Ralph

It was family Saturday at the castle today when three daughters with attendant husbands and children visited, partly to see His Lordship and me, but more importantly to pass judgement on the new dower house.

They were united in their surprise at how much smaller it was than the castle and wondered how we were ever going to accommodate our possessions.
So do I when I wake at 5am and lie worrying about where we are going to put everything.

However the children present were all eager to put their name to furniture and memorabilia which they remember from their childhood, and I was delighted to know that these things will remain in the family.

Funnily enough, it's the drawing and paintings that I feel saddest about. We have artist children and our walls are covered in paintings, some of theirs but also many which we have purchased over the years.
We simply won't have the number of walls required to hang even a fraction of them. I don't have a clue where to off load them, and it will be so sad to see them go.

The photographers came this morning and his Lordship instructed me to keep everyone out of the castle for the duration. However after an hour and a half , the toddlers needed feeding so we had to return and the cameras were still busy.
Apparently they were meticulous in their efforts and had his Lordship scurrying about at their request moving everything remotely not photogenic out of the line of fire, even the toothbrushes having to go!

My efforts at blipping the toddlers were pretty poor, but I've posted this one of Ralph aged 18 months, who was busy blowing kisses from a yogurty mouth to the Grandma behind the black camera. Bless him!