A Very Christmassy Christmas
Being an 'orphan' with nowhere to go at Christmas, I was kindly invited to Leiceistershire for Christmas by Simon & Sally-Ann - Dan (Ming's boyfriend) and Matt's (May's boyfriend) parents. They live in a honest-to-goodness old manor house (built in the 1600's!) located in the village of Long Clawson in Leicestershire (they have a guest room that they use to rent out as a B&B). Since my family doesn't really celebrate Christmas, it was, without doubt, one of my most Christmassy Christmases.
First thing I noticed, on leaving the car, was the very impressive pond they had in their backyard, containing not only fish, but their very own set of resident swans!
Since the house was pretty cold, (the price you pay for living in a building that pre-dates central heating), I spent much of my time by the one of the fireplaces ... where we were decadently burning 400 year old pieces of wood (discarded from the part of the roof structure because the roofs' currently being replaced)!
Since Simon (the dad), who's a part time priest/pastor (not sure what his official title is), was conducting the midnight mass on Christmas Eve, I decided to trot along to see what it was like, since I had never been to one before. The service was quite pleasant, held in a quaint old church, very prettily lit by candles. I quite liked the Christmas hymn singing (which was essentially like singing Christmas carols), though the organ was wheezing a bit.
Had a goose (apparently it's more traditional and pre-dates Christmas turkey) for Christmas lunch (complete with stuffing, bread sauce, gravy, three types of potato, leek, parsnip, brussel sprouts and little sausages) and Christmas pudding and trifle for desert!
The Goose - 'before' pic
The Goose - 'after' pic
The family owns an auction house, so the house is filled with fabulous bits of old/antique furniture and ornaments. I suffered from a bout of 'goblet' envy over these silver cups. So pretty!
I asked Simon about these, but unfortunately you can't buy them anywhere and they definitely won't be available in any regular shops (makes sense since they were probably made a long time ago). Will look 'em up on eBay when I get the chance.
Sally-Ann setting fire to the Christmas pudding...
Having stuffed ourselves silly - I was taken on a tour of the village to walk off the massive lunch. Since I was a bit unprepared for the cold, I had to borrow the hat from Simon (I quite like it actually) and from coat from Sally-Ann.
First thing I noticed, on leaving the car, was the very impressive pond they had in their backyard, containing not only fish, but their very own set of resident swans!
Since the house was pretty cold, (the price you pay for living in a building that pre-dates central heating), I spent much of my time by the one of the fireplaces ... where we were decadently burning 400 year old pieces of wood (discarded from the part of the roof structure because the roofs' currently being replaced)!
Since Simon (the dad), who's a part time priest/pastor (not sure what his official title is), was conducting the midnight mass on Christmas Eve, I decided to trot along to see what it was like, since I had never been to one before. The service was quite pleasant, held in a quaint old church, very prettily lit by candles. I quite liked the Christmas hymn singing (which was essentially like singing Christmas carols), though the organ was wheezing a bit.
Had a goose (apparently it's more traditional and pre-dates Christmas turkey) for Christmas lunch (complete with stuffing, bread sauce, gravy, three types of potato, leek, parsnip, brussel sprouts and little sausages) and Christmas pudding and trifle for desert!
The Goose - 'before' pic
The Goose - 'after' pic
The family owns an auction house, so the house is filled with fabulous bits of old/antique furniture and ornaments. I suffered from a bout of 'goblet' envy over these silver cups. So pretty!
I asked Simon about these, but unfortunately you can't buy them anywhere and they definitely won't be available in any regular shops (makes sense since they were probably made a long time ago). Will look 'em up on eBay when I get the chance.
Sally-Ann setting fire to the Christmas pudding...
Having stuffed ourselves silly - I was taken on a tour of the village to walk off the massive lunch. Since I was a bit unprepared for the cold, I had to borrow the hat from Simon (I quite like it actually) and from coat from Sally-Ann.
posted by linh at 21:30
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