Tuesday 15 April 2008

castles and cakes....

this Sunday's afternoon stroll was taken at a nearby castle.
i am missing Mr Afterburn hugely at the moment, so a trip to his possible ancestral home - Castle Sinclair - seemed perfect.

We all wrapped up warm as even though it was not raining, the wind that whipped off the sea was incredibly bracing!





the castle is undergoing a huge amount of renovation at the moment



it is the most breathtaking place, full of the sounds of the sea with the birds circling overhead and absolutely nothing else x
it is such a relief that the funds are available to save this impressive Castle from disappearing in to the sea, but i do feel that once open to the public with all its sparkly new signs and foot bridge, that the magic of this place will go.
i hope that it is visited and appreciated - just by few rather than the hoards you see at National Trust properties.....
and if it ever gets its own tea shop then my heart will be broken.







the doglets all stayed on their leads which they are not too fond of, but they had been to the forest earlier in the day to run off lots of energy.


Miss Mabel of course came with us - she had to remain inside my jacket for the sightseeing tour as she has not been fully vaccinated, but she seemed happy with that as the wind was really much to strong for one so small!





after the Castle it was back to the stone cottage to take some photos of an old favourite....

these Cupcakes are the most beautiful and natural little soaps....
made by a wonderful friend of mine back in Kent - she still makes them for me and sends them on their huge journey North - at least i can say with absolute sincerity to my customers that buy a box of cakes - they travel well!



all are finished with a dried flower




lovely as the Cupcake soaps are they will not satisfy a need for cake......
so - a batch of Vegan Coconut buns had to be made and consumed with great speed



yum

t x

10 comments:

Katie twinkles said...

That sounds like a perfect day, a trip to deserted castle, a warm squeezable Mabel tucked inside the jacket and loads of cakes to trough and warm you up again.

I do like the old NT teashops though-well actually I like the gift shops as well-sorry.

As for Mr Afterburn I fear he is in a tangle and hiss with some laundry, Borax and cedillas etc and may be gone some time :-)

Ali said...

Those coconut buns look gooooood. Recipie? If I say pretty please?

trash said...

That is jolly sporting of Mr. Afterburn to not only spend gazillions making his old pile inhabitable but then inviting the hoi polloi to come visit once it is all pretty and lovely.

Glad miss mabel stayed all tucked up, she have ended up like a balloon on a string had she been on a lead!

Kitty said...

Gosh, you surely do live amongst some of the most stunning scenery, Tracy. It's very beautiful.

x

Jenny said...

How awesome to visit a 'real live castle"!!!! Those soap cupcakes look wonderful.And I can almost taste those coconut cakes too.What a lucky doggie to be all snuggled up inside your coat and a hot water bottle for you:)

prettyshabby said...

What a stunning place,even better for the stormy looking Scottish skies..lets hope they do the bare minimum of repairs to stop it going to the sea..heaven forbid a celebrity might want to get married there if the repairs went too far!
Sometimes it's just better to see the rawness of a ruin.
The soap-cakes are beautiful..I want to bite into one even though I know its soap!

julie said...

what a great day, and on your return a reminder of your friend in Kent and then a delicious cake and cup of tea. Any chance of posting the recipe, I'm sure all your blogger pals will be rustling up a bunch if you do.

love jules xx

teacakebiscuit said...

Ohhh dear sweet little Mabel! My heart melts whenever I see her! Lovely scenery up where you live. Hubby and I have a couple of days in Scotland to play with after a business trip in June/July and I can't wait!

Philip Sinclair said...

Missing all of you too...

P

x

Florence Knapp (Flossie Teacakes) said...

Those soap cakes are beautiful...their only problem might be being too beautiful to use!

Thank you for the lovely comment that you left on my blog - and lucky you living so close to the sea...I am more than a little envious! x