I was fortunate enough last week to be given four tickets to the Living Crafts at Christmas Exhibition at Blenheim Palace (thank you, Crafts Beautiful magazine!), so spent yesterday attending the Craft Fair and exploring the house and grounds of Blenheim Palace with my parents and daughter.



These are just a few of the two hundred or so photos I took (I am so thankful for digital cameras and memory cards!), much to the disgust of my mother and daughter, since both Dad and I kept stopping ever few minutes to take yet another shot!









As you can see here, the weather was not too good to start off with, as it was very grey looking, cold and windy. Mind you, in Britain in November, could you really expect any less?!!!




This is the courtyard with the main entrance of the Palace:





It was really impressive! And the family still live there!



This was the fountain and I managed to catch the rainbow in the water!










This was a really beautiful place and I am determined to visit again next summer, when it will be warmer (hopefully!) and we can take our youngest son (who will be 12 by then). He would have loved it yesterday.....well, not the Craft Fair, obviously, as I can't think of many 11 year old boys who would enjoy a craft fair, but he would have loved the Palace (provided we walked through it at breakneck speed), the maze, the miniature village, the lakeside walk, and the train, and would only have got mildly frustrated at his mother stopping every few yards to take photos!




Anyhow, the Craft Fair was lovely, although it was all very expensive - kind of what we expected, really, but it would have been nice to have seen more affordable items on sale. There were lots of gorgeous knitted sweaters and jumpers, in unusual designs, but at over £100 for each one, we decided to give them a miss! There were some beautiful paintings and photographs, lots of Christmas crockery, and the food hall was scrumptious!
However, the exhibition did give me lots of ideas for Christmas, and I have made a start with a Christmas robin:


Feel free to download him either by clicking on the preview or here. Personal use only, and the drop shadows are only on the preview.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous said...

    What marvelous photos!!! Makes me want to visit - although it would take some planning as I live in the Midwest, USA. The rainbow "shot" was especially lovely.

    Thank you for this darling little robin. He is soooo cute - can't wait to add him to my layouts.
    THANK YOU for your generosity.  

  2. Pattycakes said...

    I just love this robin...Thanks for ALL you share with us!! :)  

  3. Dianna said...

    I think I'll pretended that's the first robin of spring...