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Richard T

Escaped to the Country!

By Richard T, in The Nesting Box

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Thanks for the update Richard, you sound like you are very contented with your new life in the country

 

Hope you get the commute sorted out very soon

 

I look forward to hearing more adventures

 

Good luck and enjoy :D:D

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Cate in NZ Feathery Fanatic

Cate in NZ

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Us too Kate, we keep meaning to go there too :roll:

 

If you ever seriously plan on heading down there let me know. We could have a mini Omlet gathering........ and then gatecrash Richard & HP for a nice cuppa afterwards :wink::D:D

 

You've got a better excuse than me though Clare.......... I'm only 30 mins or so drive away from there :roll:

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Count me in - it takes me 45 minutes on a good day or 2 hours on a bad one! M25 :roll::roll::roll:

 

It is stunningly beautiful and totally relaxing. What I really love apart from the castle and the lovely woodland walk and . . . and . . . is the fact that there are toilets everywhere - well not quite but plenty all over the gardens. There is a land train for those who can't/don't want to walk. Also daily birds of prey displays, an aviary, gardens, a maze with underground shell grotto, several tea shops and gift shops.

 

Do you think they'll give me a ticket as commission? :idea: There are group discounts if 15 or more go.

 

www.leedscastle.co.uk

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Richard T All Knowing Superchicken

Richard T

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Thinking about it, she probably catches the small mammals when it's dark so a light might be more effective than a bell or beeper.

 

 

that's a fantastic idea - get her a mini pit-helmet...

 

Phil

 

miner-helmer.jpg

 

:) I've just remembered. The cat is not the brightest lamp in the locker. When I shine a torch onto the floor she chases the beam. So if she had a little light fitted to her head or collar, she'd exhaust herself by chasing the beam (it's the carrot and donkey effect). Maybe I should get her a high visibilty waistcoat instead.

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Melanie Freshly Laid Egg

Melanie

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I live quite close to Richard, I think, under 15 minutes drive from Leeds Castle, but I've never visited it :oops:

 

Oh, and Richard, my cat behaves just like yours, doing the stopping and staring in to space thing several times a day. But I suppose he's entitled to senior moments - he is 20!! :D

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Richard T All Knowing Superchicken

Richard T

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Blimey! Our cat's about 7. Do we have to put up with her strange behaviour for another 13 years. :roll::) It's lucky I like animals.

 

Saw a new animal yesterday morning, while out for a jog as part of HP's training for the London marathon in April. It was a stoat. I think it's the first one I've ever seen. It just jumped out of a hedge about twenty yards ahead of me, looked very chuffed with itself - probably for making a perfect landing - then noticed me, did a little panicky move, and jumped back into the hedge. It was a lovely colour and didn't look at all evil, like you imagine stoats and weasels should look.

 

I also noticed another first at the weekend, the first time I've ever had a molehill in my own garden.

 

And one evening, not so long ago, while I was working in the garage, a bat kept flying in and out. It was brilliant.

 

I also like birds. This morning while letting the chickens out, there were definite to-whit-to-whoos from a couple of owls fairly nearby. I've heard screeching owls too. And of course we get Phil the pheasant in the garden quite regularly, and we've had a green woodpecker and, I think, a lesser spotted woodpecker. As well as all the tits, sparrows, chaffinches, robins, etc.

 

It's all very exciting compared with the old house where we just used to get a couple of pigeons, a couple of blue tits, loads of cats, the occasional grey squirrel and a fox. :)

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The Dogmother Eggsistentialist

The Dogmother

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That's fantastic Richard :D

 

Considering that we are so near the town centre, we get quite an array of wildlife in our tiny garden - woodpecker, collared doves, blue and coal tits, wrens, mice by the barrowload, jackdaws, squirrels, lizards, toads and the neighbour's ferret :D . One of the cats often brings in newts from the neighbour's pond (Rosie calls them dinosaurs), luckily, she just brings them in as trophies and has no intentions of finishing them off; if they are lucky, I find them before they dehydrate and takle them back to their owner. Occasionally, I find dehydrated ones under furniture, poor things. :(

 

My folks live in suburb-land just outside Londo - they have masses of wildlife in their garden.

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Lesley-Jean Chatty Chicken

Lesley-Jean

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Us too Kate, we keep meaning to go there too :roll:

 

If you ever seriously plan on heading down there let me know. We could have a mini Omlet gathering........ and then gatecrash Richard & HP for a nice cuppa afterwards :wink::D:D

 

You've got a better excuse than me though Clare.......... I'm only 30 mins or so drive away from there :roll:

I live about 4 miles from Leeds Castle so would love a meeting there :D

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I just LOVE Leeds Castle. We used to go regularly and all adore it. I would definitely be interested in meeting up there!

 

At Easter, they run a 'treasure hunt' which amounts to spotting individual letters on posts and working out the anagram. Every successful person gets a free Easter Egg - and they're not small ones!

 

Sometimes there are Entertainers on one of the lawns. There are Birds of Prey displays as well. For the less mobile/those who fancy it there is a road train stopping at various points in the grounds. There are toilets in plenty of places, gift shops, tea rooms (quite pricey, a maze with underground shell grotto, museums, an aviary, kitchen gardens and of course the castle. Car-parking is free and there are picnic tables under the trees before you enter the castle.

Leeds Castle has a great website too:

www.leeds-castle.com

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