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!

Beltane: Day 2

It's the second day of our Beltane celebrations - and it's been a bit of a tiring one!

Beltane Earrings

Today's seasonal earrings were a Green Man and stag antlers combo. The stag antlers were a lovely surprise gift from Rob this week.

Hob Hurst's House

We went to Hob Hurst's House today, an English Heritage site just outside Bakewell. Hob Hurst's House has EVERYTHING I want from a landmark. It's a Bronze Age barrow, discovered by the 'Barrow Knight' (a Victorian antiquarian), supposedly inhabited by a folkloric creature, AND it's one of the first monuments to be taken into state care under the Ancient Monuments Protection Act! Amazing place.

Beeley Moor

After visiting the Bronze Age barrow, we continued our walk over Beeley Moor. It was... a little more strenuous than we were expecting. But the views were amazing!

Cocktails!

We celebrated our successful (but exhausting) excursion with cocktails. I like to call these 'Travel Cocktails', but I couldn't possibly share the recipe!

Beltane: Day 1

It's time for our third event in our Year of Celebrating the Seasons. Beltane (or May Day) is an exciting one, as it sits on the opposite side of the Wheel of the Year to Samhain (or Halloween), which is my favourite seasonal celebration. We're going to be celebrating all week, and I'm determined to make this a week of Halloween-in-Spring.

Beltane Earrings

My first pair of Beltane earrings this year were these cute little bluebells.

Magpie Mine

We went to Magpie Mine in Sheldon, near Bakewell, this afternoon for a picnic and a wander. It's a disused lead mine, renovated and looked after by the Peak District Mines Historical Society.

Lathkill Dale

We also had a little wander in Lathkill Dale today. We definitely want to come back and explore properly another time. It's lovely!

The Reddening

Beltane feels like the perfect time for folk horror. I'm not 100% sure it's completely seasonal, but I'm reading The Reddening by Adam Nevill this week.

Beltane Candle

We lit our Beltane candle (from Chalice Creations) tonight. This season's scents are ylang ylang, jasmine, geranium and frankincense.

A Year of Celebrating the Seasons

This post is about our New Year's Resolution for 2022. After last year's 31 Days of Halloween and a very festive countdown to Christmas, Rob and I have decided we've nailed those two celebrations. The problem is, it's a long time to wait between Christmas and Halloween so New Year can often seem a bit flat after all the festive fun. Additionally - and I'm not sure if this is a result of the pandemic or if it had been creeping in before then - we've both been feeling weird about the way time is passing. Sometimes it feels like it's whizzing by, but then a single day can feel like it lasts for years (and not always in a good way). So, in an effort both to keep the festive feeling all year round and to feel a bit more comfortable and in control of the passage of time, we've decided to celebrate seasonally this year. Since we already celebrate a quarter day (Christmas/Yule) and a cross-quarter day (Halloween/Samhain), we thought we might as well celebrate the other six seasonal markers.

Neither of us are religious, and our Christmas and Halloween celebrations are always a mish-mash of traditions, including a few we've invented ourselves. Our plan is to celebrate the other seasons in the same way. We've planned a week for each, except Halloween and Christmas (which both get a month, because they're the best ones). Mostly, our celebrations are likely to be seasonal earrings, going for walks and watching films, but we're hoping to come up with some other new traditions along the way! (Any interesting suggestions would gratefully received!)

Since a lot of the seasonal celebrations are muddled together versions of Christian festivals, astronomical phenomena, neo-paganism and other traditions, the first thing we had to do was decide what to call our festivities. We've basically decided just to go with the names we're most familiar with, even though that's a bit of a pick-and-mix: Imbolc, Vernal Equinox, Beltane, Midsummer, Lammas, Autumnal Equinox, Halloween and Christmas.