The group always spends the first weekend of December celebrating Christmas at Hardwick Hall. This year twelve of us made the time-honoured visit. We were blessed with two days of winter sunshine and starry night skies. On Saturday we cut down a small stand of sucker elms next to the approach road to the Hardwick Inn. The worksite was five minutes walk from the basecamp and we were glad to return there to warm up over lunch.
Megan spent the day preparing a sumptuous traditional Christmas supper, assisted in
the afternoon by sous chef Daniel. Afternoon tea was mulled wine and mince pies, followed a couple of hours later by the feast itself. The turkey that graced the table had been reared on the Hardwick Park farm. We spent the evening playing party games including building towers from spaghetti and marshmallows!On Sunday we walked up to the Hall to listen to the carol singers. The entrance hall and several of the first floor rooms were decorated in the theme of a Christmas carol or song! We ate a little more turkey for lunch and ended the weekend with gifts from Secret Santa's sack.
