It really is..... by maggiemae

It really is.....

a castle! At a restaurant about 20 km north of our town and on the main south highway, there is a castle being built complete with moat! The mother of the restaurant manager is a colourful character who also runs a huge gift shop. She has written a book. This is her project and it has dungeons and turrets, peacocks and hens. I will add that this is to be her home and not a restaurant.

This is a connection to her book: http://www.randomhouse.co.nz/books/dot-smith/dot-queen-of-riverstone-castle-9781775535430.aspx

Three good things;
1. A great lunch at this restaurant - its reputation stretches far and wide.
2. A new merino jersey bought on Trademe.
3. The codebreaker puzzle in our daily newspaper.
Nice capture of this castle in progress. It's going to be imposing.
December 11th, 2014  
Impressive capture of that imposing structure. Wonder what it will be used for.
December 11th, 2014  
@tonydebont She is going to live there, Tony and her son who runs the successful restaurant will enter the castle by boat through a portcullis!
December 11th, 2014  
beautiful landscape, great shot!
December 11th, 2014  
Some people have way too much cash to splash!
December 11th, 2014  
There can't be very many new castles being built around the world at the moment, this might be unique. Looks very grand, you will have to let us see it when its finished.
December 11th, 2014  
@markp I think that would be correct, Mark! Its a first in NZ anyway!
December 11th, 2014  
Lovely building and shot.
December 11th, 2014  
That is rather extraordinary! Interesting to read about.
December 11th, 2014  
I never imagined people still built castles........a moat too! It will be an amazing place to eat when it's finished! What with this one & yesterday's new cafe,the place is buzzing!
December 11th, 2014  
@happypat Its not going to be a restaurant, Pat - its going to be Dot's home! She is an amazing woman!
December 11th, 2014  
She must be rich as well as being a colourful character !! And to be building a castle moat ,dungeons and all !! She must be living in a make believe world !! It will be interesting to see and know more about it when it has been completed !
December 11th, 2014  
@maggiemae Fantastic, as you say, she's an incredible lady. Could be quite a tourist attraction.
December 11th, 2014  
@beryl She must have lots of money but she works so hard - huge gift shop stuffed with items she sources, all the restaurant's vegetables and fruit comes from her huge garden, she also has very red hair!
December 11th, 2014  
@tonydebont @beryl @happypat @markp @dibzgreasley I have put an address on above, about her book that she wrote and about the castle.
December 11th, 2014  
Oh, that eill be an amazing place tohave dinner!
December 11th, 2014  
@maggiemae six dairy farms!! Dot sounds a force to be reckoned with...would love to read that book...must get DIL to check it out....thanks Maggiemae,
December 11th, 2014  
That an interesting shot and fascinating to hear all about this lady. You will have to show us an after picture too.
December 11th, 2014  
wonderful shot and so interesting .... would love to visit there
December 11th, 2014  
Wow. Even a moat? That is some kind of house.
December 11th, 2014  
I suppose if you wok hard to earn lots of money you can do what you want with it. Strange but true!! This will become a tourist attraction and then she will get even more money!!
December 11th, 2014  
Beautiful
December 11th, 2014  
This is so cool , another place to remember to visit in my next trip. FAV for record keeping
December 11th, 2014  
Gosh, would love to go there. Thanks for the info Maggie. Fav
December 11th, 2014  
Jo
Intriguing.
December 11th, 2014  
brilliant shot, maggiemae. taking note of the link you provided, sounds very intriguing. i hope she's not going to be breeding any dragons for a complete ensemble. looking forward to the progress shots of the castle.
December 11th, 2014  
@maggiemae Thanks for the extra info -- she sounds a real entrepreneur !!
December 11th, 2014  
@summerfield She's got about 6 screeching peacocks who think they are dragons!
December 11th, 2014  
Nice shot and interesting story. Quite a unique lady!
December 11th, 2014  
This is incredibly, Maggiemae - what an amazingly eccentric building!
December 12th, 2014  
Amazing well captured
December 12th, 2014  
An interesting little article about the owner of the castle, I hope she plans to have domestic help. Either that or she really has bundles of energy. It does look like a fun place to live and your photo is great.
December 12th, 2014  
fascinating and very cool!
December 12th, 2014  
How impressive. And to have to enter the castle by boat, sounds like something out of a fairy tale. I'm with Paulette about hoping she plans to have domestic help though--and people to take care of the grounds too. I'd love to visit when it's done if I lived in that neck of the woods.
December 12th, 2014  
Lovely shot of the castle. How cool it would be to live in the castle!
December 12th, 2014  
@daisymiller Do you think there might be a Knight on a white charger somewhere, come over the drawbridge and carry you away?
December 12th, 2014  
Great shot, Marg. The HDR works well with this image too. I have been to this place, several years ago now and was impressed with the vegie gardens and the whole set up. I think that work had begun on the foundations for the castle-home but it's good to see the progress made. It nice to see peoples' dreams become a reality as most just build their castles in the air.
December 12th, 2014  
@snaphappi Your remembered phrase is so apt - 'Castles in the Air" I wonder if this is what was the incentive with Dot - she's a determined and amazing woman!
December 12th, 2014  
Fantastic shot, would love to see it when it is finished.
December 12th, 2014  
This is fascinating. What an amazing lady. Thanks for the link. Love your processing here. Great capture
December 12th, 2014  
Fabulous view of this place and a great shot. Some people enjoy living in the past (I might be one of them). I'm sure she will fill it with the luxuries we have today, though.
December 12th, 2014  
It looks great - what an amazing thing to build a castle.
December 12th, 2014  
Great image - I love the echo of the grey stone in the tones of the sky. Must put it on my list!
December 12th, 2014  
Wow...what an interesting place she is building for herself.
December 12th, 2014  
How impressive! Love this shot of the work in progress with the reflection of it in the moat?
December 12th, 2014  
Looks quite a project :)
December 12th, 2014  
Fascinating! Quite unique architecture and design.
December 12th, 2014  
All this is by only one Dot? How generous !!!
Beautiful shot and informative exciting text .
December 12th, 2014  
Good gracious! The joys of being able to do what you want!
December 12th, 2014  
oh my word , did they rob a bank
December 12th, 2014  
How cool that she is doing this. It looks amazing. Love your photo. Too bad it will be her home and not somewhere to visit or eat at. Would be nice to have something like this to live in. FAV
December 12th, 2014  
A lovely modern day castle!! My oh my!! Would be so interesting to see the inside. Really great capture of it.
December 13th, 2014  
How fabulous! She sounds like a truly amazing woman.
December 13th, 2014  
I hope the castle does become her dream home. I think all of us think about what we could/would build if money was available; mine would be an ecohome with a picture gallery,high ceilings and square rooms etc.etc.
Like the photo
December 13th, 2014  
Wild idea to build one's own castle. I look forward to seeing a shot of it completed. Love the reflection of it here, and the way the water is partly smooth and partly a little rough.
December 14th, 2014  
Bev
Great shot, Maggie. Cool processing. Fav. I love the puzzles in the paper.
December 14th, 2014  
Foreboding is the word that came to mind when I saw this xx
December 14th, 2014  
Very clever of her. When she doesn't want anyone to visit, she'll just pull up the drawbridge!
December 15th, 2014  
@olivetreeann We thought when its finished, Ann, that we get on a rowboat with an outboard motor and go round and round at 3am!?
December 15th, 2014  
@maggiemae Now that antic might fall under the "how to make friends and influence people...NOT!" category. Have fun!!
December 15th, 2014  
There are still some big characters out there!
December 16th, 2014  
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