Leeds Castle

My sister Jane got married on 3rd September to Will, her long term partner. She has been planning her wedding for over a year, and it all went beautifully. It was a lovely day and all of our scattered family were there. She asked that people did not share photos on social media, but I don't think she would mind a couple of selfies of me in my sparkly dress on here. (Well, one selfie, and one taken by  Andy) She looked beautiful and we had a lot of fun getting ready. I was her Maid of Honour, which sounds delightfully old fashioned, and I felt quite princess like! I never have my hair or make up done so the whole experience was really novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Her hairdresser was brilliant, as was her soon to be sister-in-law Joy, who did my make-up, very subtly.

They chose Leeds Castle in Kent as their venue, and it couldn't have been better. It is a beautiful setting, and the whole thing was such fun from the moment we arrived. The staff were amazing and so kind to my slightly flustered pre-ceremony-sister! We stayed in The Maiden's Tower in the Anne of Bohemia room, an experience in itself. So now, if anyone asks, I can say I once lived in a castle!

We met the family members still around for tea a couple of days later, and Jane very kindly bought us a year's ticket for the castle. Today my Mum and I visited to use our tickets for the first time. It was a beautiful day and we had a walk and lunch in the restaurant. We saw lots of birds on our walk so here are some of those.

 A Jackdaw posing with a parrot wind vane. 

 All the birds were so tame, as they often get fed by the tourists, so they were all very obliging when I was taking their photos. The pigeon is showing me his best side.

 A shiny crow.

 A confident duck.

 And his sweet friend.

 A massive footed Coot.

 Some Whooper swans amongst the tiny other birds.

 A black swan. These are originally from Australia. 

 A Kookaburra at the bird display. And a woman I don't know.

This is a Seriema. It can kill snakes in its native Brazil or Argentina. This one is young and is called Tash. She was very funny and looks like the road runner when she runs.

 I got distracted by the black swan weather vane and now see another bird underneath it. 

 This is Alfie the owl. Owls are apparently not as clever as their reputation would have you think.

 A Peacock with not many tail feathers left.

A wooden swan.