Carisbrooke two

Having not made it as far as the castle on our first visit to Carisbrooke, we tried again during our second week, as it happens our last serious outing.

Donkeys are quite a big part of the offering, with a long queue of people who wanted to see them tread the wheel. With a lot of notices explaining how humanely they are treated - which made us wonder whether there were sunlit grassy fields for the donkeys to spend their retirements in. Grassy fields which did not get a mention that we we found. But they did get this rather odd burial ground, if indeed that is what it is. Perhaps just their ashes rather than the whole of their mortal remains?

Some of the seats provided in the modest cafeteria, inside but under the curtain walls. We thought that the slope might slow the defenders down as they rushed to man the walls against invaders.

The stables where one supposes that the donkeys spend their off-duty hours.

The enlarged version of the two explanatory notices, left welfare and right naming convention, clearly showing some side effects - white shadows to the black letters - of image processing. No idea whether they were there all along or whether they come with the zoom.

Once again, we took our picnic under the spreading walnut. Two small trees, rather than the one larger tree which I had remembered from our last visit noticed at reference 2. But we did get to chat to the lady who planted them who explained that they needed protection from the wind while they got established.

For once in a while, cold meat sandwiches for our picnic, beef for him and ham for her, both from the big Tesco's between Ryde and Brading. The beef was rather lean so, again for once in a while, I included butter in my sandwiches, something which I do not usually do.

The rather floridly decorated chapel, rebuilt, I think, under the supervision of one of Queen Victoria's daughters, which might explain why it reminded me of the royal church at Whippingham. For which see for example, reference 3.

The volunteer minded museum attached to the castle included a curious range of stuff, some rather interesting. Including this 400 year old chamber organ presented  to the aforementioned daughter, the Princess Beatrice. Not scored as a piano on the last visit, and although I wobbled, not scored as a piano on this visit either.

And this geological map, complementing the more modern offering at reference 4.

BH passed on walking the battlements, so we moved outside the walls to inspect the bowling green, the bastions and so forth. Lots of interesting plants, lots of butterflies large and small, including one very small red one, new to me. Maybe an inch, wingtip to wingtip. Some grasshoppers. One sting on the shin, painless and unnoticed at the time, but which took a while to heal.

A lot of these blue spikes, a bit like a miniature echium.

I thought this large version would be more accessible to Google Lens. Which indeed it turned out to be: Echium vulgare or Viper's Bugloss, a member of the borage family. Forbidden in the state of Washington, US. So a bit like an echium was spot on, as it turned out. See reference 5 for the real thing, Echium pininana, originally from La Palma.

A few stray pyramid orchids, nothing very special. But there were what appeared to be some sessile buttercups - which investigation back at the cottage revealed to be creeping cinquefoil, otherwise Potentilla reptans. Subsequently confirmed by Bentham & Hooker.

One day I will get to the bottom of why it is sometimes thought worth while to use stone for the lower courses on the roof, tiles for the upper courses. Something we first saw a great deal closer to home, at Horsham.

Quite a lot of this stuff, not to be confused with pyramid orchids. Zoomed, Google Lens opts for Origanum vulgare, otherwise wild marjoram, but I am not so sure about this one. Wikipedia says a Mediterranean plant which does not like frost, which does not fit with growing more or less wild on the banks of a castle mound. On the other hand, Bentham & Hooker is much more positive, a common plant in England, on banks, the edges of woods and hilly pastures. Furthermore, it is widely sold by garden shops and there are lots of varieties and cultivars. So maybe Google has got it right.

No progress on the No.37 front, with this car in the castle car park being the best we could do on this day. Car Check reveals that it is a NIRO 4EV, last year's model. NIRO might be the name of the range. Perhaps it means something in Korean. EV might be for electric vehicle, this being fully electrical rather than a hybrid. But I have failed to find the significance of the '4' bit.

Up on the downs, somewhere near the sea mark, a kestrel hovering over the side of the road.

Back at the cottage, finished off the Dundee cake which BH had baked against the holiday, much improved by cooking it a little less than on the last occasion. It served well.

References

Reference 1: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/carisbrooke-castle/.

Reference 2: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2021/08/carisbrooke-castle.html. It seems that our last visit was three years ago.

Reference 3: https://psmv2.blogspot.com/search?q=Whippingham.

Reference 4: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/08/bembridge-boats-and-bugle.html.

Reference 5: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/08/ventnor.html.

Reference 6: https://www.kia.com/uk/new-cars/niro/. All puff and little information.