Inside the Castle.

We've had a lovely sunny day though with a definite nip in the air. The first thing we did was to go back to the farm and collect the camper. It's now at the specialist garage and it's all up to the insurance company. Peter then dropped me off in town where I went to the bank to make a payment to the builder. The inside of the exterior walls (if that makes sense) have been stripped back to brick, sealed and I think rendered. Damp had got in through the old aluminium window frames and also through some of the flat roofs so it was best to seal the whole lot. After the new double glazing has been put in those walls will be lined with insulated plasterboard. They've also taken down the breakfast bar and the cupboards that were hanging above it and best of all increased the size of the opening between the sitting room and the dinning room. Peter and the first builder didn't think it needed doing as the new opening is only a couple of feet wider and higher than the original. I've yet to see a photo but I felt this would make the rooms into one space and look much better. 

Here in the afternoon I cut back the tall buddleia in the front garden down to about 6ft. From the sitting room what's left obscures the houses opposite with a lot more sky now visible and from the outside people walking along the main path to their houses can't see in. On our way back from town we collected the two foam mattresses I bought from Benson's as rolled up and packaged they fit into the back of the car.

Although it is our 43rd wedding anniversary we didn't plan anything special for today. After all we've just had a long weekend break with wonderful scenery, walks and food.

Now for some photos of the interior of the castle.

There were a number of windows set into the thick stone walls making cosy nooks from which to watch the sea. 

 Very Hobbit Hole-like.

This grand dinning room was once the monastery refectory and is still used by the family for formal dinners. 

The lack of information signs keeps the place looking more like a home than a museum and there were guides in every room to talk to instead. The various collections were quite eclectic and Peter took a keen interest in the weapons and armour telling me lots of facts which promptly went straight out of my head. 

 The castle chapel.

We ate our lunch of hot pasties brought over from Marazion sitting on this bench watching the last visitors crossing the causeway as the tide came in. As the tide began to cover the causeway people could be seen taking off their shoes to wade through the advancing water. It all went quiet and then at the last moment we could see a young couple braving the now almost knee-high water. What they didn't take account of was that the waves began to break and splash on the stones and by the time they made it across they must have been very wet indeed.

Tomorrow, the gardens!!!