shewhomust | Two Sundays for the price of one

We were awake at seven o'clock this morning; as we quite often are. But today, instead of letting the radio lull us back to sleep, we got up and headed out early to the Farmers' Market in Sedgefield. Usually we arrive as the market is nearly over, and we buy whatever has not yet sold out; today we had choices to make, which was strange, but good. And I remembered to take my stash of empty jars back to the lady who makes jam (she had made some gooseberry chutney this month) so I felt doubly smug.

Just a fortnight ago, on our first day in Fife, we went to Kellie Castle (we went because we wanted to, but we went that day because it was Sunday and Kellie Castle was in a minority in being open). Since our previous visit, in 2014, there have been a couple of organisational changes. Entrance to the castle was by guided tour, whereas I'm pretty sure we were permitted to wander freely, before, with volunteers in each room - some of them in period costume - to provide information and make sure we behaved ourselves. Our guide was very thorough (he told us that the tour was supposed to take 40 minutes, but somehow he always needed a full hour) which is mostly a good thing, but a discouragement from asking too many questions.

The other change is that - inevitably - they have given up on banning photography inside the castle. In celebration of which, a truly magnificent plaster ceiling:

Our guide wanted to tell us about the dogs looking down from the central painting, King Charles spaniels, in anticipation of a visit from one of the Stuart kings. I wondered what the long-necked birds were, but didn't ask...

After our tour, we went to the café, and secured a table in the courtyard, so we were well positioned to spot D. and

valydiarosada when they turned up, and to chat while they waited for their tour, and we for our sandwiches. After lunch, we strolled around the gardens:

Just to explain why that ceiling is so very unexpected: Kellie is not a mansion, a stately home that has decided to call itself a castle, it is very definitely a castle:

With some unconventional defences:

We were also free to wander at will into the outhouse which was the studio of sculptor Hew Lorimer, which has been left as if in use. My photos don't convey what appealed to me about this, but luckily there are some good ones on the relevant section of the NTS website. Lorimer was a pupil and admirer of Eric Gill, but the Trust don't seem to feel the need to enlarge on this subject. I don't know what I expected them to say (my own position doesn't go much beyond Gill: bad man, good typeface) but I was still surprised to see a framed copy of an article by Lorimer in praise of Gill displayed without comment.

And that's about all. But before we leave, perhaps you'd like to use the facilities? I don't remember this little house in the woods from our previous visit, but these are the toilets: