After a dull and wet weekend, it was nice this morning to get out and enjoy some fresh air, sunshine, and a change of scenery. 

I took Meg and Gracie for a short, early morning dog walk, and after a quick breakfast, we packed the car and headed for another walk around the grounds of Castle Howard. It was a pleasant fifty-minute drive from home, no hold ups, and as a result we arrived at Castle Howard just after 10.00am. 

I always enjoy visiting here, no matter what time of year and, come to that, no matter what the weather is like either, but today was a little different as the sun was shining and the Daffodils were in flower. 

On arrival we popped into the Courtyard café for a takeaway coffee, the courtyard was bussing with contractors going about their business, preparing for the Easter holidays next week, as well as preparing for the main house opening on the 29th March. Several visitors were sat outside the Courtyard restaurant enjoying a mid-morning snack and making the most of the sunshine. I sat on one of the benches in the courtyard for a few minutes with Meg and Gracie to enjoy my coffee, there were several other likeminded people also having a walk around with their four-legged companions and doing the same as ourselves.

After our very enjoyable coffee, we passed through the ticket office and made our way to the main house. The paddocks in front of us were awash with Daffodils gently swaying in the breeze, we continued our walk along the gravelled drive, passing the Rose Garden on our right. We continued our walk along the South Terrace, the house was bathed in bright sunshine. Although the house is still closed much work could be heard resonating from the inside, getting it ready for opening towards the end of March. We continued our walk along the South Terrace, Meg getting great pleasure from rolling on the well-manicured lawn. After passing over the Time Capsule, we continued our walk, up the gentle slope towards Ray Wood.  The grass was still quite wet from the overnight rain and slippery in one or two places. Daffodils covered the grass on both sides of the path, I always stop and look back towards the house to see the full extent of the Daffodils (and to catch a breath). I think it will be several weeks before they are at their best, dependant on the weather, but they are certainly a picture today. On reaching Ray Wood we headed through the wooden gate, all the huge swathes of Snowdrops that were in flower on my last visit have all gone and replaced with large areas of Wild Garlic, which should start flowering in a week or two. What did catch my eye in the distance was the flowering Rhododendrons.  I always remember member years ago, we always used to go up to the Isle of Arran for the Spring Bank Holiday and at that time the island was covered (well almost) in Rhododendrons, here we are forty years later, and the same bushes are flowering at least four – six weeks earlier than they were then. Several bushes were in full flower, their lilac, purple and white trumpet shapes florets providing a handy food source for the insects and bees etc.  Continuing our walk through the woods we passed through another gate and down a gentle slope to leave the wood at The Temple of Four Winds. With the sun shining and a lovely blue sky there were some beautiful views over the Howardian Hills in all directions. After a walk around the Temple, we continued our walk along the South Temple Terrace, passing all the daffodils on the embankment on our right-hand side and on the left-hand side of the terrace, before stopping at one of the 18th century statues to admire the views across the South lake. It was nice to hear the gaggle of geese as they chatted to themselves on the water’s edge, interrupted only by the quacking of the Tufted Ducks.  From here it was just a very pleasant stroll along the gravelled drive past the South face of the house, back to the courtyard where we enjoyed a very pleasant brunch in the Courtyard Restaurant, before the journey home.