Imbolc: Day 6

It's the penultimate day of our Imbolc celebrations... and it's a very busy today! Lots of festivities planned to mark the season!

Winter in the Woods

This morning, I was at a Winter in the Woods celebration, run by Natalie Rossiter. We had a forest bathing session, then a delicious soup around the fire and marshmallows for toasting. Afterwards, we burned the last of the Yuletide greenery, and Natalie gave us all a little token from her garden to remind us that spring is on the way.

Hannah’s Bookshelf Imbolc Special

My Hannah's Bookshelf Imbolc Special aired on North Manchester FM this afternoon. As I was out and about a lot today, I had to pre-record the show, but there was seasonal flash fiction and Imbolc-themed music.

Wassailing at Chorlton Park

Later in the afternoon, I went to Chorlton Park for the Friends of Chorlton Park's annual wassailing. We had parkin, mulled wine and flapjacks, and we all went to sing and bang our pots and pans to wake the apple trees up in the community orchard for another year. I also bought a little crocheted forget-me-not as another reminder that spring will come again.

Imbolc Lanterns

Imbolc is a festival of light, so Rob made some little Imbolc candle holders for us, decorated with snowdrops and bonfire flames.

Imbolc Dinner

And then we had our traditional Imbolc dinner of meatloaf and spring onion mash.

Imbolc Gifts

We exchanged our traditional Imbolc gifts tonight... little seasonal-inspired whiskies that will start off our tasting sets that we'll enjoy at Christmas.

Groundhog Day

We ended the evening watching the traditional film of the season... it's Groundhog Day!

Imbolc: Day 5

It's the fifth day of our Imbolc celebrations. Today was a very long (and slightly stressful) work day, so the only festivities I could fit in were a couple of sweet treats at the end of the day.

Donut on the Tram

I had a cheeky little donut on the tram home after work.

Chocolate at Home

And then I bought some chocolate for when I got home.

Imbolc: Day 4

It's the fourth day of our Imbolc celebrations! Today was a work day, but I did have something nice planned for the evening.

Croissant and Coffee

A rather extravagant afternoon treat...

Dinner at Bundobust

I met up with a friend for dinner at Bundobust tonight. Perhaps this isn't exactly a seasonal meal, but it still felt rather festive to me.

Imbolc: Day 3

Another day of celebrating Imbolc... and another day of being a bit too busy to celebrate. Between a new job and a new book coming out, I haven't got very much downtime this January!

Drink in the Pub

After a pretty busy day, I did have a bit of time for a quick drink in my local with a friend to celebrate the promotion and the book coming out.

Imbolc: Day 2

It's the second day of our Imbolc celebrations... but I'm too busy to do any celebrating. Oh dear. Hopefully, we'll catch up by the weekend.

Snowdrops

Since I didn't get chance for any festivities, I had to content myself with seeing some snowdrops instead today.

Imbolc: Day 1

It's nearly Imbolc, and so it's time to start celebrating! Well... maybe... in an appropriately seasonal twist, I had an interview for a job (a promotion, in fact) just after Plough Monday, and so I'm hitting the ground running with the new role. I'm having an incredibly busy second half of January, but that's how it should be. You have to break the ground in January to prepare for the fruitful year ahead.

Dinner with a Friend

Tonight wasn't technically a festive occasion, but it was still a nice thing. I went for dinner at Zizzi with a friend to celebrate my new job. My dinner was very heavily mushroom-based (Mushroom Brindisi, followed by Mushroom & Truffle with Burrata).

Imbolc Stories Wanted for Hannah's Bookshelf on North Manchester FM

Submit your seasonal flash fiction to be played on Hannah’s Bookshelf this February!

Can you tell a seasonal story in just 3 minutes? Want to have your work played on the radio? This month, I’m looking for seasonal (winter, Imbolc, Candlemas, Groundhog Day) flash fiction from around the world for inclusion on Hannah’s Bookshelf, the weekly literature show on North Manchester FM.

On Saturday 1st February, I’ll be hosting the Hannah’s Bookshelf Imbolc Special, and as part of my seasonal special, I’ll be playing a selection of my favourite 3-minute stories on the show (broadcast on FM and on digital). Want to be part of it? Submit a recording of your seasonally inflected story (maximum 3 minutes) by midnight on Monday 27th January.

All genres welcome – be they cosy, romantic, scary or sad. The only rules are that stories must be your own original work, have some connection to the season, and be in English (the language of the broadcast). And please ease off the swears – stories have to be radio friendly! All you need is a microphone and a story – once you’re ready to submit your story, click on the ‘Start Recording’ button on my website to record your story and submit it. Remember to enter your name and email address when submitting your story.

If you aren’t able to submit via a recording and would like another method of taking part, please message via my website for more information.

Please share this call with anyone who you think might be interested – I’d like to cast the net as wide as possible. My favourite seasonal stories will be broadcast on the Hannah’s Bookshelf Imbolc Special at 2pm on Saturday 1st February, on digital radio and 106.6FM.

Imbolc: Day 7

It's Groundhog Day! And the final day of our (slightly muted) Imbolc celebrations this year.

Imbolc Dinner

We had our traditional Imbolc dinner tonight... vegetarian meatloaf with spring onion mash, followed by winterberry crumble.

Imbolc Gifts

After dinner, we swapped our traditional Imbolc gifts. We'll save these whiskies up throughout the year, and then enjoy them in December.

Groundhog Day

Time for the seasonal film of choice. It is Groundhog Day after all.

And so the wheel of the year turns... we'll be celebrating again (fingers crossed) at the Spring Equinox.

Imbolc: Day 6

I was in London for a training session today, and while it was a very enjoyable and interesting session, it wasn't really very seasonal. I did make sure Rob and I had a seasonal treat afterwards though!

Imbolc Bun

This isn't technically marketed as an Imbolc treat, but whatever. Raspberry choux bun with added white chocolate winter people (from a reduced-to-clear Christmas selection box... 'tis the season).

Imbolc: Day 5

I think I've just accepted that I'm not going to recovered enough from the horror-cold for big celebrations (and poor Rob certainly isn't), so I guess this Imbolc is all about the little things. I can deal with that - the little things are meant to be the ones that matter anyway.

Castlerea Imbolc Stories

I was at Castlerea Care Home for a seasonal storytelling session with the residents this afternoon. We had some Imbolc-themed poetry, a lot of conversation, a bit of music, and snowballs, iced gems and cream soda! After the session finished, the staff and residents surprised me with a packet of sunflower seeds, so that I've got a project for when winter turns into spring.

Imbolc: Day 4

Another quiet day of recovering from the horror-cold. I was at work all day, so no time or energy for big celebrations.

Imbolc Tea Break

Even though I couldn't manage any big celebrations, I still had a bit of a (sort of) seasonal tea break at work by treating myself to a cinnamon bun.

Imbolc: Day 3

Another quiet Imbolc day, as I've still not shifted this cold properly. I'm a bit too tired to do a lot of celebrating, sadly.

Library and Lunch

I met up with a friend today for a trip to Beswick Library (which I combined with some recording for Hannah's Bookshelf). After we'd checked out some books, we went for lunch at Elnecot.