Just a walk in the park

Last weekend, we had a visitor of the furry four-pawed variety. Mack, my daughter's lovely American Cocker Spaniel came to stay the night, so Zoe had company, which she enjoyed very much. Mack was a model guest and, other than a bit of pacing when we went to bed, he was cheerful, calm and incredibly sweet. He was, in fact, a very good boy considering he's also very much his mummy's boy and I was a little worried he would pine for her. I suspect the pacing was his way of telling us he missed her, but luckily Zoe kept him company and they hung out together like good pals should.

I found it interesting that their interaction was totally different from Zoe's with her bestie, Lucy. Being two girls, those two behave like a couple of errant teenagers together: larking around, winding each other up, competing for snacks and attention. The terrible twins, they are! Not so, Zoe and Mack. There was a bit of flirty play, but otherwise, they did what you see in the photo below. I think they look beautiful together, don't you?

Anyway, on Sunday, we (being other daughter and I) decided to meet Mack's mum, Mo, at Kasteel Ravenhof, halfway between her home and mine, a little to the northeast of Antwerp in a village calle Putte. According to Jo, daughter 1, there were beautiful grounds there where we could walk, and then a café at the Kasteel for a restorative cup of coffee when we'd finished. 

It took us about an hour to get there and we met Mo by the Kasteel itself. I found the photo below on Flickr as I totally failed to take one myself, and the photographer seems to be called Ronny Daems, so many thanks, Ronny! Kasteel Ravenhof is quite a splendid place, but I'd say it's more of a stately home than a castle. The current structure was built in 1810, although it apparently dates back to much earlier times. However, we were there to walk the dogs not go visiting, so I'll have to see if that's possible another day as I'd really like to see inside. If you're interested, there's some information about the castle here.

Kasteel Ravenhof in Stabroek
Credit to What's Around on Flickr

Anyway, there are several possible walks around the woods and grounds there. We chose a relatively short one because Mack has a back problem, meaning he can't go too mad, but we all enjoyed the 3.5 km round trip. The photos speak for themselves, really.

My girls

What a lovely day it was. I didn't even have to use 
the vivid setting on my camera

Scattered pups and peeps

The remains of what must have been a moat outside a fortified area

I liked this carved tree stump

And this ornamental fence was rather fine too.

The obligatory avenue of trees leading to
the obligatory folly

And last but not least, a very large
obligatory toad just basking in the sunshine

We all enjoyed ourselves, and after sitting in the warm sunshine out on the café's terrace, where we had a lovely cuppa, Mack was handed over and we all returned home, by which time the day was pretty much over.

This coming Sunday, we're off to France again, so my next blog really will fill you in with the news. By then, I will have finished the big course I'm doing and I'll have a bit more time to devote to blogging and writing again. I've missed both, but it's been hard to combine anything other than the normal chores with my teacher duties.

We're looking forward to our week away, in any event, so for now, allemaal, enjoy the spring weather that's coming, and I'll catch up with you all very soon.