Friday 27 December 2013

Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and a bit in between

On Christmas Eve we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went for a walk at Frampton-on-Severn, a little way up the road from us.


It's a very old village, with the largest village green in England - some 22 acres.  Along the edges are Tudor and Georgian houses and cottages.  It's a beautiful place for a walk at any time, but on Christmas Eve it was magical to see twinkling lights in the windows.  Christmas Eve is one of my favourite days.  All that anticipation and excitement.  Everything just looks perfect.  I took lots of photos as we wandered along.














Love this one, it's amazing.  Above and below are shots from a slightly different angle to give an idea of the size and spread of it.  I believe it dates from the 15th century.






The village is low lying and close to two rivers, the Severn and the Frome.  After all the rain there was a lot of water in the fields.


We walked the length of the village, until the edge was taken off of the little people.  They all declared their legs to be tired by the time we returned.  Mission accomplished.

Christmas Day was quiet but good.  We made a hospital visit in the afternoon, and on the way back we stopped to see a nearby house that's lit up every year for charity.


Visitors are welcome to walk into the garden and up to the door.  It really is quite astonishing.  I'm guessing their electricity bill is too.


After Christmas we have a little tradition of going to Weston-super-Mare to walk along the beach.  We do this on Boxing Day or New Year's Day, depending on the weather.  As Boxing Day was fine, we went while we could.  The beach is vast, a huge space for running in the cold fresh air after being cooped up inside on Christmas Day.  There are always lots of other people with dogs and boys doing exactly the same thing.





Back at home we're enjoying our Christmas presents, especially Monopoly and a complicated train board game.  We're managing not to squabble (too much) over them.  And we're working our way through the gingerbread house.

 
And yes, I know it doesn't look exactly like Mary Berry's...  There's a big gap in the roof, the icing dropped into the candle inside and the tree fell down.  I was tempted to try lighting the candle anyway, but I thought that it might result in clouds of black smoke billowing out of the door.  Might have made for a good shot.  Anyway, I've been doing my bit to help eat it.  It's surprisingly delicious.  And surprisingly vast.  I'll press on.

26 comments:

  1. How lovely a perfect way to spend Christmas. Love the little gingerbread house too what does it matter if it looks like Mary Berry's as long as it tastes good and you had fun making it? I see you must be just across the river from Cinderford which is where I lived with my grandfather for a time back in the 1950s.

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  2. It looks like you've had a lovely Christmas, CJ. I really enjoyed seeing the Tudor-era houses. I have never been to England, but it's one of my dreams to visit someday. I have long been a fan of Tudor history and I read a lot of fiction about the era, so seeing the actual buildings is very interesting to me. That house with the lights is something else! I admit, I thought about the electric bill too, yikes. But it must have been really fun to see it. I love your gingerbread house. It looks rustic, which is what I like to say about mine. :)

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  3. Frampton on Severn looks glorious. I hope those gorgeous properties are safe from flooding, if the village is low lying. Gingerbread house looks wonderful. I remember there used to be one of those excessively lit houses on the road between the M4 and Tetbury, close to Highgrove. I always wondered if HRH was ever tempted to get out and tell them to turn it all off, for the sake of the environment.

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  4. Your walk is a dream! Thank you for taking us along with you as it is a treat to see such historic homes!! I can only imagine what the interiors are like! Amazing! And your time at the beach looks like a wonderful way to just run and breath in the fresh air!! Sounded like an outstanding Christmas!!! All the best! Nicole

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  5. Lovely idyllic village presumably housing lots of ell heeled residents. Did the illuminations survive the wind?

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    1. They did Sue, they were very professionally attached, luckily. Although I really don't envy whoever had to take them down, as the wind has continued pretty much every day.

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  6. your Christmas eve walk looks gorgeous, ours was so cold I barely took any photographs, I either had my hands stuffed firmly in my pockets, or hanging onto a child so they didn't blow away. Glad you had a lovely Christmas and well done for helping with the gingerbread, very noble of you to eat some x

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    1. Thank you, I do like to step up where required.

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  7. We've had some good days over Christmas this year for getting out and about, just what you need with three young boys. The illuminated house looks fantastic, I'd dread the electricity bill coming though if it were me, it must cost them a fortune. I think the gingerbread house looks fab and so long as it tastes good, that's all that matters.

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  8. It sounds like you had a wonderful few days together celebrating the Holidays. Lovely pictures of that beautiful town.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  9. Much better than Mary Berry's. I would dive right into yours!

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  10. I've got village-envy seeing your photos, CJ! What a fabulous place for a walk with lots of photo opportunities. Like Jo, I wouldn't like to have to pay the electricity bill for the Christmas house but it's very community minded of the occupants to host such a great show! Lovely to see Weston-super-Mare beach - my Bristol based sister used to take her kids there when they were younger; fantastic place for a run around and blast of fresh invigorating sea air! Sounds like you've had a wonderful Christmas!

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  11. Wow, that village is lovely and so is the illuminated house. So glad you had a good Christmas.
    Jacquie x

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  12. Aren't we blessed with our vernacular architecture in this country. I love your posts that show the area near Thornbury as I grew up in Somerset and have strong Bristol connections. Weston-Super-Mare holds so many childhood memories for me, and I used to ride on the beach at Brean.

    Wishing you and your family only good things in 2014 CJ x

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  13. Beautiful village. This is one of the thing I love when we visit England, just going through villages and small towns and admire the architecture... Wishing you a good start in the New Year.

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  14. A most enjoyable post, and terrific pictures. Lucky you having places like that on your doorstep to walk round.
    There used to be a house hereabouts that was decorated like that. Flighty xx

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  15. What a beautiful village. fantastic photos too. We have had 2 lovely beach walks over Christmas ... it blows a few cobwebs away! I recognised your gingerbread house as the same as Mary Berry's on tv the other night... very impressed! Julie x

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  16. What a pretty village to have a stroll around and I love the 'electrified' house, I'd have mine looking like that at Christmas if only I had the time and money for the bill! Best crack on with eating that gingerbread house, I'd eaten ours before Christmas eve!

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  17. Lovely outdoors shots and your gingerbread house is very impressive. Enjoy the rest of the break xo

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  18. Your walk around that pretty village was wonderful and the beach on Boxing Day too. Wishing you a Happy new Year.
    Sarah x

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  19. Hi CJ,

    Thank you for your kind comment on my blog! I enjoyed your photo's of Frampton, such a lovely quintessentially English village! Love the houses, we don't have them like that in Holland.

    Wishing you and your family all the best for a Happy, Healthy and Creative New Year!

    Madelief x

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  20. I enjoyed taking that walk with you CJ! And I'm glad that you had such a happy and peaceful Xmas with you and yours. When I was little, a trip to WSM was such a treat, so seeing those pictures brought back lots of ahppy memories for me.

    Leanne xx

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  21. Love that gingerbread house! I've never made one yet, I never seem to make enough time. Next year... Your two festive walks looked gorgeous - each perfect for their day. Picture-perfect cosy for Christmas Eve, and a windy beach to blow away the cobwebs on boxing day. x

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  22. Great blog,happy new year :)

    Visit http://becoolbepositivebeyou.blogspot.com/

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  23. These houses are all so lovely! Here, we're impressed when there's a house that is still standing from the late 1800s, so seeing something from the 1500s is impressive! This looks like a lovely walk:) That house with all the lights is also very impressive:) Hope you've enjoyed that delicious looking gingerbread house:)

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  24. Christmas nostalgia.... do you remember the days when they had big presents that filled the stocking but didn't cost an arm and a leg? Nowadays the gifts are miniature but just cost SO MUCH!

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