Last week we all went on a mini holiday to a new part of the country, Co. Carlow. As a special treat, I got to stay in a real castle for the whole weekend! We got there quite late on the first night (apparently parents need to eat, I had come prepared with chocolate) so I didn’t get to see much of the building. What I did see looked very exciting, there were dogs everywhere! I counted four and one of them was HUGE!!! Our room was really nice but I went straight to sleep so that the morning would come faster.
There’s so much to say about it that I can’t possibly tell you everything. You can look at the Huntington Castle website at www.huntingtoncastle.com
So back to my adventures. I had a survival pack with me in case I got lost or met any ghosts. I had chalk (to mark where I’d been), a hoody (in case the basements were cold, chocolate (just because), my teddy Biggles (in case I got scared), my brother Ted (to carry my stuff and rescue me from ghosties) and of course my trusty pirate flag (for claiming everything I saw).
I went straight outside to have a good look at where I was. The front of the Castle looked good so I planted my flag in the grass straight away.
Here’s a photo of me at the front door refusing to let anyone in. It had a perfectly Oink sized holder for me to sit on too.
Then I went to look at the back of the castle, that was even better! It’s definitely my new favourite castle. I’ll be remodelling our house at home to look more like it, I’m going to start with turrets and a flag pole 🙂
The inside of the Castle was brilliant. There were loads of weapons and armour everywhere but Mummy was being boring as usual and she wouldn’t help me get any of them down from the walls. I had planned to sneak down at night and get myself a sword but I couldn’t find a torch to find my way with 🙁 I got to see lots of dead things hanging on the walls too, there was a crocodile and lots of other animals. Daddy called me a ghoul because I spent so much time staring at them. We went on a tour of the house and I got to see a real temple in the basement. The man who gave the tour said it was called Isis’s temple, I’m not sure who she is but I like her style. I’ve spent this weekend trying to dig a hole in the sitting room floor at home to build my own basement Temple of Oink. I’ll set up a way of applying for membership soon.
When we were on the tour, we saw a grape vine in the conservatory. I don’t think it was meant to be there because the roots were outside, they should probably keep and eye on it or it could take over the whole house… Apparently it was part of a vine that belonged to Anne Boleyn. I asked Mummy who she was and she said that she was a Queen of England a long time ago who lost her head. I was a bit confused at that. I checked my Mummy’s neck very closely for any way to remove it and I shook my head around for ages but all that happened was that I got a bit dizzy. So I’ve decided that Anne Boleyn must have been extremely clumsy to have managed to lose her head. Here’s a photo of me sitting on the outside bit of the vine.
We spent most of the day exploring the gardens. We saw a lake (I stayed well away from that in case I got wet/clean) and I found a secret house in the woods that I could use to hide out in if I decided not to go home. My parents would never be able to find me and I could stay in the Castle forever! The rest of the gardens were fun, I saw a line of yew trees that monks used to walk along and a ruined church (I need one of those in my garden). The best part about our trip around the gardens was that my new best friend came with us to show us around. Her name is Myrtle and she licked my nose! We had a great chat sitting on the grass, I think she might be willing to join my army when I try to take over the world but only if she can bring her stick with her.
I made lots of new friends over the weekend. I met two pigs but they didn’t have time to stop and talk. They were pretty cool but I’m definitely better looking.
We went to the tea room for cake at lunch time. I love cake! It was really nice and sunny so we got to sit outside and I got to chat to my other new friend, Otto the dog. He’s huge so he’ll definitely be useful in my army. I may get a little saddle and ride around on his back. It will be really easy to get him to join up because he really loves cake too so we have lots in common 🙂
After lunch we found out that there was a playground. I know I’m nearly three and that’s really grown up but I still LOVE playgrounds. I ran all the way there so that I could get there ahead of Ted. Winning is always fun. We had a great time, we got to play on climbing frames (I won) and swings (I got higher) and a slide (I got to the bottom faster). Great fun.
On my way back into the Castle for dinner, I spotted something even more fun than the playground. An Oink sized cannon!!! It had a fuse but I couldn’t figure out how to light it. Ted told me to climb into the front to check what the problem was but I figured out what he was doing just before he managed to fire me across the yard…
I had a really great weekend at Huntington Castle and I really didn’t want to have to go home. I don’t think the animals wanted me to leave either because when I went back to the Oinkmobile there were little footprints all over it. 
Hopefully I’ll get to go back soon!
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