31 Days of Halloween: Day 30

And now the penultimate day of our Halloween celebrations. It was the last day of celebrating with Rob, as he had to work on Halloween itself, so we had some nice things planned for the evening together.

Today's Tea

Sunday's Halloween tea was the wonderfully named A Nightcap on Elm Street from Tenacious Tea! It's Ceylon and Pu'er teas with cacao husks, coconut, coffee beans and cornflower petals. It's a very unusual but really quite moreish brew.

Today's Story

The penultimate classic tale of horror this month was 'The Japanned Box' by Arthur Conan Doyle.

‘Blood Month and Virgin Queen’

Looking ahead to November, I read 'Blood Month and Virgin Queen' from Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun.

Samhain Forest Bathing

I went to a really great Samhain forest bathing session on Sunday, run by Natalie Rossiter Wellbeing. The session ended with tea, parkin and reflection around a fire. I feel like I really needed this.

Eyeball Bath Bomb

Eyeball bath bomb from Bomb Cosmetics!

Halloween Dinner

We had our Halloween Dinner tonight because of work commitments on Halloween itself. Rob made us an amazing and very seasonal Pumpkin and Sausage Casserole!

Halloween Gifts

We exchanged our (now) traditional Halloween cards and gifts. These are the final seasonal whiskies for the sets we'll be enjoying at Christmas.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 13

Well, I'm still ill, but the show must go on. For the first time this week, I managed to fit in a little bit more than just a tea and a story (but I'm absolutely shattered now as a result). I did find a way of making my horror cold work for me though...

Today's Tea

Tonight's tea was Witches Brew from Pentacle Herb Store. It's hibiscus, rosehip, elderberry, orange, lemon and mulled wine spices. And it tastes, as you might imagine, like mulled wine. (I've definitely had way more hibiscus than pumpkin so far this year.)

Today's Story

Tonight's classic tale of horror is 'The Terror of Blue John Gap' by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Tonight's Halloween Look

I wanted to go for a Woman in Black vibe for tonight's Facebook live event. The one saving grace of being so poorly is that I didn't need any white face make-up, I could just lean in to the deathly pallor I'm currently sporting.

Ghost Story Readalong Live

Well, I managed to get through tonight's Ghost Story Readalong video on Facebook Live without sneezing. Who knows what next week will bring?

Mr Harrigan’s Phone

As me and my little brother are both still ill, we couldn't get together for our regular Myst replay. We decided to have a remote film night instead (party like it's 2020!). We watched Mr Harrigan's Phone and I had some Joe and Seph's Strawberry Cheesecake popcorn. If It Bleeds was the first Stephen King book my brother read (he randomly borrowed it from me one night last year), so it was nice to watch the adaptation of 'Mr Harrigan's Phone' together.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 10

Continuing with my Halloween month (though a bit less intense than yesterday)... I just had my daily horror story and seasonal tea today...

Today's Story

Today's story was 'Lot No. 249' by Arthur Conan Doyle, a creepy story about 'the great terror of Abercrombie Smith' (that may or may not be a resurrected mummy).

Today's Tea

Today's tea was H.P. Lovecraft from The Literary Tea Company, a pumpkin black tea with toffee, liquorice and the fear of the unknown. H.P. Lovecraft smells and tastes quite strongly of toffee, which is actually surprisingly nice for a black tea. Mmm... eldritch.