Here Comes Advent - Week Four

These past four weeks have sped by!   Time for the last Advent post and then we have a whole week until Christmas itself.  

As I mentioned at the end of the last post, Christmas is all about tradition so when we sneak a look at what is happening in the big Walmer Victorian house, things do not in fact change too much from year to year.

But perhaps this year we are looking from a slightly different time perspective ....

The preparations on Christmas Eve are of course all-important.

In the dining room, Kitty is polishing the table..... 

...the silverware is ready for cleaning......

..and in the kitchen Cook is refreshing her memory of the family's favourite trifle.




In the school-room, a last minute practice is going on to make sure the carol accompaniment is perfect.  Someone will have to move that desk!

Charlotte is busy tidying the nursery - she is feeling slightly guilty because this year she is to be promoted from nursery tea.


The stockings are hanging in place on the drawing room mantelpiece.... 

...and in Baby's room, Nanny has made sure that he too has a stocking.   She has freshly washed his very best garment, crocheted by the family's friend, Mrs Randall.....


Time shift to Christmas Day and things are well under way in the kitchen - Mrs Davies the housekeeper has joined the rest of the staff for a well-earned cup of tea and a mince pie fresh out of the oven - it's not often that one sees her out of her room! She is clearly still having a problem choosing the tablecloth for the servants' Christmas feast......

The tree is safely up in the schoolroom and the presents are tucked underneath, ready for distribution a little later in the day.....

And then everything happens at once....nursery tea upstairs, complete with tree and crackers, a Christmas pudding, bravely borne up many flights of stairs by the faithful Miss Tilbury, and gingerbread men..... 

But where are Charlotte and Oliver?   Is it possible that they have both been promoted to dining on this auspicious occasion with the grown-ups of the family?

And yes indeed, that is precisely where they are.....

They have been waiting for this moment for years and are eagerly looking forward to plying the nutcrackers and pulling the crackers as soon as that mound of sprouts is out of the way! 

And outside, next to the chestnut seller, rather fewer carol singers  than in previous years are gearing up for their rendering of the inevitable song - not forgetting to put the heavy stress on every time the word "wish" appears!

Or as Scrooge puts it in A Christmas Carol  

" A merry Christmas to every-body! A happy New Year to all the world!"