Countdown to Christmas: Day 14

Our Cornish holiday continues! We come here every year, and we have a few festive traditions we like to enjoy each time. Today was all about those traditions, and so it was a super-Christmassy day for us.

A Trip to St Ives

We always like to have a day out to St Ives when we're staying in Lizard, so I get a bit of nostalgia for childhood family holidays. We usually do a bit of Christmas shopping while we're here too.

Lunch in St Ives

Even though we only come here once a year, we do have a favourite place to go for lunch... Scoff Troff Café. I had Welsh Rarebit and Cornish Mist tea (earl grey, vanilla and steamed milk).

Christmas Ice Cream

Can't come to the seaside and not have an ice cream. We went to Moomaid of Zennor (in what is now becoming an annual tradition), and I tried their Salted Caramel Christmas Pudding flavour.

Mousehole Harbour Lights

We went to see the Mousehole Harbour Lights this evening. There was no big switch-on event this year, but we arrived just in time to see everything light up for the evening. Absolutely love the Mousehole lights and we wouldn't come to Cornwall without seeing them.

Spicy Hot Apple Punch

And what better accompaniment to the Mousehole Harbour Lights than a Spicy Hot Apple Punch?

Music from the Rock Choir

Although there was no big switch-on ceremony at Mousehole this year, they have a whole programme of songs and carols during the time the lights are on (and we think this actually works even better). We decided to time our visit so we could see Rock Choir Cornwall perform at the harbour, which was very good fun. The choir were awesome and provided a really lovely festive vibe for the evening.

Seasonal Whisky Tasting

Back at Lizard, it was time for our big seasonal whisky night. All year, we've been buying each other seasonally inspired whiskies and saving them up to enjoy in the winter with a nice cheeseboard and some seasonal playlists (though Rob isn't impressed with the inclusion of The Wurzels on the Autumn Equinox playlist).

Advent Tea

Behind Door No. 14 of my Bird and Blend tea calendar... Cookies and Cream!

Advent Jewellery

And behind Door No. 14 of my Avon jewellery calendar... sparkly crystal earrings!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 13

We're on holiday! Woohoo!

Lizard

Another day in our lovely remote little cottage at The Lizard!

Pumpkin and Red Pepper Soup

I made Pumpkin and Red Pepper Soup today. Most of the ingredients were from our most recent Groobarbs delivery, but would you believe that the mini ghost pumpkin was from our Halloween pumpkin picking at Dunham Massey Ice Cream Farm? It lasted perfectly and tasted amazing.

Cherry and Ginger Banana Bread

I've done some baking! I made Cherry and Ginger Banana Bread this afternoon, and enjoyed a slice of it with a cup of Bird and Blend's Mascarpone and Sour Cherry tea.

Chocolate Pots

Chocolate Pots are a holiday go-to for me (though it's another no-bake dessert). 150g of melted chocolate mixed with 150ml double cream, and then anything festive I can fling at them! Top tip: make them the night before so they have plenty of time to chill in the fridge.

Daisy Darker

The next book I'm reading on holiday is Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney. I bought it for my mum for Christmas last year, and she lent it to me in January after she'd read it. I've been saving it since then, because I really wanted to read it while we were in Cornwall. And I'm having Rose Conjou tea from Tugboat in Truro while I read it.

Advent Tea

Behind Door No. 13 in my Bird and Blend Tea calendar... Christmas Cake!

Advent Jewellery

And behind Door No. 13 in my Avon jewellery calendar... a star pendant!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 12

We're on holiday! It's our annual pre-Christmas Cornish getaway!

Lizard

First day waking up in our isolated little cottage at The Lizard.

Christmas Rainbow

I saw a rainbow this morning. I'd like to think it's a glimpse of Bifröst, and that Heimdall is preparing to visit us for Yule. Speaking of which...

Yule Island

The first book I'm reading on holiday is Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson, which I'm enjoying with a cup of Snowball Hot Cocoa tea from Bird and Blend.

Americano Cocktails

I made Americanos (Campari, sweet vermouth and soda) on a whim tonight. And it accidentally turned out to be a massive wave of Christmas nostalgia for Rob! Hooray!

Black Cherry Cheesecake

One of my holidays was that I was going to bake loads, as I'll finally have time to do that. And so, the first thing I made was... a no-bake black cherry cheesecake.

Ledaig Whisky

Enjoyed a dram of Ledaig 10 year old from Tobermory Distillery tonight, a lovely pre-Christmas gift from my friend Irene.

Advent Tea

Behind Door No. 12 in my Bird and Blend Tea calendar... Mulled Cider!

Advent Jewellery

And behind Door No. 12 in my Avon jewellery calendar... candy cane earrings!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 20

I'm still determined to get these all published, even though we're hurtling into 2023 now. This one is quite a big post, as we did quite a lot on 20th December. We'd had quite stormy weather while we were away, but this was a day when things calmed down a bit so we took advantage of that and went on a couple of trips.

Advent Tea

Day 20 of my Bird and Blend Tea calendar was Peach Soda!

Christmas Earrings

Today's Christmas earrings were a snowflake and Christmas tree combo!

‘Rites of Hospitality and Charity’

The next Christmas chapter I read in Ronald Hutton's Stations of the Sun was 'Rites of Hospitality and Charity'.

Coastal Path Walk

We went for a walk along the coastal path today to enjoy a bit of midwinter sunshine. Although the sun was shining, the sea was still pretty wild! And we got to see a waterfall as well, meaning that we ended the year in the same way we began.

Midwinter Greenery

There are some fantastic evergreens along the coastal path, including ivy and juniper, which was a nice reminder of the season.

Ann’s Pasties

A walk along the coastal path to Lizard took us straight to Ann's Pasties, of course!

Mousehole Harbour Lights

This evening, we went to Mousehole to see the harbour lights. Sadly, since lockdown, they haven't been able to do a big switch-on event as in previous years, but all the lights were up and on by the time we went.

Praze-an-Beeble

On the way back from Mousehole, we always like seeing all the little villages lit up for Christmas. One of our favourites is Praze-an-Beeble, who always put on a good display.

The Santa Clause

Our next bit of festive viewing was The Santa Clause trilogy!