Christmas Caroling

You can feel it in the air, even if you can't see it. It is so foggy over England at the moment that the airports have cancelled many short flights in and out of the country. We have finally got our wish of colder weather though alas Christmas day is predicted to go back up to around 5 degrees. Oh well, no snow this year though are enjoying the -2 to -5 temps over the last few days.

We completed our learning curve of Christmas here with a bit of night time caroling. Thursday night at 6.30pm we went with local villagers to walk around and sing carols at various homes. No it wasn't just to annoy - we also collected money for charity. It really was a charming evening. I dressed up, not in Christmasy gear though my big coat is a lovely red. But in my ski pants and gloves as we were out there for an hour and half singing way. We sung all the classics and were even greeted with treats from door to door, including some very tasty home made fudge from Tony and some scrumptious choccies. I of course accepted all gifts of tasty treats with much glee. We then finished up at the home of Peter and Deborah (a thatch cottage, gorgeous) who organised the event. They did wonders with lovely snacks, mulled wine and a crackling fire. Now this is Christmas in style, I feel for all you sweating back at home :P

Half Baked

Little visitor

Isn't he cute



We are surprised he hasn't snap frozen, it is 10am here and it is -1 yippy

Visitors

Yes its true, we had guests stay here in our little village. Ben went into super organise mode, tried to get the shelving and book cases made before they get here, so the place looks groovy. I must say he succeeded with flying colours.



For my part I have spent all week cleaning out our spare room and making it look like a guest bedroom at a B&B. When we first arrived we bought a new bed. I have now added to the bed some new sheets, pillows and a goose feather doona. So after hanging all the pictures around the house and folding the towels on the end of the bed with little choccies it was time to look relaxed for when our guests arrived. I hear you ask: who are these crazy people? Why none other than the lovely Erica and Simon, over this part of the world seeing their aunt, uncle and granparents.

They arrived on Monday afternoon, poor things, after arriving in the country a few hours before on Sunday. They were very brave and drove over here from Leicester where their aunt and uncle live. Needless to say there was lots of hugs and hellos followed by many hours of chatting over cheese and biscuits, followed by a turkey pie. Yum.

We went to bed around 10pm as we had lots of adventuring to do the next morning. So up bright and early we attacked the day with a big breakfast of scones (with J and C) croissants, fruit, juice, coffee and tea. We headed into Cambridge to look at the colleges, check out the market in the centre of town and take a punt trip down the Cam after a very groovy pub lunch.



It was very freezing but they are survives of US winters so they toughed it out and all had heaps of fun. It was not to cool for the lovely black swan though.



Too soon unfortunately it was time to say goodbye as the sun was on its way down. So after returning home the browntastic pair packed their car and it was back to hugs. It was an excellent extension to the weekend, Thank you guys we had so much fun and look forward to seeing you next time.

Christmas is almost here

Yes kids you can feel it in the air, well you guys can probable feel it in the amout of sweating your doing. But here we have lovely cool and sunny days that though short, about 8 hours of light, are magical. Saturday we leapt out of bed and dashed off to town for Christmas shopping. We found a lovely holly bush for our garden and a real live wreath for our door.

We indulged in hot chocolate and sweeties and shopped until we dropped. Friday Night of course being the 1st of December saw us decorating the tree though the house lights won't be finished until next weekend. Sunday was a windy day though we did manage to track around to Wimpole Hall, a very old manner that has been commericalised a little bit but still has most of its charm. It costs about 20 pounds for two to get in and they place is still a working farm. You can buy lovely country produces there including cheeses, meats and chuttenies. They have a restaurant, book and toy shop as well as a bit of a garden centre. There are lots of long lovely walks to do around the country side and there are even draught horses there pulling carriages. So there is fun for all.

Carols

A magical night for all. Ben and I went to St John's College for their Advent Carol service. We were lucky enough to get tickets as it is so popular now that the colleges in Cambridge run a sort of lottery for them. Even though we had tickets they required us to be there about half an hour before it started as they would not hold the seats if you were late. We arrived an hour before just to make sure and were pleased we did as they had organ music for time time leading up.

The old classics are always welcome, we heard three chorale preludes on 'Nun Komm' der Heiden Heiland, Toccata and Fugue in D minor and Fantasia and fugue in C minor. Didn't think much of Sicilienne which was composed between 1902-86 by Durufle. After this they had a short break where they informed us that we were being recorded by the BBC Radio 3 to be played this coming Sunday 3rd on the radio at 4pm our time, which is around 3am your time. We were then instructed to practice our lines together as a group and we went though some of the hymns as well to test the timing, volume etc. Unfortunately Ben and I had unsuspectly choosen seats next to one of these hidden microphones so pity the poor individuals having to listen to us warble.

The Choir sung some lovely pieces through the night, 'Adam Lay Bounden', 'Threshold of Night' and of course some classics like Emmanuel. Altogether it was an excellent evening and we finished it off with a quick dinner out and back home to our warm house. (We paid $100 AUD for a two course chinese meal - a genuinely new experience -- Ben)

We awoke on Sunday to another beautiful Sunday so after a big breakfast and finishing off printing all our Christmas cards we decided to explore the local woodland, trying the walk from Kingston to Wimpole. It was very pretty with leaves all over the forest floor and some trying to hang grimly onto the trees still. I was glad that I wore my wellies as it was very muddly. I took about an hour to rescue Ben's poor boots but the walk was well worth it. We walked along the Wimpole Way which takes one across country past the ancient stone hall that is in variouss stages of falling down and then finishes at the Wimpole Farm.

Unfortunately we did not make it that far as we had been walking an hour and half and still had not reached it. It was about 3pm so we had to turn back to get home before we lost the light. As it was we returned at 4.30 just as the gloom settled in and we settled into our nice comfy house all warm and toasty. We treated ourselves to a home made pizza for our efforts.

To Market, To Market

Yes another wonderful day in the sun, can you believe it. Though the top temp was a small 7 degrees we felt free to enjoy the day. First stop was indeed a short walk, our own village. We had thought on the matter and agreed that we had not captured enough of our new home on film so here a happy snaps. We start walking north from our front door down towards the Kingston church.

Main street, The Green, local Kingston Hall and the lane to the church


Next we have cute little house, in and outside of our local church


And then back on the main street looking the otherway.



Now you might be wondering where the market to market fits in, well the look about the place was only the beginning. Next stop of course was Cambridge. Today was to be a special day in town as the Christmas lights in the market square were to be lit on 5pm, when it got dark :P There was also to be choirs singing, brass bands and who knows what else. We also just happen to need to finish off our Christmas shopping in said location so that was perfect.

Sunrise 7.25am

And this is sunset at 4.05

Sunshine and Autumn Leaves

Another beautiful day in the UK, for some reason we are having good weather. Taking advantage of such good fortune Ben and I headed out into the countryside to visit various villages. Our first stop was Clare, which is about half an hour or so south of Cambridge. Such a lovely place which has no less than three antique shops. We browsed through these before we went out and explored the surrounding town. We discovered a wonderful river winding its way around the village. It had a lovely walk along side it through the forest where the locals provided various signs about what sort of birds and other wild life we should keep our eyes open for. We had lunch here and then continued southish to Long Melton. This was another sweet village though as it says, it was very long. We stopped here to look in the little boutique shops and have a hot chocolate, which I must say was so creamy and yummy and just the thing to warm you up when it was only 7 degrees out. Unfortunately the great hall there was closed for the season so we did not get to look inside though it did look very grand from without.



This was a great little find, a disused railway station in the forest


We continued through the countryside, such wonderful colours with all the leaves turning and light was quite warm even if the weather was not. This is due to the sun not getting above about 10 o'clock in the sky so it has a very surreal feeling and makes it difficult to judge the time of day. Our last stop was the best of all, it was the village of Lavenham. Upon entering this village you will come across its stunning church. It is quite huge with amazingly tall windows that have such jewel like colours. It is surrounded by a great garden with hedges sculpted into big spheres though one had a hole in the top which looked as if someone had tossed their three year old out of a plane and the unfortunate landed right in the middle. Not sure about that theory of Ben's but it was funny.



After looking about the church we headed into the town proper, I would suggest anyone coming to England who wishes for the small country village stay, that this is your place. Along with ancient buildings and beautiful magic main streets, the surrounding countryside is picture book perfect. It has a lovely cafe and cute little arty type shops and of course great looking traditional pubs. Once we had completed our look around it was starting to get dark so we headed back, for sun set here today was five minutes past four. Yes that's right pitch black by five in the afternoon. It is quite a novelty.

They just don't make them like they use to...

The engagement: of drink and merriment

Thank you to Laurence for the pictures. Below are some great shots of the family gathered to celebrate Alicia and Dan getting hitched some time in 2008. Excellent work guys. By all reports the party was well planned and executed. With beautiful marquee, seafood and fairy lights to complete the picture.

Everybody was well behaved and had fun though some questionable art was tried out on a poor unsuspecting sleeping person though I believe this was fixed before they awoke, luck them. It would appear though a few had hang overs on the return of the sun :P

Guy Fawkes Day

Last Saturday evening was Guy Fawkes Night here in merrie olde England. This is the night where Britons (and a couple of other nations, including Australia until the crackers were banned when too many yahoos blew themselves up and/or caused bushfires) commemorate the faiure of the Gunpowder plot to blow up the British Houses of Parliament, and King James I in 1605.

Guy Fawkes and his mates filled up a wood store under the House of Lords with gunpowder, and intended to ignite it during the opening of parliament, where James would have been present.

According to Wikipedia, the houses of parliament are still searched by the Yeoman of the Guard before the State Opening of Parliament to make sure no modern day Guy is in the cellars with 36 barrels of gunpowder.

Do it twice around here, and it's tradition.

Anyway, on this Guy Fawkes night we headed to the next little village from ours to the east, Toft. In their little recreation ground the villagers had set up a Fireworks display. Loads of people turned up, and there was a bonfire, games, toffee apples, and a fireworks display that lasted a good 20 minutes or so. The display was downright awesome, especially for a wee village, and extra especially when the fireworks were launched only 10 metres or so from where we were standing.

Cool.

Here are a couple of pictures I managed to get during the display. The magnitude of the display was well beyond what I was expecting. Great work chaps wot?





I also won a can of Grolsch and two cans of Red Salmon at the little lucky dip stall. Rockin'