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.