Calke at Christmas

This morning we had a lazy lie in, big breakfast and headed off to Calke Abbey for a day jam packed of festive themed things! We ditched our plan to visit the Cirencester Christmas Market as Papa wasn't so keen on traveling so far just for the day, and as our plans to stay over fell through, the line up at Calke seemed too good to miss out on.
The house and gardens were only limited, but they offered something different from the normal (lovely) property. In the house there was a tour of a few rooms which had been decorated for Christmas, the State Bed featured a typical christmas present for the lady of the house, and we also had a visit to the servants hall which hasn't been open to the public before.

Then we walked up the hill and tied our ribbons on to the wishing tree. A very sweet Christmas tradition.
After a nice warm cup of tea, we headed off to meet Father Christmas. Luckily we only had a little wait, unlike everyone else as the queue reached into the courtyard for the rest of the day!

 As you can imagine, Mr Bee was so pleased to meet the infamous Santa. He was so star struck that he could barely remember a thing! He asked Father Christmas for a scooter (which he has been asking for all year) and some books. He promised to leave Santa a cup of tea and a cake (because everyone else leaves mince pies), a carrot for the 'red nose antlers' and that he would leave his present under the tree so that Father Christmas knows that he has been a good boy. So very sweet! On our way home, Louie told us that he didn't much like Santa, because he didn't give him a kiss goodbye.

The Riding School held an afternoon Tea Dance for the children and what a wonderful party it was. Of course, running around ensued until order was restored with ballroom dancing, the hokey cokey and the biggest pass the parcel we have ever seen.

What kind of Christmas party doesn't have yummy mince pies?
Then the sun began to set and we started the Christmas Chimes walk, with a beautiful poem guiding us on Christmas trees.

Lights guided us to the church with beautiful candle lanterns lining the pathway, it was a beautiful sight to behold. The crescent moon came out and looked stunning through the trees.
A day full of Christmas cheer, we had such an amazing day, truly lovely.