Christmas eve at last and it seems very still and quiet here.  We would like to wish everyone a Very Happy Christmas & a Fantastic New Year.  Thank you to everyone who has come and stayed at the Dairy and we hope to see many of you again soon!

Well it has been a day of little light, overcast damp and still, but at least the temperature is 10c.  Yesterday finishing off the Christmas shopping in Hadleigh, where they have a lovely selection of wreaths as well as the amazing ironmongers Partridges and Adnams Kitchen & Wine Store.  Today a walk to the farm shop and through the village where they were selling holly.  Christmas tree in the Dairy decorated and woodburner lit.  

Nearly ready for Christmas - just clove oranges, tree biscuits and mince pies to make and presents to wrap!  There are lots of welcoming places to go to  - Kentwell Hall in Long Melford is running a Dickensian Christmas event, the National Trust has events at many local properties and there is the Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols at King's College, Cambridge on Christmas Eve, though you need to queue early morning.  There are also many beautiful local church services as well as welcoming pubs and restaurants

We have had a few frosty mornings lately, where the fields look crisp and inviting.  It is often like this just before Christmas and reminds me of a few years ago,  when Joe and Hattie, dressed as shepherds (complete with tea towels) were out on the field with the sheep.  I used the image as a Christmas card that year - they are a bit bigger now!!

The local market in Sudbury is every Thursday and Saturday and has a good range of stalls, including meat & game, fish, fruit & vegetables, plants as well as others.   There is also a rug stall with beautiful rugs from Afghanistan and nearby countries.   This morning they were setting up and it looked very Christmassy with the holly wreaths and the lights on in the early morning light.