"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland)

This day has been cold, cloudy and soggy.  It has rained most of the day, sometimes drizzling and sometimes pouring and sometimes just a sprinkle has fallen.  It is a grand day to be inside baking, or settling in with a good book, or doing laundry and ironing....all the while close to a window to glance out occasionally to watch the rain pelting the puddles down below,.

I do love the rain and the chill.  But I don't necessarily like to be out when its very cold, and it was very cold today.  We went to a nearby palace.  Don't you love the sound of that "nearby palace?"  As if to say there are so many palaces around that you can take your choice.....well there is a great deal of truth to that.

Blenheim Palace is the birthplace of Winston Churchill, as well as the burial site.  It is currently the home of the 12th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and is set in 2000 acres of landscaped gardens and fields.  It has been called "England's Greatest Palace."  I can see why.  It is amazing.  It is almost impossible for me to imagine how anyone could inhabit such a place.  But in keeping with Alice in Wonderland, it was only the first thing for me to believe before breakfast.

During the month of December, it is decorated for Christmas with a theme.  Last year it was Cinderella, and this year it is "Alice in the Palace."  Crossing from the the parking to the palace is a fair walk, and I can only imagine what it would have been like to live there 100 years ago.  It is magnificent.

The decorations almost obscured the beauty of the wall hangings, the tapestries, and antique furniture and the lavish candelabra in every room.  The Alice in Wonderland theme carried through with looking glasses everywhere, cards, rabbits, tea parties, etc.  They were so elaborate that sometimes it was almost too much to take in.  We walked through at a leisurely pace and snapped pictures and oohed and aahed.  We even saw two portraits by John Singer Sargent!

This was one shelf of tiny tin soldiers that Winston must have played with as a child.  No wonder he was such a great warrior!

There were looking glasses everywhere that distorted our reflections, but we couldn't resist taking a few selfies.

The last room was the chapel.  It was cold, while the rest of the castle was warm.  There was a beautiful little lit tree with tags hanging on it.  Anyone who had a mind to, rubber stamped a small tag, wrote whatever they wanted and then hung it on the little tree.  I watched as several small children made their tags and draped them over a branch.  So I made one for Eliza and Bekah, because I know they would have been enchanted to do it.  There was another room where there were all kinds of incredible Alice in Wonderland costumes for children to try on and then see themselves in the looking glass.

Of course, I had a grand time in the gift shop.  It was all kinds of fun.  There was also a sweet little Christmas market outside in the inner courtyard.  Their structures huddled together in the cold drizzle, and they looked dwarfed by the spacious landscape all about.  There were about 30 booths with all kinds of wares, food, candles, Christmas ornaments etc.  We shivered as we walked past each one, but it was fun.

They are to the left and they were charming even though they don't look very charming set against this gray landscape.

Since coming home, I've done laundry, cleaning, trying to get some mail ready for the post office and doing some studying.  SK will speak again in the Second Ward.  It is so small, that we will probably have a few more opportunities before leaving Oxford.  It is a wonderful ward.  I will speak at the baptism of three new members this coming Saturday, so we both have things to prepare for.

But sitting inside a warm flat listening to the rain works great for any kind of study!