2015 Review of Sweetbriar Dreams

I don't know about you, but once the last roasting tin, wine glass and gravy boat was put away, I breathed a sigh of relief!  Another Christmas over.  Another year now draws to a close and what a quick year it was.  Each month passed with disbelief that the next one was about to start.  With the unusual weather of extreme mild temperatures for December, floods throughout the country and stormy winds, it feels more like April.  Maybe that's why Christmas didn't feel like Christmas and it had nothing to do with my post op recovery!

There were lots of trips taken in 2015 to places I haven't seen for a while or totally new.

Bletchley Park     Southend on Sea        Chatsworth House

Highclere Castle - (The Real Downton Abbey)     Norwich

Melton Mowbray        James Herriott Country     London

There was however a very sad point of the year that fell on us at the beginning of April when our darling dog Coco was lost to Syringomyelia.  The life was sapped from us and will never be the same.  But one day as I was looking through some favourite pages on Facebook, a little face shone out at me. I showed the family and everyone was in agreement that this poor little rescued dog was going to come home to us.  After a while, operations and assessment, little Tia came to live with us and it was plainly obvious that she just wanted cuddles and to please.  She has now settled in, has her own Facebook page and believe me, guards my feet as if her life depended on it... well, her walks on her favourite Fen will!!

What I have enjoyed this year is escaping from everyday life and playing with my camera, both my bridge and my new mobile one, and that is one of my hobbies that I will be enjoying every moment.

Crafts once again were on the back burner, so next year I plan on getting myself organised to do more.  My fingers need to be busy!

So, what will 2016 bring?  Hopefully it will be a happy and healthy one (especially feet wise!).  I can't wait to be able to ditch the crutches and oh so beautiful sandals and be able to walk normally once again.  Don't get me wrong, I am so glad I had the operation on both feet, but for someone who loves to go walking and being out of the house, these last three weeks have been incredibly hard.  How I would have loved everyone to rally around but I am a control freak so why ask for something to be done when I clearly enjoy the pain to do it myself!  Yes, my own worst enemy!!  Bunion removal, two broken and pinned toes and the removal of arthritis is not going to stop me.

So, here's to a wonderful 2016.  I wish you all a very Happy New Year and incredible health to you and yours.

Cheers!

Christmas Decorations at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire UK

Well Mr Darcy, how do you do!  We have been waiting to visit Chatsworth House, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, with its Christmas decorations for simply months!  And so, what a way to end my 2015 blogging year with this sumptuous, gorgeous, exquisite house.

This is a picture heavy post for which I don't apologise.  I really wanted to share this with you while you relax during your days of sharpening the elbows for the shops and the madness of crowds.  Our trip to Chatsworth will be in two parts, the inside - today's post with its Christmas decorations to the theme of The Wind in the Willows and very soon the incredible exterior .

So, sit back and enjoy with your champagne and caviar!

For those of you who have enjoyed the 2005 Pride and Prejudice, you will know this bust of Mr Darcy.  This bust is the actual one used in the film and has a little sign to say that there is to be no kissing!

Sorry, being distracted!  The reason we came was to see the magnificent Christmas decorations and they certainly didn't disappoint.  The stately home is full of treasures and incredible architecture, so to see the top end of decorations and imagination was a marvel to cherish.

My favourite room by far was the library.  My obsession of owning a room full of books with a desk to write at, a dark colour scheme and a feeling of serene calm was here.  No need to look anymore.  I have found my perfection!

Further along the corridor, a room that would fill some people with dread.  Which fork do I use first?

The dining room was filled with the rascal voices of the weasels from The Wind in the Willows.  Smashing glasses, merryment and mischief.  

Some of the weasels were being particularly naughty though and hiding behind the curtains...

... and under the table!

A spectacular room with a wonderful way of engaging the book with the decorations needed to flow through the house.

Looking up as we walked through the many rooms and hall ways was just paradise for me.  The chandeliers were rich with their opulence.

And the plainer version was equally as spectacular, surrounded by exquisite statues!

The decorations continued throughout and the trees were so tastefully decorated making the statues stand out even more in their beauty in the sculpture gallery.

We were now upstairs which was equally beautiful.  If only there were no other visitors around, I would have very easily just slipped into this incredibly comfortable looking bed.  Couldn't you?

At the other end of the room, a very happy Mole was singing and enjoying a good bath in a cupboard! 

Another favourite thing of mine is to see a wash basin and jug.  It screams simple and beautiful times.  But oh dear, how strong were my feelings to move that lampshade to hide the line.  Seriously, it was very hard for me not to reach across and help it along!

Now this capture really made me smile.  In the stairwell the water heater was lit up.  The Duke and Duchess' water was being heated, and not by servants of times gone past.

Each room we visited showed off Christmas trees so beautifully decorated.

Mr Toad had clearly been very busy!

But now he sinks into his bed and relaxes for another full day of mischievous antics.

Once again, thank you so much for visiting and commenting.  My bandages come off tomorrow and my new feet will be revealed!  A little nervous about it but at least I will know what I need to deal with very shortly.  I can't wait to get out and about once more and life can return back to some normality.

I am going to take a little blogging break now to get the last bits and pieces in order before the big day, so until next time I wish my lovely readers a ...

VERY HAPPY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS/HANUKKAH

       

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A Victorian Christmas Fayre in Melton Mowbray

I warn you now, this post contains a Christmas Tree overload!  I'll be taking you around a church that contains hundreds of them!  But first, let me take you around our trip to Melton Mowbray and its Christmas Fayre.

The Victorian period is my favourite, especially at Christmas.  Imagining Dickensian Britain and the Scrooge outlook always makes me feel happily fuzzy inside, but to actually live it would have been so incredibly hard.  The local Bobby would have been more of a regular sight compared to nowadays.

It wouldn't be a market without the sound of the jingle jangle bells of Morris Dancers and the Molly Dancers.

This group are the Red Leicesters!

Of course a visit to Melton Mowbray means Pie!  They were selling them everywhere, but we had to go to a proper shop to buy our purchase.

Looking inside the shop window I felt like that Victorian child, drooling at all the contents of the shop.

Pork Pie and Boxing Day Chutney... delicious (and didn't last long!)

Of course, there was some Christmas shopping going on and some pretty and delicious shops to look into.

This florist really made me smile, I love the whole look.  Christmassy and yet shabby chic.  Gorgeous!  I was so, so tempted to buy the hyacinths, but by Christmas they would have grown and died back.  No, I'll have to get these locally I thought.

But enough of sitting around Queen Vic, where's the church of Christmas trees?

St Mary's Church in Melton Mowbray looks from the outside as just 'another church', but the queue outside was telling us something else.  This church has an annual event of displaying hundreds of Christmas trees.  Now, when I first wrote this post I thought it was 900 trees, but apparently they have beaten their record to over 1,200 trees.

So, let's go inside and let you feast your eyes on all the trees.  A Christmas Tree overload!

My favourites had to be this one (I wonder why?!)

Oh and of course this one!  It's Christmas, and a drink is necessary!

So how is your Christmas shopping going?  I am literally itching to get out again and join the crush, but have a few more days rest before I can venture out and have my bandages removed.  Very frustrating.

Once again, thank you for your visits and comments.  I am feeling a little improved and now weaning off the pain killers, so there is light at the end of the tunnel.