Just before 4pm we were standing near the front of a queue, in the cold, Christmas carols blaring out of loudspeakers and then the rain started pouring down. Moments later we were waved forward and we dashed up the steps of Blenheim Palace and into a crazy wonderland.
The Christmas tree in the grand entrance hall was at least 20 feet high the whole house was full of trees and toy soldiers, giant sweets and rats. We were there to see 'The story of the Nutcracker'.
The toymaker brought the toy soldier to life, only to find a strange burglar standing next to him.
After recovering from the shock the toy soldier fought with the rat King, and I think that he won, but I am not sure. We then walked into a room with shiny peacocks that I would have liked in my garden, and then best of all, the library had been turned into a giant room full of sweets.
The very last room was the chapel, filled with with angels and lights, and lots of tourists who were sitting in every pew and standing in the aisles. It wasn't a sudden keen interest in religion, but outside the rain was still pouring down and everyone was trying to take shelter.
We were crowded out, so decided to dash back to our car and wait there for the storm to pass.
Our second event was the Light Trail and by the time we emerged from the car the rain had stopped.
It was very good and also quite long with more carols and we even met Santa Claus.
He was quite jolly, but he had to stay behind his rope so no sitting on his knee this year.
The whole of the Palace was lit up and its displays danced in time to the music which was difficult to photograph, so instead I will sign off with a photo of me.