Closed Doune

On one of the sunniest, warmest days of the year so far, what else was I going to shoot but the darkened inside of a castle kitchen!

I'm spending the weekend in the luxurious surroundings of The Country Pad (TCP) with Diane, David and Alan. I mean, just look at this! I've had the most amazing time and been pampered rotten with home made cooking and the most wonderful of company. Thanks so much D, for once again opening your home to me. x

For those of you following, I can confirm that G&T consumption was maintained at a moderate level! :-)) There has been a lot of talking though, which might explain this. Hahaha, sorry D! ;-)

The sun was out when I arrived at TCP at lunchtime. I was barely late at all and I think I've finally taught the sat nav who is master because I managed to make it all the way up the (straight) road without getting lost or having it take me on a wild goose chase through country lanes. Result! After a spot of lunch we headed out to visit Doune Castle. On our way we passed a couple of signs telling us the road was closed. Unbelieving that this actually meant the main road we continued on... Until the cones and signs across the middle of the road stopped us in our tracks. Doune had indeed been closed Doune!

Where there's a will, there's a way though and a quick diversion back onto the A9 and off at the next junction put us back on track. The Focus handled the hairpin back-on-yourself junction at the castle road better than the Insignia but it still needed to be done in two goes. Must remember to try and come in from the other direction next time I visit.

The day couldn't have been more perfect and was chalk and cheese compared to my last visit when it poured down for large parts of the day. Instead, the danger was heatstroke! Getting inside the castle and the coolness offered by the thick stone was lovely though. This is the kitchen. The cavernous walk in cooking range was behind me. The sun was just streaming in through the three windows. I did shoot some with the flash, but all in all I preferred the au naturale look of the sunlit shots. Try as they might, those warm rays could only penetrate so far.

For anyone interested in the history of the castle and how it found fame on the silver screen, details are on my previous blip.

A lovely long lie and a yummy cooked breakfast has set me up nicely for Sunday. I think I might have to shoot from the sofa today! ;-) Its a bit grey just now (summer has arrived) but the sun has been promised for around 3pm so we'll see what can be conjured. Hope everyone is having as fab a weekend as I am! :-)