Night on the Town

Dear friends gifted us a generous voucher to a posh restaurant in Leeds City Centre. We decided this evening the most appropriate to use it since we had tickets to a Christmas pantomime. We were treated to uniquely prepared delicious dishes such as steak, pheasant, fish, and paella. Mocktails, which we rarely treat ourselves, were enjoyed by everyone. 😉

Early for our panto, we walked city centre enjoying colourful lights and a bubbling fountain.

This year’s panto at Carriageworks theatre was Sleeping Beauty complete with one of our family’s favourite comedic actors! They are so creative with their Leeds/Yorkshire based jokes and never cease to amaze us when engaging the audience. The costumes are colourful and ornate. And we all enjoyed the actors’ creativity when scene changes went not exactly to plan. 😆 We laughed, sang, and even danced as this captivating theatre played out.

Now we feel the Christmas season is complete since we have experienced our annual (last year we began this tradition when my mother visited) panto. ☺️Our family is very thankful to our generous friends who treated us to tea (dinner) which tastily enhanced our evening out on the town!

Coventry Cathedral

Living in Europe I have seen many a Cathedral, but none have been so moving as Coventry. This cathedral is an amazing blend of old and new because the medieval church was bombed during the Blitz in 1940.

In these ruins, the Sunday after the bombing, parishioners gathered to worship. Churchill visited here as well as King George VI after the bombing and photos were on display.

The old sanctuary had a wooden cross on display at the alter with the words “Father Forgive”. It was surreal to be there seeing black and white photos of this same cross at the alter and then standing there in person today! I was moved to tears as we sat to pray in the new 1950s sanctuary looking at the gigantic tapestry of Revelation. Such an appropriate depiction of looking heavenward after the tragic bombing.

Several chapels behind the altar displayed crowns of thorns.

The beams from the medieval church were on display in the shape of a cross in the new sanctuary.

Several scriptures were carved into wood and displayed along the length of the entire sanctuary focusing on Jesus and His relevance for today.

Cora and I lit a candle and said a prayer.

For a respite we discovered a quaint charity cafe in the basement vividly decorated for Christmas. We paused for a coffee and delicious cake. On our walk out, we viewed the baptismal font hewn from stone brought from the hillside overlooking Bethlehem.

All these sights nearly took my breath away. I cannot think of a better way to encapsulate our holiday and Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas!🎄

Shakespearean Holiday

Our family decided to holiday in Stratford-upon-Avon in order to experience Shakespeare’s birthplace and new place as well as the village in which he married and lived. Thankfully it was a beautifully sunny day, even though a bit chilled, so we walked from our idyllic Air B&B Cottage to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage.

This was by far our favourite part of our tour since the tour guides made history come alive! We were educated that more women than once thought in the 1600s would have been able to read since their main task was to teach their children the Bible. Another volunteer told us about the 12 days of Christmas, which began on Christmas Day and ran through epiphany. They even had a Christmas cake made in the shape of baby Jesus laying in a manger. And the Christmas festivities included the mandate not to work for twelve whole days; many slept often and awoke in between sleeps for eating and conversation.

Our second stop was Holl’s Croft where Shakespeare’s daughter and physician husband lived. Titus enjoyed seeing the many colours of urine and their meanings. 🤢

Then we visited Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried. This church was absolutely gorgeous! Cora and I paused to pray and we purchased some souvenirs which help support this £620 daily cost of keeping the church open for the public.

Much of Stratford-upon-Avon is by water. Our quaint cottage is near canal and Shakespeare’s new house is by the river.

Shakespeare’s New House cost £120, which was six times the amount school teachers earned yearly! He had the largest house since he was a famous playwright. It took him 4 days to travel by horseback to London to perform in the Globe Theatre. His wife, Anne, remained at home handling the accounts and caring for their three girls.

Titus was chuffed to see a Shakespearean play with his namesake! However, we told him it has too much blood for him to read nor see it just yet. 😬

Shakespeare’s birthplace was rather interesting as we saw the room in which he was born and slept as a child. Beds were a way of displaying wealth and therefore any bed not on the floor meant the person had some money.

Exhausted from all our walking, we retired in a local coffee shop for good coffee and cake/biscuits. Cora and I took a nap before walking around to view vibrant Christmas lights.

For dinner we were blessed by our Birmingham friends driving to meet us at Pizza Express for tea! We had such fun catching up and see each other’s children over a delicious meal. We are so thankful for their friendship! Now we all must return home for much needed rest.

Kenilworth Castle

Today’s adventure included a visit to Kenilworth Castle in Coventry. Since we are English Heritage members we enjoy stopping on long journeys. This castle was a hidden treasure with 900 years of rich history. If you desire to know more click here. Otherwise, for this blog post, I am choosing to engage you in our experience through photos. Enjoy!

Birthday Surprise: Glow Illuminations

To properly celebrate Ryan’s 45th Birthday, I booked a surprise weeks in advance. (Ryan didn’t realise his surprise until we drove up!) When we lived in the U.S., we traditionally enjoyed driving about looking at Christmas lights. Since not so many people decorate light their houses in England, I thought it best to walk the illuminated gardens at Harlow Carr…And they were beautiful!

The grounds for these Royal Horticulture Gardens dates back to 1734 when they were used for Royal hunting. Later sulphur springs were discovered and in 2014 this garden land was acquired for use by Harlow Carr.

After enjoying the vibrant lights and our walk through the gardens, we drove into Harrogate to enjoy a delicious Italian restaurant meal. We enjoyed our evening so much we just might make the illuminations an annual tradition!

Ryan’s 45th Birthday!

Thanks to Our newly expanded PTA (Parent Teacher Association) doing all the school Christmas activities on the final day this term, I was free to go with Ryan an a date day out to celebrate his birthday!

We celebrated Ryan’s birthday by having a day out in Boroughbridge and Knaresborough. This was our first visit to Boroughbridge. In Boroughbridge we had a delicious full English breakfast at a local cafe entitled “Bean”…however, they have more loose tea leaves than fresh coffee beans.😉On the cold, rainy day we popped in and out of shops and enjoyed making a few Christmas and birthday purchases. The below picture is of John Wesley painting on a Knaresborough church (such rich history here).

Then we drove on to Knaresborough where we discovered a delightful (gluten-free) Café and settled in for a light lunch of Indian soup with bread. Yum!

Since Kirkstall Fellowship (our weekly multi-family Bible study) meets on Friday evenings, we planned a joint Christmas (Jesus’s birthday) and Ryan’s birthday party! I enjoyed leading the evening by providing sparklers on Ryan’s cake (sticky toffee pudding) and everyone joining in singing “Happy Birthday”! I had planned leading everyone in the lesson “Twelve Symbols of Christmas”. The kids had helped me create a grab bag of objects which we each took in turns drawing one out, discussing it, and then I read aloud the Scripture. We had twelve symbols and exactly twelve participating. This teaching style made learning interactive for all and young and old learned more about Jesus’s birth!

To celebrate Ryan’s birthday I found a “Pass the Sprout” game, which is played exactly like pass the parcel, and it included prizes normally found in Christmas Crackers! 🤗 What we didn’t realise is the game would be so entertaining and was long lasting! I am extra thankful to our friend who started and stopped the Christmas music each round!

Afterwards we shared our Christmas and New Year’s plans before saying good night. This was a great time together celebrating two wonderful occasions! Now on to my birthday surprise for our whole family…

Victorian Villainy

This year our son’s primary school annual play had a very non-Christmas theme. This is because every other year the school chooses to do so to encourage non-Christians to be a part. And some songs were still Christmas themed. ☺️

At first I thought the title, “Victorian Villainy”, was a bit unusual. However, the play was appropriately titled to reflect the Sherlock Holmes mystery which was to be solved. The plot was for the affluent parents to go on holiday leaving their near grown children in their manor home with the servants. A distant, unrecognisable, aunt came to visit and set things right. However, soon the money used for payday was not in the safe and thus the Sherlock investigation began!

Titus was part of the choir this year and did not have speaking parts. However, even from the back row of the stage where he stood I could pick out his voice loud and clear! 😉 This play was funny and enjoyable. It is always a joy to see the children work together and do their best!

Churches Together Carol Service

This afternoon we had the opportunity to help host a carol Service for nearby neighbours. The kids and I had fun helping other children with crafts. Some served hot drinks and mince pies. We welcomed people in and sang carols together! It was very fun to celebrate Jesus’s birth and serve our community!

German Christmas Market

Annually the German Market sets up stalls in Leeds City Centre. Our family loves going to see all the glistening crafts and ornaments. We tasted German sausage burgers with tasty fried potatoes topped with garlic sauce…yum! Titus enjoyed currywurst as well as hot apple juice. And, of course, we each sampled the chocolate covered marshmallows!

Ryan and the kids tried their hands at bow and arrows.

Cora and Titus drove Ryan and I around in bumper cars! Cora and I decided the impact was a bit too rough though. 😬

The kids also enjoyed the Carousel impromptu with friends last weekend!

A lovely start to the Christmas season!