31 Days of Halloween: Day 27

Another day of celebrating our Halloween month. It was a bit more relaxed than yesterday's craziness, but still very enjoyable and super-seasonal.

Samhain Nature Walkshop

I went on Natalie Rossiter's annual Samhain Nature Walkshop this afternoon, which has become a really special part of my Halloween celebrations. We did forest bathing, searching for beauty in decay, looking for messages in the woods, and then reflection around the fire with homemade biscuits, mulled apple juice and magical flames.

Pumpkin Lantern

When I got home from the woods, Rob had carved our pumpkin lantern.

Halloween Dinner

Tonight, we had our traditional Halloween Dinner of Pumpkin and Sausage Casserole.

Halloween Gifts

And then after dinner, we swapped our traditional Halloween gifts - the last whiskies to add to the set that we'll drink in December.

N is for Night of the Living Dead

Our Horror A-Z continued tonight with Night of the Living Dead.

Midsummer: Day 6

It's the sixth day of our Midsummer celebrations. I was at work during the day, but then I had a festive event to go to, followed by our big seasonal celebration at home!

Summer Solstice Nature Celebration

I had a gorgeous time at a Summer Solstice Nature Celebration run by Natalie Rossiter this evening. Forest bathing, finding moments of joy, walking barefoot in a meadow, then food, conversation and toasted marshmallows in the woods.

Midsummer Dinner

Later on this evening, Rob cooked our traditional Midsummer Dinner of Gratinated Cabbage with potatoes and green beans.

Jaws

And with our dinner we watched the traditional Midsummer film, which is, of course, Jaws.

Midsummer Gifts

After dinner, we exchanged our traditional Midsummer gifts, seasonal whiskies that we'll put with our tasting set to enjoy in December.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 29

A slightly quieter day today, but still chock-full of Halloween goodness!

Samhain Forest Bathing

Just perfect Samhain forest bathing session this afternoon with Natalie Rossiter Wellbeing, finding beauty in decay, sycamore for protection and messages in the trees, then soul cakes, mulled apple juice and reflection by the fire.

Autumn Charm

One of the things we did on today's Samhain forest bathing was to make up our own plant folklore. The idea of let-go leaves and holly to prevent the holding of grudges seemed particularly apt, so I collected some up and made myself a little autumn charm.

Halloween Cupcakes

Halloween cupcakes!

31 Halloween Films: Resident Evil

Back to our film list this afternoon, and the random number generator has decreed that we are watching Resident Evil this evening!

Halloween Dinner

We had our traditional Halloween Dinner tonight... Pumpkin and Sausage Casserole!

Halloween Gifts

And after dinner, we exchanged our traditional Halloween gifts... the final two whiskies for our seasonal tasting sets that we'll have in December.

31 Halloween Films: Dracula: Prince of Darkness

There is a small chance we won't make it through all of our list by the end of October, but for tonight, we have Dracula: Prince of Darkness.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 30

And now the penultimate day of our Halloween celebrations. It was the last day of celebrating with Rob, as he had to work on Halloween itself, so we had some nice things planned for the evening together.

Today's Tea

Sunday's Halloween tea was the wonderfully named A Nightcap on Elm Street from Tenacious Tea! It's Ceylon and Pu'er teas with cacao husks, coconut, coffee beans and cornflower petals. It's a very unusual but really quite moreish brew.

Today's Story

The penultimate classic tale of horror this month was 'The Japanned Box' by Arthur Conan Doyle.

‘Blood Month and Virgin Queen’

Looking ahead to November, I read 'Blood Month and Virgin Queen' from Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun.

Samhain Forest Bathing

I went to a really great Samhain forest bathing session on Sunday, run by Natalie Rossiter Wellbeing. The session ended with tea, parkin and reflection around a fire. I feel like I really needed this.

Eyeball Bath Bomb

Eyeball bath bomb from Bomb Cosmetics!

Halloween Dinner

We had our Halloween Dinner tonight because of work commitments on Halloween itself. Rob made us an amazing and very seasonal Pumpkin and Sausage Casserole!

Halloween Gifts

We exchanged our (now) traditional Halloween cards and gifts. These are the final seasonal whiskies for the sets we'll be enjoying at Christmas.

Midsummer: Day 9

It's the final day of our Midsummer celebrations. I've been calling Midsummer 'Summer Christmas' all week, and today felt a bit like 'Summer Boxing Day' as we exchanged gifts and had our celebration dinner yesterday.

Summer Forest Bathing

I spent the afternoon on a Summer forest bathing session with Natalie Rossier Wellbeing. What a perfect way to (almost) end the Midsummer week. We ended today's session with reflection and meditation, a cup of tea made from apple mint and lemonbalm, and homemade honey cake. The whole session really made me feel more grounded in the season than I've felt before.

Midsummer Tea

The final tea in my summery Whittard selection box (and I saved the best till last) was English Rose.

Midsommar

Our seasonal festivities came to an end with a pretty obvious film choice... we watched Midsommar (2019) tonight. I have to admit, I'm not sure this is the one thing we've done that probably won't become a tradition.

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

Vernal Equinox: Day 7

The big day is here! It's the Vernal Equinox, and officially the beginning of spring! (And so that means it's the final day of our first proper Ostara celebration.)

Spring Forest Bathing

I went for a Spring Forest Bathing session with Natalie Rossiter Wellbeing this morning. I had some quiet time with the blackthorn blossom, tasted silver birch sap and saw my first bumblebees and bunny rabbits of the year. We ended the session with tea made from foraged nettles, blackberry leaves and silver birch tips.

Ostara Earrings

My final pair of Ostara earrings this year... more funky chickens!

Marzipan Eggs

A special little Ostara treat for me and Rob... Niederegger marzipan eggs! (Ignore that the box says Frohe Ostern, I reckon they're obviously made for the Vernal Equinox.)

Ostara Dinner

To round off our Vernal Equinox celebrations, Rob served the (now) traditional Ostara Dinner of spring vegetable paella.

Ostara Gifts

And finally, we swapped our (now) traditional Ostara gifts tonight, adding to our seasonal whisky tasting sets that we'll be enjoying at Christmas.

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