Early Christmas Present

We were guests today for Christmas lunch and the Carol Service at Hawkestone Hall, courtesy of G & R who are the Dining room manageress and  chef at this magnificent Hall which is home to a Pastoral Centre.  Very sadly the Hall is currently up for sale and had a purchaser earlier this year but this has now fallen through, so today it was 'business as usual' and our lunch was very excellent,  after which there was great need for a little exercise so we took a promenade round the gorgeous grounds and explored the interior of this magnificent mansion, and after mince pies and coffee in the ballroom we retired to the little church to enjoy the stirring Carol Service.  This is the view of the back of the Hall;  the very commanding front of the building is bedecked with scaffolding and sheeting for restoration at the moment, so no good for a blip.

We have really enjoyed our day in such grandiose surroundings so thank you very much G & R for such a different and lovely early Christmas present.

NB  As you will all have noticed I'm hideously behind with Blip and comments, for which I apologise hugely.  I've been so bogged down at work again and will be there right up to Christmas so I'm behind with just about everything and to top it all we're having severe internet problems at home??  I tried to post this yesterday, not once, not twice but three times and after all those attempts I lost the lot, so fingers crossed this posts tonight??

Please bear with me.

PS  Make that 4 times, it's just crashed again.