To start us off, here are a couple of shots of the girl kitten and the big house (outside the "flat" where we staff live in one of the old barns). She looks a little scrappy in these shots but she's an absolute Queen of Cuddling. She and her brother are such champion cuddlers that our old cats have started to snuggle each other now that they've seen how happy the little ones are together (go see Yarrow's blog if you like to see more snuggling pictures). I think this kitty has some rag doll in her genetic makeup because she's very drapey.
After we were done making beds in the B & B and weeding beds in some of the extensive gardens, I realized there was a carol service going on in "North Hill," which, amazingly, is only two miles away. As we're only half a mile from the church in Lewannick, the proximity of these large gorgeous medieval churches makes me think there must have been a lot more people living here then, than there are now. But I guess there would have been -- farms would be smaller when you could only farm what you could plow with your horse/ox/own feet & back!
So out we set on the road at sunset. It was misty and magical (when you could see through the bloody bleeding hedges, which block the views and make the walking a bit scary with cars zooming... and then it got dark and we were only visible by our iPhone lights, which was... an adventure. But stressful kinda.
Then we turned onto a less travelled lane and I really understood where Disney drawers got the whole Ichabod Crane landscapes from. Spppppoooooooooooky. And then we went the wrong way. And then we went back again. And turned down an EVEN LESS travelled EVEN NARROWER lane (with mud). And kept walking through the darkness (following a bright star -- interesting, when we went off track, the bright star was not leading and then we got back on and there it was again. How fitting to be heading to Christmas Carols!) (as an aside, when Yarrow was telling the 140 school kids (in group after group after group of about 6 each) all day Monday the story of the wise men, he accidentally told them that the wise guys were following the North Star. We decided if anyone questions him on it later we'll just blame it on the accent. :)
And then in the darkness our iPhone light picked up a sign! It said North Hill. No lights visible though, either ahead or behind. So we kept walking through the darkness.
And then we saw these stained glass windows, part of a huge church outlined against the sky with some light peeping through the windows. Couldn't get into the church from that side though. So we kept walking around the wall of the church yard, and were in a very interesting village. When we get the rental car in a few days maybe I'll try to go back and take some photos, though I couldn't have been more enchanted than I was tonight.
Then we came to this phone box, which doesn't hold a phone. It has a defibrillator, according to the sign!!
And finally we found a gate leading into the graveyard, so naturally we turned into the graveyard in the dark!Here are two ghostly figures walking towards us through the arch of hedging that we had to go through and around a corner to finally get to the entrance of the church!
Believe us, when one of the readings who had something about "those who have walked through the darkness and were looking for the light," we seriously knew what they meant tonight!!
And then here are an oodle of photos of this 14th century church. Ah, shoot, I forgot to take some photos of the carving on the pews. It's exquisite. Vines and leaves and flowers and things. Who knows how many hundreds of years old the carving is. Maybe 500? Altarnun, another nearby village, is famous for its 14th century carved pews. When we get the rental car we'll go back to Altarnun with its amazing bridge and hopefully peek in the church. I think the normal habit here is not to lock churches, which is nice.
Here is a tomb deal for someone who died in 1688 (I think -- it's all written in Latin). Think about this -- this church was already 300 years old when this was written more than 300 years ago!!
Also interesting -- they bricked in the window to put this up, or at least I think they did. You can see the matching window on the other side of the church behind the Christmas tree in the photo just above.
Any guesses how old that baptismal font is? (I have no idea myself -- probably as old as the church!) And the woodwork is just exquisite. Exquisite. Check out the mould in the corner there too.
Another tomb of somebody, I think. Probably medieval. It has skeletons marching all over it. There is a guide book to this church, but they were out of printed copies and waiting for some more to arrive. Rats!
Since the vicar knows us from over in Lewannick church (maximum 3 miles away, also has woodwork like this and some of it, so I am told, going back to the 15th century though Lewannick church burned down in Victorian times and was rebuilt)... oh, I digress. Since she knew us from Lewannick, she gave us the job of putting these two people in the nativity scene during "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem."
The brass band (which consists of more types of brass instruments than we typically know about in Canadian brass bands) accidentally started Silent Night when Yarrow and I were getting ready to go up, but someone set them straight and then we got onto the right song and went up and put them in.
Yarrow wondered why Joseph is holding a crook if he's supposed to be a carpenter, but he said that English people think Joseph was a shepherd, not a carpenter. Is that true?
Yarrow also discussed the oddness of the fair skin :) and lovely red hair. Also, the gold-edged luxury white clothing! Ah well.
Anyway, I am also pleased about being given Mary to put in the nativity. When we volunteered Monday at the Lewannick church I got to do the station that was about Mary. (I don't think I explained well. Yarrow and I volunteered to help out on Monday, and what we did was man one each of six stations that were set up museum-style around the church and the whole village school came through to learn about the Christmas story. It was fun but a long day! 140 kids. I don't think in Canada you could have a whole elementary school go over to the village church to learn Christian myths. But it was fun.)
And twice now, people in England have mistakenly called me Mary instead of Christa. So I'm into this Mary vibe. The first time was at the WWOOF annual meeting, and it was really fun because a whole room of people were in on the joke. Some of those folks still call me Mary for fun.
And then someone in Lewannick church last Sunday thought I was Mary too. I'm good with it!
Then after carols there were mince pies with clotted cream and tea or instant coffee with milk, if you like. And chatting, and then we begged a lift home from a couple because the walk in the dark through the hedges is rather stressy. They nicely gave us a lift, and when I got back, I realized that I had left our backpack in the church. By the time we got all the way back (3 miles takes way way longer than you expect down these country lanes -- like more than ten minutes), the church was all dark and closed, but not locked as it happened. And there was my backpack waiting for me just where I left it. And they drove me all the way home through the fog again and I said many thank yous and promised to pray for them because they have a very difficult family situation. Very kind folks.
It was a grand night out so it was!
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