Countdown to Christmas: Day 2

It's the second day of our Yuletide celebrations. Today was more of an outdoor kinda day (for me - Rob was at work all day).

Walk in the Woods

I had a lovely walk in Blackley Forest today, listening to Christmas music and looking out for all the signs that the Holly King's reign has truly begun. There's a beautiful glade of silver birch trees in the forest, and I've fallen into the tradition of visiting it each December, standing in the middle of it and listening to 'Carol of the Bells'.

Stollen

Tonight, I had a bit of a difficult thing to do, as it was the monthly Friends of Crumpsall Park committee meeting, and sadly the meeting when I resigned as treasurer. I've been treasurer for eight years, and I still love the park a lot, but it's time for me to hand over to someone else now. I took some stollen for the committee so that it wasn't all doom and gloom!

Advent Tea

Today's tea in my Bird and Blend advent calendar was Earl Grey Creme!

Advent Model

Today's model in our other advent calendar was a little Christmas wreath!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 1

It begins! Time to get festive again! Last Christmas seems so long ago - I hope I can remember how to celebrate.

Litter-Pick in the Park

The first day of December was the monthly Friends of Crumpsall Park litter-pick. For the past 8 years, I've been organizing these litter-picks each month, but I've recently decided to step down and hand the baton on to someone else. Since it was my last litter-pick (as organizer) and the first day of our Christmas celebrations, I brought mulled apple juice and mince pies to share with the other volunteers.

Festive Afternoon Tea

We went to Stockport Plaza for Festive Afternoon Tea this afternoon, and it was SO festive. We had a lovely afternoon tea (including mince pies), a glass of champagne and some Christmas songs. We were warned that we'd be unlikely to see Santa, as the detector showed him as still being in the North Pole. I swear, when I spotted that the hand had moved around, I was more excited that I've been for a long time. Oh, and the scones were Cornwall-style, not Devon, by the way.

Advent Tea

Rob got me a Bird and Blend tea advent calendar again this year. Yay! Today's advent tea was Gingerbread Chai.

Advent Model

Rob also got us a quirky Lego not Lego advent calendar with a little model to make behind each door. I think at the end, you can combine the models to make four big ones but for now we're making a little one each day.

Spring Equinox: Day 4

Our fourth day of celebrating the upcoming Spring Equinox, and we decided to head out for a picnic.

Picnic at Haughton Dale

We went for a picnic in Haughton Dale today. It was nice to wander round, looking for signs of spring in the woods. We saw a lot of blossom, heard a lot of bird song, and then accidentally watched some frogs having sex. Spring is truly in the air!

Seasonal Tea

Took a slightly meditative moment to enjoy spring in the woods with a seasonal tea. This one was Cream Egg tea from Bird and Blend.

Spring Equinox: Day 2

Our second day of celebrating the Spring Equinox, and this one was a pretty important one. It was our tenth wedding anniversary!

Spring Cupcakes

I made some spring-themed cupcakes for a meeting I was running at work today. They were flavoured with white chocolate and Parma Violets, and decorated with daisies. And yes, the Parma Violets were leftover trick-or-treat sweets from last Halloween. I'm continuing my plan to use them all to decorate seasonal cakes before Halloween comes around again.

Wedding Cake Tea

As it was our anniversary, my tea break drink of choice was Wedding Cake by Bird and Blend.

Wedding Anniversary Dinner

We went out for dinner at Croma in Prestwich with our parents tonight to celebrate our anniversary. I took the personalized topper from our wedding cake as a little reminder of our day all those years ago.

Wedding Anniversary Gifts

It was our tin anniversary, so we both got each other tin gifts. Unsurprisingly, we both went with Cornish tin (as it's also ten years since our first lovely holiday to Lizard). As we were both thinking about Cornwall, I also got Rob a surprise delivery of his favourite pasties from Ann's Pasties (they're not on the picture as they were in the freezer by the time I got home).

Spring Equinox: Day 1

It's time to celebrate the start of spring! We've got a week of Spring Equinox-y fun planned before the big day next week, and (fingers crossed!) we're not hampered by horrible colds like we were at Imbolc.

Blossom Watch

Apparently blossom season has started quite early this year, as a result of a generally mild winter and a comparatively warm February. It's still pretty to see though. This pink cherry blossom is in the garden at the Pankhurst Centre (where I work).

Spring Tea Break

We were both at work all day today, so we didn't have any proper celebrations planned together. I made sure I had a spring-themed tea break though, with Candy Floss at the Fair tea (from Bird and Blend) and a mini egg cookie.

Dim Sum

I'm a bit in love with dim sum, and now I'm a bit in love with Ding Dong Dim Sum, who do a fantastic vegan selection. It's all colourful enough to sort of look like it's spring-themed, but the custard buns definitely look just right for the season!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 24

Christmas Eve was an insanely busy day, not helped by the fact that I didn't get any sleep last night. But it was all very good festive stuff, and I had an amazing time. (I just wish I hadn't been so tired that I went out in odd shoes at one point, and then broke my glasses in the evening!)

Operation Turkey

First thing in the morning, I headed over to Bury for what me and my mother-in-law were calling Operation Turkey (i.e. I took her to the local farm shop to pick up the turkey she'd ordered). This was an odd mission for a vegetarian to undertake, but she did give me a cup of tea and some homemade mince pies afterwards.

Castlerea Christmas Party

Next stop, Castlerea Care Home for the Christmas Eve party. I took a bottle of Salted Caramel Bailey's and some mince pies, read 'A Visit from St Nicholas' (aka ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'), and then handed out presents for the residents and staff. They had a Christmas quiz after that, but I couldn't stay because I had to fly off to my next thing.

Christmas Drink With a Friend

Me and my friend Poppy met up in Bowker Bank Woods for a festive drink and a chat this afternoon. And yes... yes I did make more mulled apple juice for the occasion.

Walk in the Woods

I had an amazing twilight walk to my parents' house through Blackley Forest this evening, with The Nutcracker Suite in my ears and a rucksack full of presents on my back. Admittedly, all I'd had so far today was mince pies, a little bit of Bailey's and some mulled apple juice (on around 2 hours sleep), but it was a perfect walk all the same.

Salted Caramel Lebkuchen Tea

At my parents' house and enjoying a little bit of calm before the rest of my family arrive, with some Bird and Blend Salted Caramel Lebkuchen tea.

Advent Tea

Behind the final door in my Bird and Blend tea calendar... Peppermint Hot Cocoa!

Advent Jewellery

And behind the penultimate door in my Avon jewellery calendar (because it's got a renegade Door No. 25 for tomorrow)... a candy cane pendant!

And so, the countdown is over and I'm ready for Christmas with my family, and so that's where I'm ending this blog. The wheel of the year will turn again after New Year, when we'll be getting ready to celebrate Imbolc.