Witches and Waxcaps

We braved the rain on Saturday afternoon for a guided walk organised by Plantlife looking at the various mushrooms and fungi on the Haddo House lawn. The short, un-fertilised grass of the lawns and gardens is a rare habitat anywhere in the country and is a hotspot for amazing multi-colored waxcaps and weird coral fungi.

Probably due to the warm weather the waxcaps are coming out late this year and the show, especially on the parterre garden, is getting better by the day. You  have to get pretty close to the ground to get photos so wear waterproof trousers or be prepared to get very wet knees and elbows...

Going Bump In The Night

As the nights are drawing in, things are getting a little bit spooky and it's time to brave the annual Halloween Tea Party. Dress up in your best Halloween costume and join Griselda the witch, along with some other ghouls and ghosts creeping around the house. Places are limited so book as soon as you can to avoid disappointment!

If you want to try something genuinely nerve-wracking, Be Free are organising a Fire Walk in the park on Sunday afternoon. The event starts at 3pm with the actual fire walking happening around 5pm. You can find out more about Be Free on their Facebook Page and you can find details of the event itself here.

Project Works Update

There's been another little flurry of activity on the project this week. The asphalt his going gone down in the entrance way and outside the Pheasantry (which has intermittently required unplugging the power to my cabin and therefore removed my access to the kettle. I've worked at home a bit this week). The coloured resin path is due to be laid middle of next week and then the entrance way will be pretty much finished. The big machinery is continuing to be a massive attraction for the younger visitors. I'm considering abandoning the whole adventure playground idea and just parking a yellow digger and a tipper truck next to the path. They'll find it just as much fun.

The lovely black iron gates into the National Trust garden are back in place as well, and the painting on the Golden Gates is coming along beautifully. There are more new benches appearing and new cycles racks (and a fantastic horse hitching rail which looks like it's come straight out of A Fistful Of Dollars) outside the stable block.