Lammas: Day 1

It's the first day of this year's Lammas celebrations. We've not got a lot of huge celebrations planned, but we have some nice little treats lined up to celebrate the high point of summer and the start of harvest season.

Walk in the Park

I took one of the residents of the care home where I volunteer for a walk in Heaton Park today. We saw beech nuts, bindweed and balsam, plus ripening rosehips and holly berries. But my absolute highlight was when my companion pointed out a family of swans, including cygnets who haven't got their grown-up feathers yet.

Summerween Picnic

Yesterday, I celebrated Summerween (for no real reason, except I thought it would be fun). The resident I took to the park asked if we could have a Summerween picnic, because he really liked the Halloween picnic we had last October. I did my best with what I could find!

Blackberries

Brambling season has begun! I made sure I had a box with me so I could pick some blackberries while we were in the park.

Corn on the Cob

First of the season, from our recent Groobarbs veg box.

Lammas: Day 1

It's the first day of this year's Lammas celebrations! I'm not actually sure what we've got planned for this week, but I imagine it will involve bread. And probably pie. Definitely pie.

Lord of the Rings Walk

My and brother continued our The Conqueror Lord of the Rings virtual walking challenge today with a trip to Heaton Park. We're on 'The Fellowship' at the moment, but the weather conditions were a lot nicer than those in the book. We got ice creams to represent the pass over Caradhras, and then afterwards we swapped some little gifts we'd got each other.

Corn on the Cob

First of the season!

Dubai Chocolate

Ended the day with the Dubai chocolate my brother got me.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 28

Another day of celebrating the Halloween season! I can't believe it's been four weeks now! Some really lovely things planned for today though.

Halloween Walk in the Park

I took one of the residents from Castlerea Care Home for a Halloween walk in Heaton Park this afternoon. I promised him we'd do this when we did our Poetry in the Park session at the Autumn Equinox, so we've been looking forward to it for a while. We spotted loads of seasonal things in nature, followed the scarecrow trail, and talked about all sorts of things.

Halloween Treat Bags

I made us little Halloween treat bags to have with a cup of tea on our walk in the park, with crisps and a chocolate apple each.

Pumpkin and Beetroot Soup

I used up half of the flesh from our pumpkin lantern for soup (accompanied by beetroot and a bit of orzo).

The Lodger

Me and my friend went to Stockport Plaza tonight for an amazing screening of Alfred Hitchcock's The Lodger, with live improvised accompaniment by Hugo Max on solo viola and percussion. This was such a cool event - so happy that we got to see it.

Spring Equinox: Day 5

Rob was on a long shift today, so I decided to spend the day mostly wandering around (sometimes by myself, sometimes with others).

A Walk in Crumpsall Park

First up, I had a meeting in the park with Friends of Crumpsall Park. And I spotted the first of the daisies!

Milk Cake and Chai

After the park meeting, I walked over to You, Me and Tea in Crumpsall for some Pistachio Milk Cake and Pink Chai (which both looked suitably seasonal).

A Walk in Blackley Forest

Then after the cake, I wandered through Blackley Forest for a bit, enjoying some springtime peace and quiet.

A Walk in Heaton Park

Later on in the afternoon, me and my mum went for a little walk in Heaton Park.

Bailey’s Wood Spring Equinox Walk

Finally, I led a community Spring Equinox Walk in the Woods for the Friends of Bailey's Wood, sharing stories and folklore of the season.

Spring Equinox: Day 4

Another day of celebrating the Spring Equinox for us, and today was our big day, as it's Ostara Dinner! We did a few other seasonal things first though.

‘The Origins of Easter’

I've returned to Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun this season. There aren't any chapters specifically on the Spring Equinox, so I've been reading the Easter chapters (as it's the closest seasonal holiday), starting with 'The Origins of Easter'.

Ostara Earrings

It was the first outing for these Spring Equinox (sort of) earrings. Rob bought them for me in Aberystwyth last November when we were there for the Abertoir Festival!

Blossom Watch

It looks like it's time for #BlossomWatch! I love the #BlossomWatch hashtag (started by the National Trust), and I spent last spring posting pictures of every bit of blossom I saw. And I think I'll probably do it again this year.

A Trip to Heaton Park

This afternoon, we had a walk around the body of water in Manchester that I am most territorial about. This is my lake. (It's in Heaton Park, but it's very much off the beaten track!)

Ice Cream!

I had my first cornet of the year!

Ostara Dinner

We had our Spring Equinox (Ostara) Dinner tonight, and Rob made the traditional meal of Spring Vegetable Paella with Asparagus.

Ostara Gifts

And we swapped our traditional Spring Equinox cards and gifts tonight as well. We'll add these whiskies to our sets that we'll have in December.

Imbolc: Day 7

The last day of our Imbolc celebrations this year. Rob was on shift on Thursday day/night, so I was left to my own devices for the final day. Here's what I got up to on Thursday...

‘Valentines’

Looking ahead to the rest of February, I read the 'Valentines' chapter in Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun today.

Library Visit

Not exactly a seasonal thing, as I do this every month, but I was at the Avenue Library in Blackley this morning. At least one of the books I checked out had 'January' in the title, so that sort of counts!

Snowdrops

Hooray! I was worried I was going to get all the way through Imbolc without seeing any snowdrops, but look what I spotted in Heaton Park this afternoon!

Lunch at the Hidden Gem

Me and my mum went for lunch at the Hidden Gem coffee shop in Heaton Park today. Love this place.

Myst Replay

My brother came round tonight to continue our replay of the Myst games. It was the last day of Imbolc, so we had one last seasonal snack with our game.

And so the wheel of the year turns. We'll be celebrating again at the Spring Equinox.