ONCE UPON A TIME; Snow Castle

I wish I lived here! This castle looks so dark and brooding amid the crystal white snowscape; it has just enough Gothic mystery about it to intrigue me and draw me in. The current snowy weather has made me dream of how it would have been centuries ago, living in a big castle without all the modern comforts we tend to take for granted.  If this were my castle I would make sure there were roaring log fires in all the rooms, not just the great hall.  I would order that the logs be sprinkled with pine cones to fill the castle with the scent of winter.  Four poster beds would be hung with velvet drapes; tapestries would warm the thick stone walls and prettily carved wooden shutters would keep the drifting snow at bay.

In my castle dream, I would ride a magnificent chestnut steed through the snowy forest, a silver hunting horn hanging at my hip as my friends and I try to find an enchanted white hart that has been recently sighted in the area. Slipping and sliding through the woods we go, a hunting party looking for magic, seeking enchantment on a winters day. But such a magical beast is elusive and we return to the warmth of the castle as the snow begins to fall once more. We turn the horses into stables with deep beds of clean straw and buckets of oats and bran, before heading into the great hall for a feast of good food, spiced wine and music from my very own troubadour.  A huge log crackles in the hearth, candles flicker casting shadows around the hall and my feet are toasty in fur slippers.  My troubadour sings of love and adventure, of white harts and broken hearts.  The sound of his lute fills the hall with melody and  I dream by the fireside...