I have finally managed to get the new Castlebank blog up and running. Here it is https://castlebank.org  

Strictly WIP at the moment…   Drawing Room Silver collection Victorian ladies A stair ornament China cabinet Guest bedroom with no bed as yet! Rory’s room with bed under construction My room and inherited real mink coat Dining room chaos The cats of Castlebank – we have named the statues Tora and Schrodi More photos […]

Nearly twelve years ago, R and I arrived in Lochgoilhead determined to build a better life in the country.  Well readers, we did. All lives have their ups and downs, but broadly I can say that we have enjoyed living here.  Walking, wildlife, peace and quiet and probably more than anything else, the ability to […]

Finally got the keys for our new home “Castlebank House” – built in 1854 for the Procurator Fiscal of Fife and 4000 square feet of Victorian grandeur.  As ever with these things, it took forever for the lawyers to do their stuff so we weren’t in until 4pm. With it having been so long since […]

I went for a final walk around the area – unfortunately not as thoroughly as I would have liked as critically busy trying to get everything finished off. J was with me and had a little sit on Jack’s bench in the community garden.  

I love all cats.  I love our girls Saphy and Amber a great deal.  Tora and Schrodi were my very dear boys until their deaths a few years ago, and they are still in my heart. But at the moment, I have to admit that my favourite and most beloved cat is our ex-stray Lucky.  […]

Coming down to the wire here on the house move and not getting a lot of time to write, which is sad as I will be saying good bye to this blog when I leave here.  I did think about keeping this URL and just carrying on with the same WordPress theme – but nice […]

I was in Glasgow yesterday doing what is hopefully the final stint on clearing out J’s flat.  It is hard to believe that a two bedroom flat could contain so much stuff, though I suppose that as one way or another our family have owned it for over thirty years it should be no great […]

The picture is of Saphy lurking in the grass near the bird table ready to pounce. She also had a mouse overnight and left it artistically posed on the kitchen floor.  In this respect she is better than Lucky who consumes parts of them and leaves the other parts in strategic parts of the lounge […]

We’ve not seen much of the deer in the garden over the last few years – I think they must have had a huge cull and reduced numbers so much that the population has taken a while to recover. But they are back to some degree now.  First R saw a female out of his […]