Beloved Eleanor

See you there!

I managed to have some long overdue time off recently, and guess what?  I managed to squeeze in some castle visits!  Big surprise there eh?!

I went up to re-visit Huntly Castle, which is always a good one for a meander around, and picked up a book published by Historic Scotland called Clan and Castle.  It has a lovely section on Fraser castles and the different branches of the family, also included of course, is Castle Fraser.  A must buy then!

Went out with a friend to see Craigston Castle.  It’s a lovely private family home, which opens just a few times a year for visitors.  It reminds me in looks a little of Fyvie, a bit like a white-washed version.  It’s a really fascinating house, and do try and visit when you can.

Lastly, I took a trip around Pitmedden Garden.  I’d never had enough time to really look, and the Victorian house and the farming museum are really nice, but the gardens themselves are very old indeed, and beautiful.

I did my regular visit of Fyvie and Haddo last week too.  Yes, I am a castle junkie…did I mention I went to Glamis and Edzell Castles in April too??

For some reason at the beginning of this week, for at least three nights in a row I dreamt about Venice.  Why?  I just don’t know.  I haven’t watched, read, looked at or otherwise done anything remotely involving Venice.  Yet, here we are.

I should explain my relationship with Venice, such as it is.  Years ago, I think it was when I was in my mid to late teens my maternal Aunt bought me a book called Tregaron’s Daughter by Madeleine Brent.  My Aunt, it should be said was, and is, a fabulous book and trinket supplier

Tregaron’s Daughter is a mystery story set in Cornwall and Venice.  I don’t know what it was about it exactly, as the book isn’t about to set the world on fire, (though I still love it anyway) but it instilled in me a deep desire to visit Venice myself when I was older.  By the age of 20, I had fulfilled that dream.

I visited museums and galleries, including the Basilica San Marco and the Doge’s Palace, I took boat rides – including one on a gondola – and walked the length and breadth of Venice.  Sadly, I didn’t take very many pictures, and I think they are rubbish, so I won’t include them here!  The fact is, when I left all those years ago, I didn’t feel that I needed to return.

So why now?  No idea, not a clue.  I hunted out my photos (eek), found a couple of guidebooks, and most importantly – remembered my Venetian Palazzi book – which is gorgeous indeed.  Even while writing this I remembered my Venetian mask that I bought (I was enthralled by the mask and costume shops), but it doesn’t seem to be enough.

I suppose time will tell, but I cannot see myself getting to Venice any time soon, time permitting, never mind anything else!  So, I have ordered myself a second hand copy of Tregaron’s Daughter (no idea what I did with the last one) and a DVD of Francesco’s Venice which is supposed to be very good.  All I know is that for now, my subconscious mind will have to be content.

I was lucky enough on Monday to get to see the first night of Pride and Prejudice, which was being performed at His Majesty’s Theatre, and starring Susan Hampshire as Mrs Bennet.

Those of you who have been reading this blog for some time will know that I love P&P, so this was a brilliant opportunity.

The theatre, which looked Victorian (but not sure of age) was lovely, we were only a few rows from the front.  The show was great, true to the story, though obviously squeezed down to two and a half hours, with some very funny and clever use of props, and cast members!  The garden scene with Lady Catherine de Bourgh was particularly memorable.

There was so much to take in, I almost wished that I could see it again, but it was on a limited run, so has now finished here.  I think it is touring the country though…

Note to self – must get to the theatre more often!

It’s that time of the year again, and we made our annual visit to Haddo House’s Christmas Fair.  A chance to Christmas shop, or indeed, to treat yourself!

I made another quick trip to the new collectibles shop and bagged myself a Deco Marcasite ring, it’s fabulous!  I do love the way Marcasite sparkles in the right kind of light.  I think it’s more special than diamonds.  I have just one other vintage Deco ring, I’ll have to take some pictures of them.  I’m an absolute Marcasite addict I tell you.

It was a bit of a family reunion too.  I bumped into several castle work colleagues out for a look around, as well as having a good chin wag with some of the Haddo staff.  Also managed to sell several raffle tickets for them too!  You can take the girl out of the castle…

I also bagged an early Christmas present from the Mum, another bear by Sue Quinn (one of my favourite bear artists).  His name is Charley, and he’s actually a very clever puppet.  Along with this, I got another hedgehog for my collection.  This time it’s dressed is a warm duffel coat and scarf!  I like to think of the hedgehogs as an extension to having cats….maybe next year I’ll progress to a large sized one with an even more elaborate outfit!

If you’re intriguied by the hedgehogs and friends, you can check out Sue’s website.  She is now also blogging, so a good opportunity to see what she has been making lately.  Her designs are utterly gorgeous

Time for a walk around the park, photos and home.  A beautiful day at Haddo.

Some of you will already of heard of Bletchley.

• World War II
• Codebreakers
• Spies

Some simply because the Victorian house is amazing also.

Or maybe even because you saw the film Enigma, and wanted to know more about the codebreakers.

Truth is, Bletchley needs our help.  It is a charity and relies on donations to keep going.  Not only that you can help by visiting and perhaps even volunteering for them.

Why not get behind Bletchley today?

You can visit the Bletchley Park website, and also follow them on Twitter @bletchleypark

Yes, it’s that time of the year again where I give you the details of our Christmas events at the castle.

This year we will be having our traditional carols week, plus a family fun weekend.  Please see poster with all events.

Are ye coming?!  I’ll be there…

Talking of Christmas, I will also be going to the Haddo House Christmas Fair on the 7-8 November, and to those of you that haven’t been recently, there is a new antiques/collectables shop that has opened in the old stable block, to the right of the cafe as you walk up the path from the car park.  At the moment the owner is only there weekends in the afternoon, but he hopes to stay open until at least November.  I got a gorgeous early plastic cameo brooch there, but that’s a story for another day

I can’t believe how fast the year has gone – and it’s that time again, when the end of castle season looms.

Hmm, update, well…

• The Castle Fraser Restaurant has been up and running since August, and I’m told is doing well and has gorgeous food.
• Ilyria came to perform the Mowgli Stories from the Jungle book.
• Gnasher from the Beano has been lurking in our corridors (in fact, still is).
• We’ve had lots of cool Ranger walks around the grounds this year, and the Mum was actually comissioned to make woolly bats for the children’s bat walk!
• Great garden open day, plus great sales for plants, bulbs and veg too.
• The second hand books and teddy bear orphans have been flying out the door to new homes (thanks everyone!) and the final bears for this year can now also be clothed in hats and scarves until we close for the Winter.
• We’re now in the midst of doing bat crafts for children in the castle too for half term, as well as the annual bat quiz.
• We’ve also been able to display more items to visitors this year – check out some of them in the Library.

This is all I can remember for now, I’m sure someone will remind me if I’ve forgotten anything! We’ve had an amazingly busy year (thank you) and though we will close for the Winter on the 1st November, we will be back in December with some Christmas events.  More on that soon…

Here’s the part where I finally get to update on lots of things that I’ve been either doing or attempting to do this year.

With reference to castle visits.  I managed to visit Delgatie Castle again, and it was sunny too.  I think it could end up being a favourite of mine.  Apart from the usual suspects, I haven’t managed any other ones this year sadly.

Plus, the  history books I got my hands on?

The lovely people at Country Life Magazine sent me a copy of Adams Houses, I bought myself Jane Austen: the World of Her Novels by Deidre Le Faye and I’ve managed to borrow Sir Thomas Lawrence (which I love) and Treasures From the Trust.

I should also update the historic film and TV list.  I’m ashamed to say I originally missed off accidentally: Excalibur, Daniel Deronda, Dangerous Liasons, Howard’s End.  There are lots more I love that I will add eventually.

Talking of TV, after the glut of interesting stuff, there hasn’t been much on that I’ve liked lately.  Series 3 of The Tudors was pretty boring stuff, and I even missed the end.  Caught up with the predecessor of Victorian Farm – Tales From the Green Valley – which I didn’t like nearly as much, haven’t seen the new Wuthering Heights (not bothered either, I HATE the story and characters) and am currently watching the new version of Emma, which I’m not liking much either, sigh.

I hope to get out to the cinema over the Winter to see at least a couple of new films, and to get some fresh books to read as I’m getting a bit low on material.  Maybe someone will take pity on me for my birthday…

Haven’t managed any exhibitions either, though I do lust over paintings at every available opportunity.  I can dream about making an exhibition some time soon.

Last, but not least, I’ve done a little tinkering with this site, and gathered a lot of Eleanor material together.  I’m much more happy with the site now than I ever was, so I will put a proper front page up.  Not in any rush though (why rush now!) it will come when time and creativity permits.

I completely forgot to update on the results of my castle poll from June.

Apart from the one or two of you that voted ‘Other’ and didn’t specify where (doh), the top castles were:

1. Cairness House
2. Balmoral Castle
3. Glamis Castle

Sadly, I’ve heard some really bad reports about Balmoral, and that it is not worth the visit, as you only see one room.  I’ve not seen it myself, but it has moved down my list priority-wise.  This leaves Cairness and Glamis.

I hope to visit Cairness very soon, as I love the classical style mansion house look.  It is not open very much, but I have some time off coming up, so I will do my best.  Glamis is a little far, so unless it’s a whole day trip I doubt I’ll get to go this year, sob.  The good thing is, as a very popular castle to visit, it tends to be open more than some.

I’ve also been thinking about castles and houses all over the UK, and indeed the world.  Where would you suggest I go?  Please tell me your favourites, and leave a link to a website if you have one too, I’d love to visit some of them vicariously through guide books if possible also!