Well, where shall I begin! An incredibly wonderful and busy December here in the village, starting with the Christmas Fair on Sat. 3rd. Christmas tree lit up on the stage, festive decorations all around, greeted all those who came for the start of the village Christmas season. Six stalls outside in the marquee, five in the hall along with refreshments. A tremendous event which raised over £1000 to be divided between Steventon Players, the church and village hall. A brilliant raffle once again with themed hampers. Well done all, including the marquee erectors and to clear away a day later, weather oriented!
Book group Christmas lunch in the village hall was organized superbly once again by Susie, a big Thank you All the tables looked fabulous. We enjoyed a lovely lunch provided by Nicola Kimber, followed by delicious deserts, all after we had quickly discussed “Conversations with Friends” by Sally Rooney. This didn’t take long at all as a score of 1 was given and that was being generous! A great lunch was enjoyed by all.
The evening of the 11th saw the Benefice choir singing at Deane’s Carol service. After the lovely service everyone was invited to join Mr & Mrs Gnodde at their home for mulled wine and canopies, delicious Kara, thank you both very much. A wonderful way to end the service and to catch up with everyone.
A very special, joyful gathering took place on Friday 16th in the village hall, the Senior Christmas Lunch. The hall looked beautiful, as apart from all the Christmas decorations, the long tables covered in white with red runners down the centre, candles and all laid out for a feast, looked perfect. After a welcome glass of sherry everyone took their seats as Rev. Tim said grace. After which all the servers got to work delivering delicious platefuls of Christmas dinner with all the trimmings amidst crackers being pulled! An extra table was put on stage to accommodate the young ones, so great to see them all chattering and enjoying themselves. A Huge Thank You to all the amazing cooks, servers, decorators, organizers, not forgetting again all the youngsters that helped so brilliantly, even the washing up! To Sue Carter for providing the rolled turkey breasts and Christmas puddings, delicious. Last but not least, Karen Pearn who supplied super musical talent on her accordion as we all joined in with carols and well known festive songs. Much laughter, great fun, a super and great occasion.
The morning of the 18th saw adults and children coming together for the Crib service and nativity play. Once again a brilliant nativity, written and narrated by Charlie, was acted out in church. Lots of extra kings, shepherds and angels, with Hugo, Domino, Dasher & Arthur, new to the village, also Shona & John’s family and Emma & Jeremy’s family. Even Rev. Tim and Mary found themselves with parts, a good sign for things to come! Baby Jesus this year was a doll… Hopefully we will have a real baby once again for the next Crib service? The morning came to a close with ‘Away in a Manger’, the first verse sang so beautifully by Amelia, with us all joining in together for the rest of the verses.
What an amazing, delicious and very festive selection there was to choose from on Monday 19th at the Christmas Coffee & Cake morning. Many thanks to Marilyn and Sally, very, very ingenious. I made mince pies, well one has to have a mince pie!! The hall was abuzz with chatter as all the seats were taken, wonderful, with soft Christmas music in the background, thanks to Marilyn.
On the morning of the 21st the flower ladies arrived to transform our beautiful little church with flowers, greenery and candles as the displays brought Christmas here once again for the Carol Service that evening. Many thanks to Emma and Isabella for the very welcome refreshments. It all looked so very beautiful as by candlelight, the choir and Steventon Singers sang ‘Gaudete’ the first verse, a solo, sung by Alan. The choir grew as other singers came together for this very special service. Among them Marina and Chris, Philip & Caroline’s children, also Sophie, Nick & Katy’s daughter. Such fabulous voices, a joy to have them with us, especially for the descants! Please come again, you will always be very welcome. The choir sang ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, ‘Christmas Lullaby’ and ‘I Wonder as I Wander’ with Amelia singing the first verse of this one stunningly beautiful it gave you goose bumps. Steventon Singers joined us all to sing ‘Follow That Star’, wonderful, even though it was a bit of a squash! Many families read one of the six lessons, tremendous, ending with Rev. Tim, a wonderful Carol service, which one got to chat about in the village hall afterwards over mulled wine and nibbles.
Friday 23rd in the evening, villagers, along with family and visitors, were invited to John & Shona’s for Christmas drinks. We brought along a plate of canapés which made for a great selection. Thank you so very much, a tremendous evening, full of festive cheer with a great atmosphere, for young and old.
The weather kept fine for the traditional singing of Carols, around the Christmas tree outside the village hall, on Christmas Eve. What a fine selection was sung, great voices from a wonderful gathering. Many thanks to Paul & Marilyn for organizing us all and providing the music. Lots of smiling faces as we wound our way homeward in anticipation of the following day to come.
Christmas Day morning saw the beautiful church full. We even had to have an extra carol put in, sung by the choir during communion. Stunning. Such a meaningful, lovely service, thank you. Many going home to the smell of festive cooking as meals were underway to celebrate this special day. Most certainly a glass or two of something! So here we are now halfway through a very wet January. Despite that, bulbs are up, jasmine is in flower and the birds are singing more by the day. We had around 50 goldfinches one day, we couldn’t count them fast enough, then it was only because there were roughly the same amount on the ground! Amazing, it’s a contest between them and the blue tits. The owls can be heard early morning as they make their way home for the day. Singing has restarted, with ‘Steventon Entertains Again’ coming up on 24th & 25th Feb. in mind!! The village Quiz night on Friday 20th of this month to look forward to. Amanda has restarted her Yoga in the village hall, which is great. More decent weather please, for walks with friends, gardening and deciding what to and not to plant this year! Off to light the fire again, a cuppa and later to think about dinner. Happy New Year, everyone.