Wednesday 22 June 2011

Summer Solstice Walk

Last night it rained heavily for several hours;  this morning drizzle took over, the sort that gets you steadily soaked in a kind of pernicious, spiteful, underhand way. I should be grateful, should not complain. I am, truly I am, farmers and gardens need the rain; but . . . .  OK, so I am complaining, want to make something of it?

When the rain stopped after lunch I asked Benno what he wanted me to do. "Garden or walkies?" He quite firmly opted for a walk, so I really had no choice in the matter.




We left by the side gate which leads from the courtyard to the castle moat, This exit will soon become impassable. The rambling rose over the trellis and gate and a clematis over the path stop us using this gate for weeks and weeks between the end of June and the end of September. Rose tendrils get tangled in hair and clothing and the clematis blocks the path most effectively, daring you to trample it underfoot. Plants can be so uppity.



The courtyard is walled on two sides, there's a hedge behind flower beds on the other and the house forms the fourth side of the square. The ground slopes slightly towards the house which means that the sort of rain we had last night provides us with  a refreshing paddle right outside the front door. Luckily, there's a step to the front door and the paths leading round the house allow the water to run off in merrily tinkling rivulets.



 I love it that so many of you envy me my castle, so here's another picture of it, of the keep this time. That beautifully manicured bit of lawn you can see inside the fence is Valley's End's bowling green. There can't be many bowling greens in the country which have a prettier location.




We didn't go very far today, just climbed the hill to the  North of Valley's End, via a field path crossroads where the gallows once stood, aptly named Gallows Corner; then  over the Modems and back down to the sheep pasture. 

Sheep are stupid creatures and only appealing when newborn and gambolling in the fields. (Our possibly roasted, with garlic and rosemary). This girl had got out and was blocking our path, running dementedly back and forth, eyeing Benno suspiciously. He pays the creatures no attention at all, he is far too busy sniffing out evidence of  friends who may have passed this way and left news of  great importance, to judge by his urgency. Dogs read verges and grassy tussocks like we read newspapers, have you noticed?





Two thoughts to leave you with:

With Midsummer Eve so close, be sure to keep your house clean. 
Apparently, the Fairies preferred it that way, according to John Aubrey's  Remains of Gentilism 1688.
Damn, I wish I'd known that, I'd have stayed home and done some cleaning.

And, if the cuckoo is heard on June 21st, it will be a wet summer.
Chance would be a fine thing, I haven't heard a cuckoo for several years.

48 comments:

  1. you can take me on that walk anyway...what a lovly view...the old ruins and the hillside...i could get lost....

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  2. The first photo is almost too much for this west coast weed-raiser. A wall....a gate.....roses and clematis....colour and more colour....all elements from a fairy tale. You do know that you live in a fairy tale land, don't you? Just for a week or so I'd love to trade our trees and rocks and wildlife for your layered landscape.

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  3. Like Pondside, I am overwhelmed by that first photo. The second isn't too shabby, either, and the castle, of course, is so shabby it's beautiful.
    A wonderful summer solstice blog post, Friko. I'm so glad Canada is too young to have fairies, because I couldn't handle a household inspection right now.
    — K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  4. What? You have a castle? AND a bowling green? Don't think much of the lawn. The roses and clematis sound wonderful, but they don't show very much. Yes, you live in a magical place alright. Love your photos!

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  5. You have the most beautiful surroundings, Friko. And I'm so glad you share them so readily. It's the next best thing to being there.

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  6. Count me, now, among those who envy your castle.

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  7. I'm always taken away by all the green in your photos - a color we only see in the winter in the Northern California landscape. I wish I had this kind of beautiful land right at my front door (don't get me wrong - I am very happy where I live), it looks so peaceful.

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  8. Oh that gorgeous brick wall -- Yeah, I envy you all of it! Beautiful pictures!

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  9. friko you live in a very beautiful part of a very beautiful part of the world! really you do. i'm so glad you have chosen to share this all with us here. steven

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  10. Well, I almost laughed my you-know-what off. Love it when you're fiesty, Friko. Love the humor. What a magical place you live in. A castle. Thanks for rubbing it in. Darn it. I want a castle.

    That bottom photo is heaven on earth. That's where you live.

    I love this post.

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  11. Well, maybe not the bottom one, the next to the bottom one. The demented one is cute, though.

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  12. how cool is that? a castle in your backyard. and a such picturesque location.

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  13. Oh I do love Friko's World, the one you inhabit and the one you create with words, both extravagantly generous, whether in beauty, humor, irony,or layers and layers of ideas and sensations.

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  14. you have become the land - or it has colonized your heart-




    Aloha from Honolulu :)

    Comfort Spiral

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  15. It is so beautiful there: lush and green and with gardens that have a mind of their own! Pretty darn wonderful.

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  16. You may want my energy but I want your countryside. Jeez I love lush greenery and the rolling hills. People think the snowcapped mountains here are beautiful but maybe you always want the green grass on the other side.... I do not know. I only know that I'm trying to achieve a garden like yours (eventually). I weed and dig and plant and pull and pant and sweat and swear. I put in flowers till I thought my arms would fall off. Today I put up bird houses and feeders.

    And yes I want your castle too. Enjoy your walks.
    Love and peace.

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  17. All gardens are beautiful after a rain, I think, but yours should star in its own movie. Thank heavens for uppity plants. Add me to your list of castle-enviers. I even envy the sheep.

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  18. Those green hills are amazing. I'll take some of your rain. If we don't get some soon everything's going to wilt, including me.

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  19. The wooden gate set in the brick wall and all the flowers...it is a painting. And the castle - oh - tell us more!

    Cleaning the house for the Summer Solstice? I had no idea...I was busy trimming my thyme to be ready for a midnight dance.

    Lovely post...

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  20. Your countryside is positively gorgeous, and so is your garden. And your castle is especially fetching outlined against the sky as it is in this photo!

    Benno is glad you didn't stay home to clean; damn the faeries anyway, why should they care if one's house is clean?

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  21. I snorted with laughter at a couple of your lines - "uppity plants" and "or maybe roasted with garlic and rosemary."

    Your courtyard is so beautiful. Does being walled in create a bit of a micro-climate that protects your plants? I called my husband to look at your photos - we colonialists can hardly imagine the history you live with every day.

    I do hope summer smartens up for you.

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  22. I can replace the bird - instead of hearing a cuckoo, I AM cuckoo - will that do? :)

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  23. Hello:
    How joyous this post is, and how lovely for us to experience again through your images the wonderful countryside of the Welsh Marches. And to have the castle absolutely on your doorstep [and we note that it is a step!] is as near perfect surely as it gets.

    And now, where is that feather duster?!!

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  24. Well , you wouldn't like it here , then . Sheep , sheep .... and cows .Though it's certainly green enough .
    And as for dogs "reading" the verges for news ? Celebrity magazines , do you think , like Hello or Heat ?

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  25. man kann es kaum glauben, wie schön Dein Garten ist! Und das Schloss, natürlich, man müsste sich in seine Nähe setzen und ein Buch lesen über Ritter, Könige oder andere fantastische Gestalten! Ach, und das schöne Grün! Ich wiederhole mich, wenn ich sage, es ist wie im Paradies!
    Dir einen schönen sonnigen Tag und ein Lächeln für Benno!
    Renée

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  26. You live slap bang in the middle of a fairytale world. Such incredible charm and beauty. I could never ever feel sad or discontented in such a magical place.

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  27. Thank you for sharing your photos Friko; I am afraid that I envy you so much I hate you.

    Like some dust and heat?

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  28. Oh what beautiful scenic photos!! Love the castle!
    No cuckoo here either and no rain since January!!!! Yikes!! We are so needing it too!!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  29. dear Benno, you chose good. i would have gone for the walk too. so what was the news on your grass verge? anything exciting? mine was quite boring this evening. same o, same o.

    hope you don't get any thorns in your fur. that might hurt.

    your friend, Georgia xox

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  30. Those green rolling hills are a benison for the eyes (though pretty muddy when the rain falls remorselessly)

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  31. Absolutely gorgeous! I love your garden, your castle and your surroundings so much. Makes my little city lot hopelessly ugly.

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  32. WOW what a beautiful place! And you can walk to this?!

    Minnesota, too, is far wetter than it needs to be. Lovely for the grass, but the rivers continue to rise...

    Pearl

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  33. Great...now I envy you for your lovely garden. If you lived here I would get the Master Gardeners to hound you for a garden tour.

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  34. Thanks again for a grand morning stroll through your beautiful Valley's End. Always a pleasure to join you on your walks, no matter the weather.

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  35. You DO live in a fairy tale. No wonder you write them so well. Come to think of it, you ARE a fairy tale.

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  36. I want to come for a walk with you! Just beautiful :o)

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  37. You have the most beautiful castle, courtyard and surroundings, Friko. I enjoyed your company on excursion. Appearance of sheep makes the air more pastoral. I like the 1st, the 2nd, and the 4th among all the fabulous photos.

    Remember rain is enriching greens. Thank you for sharing.

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  38. I'd love to hear a cuckoo! I so enjoyed this walk today!

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  39. Only hear a murder of crows out
    the screen door, and some faint
    sea gulls all the way up river from
    the tide flats in Tacoma. The Easter
    Island head intrigues me low against
    the courtyard hedge. As stated, those
    wings you hear certainly could be as
    much fairy as butterfly or sparrow.
    The castle must have ghosts, some
    kind of aura. Do you hear Celtic music
    on quiet nights? The first pic is an oil
    painting for sure, complete with perfect
    composition and clay pots, old varnished
    wood and gregarious thorns.

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  40. Friko, I can see that this mid-summer post of yours has already gathered in many, many comments.

    Well, let me add my own. Where you live is so deeply beautiful. To take a walk in this land with Benno could only add icing to a magnificently green landscape cake.

    Let me thank you for allowing me to have this window that opens far, far away from my familiar urban views.

    I am refreshed every time I visit hereabouts.

    (Thank you, also, for visiting my city patch.)

    xo

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  41. You do know you live in Paradise, don't you?

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  42. What a pleasure to come back and visit Friko's World again. While it was lovely to be away awhile, I see I have missed a great deal of the doings in your gorgeous corner of the world. Good to see you, Friko, and to be able to join you on your walk! (And, though I know it's now best, happy birthday!)

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  43. What beautiful photos and I love the observation that dogs read verges like newspapers. :-) Wonderful!

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  44. where have all the cuckoos gone then? your countryside is so beautiful - i love these walks. thank you

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  45. Your world is very beautiful Friko, a lovely reminder of my homeland. I left an answer to your question on my blog at your other site.

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  46. Gosh Friko, thanks for the virtual tour of your bit of Britain. I would get goosebumps if I lived near castle ruins. Do you ever see any flashing lights or anything to tell you that spirits inhabit the keep? Do you know the history of this wonderful place? Dianne

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  47. Yes we all envy your neck of the woods and moors and castles. Your garden is going to be perfect.
    Enjoy your visitors.
    QMM

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  48. I am just utterly amazed that this is really where you live. But wait, is that your garden? I feel that I'm looking at the work of Gertrude Jekyll. Seriously, I don't know how you manage to blog, but I'm awfully glad you do. Please don't ever stop, especially showing us your environs, which make me so happy. I like seeing them in your world, and not just in my gardening books.

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