Saturday, 23 December 2017

Hever Castle at Christmas

Saturday, 23 December 2017

Elder Wallace and I decided to get up early and go grocery shopping and beat the crowd. Leslie Bridgstock said she was going at 3 am in the morning. I laughed at Leslie but not when I saw the crowd at Tescos at 7:40 am. I should of gone at 3 am. Found out later that Leslie left at 11:30 pm and got home at 2 am. She bought me waffles for a dessert I am doing on Christmas Day. She put the waffles in a bag and left it on our door knob. Leslie also left us flowers on our doorstep!

They are beautiful. The Bridgstocks are so good to us. (Just a side note - our windows face the house and at night the flood light comes on when people come and go. Soooo-being the light sleeper I am, the flood light will wake me up at 2 am. I thought Leslie was leaving for the store. Just a little tidbit to remember.) We got home and put our food items away. Next was breakfast, cleaning the flat, and getting ready to go to the office. I had a few pressing matters with emails before I could rest over the weekend.

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When we arrived at the office there was a package for us by Michelle Bills. What a nice surprise and not expected. She sent a Christus statue, pistachios, and Garden Gate toffee. It was fun getting a package. Thank you for the reminder of why we are here in England serving a mission and this special Christmas season is all about Christ.

Last night Sister Lock knocked on my door the night before. I couldn't believe that she was there. She had her husband in the car. He had just came from the hospital after finding out he needs a triple bypass in a few weeks. She said that Sister Harkness has the key for her flat and go take a bath. A BATH!!!! It was one of the highlights of my day. The Lock's flat is on the temple grounds and they will be gone a week. There mission is up as Director of the Visitor Centre at the end of the year. The Locks live near Bristol and have done a wonderful job. He has an amazing memory and a story for anything. I hurried over there to have a long hot bath realizing that Elder Wallace had my clothes and towel in the back of the car. Did that stop me? NO! Not at all!!! I found an extra towel at the office and went over and bathed.

Elder Wallace arrived back at the office at 1:45 pm. Sister DeArden wanted to go to Hever Castle at Christmas time before she goes home. I promised her we would take her. The four of us, Sister Harkness, Sister DeArden, and Elder Wallace and I drove to Hever Castle at 2 pm. It was a mild and cloudy day! Perfect afternoon to see the lights and decorations at Hever Castle. It was like a big carnival with a carousel and food vendors selling hot drinks. The grounds had the 12 Days of Christmas decorated along the path with lights. In some of the displays were live people like a goose covered with feathers. The 9 maids a milking had one maid with aprons and pails so children could milk a cow. The funnest was the 10 Lords a Leaping. They had 10 lords leaping one after another in a half circle above our heads. And they had large metal drums for the kids to drum on. We finally got Sister DeArden a wheelchair to see the rest of the lights. We decided to stop and eat dinner at a pub called The Blacksmith Head Pub. It was a small pub that was even smaller on the inside. It had pool table and one table for 8 people and a three small tables for 3-4 people. I think people go their to drink, play pool, and talk. The four us split 2 Christmas Pies because that's all they had. The pie was steak and gravy in a crust with mashed potatoes on the bottom w/ a bowl of veggies. And the English love their gravy. Very delicious and filling.

We came home and made a Raspberry Pretzel Salad without the pretzels for Christmas eve's dinner at the Gublers. We made it with ginger biscuits.