Grapes!

A couple of weeks ago, as I was leaving the house, I heard the sound of someone singing a song - apparently a song entitled "everyone loves grapes". I deduced that this was the title because these were the only words.

I walked my usual route and quickly noticed that a stick was protruding from the high fence around the house at the end of the road. From the stick hung a piece of string, and a small bunch of grapes was tied to the string so they dangled at about head height for anyone walking by. Two children were sitting at the top of the fence and appeared to be the grape-stewards.

"Do you want a grape?" the small girl cried jubilantly as I approached.
"Er, no thank you," I said. "But it's very kind of you to ask."
"Grapes!" she said. "Grapes!"
"Grapes!" cried her brother. And they resumed singing.

***

When I returned from work at the end of the day, the empty grapestalk was hanging forlornly at the end of its string next to a hand-written sign that said "Grapes! Help yourselves!"

Lost in Thought

Another picture from the trip to Castle Howard. I promise I'll stop going on about it now, but I really did like the statuary there. This is another one from the Temple of the Four Winds.

Windows

Another photograph from my visit to Castle Howard, which has a wonderful collection of sculpture (alongside many other wonderful things). The art on display is also fantastic, and I loved the murals in the Great Hall; of special interest is the story of the firey destruction of a mural by Pellegrini and its eventual re-creation from a single black-and-white photograph by a Canadian artist, Scott Medd.

Not only that, but the house comes fully equipped with three cafes (we tried two; I can recommend the cream teas), a faintly absurd number of shops, and (on the day that we visited) some very damp Morris Dancers.

Weeping Angels

Todays photo has a rather Dr Who feel to it... at least, if you're obsessive enough to look quite hard for a connection. It's of a statue at Castle Howard in York, on a rainy August day.

I recently went up to York to visit a good friend who lives in the city. Three of us went for a day trip to Castle Howard, a very beautiful stately home featured in both the film and TV versions of Brideshead Revisited (not an entirely happy connection for me; I studied the book for my A-Level coursework an alarmingly long time ago) although it has to be said that the creators of their website were rather premature in choosing the tagline "it's a beautiful day", unless their definition of a 'beautiful day' differs radically from my own and involves thunderstorms. Perhaps they come from a drought-stricken land.

We had a lovely time anyway, and the castle and grounds looked rather picturesque wreathed in mist. However, having brought a picnic we struggled slightly to find somewhere to eat it, as there didn't seem to be an indoor picnic area. We were on our way to the Temple of the Four Winds when the rain apparently realised that it hadn't been trying hard enough, and the heavens opened. Along with a few other tourists, we ran for the only nearby shelter - the Temple itself - completely ignoring the "Warning: don't climb on these steps, in case you fall over and try to sue us" signs.

So we decided to have our picnic there and then, around the back of the Temple, looking out over the damp and rolling scenery beyond. It felt incredibly secluded, although the mood of tranquility was broken somewhat by my friend's anxiety that we would be caught in our illicit luncheon by a member of staff and 'get in trouble'. I was forced to eat the last falafel standing up, as she whipped the picnic rug out from beneath me. But we didn't leave until I'd taken a few photos of the lovely statues which guard the Temple on all sides.