Yuletide visit to Hardwick Hall

Hello Festive Friends,
Winter Solstice Blessings to you all! Oh for a crisp twinkly frost overnight to set off the magic. Sadly more amorphous grey & the promise of plenty of rain later for us here at the People & Cats Republic. Despite the lack of winter, Festive Things have been going on, kicking off with seeing Jethro Tull at Lincoln Cathedral last week, & this weekend, we visited Hardwick Hall (Derbyshire) for their festive offering. The Hall looked fabulous. Such a lot of work had obviously gone into the flowers, trees & lights, and we felt 'proper festive' afterwards. 

So I thought I'd share my photos. It's the first year we'd been to see the Christmas trimmings at the Hall, but I think they take place every year, so if you missed it & are within travelling distance from Derbyshire (v close to the M1), then there's always 2016.

.......and not forgetting the servants' quarters......where let's face it, most of my ancestors would have been confined.......actually, that would have been a promotion, mine would have been stone-picking & crow-scaring out in the fields.....scrubbing floors for the aristocracy? Luxury!

These pictures don't really do the displays justice, as they were stunning, particularly the rooms & Tudor stone stairways which were lit only by candlelight. Do visit next year if you didn't get the chance this time.

We stopped off for a family visit on the way home & exchanged gifts. We were given a big bag of chocolates. I had no sooner tipped them out when Albert Whiskers jumped up & started bashing them about. I didn't manage to get a picture of him in action, but this was afterwards, refusing to come down. He doesn't eat chocolate, so I can only assume it's a protest about this particular purveyor's tax status.

He's been pretty well behaved with the Christmas Tree so far, but has been busted for nosing around the presents a bit more enthusiastically than strictly necessary. I, on the other hand, have not yet felt, prodded or poked a single present. Oh, hang on, not quite true, as I did try to have a squint down a gap in some sellotape the other day.

Hope people are starting to feel at least a bit festive, anyway.
Time for a caffiene top-up........but do I need a 2nd cranberry & almond biscotti? Judging by tightness of skirt this morning, perhaps not!!
C x