365 Photo Challenge - March

The subject for March was stone. I thought the world outside was full of rocks and the challenge should be a piece of cake. The problem, I found, was that most of the rock to be found just sitting around waiting to be photographed in the northwest was the big hunk of dark grey rock used in rockeries. There are rockeries everywhere around here...and every rock in every rockery looks almost exactly the same.  Fortunately, my parents were rockhounds when I was a child, so I had odds and ends of their collection to dip into.

Something about this subject brought out my tendency to corny jokes...

She had a splitting head-ache.

Dumber than a box of rocks....

A geode-   the Schrodinger's Cat of the mineral world.

Now that I am halfway the April's subject - Foliage - I am suddenly discovering all sorts of rocks, minerals, and objects made of stone that I wish I had included. I fear that will be the major downside to this project...all the things I find a couple of months too late.

Framlingham Castle, Suffolk

Framlingham Castle was a spur of the moment stop. It is not one of the more famous castles, nor does it feature in the 'Must-See' books and articles. But on this day we were on schedule, so the opportunity to put ourselves behind, as usual, was something we could not pass by.

First, the history, which will be brief because we all know the important stuff is what we actually did there. Framlingham is a 12th century fortress which was the refuge of Mary Tudor when she was proclaimed Queen in 1553. Having passed through many hands, it finally wound up owned by Pembroke College, which as a philanthropic gesture in 1636 took down all internal buildings and constructed a poorhouse within the site.

The interior of Framlingham                                              Photo by Amethina

 I chose to pass up entering the castle itself, choosing instead to make some lovely old men very nervous by plopping myself and my camera down on a bench at the end of the bowls lawn. They couldn't tell whether I was taking pictures of them or the castle. It was lots of fun.

One of the many and varied chimneys on the castle

The Castle exterior

The nervous old men

While I was entertaining myself, the kids viewed the castle, which included walking the walls and exploring the remains.

There is nothing like a castle wall to give you a commanding view of the neighborhood
Photo by Amethina

Vertigo-inducing view of the circular stairs from the top of a tower
Photo by Amethina

All this was pure joy for my son-in-law. He's had a lifetime of interest in knights, their weaponry, and of course, their castles. This wasn't the first castle he had explored, but Framlingham gave him an opportunity for a one-off thrill. I was waiting at the car when they left the castle and as they approached I could see the happy grin of a ten year old on my son-in-law's face.

"Tell her," said my daughter.

He paused a moment for effect, then leaned forward and said..."I peed in a castle."

Shouldn't it have said "KNIGHTS" instead of "GENTLEMEN"?

Note: For the English majors among you, in spite of the urge to write "pee'd", I did my research and the past tense of "pee" is properly "peed". Still doesn't look right though...