Christmas at Charlton Park

Before I jump into my post, I have to apologize for my disappearance of late. Work has been crazy. I have been working at 3am for the past few months, with 5 shifts a week for the past month or so. Between work, Christmas parties, and preparing for those parties, I have been beat. 

With that said, I do have a few events to catch you up on. A few weeks ago, Andrew and I went with my cousin Katelyn to a park near her for their Christmas event. (She lives about an hour away and has this amazing park nearby that does numerous events throughout the year.) Their Christmas event is so much fun.

They have a number of old, historic buildings that they have set up in Victorian fashion. For Christmas they decorate them all and have volunteers, in period costume, in most of them. 

These ladies, who happily posed for me, were making wassail and plum pudding. We were invited to try both and were impressed with how tasty the pudding was. It was very similar to a fruit cake and not at all what we think of as pudding here in America. We were also able to try roasted chestnuts in another room of this same house. They were much softer than I anticipated and not nearly as nutty tasting. Very good, though.

In that same house, we learned about the cobweb tree. This was very popular during Victorian times. Taking as many colors of yarn as you had people, you would wind them around your house and attach a present to the end, with that present being hidden somewhere. The guests would each take one color and have to find their gift. Doesn't it sound fun?

Most of the buildings had Christmas trees decorated. This one was in the schoolhouse. 

They also had a craft in the schoolhouse. Katelyn stopped to make a cute little sachet.

I loved the old store. All the stuff sitting out, waiting to be bought. It draws me in.

I had to take a picture of this beautiful cabinet. I would love to have one in my house someday. 

The last stop on our tour was the church. It is a gorgeous old building...

...with great windows...

...and these great lights.

It was a lot of fun. I am looking forward to going back next year!