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.

Lammas: Day 2

A bit more Lammas-y fun today, on the second day of our annual seasonal celebrations.

Breakfast in the Woods

Cinnamon swirl in Bailey's Wood for breakfast!

Litter-Pick in the Woods

It was the monthly Friends of Bailey's Wood litter-pick in the woods this morning. Not strictly speaking a seasonal thing, but I took the opportunity to enjoy the many late summer flowers (which are already attracting plenty of butterflies).

Hannah’s Bookshelf Lammas Special

This afternoon was the Hannah's Bookshelf Lammas Special on North Manchester FM. I played a few seasonal songs, and some Lammas-themed flash fiction from nine fantastic writers. And then we had scones and Welsh cakes at the studio to celebrate!

Lammas: Day 1

It's the first day of our Lammas celebrations! Things might be a bit different this year, as I've decided to honour the start of the harvest season by taking on a big new project that will take a lot of work. I just hope if I work hard enough on it over summer, it'll be enough to see me through the winter.

Cinnamon Rolls

As it's the start of the grain harvest, it's important to celebrate with lots of bread and pastry (of course). I'm starting the season with some mini cinnamon rolls!

Hot Buttered Bread Wax Melts

We lit our diffuser tonight with the most seasonal wax melts we could find... Hot Buttered Bread!

Lammas Stories Wanted for Hannah’s Bookshelf on North Manchester FM

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

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 27th July, I’ll be hosting the 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 22nd 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 27th July, on digital radio and 106.6FM.

Lammas: Day 7

It's the big day! The finale of our Lammas celebrations for this year, and one last chance to do the season proud...

Breadmas Calendar Day 7

And behind Bread Wrapper No. 7 today... it's a Sourdough Roll (from Asda)!

Courgette Bread

I used the courgettes from our Groobarbs box and some stone-milled white flour from Walk Mill in a Courgette and Cheese Bread (one loaf green, one loaf yellow). The bake was rubbish because I used way too many courgettes, but the taste was really moreish.

Lammas Dinner

Rob made us the traditional Lammas Dinner of Lammas Surprise, followed by Cherry Crumble (made with stone-milled malted flour from Walk Mill).

Lammas Gifts

We ended our Lammas festivities tonight by exchanging the traditional cards and gifts. Once again, we're saving these whiskies for our seasonal tasting set at Christmas.

Children of the Corn

And finally, we celebrated tonight with the traditional seasonal film... Children of the Corn.

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

Lammas: Day 6

It's Lammas Eve! Unfortunately, we were both at work all day (and night-time too, for Rob) so we didn't have any festivities planned. Ah well, there's always the Breadmas Calendar!

Breadmas Calendar Day 6

Behind Bread Wrapper No. 6 today... Mini Loaves (from Bury Market)!