It’s the end of the Easter holidays so I took the kids out on another little adventure. Today we drove to Scotney Castle, with can only be described as a bit of a fairly tale place. It’s actually a fair drive from where we live and takes about an hour. I have to use the M25 which is never fun, but today it was good, which was a massive surprise. Being a National Trust place, we just have to flash our cards and get in for free. There was a notice at the entrance saying the car park was FULL, but cars were still driving in, so we followed. It was indeed full, and if you weren’t a member you were turned away, and had to find somewhere on the road to park, but if you were a member, then they just about managed to find you a space. Once we were in, we went and had a look round the house, but before we went in, there was a rather large puddle outside, so we went for a paddle in our wellies. My wellies needed a bit of a clean, so it was a good thing to do. We did get a few strange looks from people, but we didn’t care. You’re never too old to walk through a puddle, as long as you have the right footwear on.

As long as you’ve got your wellies on then you can go in.

The house is beautiful, and we played the game that if it was our house which bedroom would we have. There were about 6 to choose from, so we had 2 guest rooms, and the smallest bedroom we decided would be a good music room for Mark’s guitars & keyboard and George’s drums. We were also very impressed with the fact that there were about 4 toilets in the house. At home we only have one, and when we have a family get together it’s a bit of a juggling act. They had some very interesting books on display. One that tickled me was called “The Englishwoman’s Bedroom”. When we’d finished looking round the house we went outside and found a spot to sit to have out lunch. The views are amazing and just so tranquil and peaceful.

And relax…….

After lunch we walked down into the quarry and could hear sheep bleating in the field next door. The sun was shining and it was really warm. Although when the sun did go behind a cloud then it got a little chilly. The daffodils were out in force, and I started to get all artsy fartsy with taking some photos.

The Magnolia flowers starting to open with the help of the sun.

Then we saw the Fairy Tale Castle. It really is like something out of a Disney Princess film. The front of it was beautiful but the rear was all crumbling and only the walls were left. It is surrounded by a moat and you have to cross a little bridge to get in. Again there were a couple of puddles and as I was about to approach them, I heard a dad with his 2 little boys say “Don’t go in the puddles”. I then walked straight through the puddles and the smallest of the 2 boys decided to follow me. “Not in the puddles,” he said. “Only if you’ve got wellies on,” I replied. I don’t know why some parents don’t dress their children appropriately. When my 2 were little they always wore their wellies when we went out for a wander. Mud, puddles and kids just go together.

Must have been magical to live it, but a bit draughty at the back.

There were also ducks and geese swimming in the moat, and they kept coming out to see if we had any food. They were very brave, and wandered really close. We left the wildlife and continued on our walk round the paths to see what we could find. We came across a European Lime Tillia tree that is estimated to be between 250-300 years old! It looked amazing for it’s age, with a huge trunk and very wrinkled branches. It’s amazing to think that it started its life when George I was on the throne and has out lived all the George’s, Queen Victoria, and was still going strong when Lizzie came to the throne in 1952. I wonder what it’s secret is?

Just think what it’s seen in 250-300 years.

Then it was time to leave, but not before we had another quick splash in the puddle outside the house again, to get any little bits of mud off our wellies. The drive home again was fine. Maybe this is all a dream, and I’m still stuck in a massive traffic jam on the M25 and have just gone to my happy place?