Beltane: Day 2

Sadly, Beltane this year continues to be hampered by illness. It's lovely being in Derbyshire, but we're very much using the time to recover and not really taking full advantage of the season. Ah well, we'll have to make up for it next year. There were a couple of seasonal things today though...

‘The May’

Continuing with the seasonal chapters from Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun, today's chapter was 'The May'.

Ronald Hutton Lecture

And it was a double bill for me this evening, as it was time for another wonderfully engaging and informative lecture in Ronald Hutton's series for Gresham College. Today's lecture was entitled 'Finding Lost Gods in Wales'.

Abominable Books

Okay, so not strictly a Beltane activity, but I'd been saving this month's Abominable Book Club box as a treat, so it seemed like a good time to open it. Amongst other goodies, this month's box had The Green Man of Eshwood Hall by Jacob Kerr and Old Country by Matt Query and Harrison Query as the featured books.

Imbolc: Day 6

Although it's not quite the end of our Imbolc week, it was the big night for us. Rob was on shift on Thursday, so Wednesday was the night of our Imbolc dinner and festive film. There were a couple of other things today as well...

‘Candlemas’

The next chapter in my seasonal reading (The Stations of the Sun by Ronald Hutton) was 'Candlemas'.

The Nesting

A bit of wintery tram reading today... The Nesting by C.J. Cooke.

Ronald Hutton Lecture

Not strictly seasonal, but I really enjoyed another wonderful public lecture by Ronald Hutton for Gresham College tonight, on Anglo-Saxon Pagan Gods this time. So interesting and informative (and, as always, entertaining).

Imbolc Dinner

Rob did us proud tonight with our traditional Imbolc Dinner of colcannon, followed by pear crumble.

Imbolc Gifts

We swapped our traditional Imbolc cards and gifts tonight. It's the start of another set of seasonal whiskies that we'll save to enjoy in December.

Groundhog Day

And, of course, we watched the festive film of the season tonight.

Countdown to Christmas: Day 7

Another somewhat belated Christmas post, and another rather short one, I'm afraid.

Advent Tea

Today's advent tea from my Bird and Blend Tea calendar was Milk Oolong Chai!

Ronald Hutton Lecture

Tonight I attended an online lecture by Ronald Hutton at Gresham College, on 'Paganism in Roman Britain'. (I know it wasn't actually seasonal, but I'm counting it as part of my seasonal celebrations anyway!) Really enjoyed this one (which is part of a lecture series that will run throughout the year).

Autumnal Equinox: Day 5

Another day of celebrating the Autumn Equinox, and it was a bit fruit-and-veg-themed (in the morning at least). I'm not sure the Autumnal Equinox has been the most action-packed of our celebrations so far, and perhaps that's because it's hard not to look forward to the big ones that are on the horizon, but we're definitely still marking the season in our own special way.

A Trip to Bury Market

We went to Bury Market this morning with my mother-in-law. Got myself quite the Autumn Equinox cornucopia. Is that 3 figs for £1.50? Yes it is. And I also picked up a bit of market-themed reading at the book exchange stall while we were there.

Autumn Equinox Earrings

Today's Autumn Equinox earrings are little glass corn ears and pumpkins that I bought from a jewellery maker at the Crumpsall and Cheetham Model Allotments fun day at Midsummer. 

Ronald Hutton Lecture

Tonight I attended an online lecture by Ronald Hutton at Gresham College, entitled 'The Gods of Prehistoric Britain'. It was interesting, thought-provoking and entertaining (as I expected it would be!)