Twelve Already

Birthday season is upon us. Donny and Mel turned 12 last week, which suddenly seems incredibly old and teenagery. We had a quiet cake and singsong celebration with our Russian house guests, who seem to have been here forever.
I ended up taking the Russians to Ludlow to see the castle. After looking round the church and the market, we (Saskia and Eartha came too) discovered that the castle was shut. A little bit of surreptitious prodding and amazingly the gate was not locked. We managed to get all the way to the battlements before we got chucked out. Sergey was all for climbing the walls to get back in again, but Regina and I thought this may be pushing our luck.
Instead we drove to Wigmore Castle, seat of the Mortimer family. It was terribly overgrown, and hence an oasis of wildlife. Bunnies hopped across our path and crows cawed in the trees. Despite Wigmore Castle being so close, I had never been there before. It had a certain charm in the damp January air. I want to go back there in the summer.
The Russians left today. It was nice having them, but we are all very tired and in need of our own space again. Now, where did I put that vodka?