Beltane: Day 7

Ah well, the final day of our Beltane week. At least we're both feeling better now! But that means we're both back at work, so no time for any final celebrations. Still, there's always next year!

‘A Merrie May’

The final seasonal chapter in Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun was 'A Merrie May', which was an excellent way to finish off my seasonal reading. It certainly provided a lot of food for thought (especially after watching The Wicker Man last night), and so it was a good way to finish off the season.

And so the wheel of the year turns. We'll be celebrating again at Midsummer (fingers crossed!).

Beltane: Day 6

Our last day of celebrating together, as Rob is going to be going back to work tomorrow. As I've said in previous posts, we've not had as much of a Beltane extravaganza as we'd planned. Nevertheless, we were determined to have a proper Beltane dinner tonight!

‘Royal Oak’

I read the penultimate (and utterly fascinating!) seasonal chapter from Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun today: 'Royal Oak'.

Beltane Dinner

Now that we can both eat (sort of) properly and with minimal pain, Rob made us our traditional Beltane Dinner of sausage casserole tonight!

Beltane Gifts

We swapped our Beltane cards and gifts tonight. Two more whiskies to add to the set we'll be sampling at Christmas.

The Wicker Man

And, of course, what Beltane Dinner would be complete without the seasonal film?

Beltane: Day 5

Another day of our sickness-restricted Beltane. We're back in Manchester now, and we managed to make it out and into nature. At least we got to see a few trees this year!

‘Rogationtide and Pentecost’

The next seasonal chapter of Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun was 'Rogationtide and Pentecost'.

Bailey’s Wood Beltane Litter-Pick

It might not have been the Beltane festivities we had planned, but we were out for the Friends of Bailey's Wood Beltane litter-pick today, so I spent the morning surrounded by hawthorn and birdsong.

Beltane: Day 4

And another day with limited seasonal fun for us (we're still poorly!). We're going to need a massive Beltane next year to make up for this one, I think.

‘Morris and Marian’

I did read another seasonal chapter from Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun today. There are quite a few chapters devoted to May and the beginning of summer, so it's keeping me going through the week.

Beltane: Day 3

Sadly, it's another very quiet Beltane day for us due to ongoing illness. Not a lot to report this time, I'm afraid.

‘May Games and Whitsun Ales’

Although we weren't in a particularly celebratory mood, I did read the next seasonal chapter of Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun today, which was on 'May Games and Whitsun Ales'.

Beltane: Day 2

Sadly, Beltane this year continues to be hampered by illness. It's lovely being in Derbyshire, but we're very much using the time to recover and not really taking full advantage of the season. Ah well, we'll have to make up for it next year. There were a couple of seasonal things today though...

‘The May’

Continuing with the seasonal chapters from Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun, today's chapter was 'The May'.

Ronald Hutton Lecture

And it was a double bill for me this evening, as it was time for another wonderfully engaging and informative lecture in Ronald Hutton's series for Gresham College. Today's lecture was entitled 'Finding Lost Gods in Wales'.

Abominable Books

Okay, so not strictly a Beltane activity, but I'd been saving this month's Abominable Book Club box as a treat, so it seemed like a good time to open it. Amongst other goodies, this month's box had The Green Man of Eshwood Hall by Jacob Kerr and Old Country by Matt Query and Harrison Query as the featured books.

Beltane: Day 1

Well, Beltane season began today, but sadly it isn't going to be the week we had planned. Poor Rob's been really quite ill for over a month now, and it's been a tough time for him. Unfortunately - with the worst timing in the world - just as Rob was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I ended up spending an entire day in A&E with a throat so badly swollen I couldn't breathe or swallow properly. It turns out I'd managed to come down with one of the worst cases of tonsilitis I can remember having (and I've had some bad cases).

We'd got a little holiday planned in Bakewell for April, as we do every year, and we really didn't want to miss it, despite everything that's happened. It won't be the walking holiday we'd planned, but we came to Derbyshire on Sunday (with a first aid kit that looks like a field hospital) to convalesce and recuperate for a couple of days.

‘Beltane’

I've got a whole week's worth of Beltane/May chapters to read in Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun this season, so I'm starting (appropriately enough) today with 'Beltane'.

Lambs and Hills

Again, not quite the Beltane week of adventures we had planned, but we took a very short trip out this afternoon and saw some hills and some lambs today, so that was nice.

Beltane Candle

We lit our Beltane candle from Chalice Creations to mark the start of the season tonight... Ylang-ylang, jasmine, geranium and frankincense are the scents of our Beltane fire this evening.

Spring Equinox: Day 7

The final day of our Spring Equinox celebrations was more of a whimper than a bang. Rob was ill and I was busy, so there wasn't really any festivities to be had. Hopefully, we'll feel more festive come Beltane.

‘The Easter Holidays’

I did finish the final seasonal(ish) chapter of Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun today: 'The Easter Holidays'.

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

Spring Equinox: Day 6

It's the penultimate day of our Spring Equinox celebrations. I had a really long day at work today, so there wasn't a huge amount of celebrating. I did a couple of things to mark the season though.

‘An Egg at Easter’

I read the next chapter of Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun: 'An Egg at Easter'.

Crosslee Litter-Pick (with Daffodils)

And I was out for a litter-pick with the school council of Crosslee Primary School in Blackley, who made sure the occasion was daffodil-tastic.

Spring Equinox: Day 5

Although we had our Ostara Dinner yesterday, it was actually the Spring Equinox today, so there was a little bit more celebrating for us. It was a bit of a muted holiday for us this year (for some personal reasons), but there were a few more seasonal things to enjoy.

‘Holy Week’

I read the next chapter of Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun today: 'Holy Week'.

Bailey’s Wood Spring Equinox Walk

And this evening I led a Spring Equinox Walk in the Woods for Friends of Bailey's Wood. It was a little bit wet and muddy, but we spotted a few signs that the seasons are changing.

Spring Equinox: Day 4

Another day of celebrating the Spring Equinox for us, and today was our big day, as it's Ostara Dinner! We did a few other seasonal things first though.

‘The Origins of Easter’

I've returned to Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun this season. There aren't any chapters specifically on the Spring Equinox, so I've been reading the Easter chapters (as it's the closest seasonal holiday), starting with 'The Origins of Easter'.

Ostara Earrings

It was the first outing for these Spring Equinox (sort of) earrings. Rob bought them for me in Aberystwyth last November when we were there for the Abertoir Festival!

Blossom Watch

It looks like it's time for #BlossomWatch! I love the #BlossomWatch hashtag (started by the National Trust), and I spent last spring posting pictures of every bit of blossom I saw. And I think I'll probably do it again this year.

A Trip to Heaton Park

This afternoon, we had a walk around the body of water in Manchester that I am most territorial about. This is my lake. (It's in Heaton Park, but it's very much off the beaten track!)

Ice Cream!

I had my first cornet of the year!

Ostara Dinner

We had our Spring Equinox (Ostara) Dinner tonight, and Rob made the traditional meal of Spring Vegetable Paella with Asparagus.

Ostara Gifts

And we swapped our traditional Spring Equinox cards and gifts tonight as well. We'll add these whiskies to our sets that we'll have in December.

Imbolc: Day 7

The last day of our Imbolc celebrations this year. Rob was on shift on Thursday day/night, so I was left to my own devices for the final day. Here's what I got up to on Thursday...

‘Valentines’

Looking ahead to the rest of February, I read the 'Valentines' chapter in Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun today.

Library Visit

Not exactly a seasonal thing, as I do this every month, but I was at the Avenue Library in Blackley this morning. At least one of the books I checked out had 'January' in the title, so that sort of counts!

Snowdrops

Hooray! I was worried I was going to get all the way through Imbolc without seeing any snowdrops, but look what I spotted in Heaton Park this afternoon!

Lunch at the Hidden Gem

Me and my mum went for lunch at the Hidden Gem coffee shop in Heaton Park today. Love this place.

Myst Replay

My brother came round tonight to continue our replay of the Myst games. It was the last day of Imbolc, so we had one last seasonal snack with our game.

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