puddleshark

A sudden desire to go walking in the sunlight with the leaves falling... So I drove over to Kingston Lacy for a walk in the park.

Kingston Lacy House, built 1663-5 for the Bankes family (whose ancestral home Corfe Castle was comprehensively demolished during the English Civil War). But made much more fanciful in the 19th century, when the original brick building was clad in white Portland stone, and various ornamental details were added, including the corner chimneys.

The Kingston Lacy cat, a friendly soul, who wanders up to greet visitors with a small, rusty miaow.

Sunlight in the park, and the leaves from the limes drifting down. It was extraordinarily warm for November - 18 degrees C. I read in the paper that the last 11 months have all been warmer than average.

Perhaps because of the sunshine after so many days of rain, the park was very, very busy. Many young couples and grandparents out with small children, and the park was full of excited shrieking. But if it wasn't peaceful, it was lively. Cheering sights: a young girl swinging gymnastically from a tree branch, the glee of a toddler on finding a muddy puddle, three small children wearing identical bright orange knitted hats (their parents determined not to mislay them, no matter how crowded the park).