Sort Of Normal

After finally getting up today after a good night's sleep today has been a sort of normal day. It's nine o'clock and I don't feel ready to drop. I've had a relaxing day visiting Helmsley, and my holiday has started in an excellent holiday type of way.

The weather is what you would expect in December, but I've certainly seen much worse and have plans to visit Helmsley Castle (part of English Heritage which is free with my Barclays Bank Account) and Castle Howard during the week.

The Last Glimpse Of Summer

Though being away from Newcastle has extracted me from the situation of choosing between four excellent gigs tonight so I can relax, listen to good music , drink , and just feel good. Though this is a remarkably short post it has taken me a remarkably long time to write, for something with so few words in it.

Maybe I am getting tired and maybe I should go to bed. Well my weekend has got off to a great start, I hope yours is the same and I hope all my friends who are enjoying gigs and socialising tonight have an absolutely brilliant time. I have to include a picture of Rebecca Cothers beautiful latest work one here because it is a lovely evocation of the last of summer.

I chose David Bowie's take on Jacques Brel's Amsterdam because my daughter Juliet is doing a presentation on the place this week. And that's another coincidence I've had reason to mention both of my daughters in consecutive blog posts , and that is another reason to put a smile on my face.

Adventures in A Yorkshire Landscape 3: Castle Howard

The first attempt to visit Castle Howard was stopped by snow and ice on the approach road , but we got there eventually. The huge country pile is the setting for the TV production of Brideshead Revisited and recent film (DVDs , soundtracks and books available here). I must admit I far prefer the series "Brass" with Timothy West which managed to do for Brideshead and every Catherine Cookson book and mini series ever made.
Took some video of the impressive Atlas Fountain, the peacocks and several photographs , soundtracked by the original theme to Brideshead Revisited by Geoffrey Burgon available here.

The grounds are massive with a couple of lakes and follies and are well worth a visit, we shall be going back. The House is interesting too , while still bearing the scars of a 1940s fire. The Official Castle Howard website is here.