We have celebrated Christmas with snow at Knightstone but never experienced a Christmas as warm as this year. Lewis was cutting the grass in in a short sleeved shirt the days just before Christmas. Notice the nicely manicured lawns in my Christmas photo of Knightstone Manor. Inside we had the tallest Christmas tree ever at around 7.5 metres (25 feet) and so narrow that you could easily move around in the Great Hall.
The season started on Friday a week before Christmas Day with Christmas Carols by the Choir from Ottery St Mary church. Friends of Ottery St Mary Church served mulled wine and minced pie. We got a weekend visit from our old friends Simon and Alison Hayes and their daughters Rosalie, Camelia and Cecily. They came on Friday in time for the carol singing and stayed until Sunday morning.
On Saturday night we had our traditional Christmas Party with black tie and a Swedish smorgasbord. Altogether we were more than 110 of us, all lovely dressed up and Eric sported a black tie.
And finally on Monday we gave a lunch for elderly or bereaved in the Ottery community. We had around 55 people coming to our lunch and it was such a pleasant occasion. All of our family are very touched by the bonds we have jointly built up with all those who have lived here a long time.
Knightstone Manor with the Christmas lights just turned on in the late afternoon. Lewis looked at the photo and said that I couldn't include it, as the lines in the lawn weren't absolutely straight!
The winter was so warm that Lewis had to cut the grass just before Christmas
The Great Hall decorated for Christmas.
Details of the tree
The tree was 7.5 metres (25 feet) tall and probably the tallest we ever had at Knightstone
Our first Christmas party in 2015 was Carol Singing arranged by the Friends of Ottery St Mary Church. The Choir from the church entertained us and around 70 other guests
And the guests sang as well
Mikee, Eric, Caleb and Thalia (Caleb and Thalia are Lewis's and Karen's children) listening with Jennifer
Michael Farley played our tiny piano with the same bravura as he handled the organ in our church. Michael is an organ builder by profession
The Choristers
Some of our guests
The next day we had our big Christmas Party for 115 guests. Jennifer and Eric dressed up
We were joined over the weekend by the Hayes family that came down from London. From left: Alison, Simon and their three daughters Camelia, Cecily and Rosalie and Rosalie's boyfriend Max
And with their hosts. Simon, Alison, Riza, Jan-Eric, Eric, Cecily, Mikee, Rosalie, Max and Jennifer. Camelia is missing
The Hayes family were all slim and tall and Jennifer was dwarfed by Cecily as well as the Christmas tree
A lovely young couple, Max and Rosalie
The three daughters, Rosalie, Camelia and Cecily
We served a buffet dinner and guests set down wherever they could find a seat. Here in the barn James Goody is enjoying the company of three lovely ladies: Lameze Stout, Louise Turley and Sarah Williams
And here in the drawing room are Alison and Steve Howle, Jon Russell, Lewis Atkin, Rebecca Russell, Michael Harris (who has about 100 Arab horses in his stable), Richard Davey and Karen Atkin
Mikee with Cecile and Verity
Eric and his friends Eli and Warwick found seats on the stairs at the north hall
Eric, Eli and Daniel
Wilfred & Judith Reynolds, Grenville & Marion Gilbert, the Mayor of Ottery St Mary, Glyn and his wife Gay Dobson with David Roberts serving the wine and Michael and Mary Moore to the right
Lewis enternaining a bouquet of lovely ladies: Alison, Camelia, Cecily and Jennifer
Eric caught Max already in the morning and trained him in Mine Craft. Mikee, Cecily and Camelia in the background
In the evening (or rather middle of the night) after the party Max were nearly as good as Eric
On Monday we had the last big party before Christmas. We invited around 55 locals, elderly or bereaved for a get together and a lunch at Knightstone
A chat at the Christmas tree
Robin from the Rusty Pig arranged the lunch and afterwards we met up in the Great Hall again for a glass of port and some carols
Steve led the carol singing
And afterwards he chipped in and dried the glasses. Behind him, washing up, are Riza and Kathy, Steve's wife.
But all isn’t a bed of roses (or as we say in Sweden: “a dance on roses”). In the Philippines the typhoon Melor had just devastated Barcelona, the village where Jen’s mother and Mikee’s and Eric’s grandmother Luz lives. Please see my blog (click on the text in italic to the right) about Typhoon Melor.
We did a collection for the village of Barcelona and its homeless people on Friday and Saturday and on Sunday our local church at Ottery St Mary had a retiring collection for Barcelona. We got wonderful results (please click on the text to the right and read the story of: Wow! Thank you!). Thanks to the generosity of our local friends in Ottery St Mary we can now jointly reach out to a little village that none has heard about on the other side of the world and help families that have lost their homes just before Christmas.
All of us wish you a very Happy Christmas Jennifer, Jan-Eric, Mikee and Eric Gregory
