Imbolc: Day 2

It's the second day of our second year of celebrating Imbolc, so here's what we got up to on Saturday...

Bailey’s Wood Imbolc Litter-Pick

The Friends of Bailey's Wood litter-pick is a monthly event, so I can't pretend this was a specifically seasonal thing. But... the woods were very wintery, and there were hardly any signs of spring just yet, so it definitely felt very Imbolc-y!

Imbolc Chocolate

I got a little Imbolc present for me and Rob... Ginger and Lime chocolate (with snowdrops!) for him and Toasted Tea Cake chocolate for me, from Kernow Chocolate.

Imbolc Candle

We lit our Imbolc candle from Chalice Creations tonight. Myrrh, Roman Chamomile and Basil to scent our festive week.

Vivaldi's Four Seasons by Candlelight

I didn't expect Vivaldi's Four Seasons by Candlelight to become one of our annual traditions! We enjoyed a beautiful performance by The Piccadilly Sinfonietta tonight at St Ann's Church.

Countdown to Christmas: Day 24

And finally! I've reached the last day of our Countdown to Christmas! (Admittedly, it's taken me a while to post this, but I've got there in the end!) I'm going to end this post just at the point we headed off for Christmas Dinner with the family, as these blogs were more about how we celebrated the midwinter season, rather than Christmas Dinner and presents. So here's the last bit of build-up...

Advent Tea

The final day of my Bird and Blend Tea calendar was Mojitea!

Advent Calendar

Each year, I make Rob an advent calendar filled with little envelopes to read each day. Usually, these envelopes contain a story, but this year they were clues for him to solve. After he'd decoded the message, it led him to a cupboard upstairs - the final door of the advent calendar, behind which there was a special nativity scene waiting for him!

‘The Reinvention of Christmas’

The final Christmas chapter of Ronald Hutton's Stations of the Sun was 'The Reinvention of Christmas'.

Hannah’s Bookshelf Christmas Special

My Hannah's Bookshelf Christmas Special aired today on North Manchester FM. As is tradition, I talked about a selection of newly published festive books on the show.

Castlerea Christmas Eve Session

Also tradition, I went in to Castlerea Care Home for a Christmas Eve celebration today. I read 'A Visit from St Nicholas' to the residents, and we had a bit of Gingerbread Latte flavoured Irish Cream and some mince pies. One of the residents also produced a big box of Quality Street for us to share!

Yule Candle

And finally... we lit our Yule candle from Chalice Creations today. It was scented with frankincense, orange, cinnamon and cedarwood!

And so, the countdown was over, 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.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 23

Somehow, I've managed to fall an entire week behind with these posts. I'm also playing catch-up with my Halloween teas and stories, though not with all the other festive stuff I've been doing (and there's been a lot, which might account for why I'm behind with my blog posts!). I will do my best to catch up, but given that it's actually Halloween tomorrow, that might be a tall order.

Today's Tea

Sunday's tea was Black Magic from Artisan Tea. It's a black tea blend with cinnamon, orange peel, ginger, green cardamom, cloves and black pepper (though it's nowhere near as fiery as you might expect).

Today's Story

I've fallen totally behind with my Halloween story-a-day reading but trying to catch up now with the story that should've been last Sunday's classic tale of horror... 'The Open Window' by Saki. Ahhh... I forgot how much I love this one!

Romancing the Gothic Lecture

I attended a really enjoyable and fascinating Romancing the Gothic talk by Dan O'Brien on undertakers in 18th-century satire last Sunday. It was perfect for the season, but also very helpful for my current research.

Halloween Gifts

I got my mum some Samhain soap from The Scottish Soap Witch (black cherry and frankincense), but I forgot to give it to her when we had dinner last Saturday. She popped in on Sunday to get it... and give me a lovely little Halloween cushion she made for me!

Samhain Candle

It was time to light our Samhain candle from Chalice Creations on Sunday night. It's rose, sandalwood and orange, and it's hopefully going to see us through to the big day.

Live and Spooky Campfire Stories (Ramsey Campbell)

Last Sunday's Campfire Stories video from Flame Tree Press was Ramsey Campbell, reading an excerpt from his latest novel Fellstones.

Autumnal Equinox: Day 2

It's the second day of our Autumn Equinox (aka Mabon) celebrations. We both had quite a lot of work to do today, so it's a bit of a short post. We still found a bit of time to celebrate though.

‘Wakes, Revels and Hoppings’

I read a seasonal chapter of Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun tonight: 'Wakes, Revels and Hoppings'.

Mabon Candle

We lit our Mabon candle from Chalice Creations tonight. Ginger, rosemary, clary sage and petitgrain to see us through to the equinox.

Lammas: Day 1

It's time for Lammas, the fifth event in our Year of Celebrating the Seasons, and I've been reliably informed this one is all about bread and markets. As is now our wont, we've got a week of festive things planned for the season.

Lammas Earrings

I think my collection of Lammas-inspired earrings is my favourite set yet. Today... crumpets!

Tea and Toast Tea

I do like a seasonal tea (as you might have spotted this year). It was a bit difficult finding bread-favoured teas for our Lammas week, but this seemed close enough... Tea and Toast by Bird & Blend Tea Company. It tastes like raspberry jam!

‘First Fruits’

And I started off our Lammas week seriously with a chapter from Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun: 'First Fruits'.

Lammas Candle

We lit our Lammas/Lughnasadh from Chalice Creations tonight for the first time. It's lavender, patchouli and lemon. (Ironically I lit it shortly after reading Ronald Hutton on why Lughnasadh and Lammas probably aren't interchangeable.)

Midsummer: Day 1

It's Midsummer (Litha) time! We're onto our fourth event in our Year of Celebrating the Seasons! And it's a bumper celebration this time, as we've decided to do nine days instead of the usual seven (because we have stuff planned this weekend and next, so we wanted to include it all). So we'll be taking in the Summer Solstice and Midsummer's Day, as well as plenty of other days.

Midsummer Earrings

I've cracked out my next set of seasonal earrings... today's were strawberries and bees!

‘The Midsummer Fires’

I should probably have started reading this at the start of the year (tbh I've only just thought of it!), but I'm now accompanying our seasonal celebrations with the relevant chapters from Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun. I read 'The Midsummer Fires' tonight.

Midsummer Candle

We lit our Midsummer candle from Chalice Creations for the first time tonight as well... jasmine, rose, lavender, ylang ylang, geranium, helichrysum and melissa lemon to last us through the week.

Cocktails

Not strictly a Midsummer thing, but I've decided to count it! We've been rewatching Waking the Dead over the past couple of months. Our Waking the Dead rewatch is an annual thing, and we like to make a bit of an event of it. This year, I've been making cocktails inspired by the characters. Tonight's cocktails were based on Felix (aka Miserable Frankie) and Stella (aka French Mel). The recipes are up on my Twitter.

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.