Lammas: Day 2

It's the second day of our Lammas week. Today was a work day - and not an easy one in the slightest - so it was all about remembering that it's the start of harvest season.

Blueberry Smoothie

I made a smoothie for breakfast on the way to work today. If I'm honest, I should've blended it for longer, but I didn't want to be late for my tram!

Cauliflower Steak

For dinner tonight, Rob made purple cauliflower steak with red wine sauce. And yes, it was amazing! The purple cauliflower was from our recent Groobarbs veg box, by the way.

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 Stories Wanted for Hannah's Bookshelf on North Manchester FM

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

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 (Lammas, summer harvest) flash fiction from around the world for inclusion on Hannah’s Bookshelf, the weekly literature show on North Manchester FM.

On Saturday 1st August, I’ll be hosting the annual Hannah’s Bookshelf Lammas 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 July.

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 Lammas Special at 2pm on Saturday 1st August, on digital radio and 106.6FM.

Lammas: Day 2

It's the second day of our Lammas celebrations, but it was a busy day at work for both of us. I didn't really have time for anything more than a little seasonal treat during the day.

Berries and Cherries

A little seasonal snack at work (partly picked myself).

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.

Lammas: Day 7

It's the final day of our Lammas celebrations this year. We were both at work, so we didn't have big celebrations planned. Instead, I spent the day enjoying some of the seasonal foods I bought from Bury Market yesterday.

Wimberry Pie

I took a wimberry pie into work today to share with my colleagues. It went down really well!

Crusty Cob

Lunch was a very nice crusty cob from the market, filled with Wensleydale with pineapple.

Corn on the Cob and Baklava

And tea was some lovely corn on the cob, followed by baklava (is that seasonal? it's definitely delicious).


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

Lammas: Day 6

It's the sixth day of our Lammas celebrations - the penultimate day, but as we're both at work tomorrow, it's the big one for us (the night when we have our festive dinner together).

Bury Market

Today started with a trip to Bury Market with my mother-in-law. Lammas is a harvest celebration, so it feels right to have a trip to the market.

Market Lunch

We bought lots of nice things at the market, some of which we had today. Lunch was cheese and onion pie, followed by cannoli.

Castlerea Lammas Stories

I was at Castlerea Care Home for a little seasonal celebration with the housemates. I read some seasonal poems, including 'Corn Rigs' by Robert Burns, and we listened to some seasonal music, including 'The Combine Harvester Song' by The Wurzels. We also had muffins, jammy joeys, cherry squash and lots of good conversation.

Lammas Dinner

Tonight was our big festive dinner. Rob made his signature seasonal dish, Lammas Surprise, and we had wimberry pie from Bury Market for pudding.

Children of the Corn

We watched our seasonal film of choice this evening... Children of the Corn!

Lammas Gifts

After dinner, we swapped Lammas cards and gifts. As is tradition, we bought each other seasonally inspired whiskies that we'll add to the tasting sets to enjoy in December.

Lammas: Day 5

Another day of celebrating the season. I was at work today, and then out in the woods for a seasonal walk. Not a bad way to enjoy the high point of summer!

Ginger Bread Tea Break

Little tea break, finishing off the Elizabeth Botham's Whitby Ginger Heritage Loaf!

Bailey’s Wood Lammas Walk

After work, I led a Lammas Walk in the Woods for Friends of Bailey's Wood. We talked about bindweed, ragwort, butterflies and John Barleycorn. In fact, we talked about John Barleycorn a lot. Even though we were celebrating the high point of summer, nature's cycle never ends, so we finished the walk by looking for the early signs that summer will, eventually, give way to autumn.

Lammas: Day 4

Another day of celebrating Lammas, and the high point of summer. I'm still buried in my big summer project, so we didn't have time for a lot of festivities (that's harvest for you). But I did lead a lovely community walk in the evening.

Late Summer Walk in the Park

I led a Late Summer Walk in the Park for Friends of Crumpsall Park this evening. We talked about the season, folklore and nature, picking grasses and flowers. The weather was gorgeous as well.

Lammas: Day 3

Another day of celebrating Lammas, the beginning of the harvest season. As I said in a previous post, I'm honouring the season by working very hard on a new project that I'm hoping will be up-and-running by the autumn. It's sort of like a metaphorical harvest season for me, so I spent today focusing on what needs to be done instead of any wild festivities.

Ginger Loaf

We did have time for a nice seasonal treat though... some Elizabeth Botham's Whitby Heritage Ginger Loaf, which we bought on our big North Yorkshire holiday in June to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary.