Lammas: Day 7

It's the big day! The finale of our Lammas celebrations for this year, and one last chance to do the season proud...

Breadmas Calendar Day 7

And behind Bread Wrapper No. 7 today... it's a Sourdough Roll (from Asda)!

Courgette Bread

I used the courgettes from our Groobarbs box and some stone-milled white flour from Walk Mill in a Courgette and Cheese Bread (one loaf green, one loaf yellow). The bake was rubbish because I used way too many courgettes, but the taste was really moreish.

Lammas Dinner

Rob made us the traditional Lammas Dinner of Lammas Surprise, followed by Cherry Crumble (made with stone-milled malted flour from Walk Mill).

Lammas Gifts

We ended our Lammas festivities tonight by exchanging the traditional cards and gifts. Once again, we're saving these whiskies for our seasonal tasting set at Christmas.

Children of the Corn

And finally, we celebrated tonight with the traditional seasonal film... Children of the Corn.

And so the wheel of the year turns. We'll be celebrating again at the Autumn Equinox.

Lammas: Day 6

It's Lammas Eve! Unfortunately, we were both at work all day (and night-time too, for Rob) so we didn't have any festivities planned. Ah well, there's always the Breadmas Calendar!

Breadmas Calendar Day 6

Behind Bread Wrapper No. 6 today... Mini Loaves (from Bury Market)!

Lammas: Day 5

Another day of celebrating Lammas for us, and we had a nice little afternoon out planned.

Breadmas Calendar Day 5

Behind Bread Wrapper No. 5 today... it's a Kaiser (from Morrisons)!

Walk Mill

We had a very special Lammas treat today... we actually saw some wheat! We went to Walk Mill in Cheshire today to see a waterwheel and traditionally stone-milled flour.

Lammas: Day 4

It's the fourth day of our Lammas festivities. And I had a couple of nice things planned for today (and only a little bit bread-based!).

Breadmas Calendar Day 4

Behind Bread Wrapper No. 4 today... it's a Pretzel (from Morrison's)!

Bailey’s Wood Litter-Pick

We were out in the Lammas-y woods this morning for the Friends of Bailey's Wood litter-pick. And the rain (almost) held off too!

Hannah’s Bookshelf Lammas Special

I had a blast hosting the first ever Hannah's Bookshelf Lammas Special on North Manchester FM this afternoon, including some amazing seasonal short stories. I can't believe how fast the time went!

Lammas Candle

We lit our Lammas / Lughnasadh candle from Chalice Creations tonight. Lavender, patchouli and lemon to usher in the grain harvest.

Lammas: Day 3

It's the third day of our Lammas festivities this year, and another day when we were both at work. However, we did have something very nice planned for the evening. I'm not sure it's strictly speaking a 'Lammas' thing, but I'm still counting it, as it felt very festive.

Breadmas Calendar Day 3

Behind Bread Wrapper No. 3 today... it's a Cheese Roll (from Morrisons)!

Cocktail Tea Mixology

We had a wonderful time tonight at a Cocktail Tea Mixology Workshop at Bird and Blend Tea in Manchester (that's right... cocktails made with tea!). Technically, this was a lovely early birthday present for me from Rob, but it also felt like a seasonal celebration... because we went during Lammastide!

Lammas: Day 2

It's the second day of our Lammas celebrations this year. We were both at work all day, so there was only time for a couple of festive things today (all food-based!)...

Breadmas Calendar Day 2

Behind Bread Wrapper No. 2 today... it's a Crusty Cob (from Bury Market)!

Lammas Earrings

I wore my new strawberry tart Lammas earrings for the first time today.

Cornflake Tart

A festive treat... Cornflake Tart!

Lammas: Day 1

It's beginning to look a lot like Breadmas! And that means it's time for us to start our Lammastide celebrations this year! We've got a whole week of things planned to celebrate the first harvests, and today's the first day.

Bury Market

We celebrated the start of the grain harvest with our traditional trip to (World Famous) Bury Market with my mother-in-law. I bought quite a lot of bread, radishes and sticky toffee cheddar. 'Tis the season.

Breadmas Calendar Day 1

Why yes, yes I have made myself a Breadmas Calendar for Lammas this year. And behind Bread Wrapper No. 1 tonight... it's a Nudger (from Bury Market)!

Castlerea Lammas Stories

I celebrated Lammastide the Castlerea Care Home way this afternoon. Seasonal poetry (corn rigs an' barley rigs), lots of reminiscing about summer and a very raucous singalong of what is now our anthem, '(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden' by Lynn Anderson.

Events in July 2023

Virtual Writing Retreat
Sunday 9th July
10.30–5.00pm
Hannah's Bookshelf
I'm hosting an online writing retreat for creative writers with writing exercises and structured writing sessions
Members Event

Summer Holidays in Blackley's Past
Wednesday 12th July
7.00-8.30pm
Friends of Bailey's Wood
I'm giving a local history talk on the history of summer holidays, with a focus on Blackley and North Manchester
Booking Link

Suffrage Sonnets
Sunday 16th July
11.30-12.15pm, 2.15-3.00pm
The Pankhurst Centre
I'm running a creative writing workshop as part of the Emmeline's Birthday Party event at the Pankhurst Centre
Booking Link

Park Write - Nature Writing
Saturday 22nd July
2.00-5.00pm
Friends of Crumpsall Park
I'm hosting a nature-themed creative writing workshop in Crumpsall Park, using the park as inspiration for creativity
Booking Link

Lammas Stories
Wednesday 26th July
2.00-4.00pm
Castlerea House
I'm running a seasonal poetry and storytelling workshop session for residents at Castlerea care home
Private Event

Interested in booking me for an event? Click here to find out more.

Lammas Stories Wanted for Hannah's Bookshelf on North Manchester FM

Submit your seasonal flash fiction to be played on Hannah’s Bookshelf this July!

Can you tell a seasonal story in just 3 minutes? Want to have your work played on the radio? This month, I’m looking for seasonal (Lammas, summer harvest) flash fiction from around the world for inclusion on Hannah’s Bookshelf, the weekly literature show on North Manchester FM.

On Saturday 29th July, I'll be hosting the first Hannah's Bookshelf Lammas Special, and as part of my seasonal special, I’ll be playing a selection of my favourite 3-minute stories on the show (broadcast on FM and on digital). Want to be part of it? Submit a recording via my website of your seasonally inflected story (maximum 3 minutes) by midnight on Monday 17th July.

All genres welcome – be they cosy, romantic, scary or sad. The only rules are that stories must be your own original work, have some connection to the season, and be in English (the language of the broadcast). And please ease off the swears – stories have to be radio friendly! All you need is a microphone and a story – the details of how to submit are on my website.

If you aren't able to submit via a recording and would like another method of taking part, please message via my website for more information.

Please share this call with anyone who you think might be interested – I'd like to cast the net as wide as possible. My favourite seasonal stories will be broadcast on the Hannah’s Bookshelf Lammas Special at 2pm on Saturday 29th July, on digital radio and 106.6FM.

Lammas: Day 7

It's Lammas Day! However, due to the fact that we were both working today (and Rob was doing an overnight shift at that), we did all our big celebrations yesterday. So I just have one last seasonal thing to share...

Lammas Earrings

My final pair of Lammas earrings were these funky baguettes!

And so the wheel of the year turns... We'll be celebrating again at the Autumnal Equinox.

Lammas: Day 6

This post is a little delayed, but here's what we got up to on Lammas Eve! This was our 'big day', as we were both going to be at work all day on Lammas itself.

Lammas Earrings

Sunday's seasonal earrings might be my favourite ones yet... little bags of flour!

Stretton Watermill

We went out for a picnic on Sunday at Stretton Watermill this afternoon. We really enjoyed the tour of the mill, and I love that distinctive waterwheel smell so this was a great visit for us. We also took a moment to appreciate the season on the banks of the stream that powers the mill.

Lammas Dinner

Rob made us an amazing Lammas Eve dinner, a dish he called 'Lammas Surprise'. There was much bread, but also a very delicious filling.

Lammas Gifts

We swapped our traditional Lammas gifts and cards on Sunday, since we're both working on Monday. I say traditional, obviously we have just made all this up this year.