31 Days of Halloween: Day 4

It's the fourth day of our Halloween month celebrations. So far, it's turning out to be a nice mix of Halloween activities and autumnal festivities. Today had a good balance of both, so I feel like we did the season proud.

Autumn Walk in the Woods

It was the fortnightly Friends of Bailey's Wood Walk and Talk today, which was a nice opportunity to see some of the seasonal changes in the woods. After photographing acorns from their teeniest tiniest first appearance this year, I was beginning to worry the squirrels weren't going to leave me any ripe ones. But look at this autumnal beauty I found! Plus... mushroom season has begun!

Toffee Whirls

Exceedingly good (Halloween edition).

Veg Box

Halloween season means squash season! And we got a Harlequin Squash in our Groobarbs box today! Plus a massive Savoy cabbage, leeks, potatoes and carrots, apples, pears and raspberries.

Halloween Presents

Awww... my mum came round today with a bag of Halloween presents for us!

31 Halloween Films: House on Haunted Hill

The next film on our list was House on Haunted Hill, and Rob decreed that meant the 1999 version (so no Vincent Price for us tonight).

Bakewell Pudding

I don't know if this is Halloween or just delicious, but my mum and dad went to Derbyshire and brought us back some proper Bakewell puddings!

Beltane: Day 1

Well, Beltane season began today, but sadly it isn't going to be the week we had planned. Poor Rob's been really quite ill for over a month now, and it's been a tough time for him. Unfortunately - with the worst timing in the world - just as Rob was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I ended up spending an entire day in A&E with a throat so badly swollen I couldn't breathe or swallow properly. It turns out I'd managed to come down with one of the worst cases of tonsilitis I can remember having (and I've had some bad cases).

We'd got a little holiday planned in Bakewell for April, as we do every year, and we really didn't want to miss it, despite everything that's happened. It won't be the walking holiday we'd planned, but we came to Derbyshire on Sunday (with a first aid kit that looks like a field hospital) to convalesce and recuperate for a couple of days.

‘Beltane’

I've got a whole week's worth of Beltane/May chapters to read in Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun this season, so I'm starting (appropriately enough) today with 'Beltane'.

Lambs and Hills

Again, not quite the Beltane week of adventures we had planned, but we took a very short trip out this afternoon and saw some hills and some lambs today, so that was nice.

Beltane Candle

We lit our Beltane candle from Chalice Creations to mark the start of the season tonight... Ylang-ylang, jasmine, geranium and frankincense are the scents of our Beltane fire this evening.

Beltane: Day 4

Last day of our holiday, so we were busy travelling and getting settled back in at home today (plus, I had to attend a work meeting this evening). We did fit in a little bit of seasonal celebration though.

Lunch in Bakewell

We couldn't go to Bakewell without visiting the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop, could we? We had a lovely lunch here before we headed back. I had a Derbyshire Rarebit and, of course, a Bakewell pudding (not a tart, which isn't native to Bakewell at all).

May Day

And this evening it was time for a bit of seasonal viewing for Beltane... we're watching May Day (the 2013 drama series with Sophie Okonedo and Aiden Gillen) over the next couple of days.

Beltane: Day 3

It's the third day of our Beltane celebrations, and we're still in Bakewell so more Peak District adventures for us today. We'll be heading home tomorrow, so today was our final excursion of the holiday.

Beltane Earrings

Today's seasonal earrings were a cute little pair of daisy chains (another surprise gift from Rob).

Monsal Trail

We've been for a walk along the Monsal Trail today. The Monsal Trail is a section of a former Midland Railway line that runs from Chee Dale to Bakewell and is now a walking and cycling route.) We didn't do the whole trail, but we did Bakewell Station to just after Monsal Head viaduct and then back again. My favourite part (apart from the views from the viaduct) was walking through the Headstone Tunnel. I wish we could have gone as far as the other tunnels, but we couldn't handle a 17-mile walk today!