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.

Midsummer: Day 6

Another day of celebrating the summer season! Today was a day of Midsummer-themed snacks and nice things with family members - and that's no bad thing at all.

Afternoon Tea at Heaton Park

Me and my mum went out for a nice spot of afternoon tea at the Hidden Gem Coffee Shop at Heaton Park Garden Centre today. Lovely carrot cake!

Midsummer Earrings

Since I was going out for tea, I wore possibly my weirdest Midsummer earrings today... a pair of cucumber slices! (Sadly, I didn't have cucumber sandwiches to go with them. Just cheese.)

Midsummer Tea

Today's Midsummer tea (from the Whittard selection box) was Earl Grey.

Midsummer Myst

My brother came round tonight for our weekly Myst replay session (we're up to Revelation now). Tonight had a Midsummer flavour, though , as we had Pimm's and Pina Colada-style fruit and nut mix!

Beltane: Day 6

Another day of festivities... and oh, we do have a busy weekend planned! Today we combined Beltane with Walpurgis Night for an added celebration.

Friends of Bailey’s Wood Beltane Litter-Pick

The monthly Friends of Bailey's Wood litter-pick was on today (it's the last Saturday of every month). This time, there was (of course) a Beltane theme. As well as doing the regular litter-pick, we also made Beltane story sticks as we travelled round the woods.

Quick Lunchbreak

Not exactly Beltane-themed, but it was nice to take a bit of time out after the litter-pick for a quiet lunch with Rob, before heading off to buy some important stuff for tonight's celebrations.

Walpurgisnacht Earrings

I wore my Green Man earrings for the litter-pick in the morning, but I switched them in the evening for some little silver witches in honour of Walpurgis Night.

A Visit to Heaton Park

One of the Walpurgis Night traditions that I read about and was quite taken with is visiting 'the high places'. Luckily enough, the highest place in Manchester (the Temple at Heaton Park) is just around the corner from us. We had an early evening walk, and then a bit of quiet time contemplating the view. To accompany the peace and quiet, we had a little cup of tea as well - Bonfire Toffee from Bird and Blend Tea Co. (saved from last Halloween).

Walpurgis Night Dinner

The other Walpurgis Night tradition I wanted to observe was 'gathering with loved ones' and 'making lots of noise'. So, we had an awesome and rather boisterous family dinner tonight. I brought balloons that were meant to look like flames and a Beltane-themed cake. And me and my brother created a playlist of music for the evening, which was a bit of a rollercoaster, given how different our musical tastes are!