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 15

Another seasonal celebration post, and hopefully this one will give a bit of explanation as to why these posts have been an important part of our festivities this year!

Advent Tea

Day 15 of my Bird and Blend Tea calendar was Morning Kick!

‘The Origins of Christmas’

I went back to my seasonal reading of Stations of the Sun by Ronald Hutton today. There are ten (ten!) chapters devoted to the history of Christmas, so I started off with reading 'The Origins of Christmas' today.

A Trip to St Ives

We went out for a little day trip to St Ives today. It was freezing! But still a very nice and picturesque trip.

Cornish Mist

While we were in St Ives, we went for lunch at Scoff Troff Café, a lovely little place we first visited when we were in Cornwall last year. And I tried their Cornish Mist tea (Earl Grey with vanilla and steamed milk).

Brandy and Clotted Cream Ice Cream

Even though it was freezing, you can't go to the seaside without having an ice cream! And Moomaid of Zennor had a festive menu, so that seemed perfect. I tried their Brandy and Clotted Cream flavour, which was absolutely delicious!

Seasonal Whisky Tasting

Throughout our year of celebrating the seasons, Rob and I have been buying each other little gifts of whisky to mark each season. The idea was that we would save them all up, and then enjoy a special whisky tasting session together at Christmas. We did this while we were away, and we accompanied each whisky with a look back over what we did that season (using these blog posts to remind us). We also had some little seasonal playlists and a cracking cheeseboard! This is definitely a tradition we're keeping!

The Gift

The next book I read while we were away was The Gift by Louise Jensen, though the titular gift is most definitely not a Christmas present!