gosford mausoleum

Went for a nice stroll in Gosford estates, which is just on the other side of longniddry today.

It was a lovely mild day, surprising really considering we are half way into November, cant help thinking that its the calm before the storm considering our particulary bad weather last year.

Having never been to gosford estates before, I dont know what I was really expecting, so we visisted the farm bothy shop first. I could have seriously spent a fortune in here with all the nice farm type products, including large chunks of wild boar. Only problem was that we had about ten bob and a farthing between us.

There is a big sign up saying they farm wild boar on the estate, surely this is a contradiction in terms really, wouldnt it just be that they farm boar, the wild bit implies lord of the jungle stuff, as opposed to penned in and farmed. I have this mental image of eating pumba, but I will give pretty much anything a go once.

We walk through the grounds and Ruby splashes in almost every muddle she can find. I get lots of splashy pictures and cant understand parents that would ever stop their kids from this simple pleasure.

However, we finally turn this corner in the woods, to face what can only be described as one of the most magnificient looking stately homes that I have ever seen. Bizarrely, I wasnt expecting it to be here, I dont know why, I just never thought about it before and despite having stayed in Edinburgh and more specifically East Lothian for quite some time, I have never seen it , even in pictures.

Edinburgh has never ceased to amaze me really, I only visited craigmillar castle for the first time last year, I mean I knew it was there, just hadnt ever been. I suppose you take your home city for granted.

I feel a particular sense of well being, out in the forest today, I am rating myself as a 9 out of 10 at least, being in the open air, nice day, all autumnal but without the cold bi.

Anyways, while approaching the house, there was an eary voice boom out of one of the dark sheds and after the intial shock of it, turns out was one of the caretakers.

He said that the wing we were looking at was destroyed by fire and was unsafe for us to go any further and it was best to avoid the front of the house in case the earl came out and got all early angry on our asses. We took his advice on this and circum navigated his exceptionally large rear lawn.

However, on the way back, Connie in her sherpa tenzing approach to woodland walks decides we would go off the designated path ways and leads us deep into the deep dark forest.

When she realised that we were midly lost and the muddy track had stopped, she asks which way that we should go, so my spidey sense kicks in and I say, I reckon the mausoleum is roughly in that direction. Sure enough we find the stream that runs under the bridge in front of the pyramid mausoleoum. ( A big building where dead people go)

So, I skip over the drainage ditches with the bairn and we arrive at the path in no time at all, looking behind me though, Connie and Holly are nowhere to be seen...

Andy...... Andy..... Im stuck Andy... help me......aaaahhhhh Im sinking......Help

Oh your kidding me on, Connie the pathfinder has somehow led Holly into the middle of a network of rather boggy drainage ditches and is knee deep in goo-ey mud.

Holly is rooted to the spot, crying, refusing to go any further, so I have to leave the bairn with the camera bag and head back into the bog to fetch her. Ruby is left standing there (withing sight of course with this big camera bag draped around her neck being told not to move, poor wee ginja ninja)

Connie is left to wade her own way out through the mudfest. You can see the road luv, its not like its bear grylls stuff. I cant contain myself for laughing.

It reminds me of the time we spent in Malaig when I had to swim ashore with the boat rope as the rowing boat we had ran out of petrol and we had to walk the last mile or so back to the cottage we were staying in. It was all going very well, with my spidey sense following the loch until Connie sees a dead sheep. Oh no, if the sheep cant make it, we are all doomed, we are all going to die, bairns are hysterical, 10 mintues later we were home with a cup of tea and a bun.

I digress however, I have to go back and get the bairn and she is now refusing to jump over any ditch as we are already covered in mud up to the knees, so I take her back to the steam and we find an alternative route, all is well that ends well. I guess you really had to be there, but it was so funny. Mudtastic

We make it back to the farm shop where we have a nice cuppa tea, sitting outside no less, you would never think that you were in scotland in november and had a nice bit of rocky road. Everybody is literally covered in mud up to the knee, except Ruby, who is just wet from puddle jumping.

Got home, content and happy, Im going to start rating my day/mood out of 10 on a more regular basis.

Celebrity jungle starts tonight, co-incidence that we went through a jungle trial today ?


Todays mood rating, overall 8/10