for the onset of Christmas visitors. We continued our walk, passing over the Time Capsule and made our way up the gentle slope towards the top of the hill and entrance to Ray Woods, we stopped at the top of the hill to have a breather and looked back to admire the house, the trees on the right-hand side looked a picture decked in their Autumnal colours. There was quite a stiff breeze this morning and being quite high up in the Howardian Hills the temperature is always a couple of degrees lower than at home. We continued our walk through the woods heading towards the Temple of four Winds, the ground was quite muddy and slippery due to soe overnight rain so care had to be taken. It was quiet, we never saw any other visitors as we ventured through the woodland. As we came out of the wood and made our way towards the Temple you could feel the full force of the wind on your face, needless to say we didn’t loiter for too long, just walked around the Temple and made our way back along the southern terrace towards the house, stopping to admire the huge flock of geese grazing on the grassland adjacent to the South Lake.

From the house it is a steady five-minute walk back to the courtyard, although the Courtyard restaurant is currently closed, we purchased some sandwiches and cups of coffee from the little coffee shop and brought them back into the courtyard and sat in the outside dining area, along with other likeminded visitors and had a very pleasant brunch before our journey home. It was good to be back again. II am looking forward to our next visit when the house opens for Christmas.