Our weekend at the castle, and some long-lost friends from Oz
I will start my post today with one of a few digitally created brithday cards for my daughters’ friends – their friends now apparently ask my daughters in advance if I will be making their card digitally!
Kits used – Spreading Cheer by Gina Marie Huff at Weeds & Wildflowers Designs.
Clear pockets by Joanne Brisebois
We came back yesterday from a wonderful weekend at Castlewellan Castle christian conference centre with our church.
Our family really enjoyed it, and the kids especially enjoyed exploring the castle, and I of course also made the most of the opportunity to take lots of photos !
Castlewellan Castle is a Scottish baronial castle and was built in 1856.
The castle is based on the edge of a lake beside the small town (village?) of Castlewellan, on the edge of the Mourne Mountains.
The teaching, fun and fellowship were all great, and some sunshine helped too!
The outside
The inside
Some parts of the walled garden
And finally, the stunning views including front of the castle over the surrounding lake and forest park.
A highlight of both my week and my weekend has been meeting the Cox family again from Brisbane, Australia. We first met 5 years ago, when they came to our congregation for 6 weeks with their 2 kids (including a 6 week old) as part of a church exchange programme. Alison and I really hit it off, and we spent a lot of time together, as our daughters were a similar age. However despite our best intentions we did not manage to keep in touch.
I was thrilled they were to be speaking at our church weekend while back in Northern Ireland for a few weeks, and Alison, her niece and her 2 lovely kids also spent one day last week with us. Her son, who was only a tiny baby when we last met is now a delightful boy, and he played so well with my son, despite the age difference. It was hard to say goodbye again yesterday, but we REALLY WILL keep in touch – we promise!
Finally a question for you – did you spot the secret doorway in the internal photos?
Take care until the next time.
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great pictures and I had to go back and look again for the door.
love the card!
what a neat castle! i love old buildings! awesome photos! tfs!
Gorgeous photos!!! My girls would be so tickled if they could go inside a real castle! Glad that you got to catch up with an old friend.
I love your photos — what a gorgeous place! We don’t have the opportunity to stay in too many Scottish castles around here, so I’m jealous!
Wow… what a week-end !!!
You took beautiful pictures…
These are great photos and so interesting! Sounds like a fab weekend!
You did an awesome job with your photos – thanks for sharing – they are a treat.
absolutely stunning photos!
What a stunning place! Great pictures! Door? What door? Where?
Beautiful photos! What a majestic castle and that view is stunning.
Glad you met with old friends too!
Hugs, Pat
Gorgeous! Sounds like you had fun, too!
great photos! thanks for stopping by my blog! enjoy your day!!
I can’t remember ever having been to a real castle before. My kids would just love to explore one. Those are really neat photos.
wow these are awesome pics…
Maggie
All those photos make me want to go castle hunting! Wow.
AAAHHH I remember staying at Castlewellan Castle a few times with our youth group when I was young!!
It’s still the same – thankfully – don’t remember the secret doorway though
🙂