Surprise, Surprise!

Hi guys, Holiday Gal here!

Yesterday we visited Scotney Castle and what a wonderful and magical place it is,

it quite took us by surprise.

It's a castle of two halves, this part being the new "castle" which was built in the 1800s and was until a few years ago the home of the Hussey family; it has been left as though the family were still living there.  This creates such a lovely feel, being beautiful inside
yet remaining very cosy, warm and welcoming.

And down the hill from the "modern" castle is the old original castle, surrounded by a moat.  Sadly, when the house on the hill was built, the castle in the foreground which preceded the other by some 500 years was knocked about a bit to give it the appearance of a folly.  What a shame.

The charmingly romantic "folly".

SD and I.

You'll notice there was much hands-in-pockets action ... the still, damp air was close to zero, very cold, brrrr.

But the surprise of Scotney Castle's magic was overshadowed by 

the previous day's even bigger surprise.

My Dutch Friend, The Photographer and I.

DF had travelled over from Holland for a secret visit.  I walked into the lounge and there she was, standing in the corner.  

Surprise!  SD had let her in whilst I was upstairs!

What a surprise indeed.  She and SD had been colluding on it for some days - and I didn't have a clue.

And I call myself Miss Marple!

Nearly a year has gone by since we last got together so it really was super special. 

Thank you both, DF and SD. 

And here's what I wore on this surprisingly cold and dank day.

Primark Breton top SS15 with a lovely black bead necklace made by SD, Per Una jeggings.



With M&S pink/red trenchcoat, SS15.



And wrapped up warmly with a Primark scarf.

A la perchoine.