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.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 7

I'm a little bit delayed posting this, but it's another day of Halloween! I had some work commitments yesterday that, while nice, were definitely not things I could count as seasonal celebrations (I have to be honest that afternoon tea with the Lord Mayor of Manchester isn't a Halloween event). I've decided that I really can't shoehorn them in, so this post will just include the 100% Halloween stuff.

Today's Tea

Yesterday's tea was Black Forest No. 1 from Tenacious Tea! It's got cocoa nibs and cherry pieces, so as you might have guessed it tastes like a cup of Black Forest gateau!

Today's Story

Yesterday's classic tale of horror was 'The Shunned House' by H.P. Lovecraft.

Halloween Earrings

I wore my bee earrings for afternoon tea with the Lord Mayor (of course), but I changed into something more seasonally appropriate for the evening.

Battle Royale

We spent an awesome evening watching Battle Royale (2000) with friends at Chapeltown Picture House last night. I haven't seen Battle Royale in a good few years, and I'd forgotten just how much fun it is!

31 Days of Halloween: Day 29

My Halloween month is about to go up a gear as we approach the big day. I've got a few things planned for this weekend, but Friday was a pretty busy day as well.

Dracula Film Afternoon plus The Raven

Today was the annual Halloween Afternoon at Castlerea House (the care home where I volunteer on Friday afternoons). I kicked things off with the now-traditional dramatic reading of The Raven, complete with audience participation. And then the big event was the film. This year, the residents voted for their favourite Dracula and Bela Lugosi won! I think there might have been something wrong with my popcorn though.

Fancy Dress Cluedo

Every Friday, me, Rob and my mother-in-law play Cluedo together online. In honour of the spooky season, we played this week's game in fancy dress. We each picked our favourite character and dressed up as them for the night. I think we did pretty well too - my mother-in-law knitted a 7' scarf especially for tonight, and I learnt how to tie a cravat! Rob's mask was truly unsettling, though and I don't know if he should wear it again.

Ten Tales

The second series of Ten Tales, my series of seasonal (and local) ghost stories continued tonight on North Manchester FM. The second tale in this series is called 'Nocturne', and it's set in Crumpsall.

Today's Story

Today's story was 'Not After Midnight' by Daphne du Maurier. By far the longest story in the collection, this one builds up slowly with plenty of intrigue and suggestion. Oh, and a slightly obnoxious narrator.

Today's Tea

Today's tea was We Are the Weirdos, Mister from Tenacious Tea, rooibos with orange, ginger and star anise.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 23

And another day of Halloween for me... not quite as busy as yesterday, but I still did a couple of seasonal things.

Whisky Tasting

Rob and I dad a lovely evening yesterday with friends at the first in-person Scotch Malt Whisky Society whisky tasting we've attended since lockdown. (The tasting wasn't Halloween-themed, but I was wearing a Halloween dress so it counts!)

Today's Story

Today's story was 'A Rose for Emily' by William Faulkner. I hadn't read this one before, and I did guess where it was going, but it's satisfyingly unpleasant (some of the language is unpalatable though).

Today's Tea

Today's tea was Stay-Puft Marshmallow Mint from Tenacious Tea. Amazing name, and intriguing appearance (and yes, those are mini-marshmallows). Not going to say this one is one of my favourites, but it's certainly... different.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 16

My Halloween month continued today, though I'm a bit tired after the week so far! We had something cool planned for the day that I've been looking forward to for a while.

Chilling Cocktails

Rob and I had a day off which we decided to fill with cocktails and horror films. We tried out some of the recipes in Chilling Cocktails: Classic Cocktails with a Horrifying Twist by Jason Ward, and teamed them up with the films that inspired them.

Reckless 80s Teenager

We're starting our film and cocktail night with Friday the 13th, and a cocktail Jason Ward calls the Reckless 80s Teenager!

Scrèam de Menthe

Our next film and cocktail combo was Scream and a cocktail called Scrèam de Menthe! Welcome to the 90s!

Redrum

Our final film this evening was The Shining, and we had the cocktail Jason Ward calls Redrum. Now, you notice that I wrote our cocktail as 'Red Rum', not 'Redrum', on my board. That's because, ever since we went to Southport, Red Rum has been my favourite celebrity horse. My favourite Red Rum story is that, after he retired, he lived in a field with his best friend, Andy the donkey. Red Rum loved Andy, so I feel like he would've wanted Andy to have a cocktail named for him as well. And so our final cocktail of the night was an Andy. Because you can't have Red Rum without his best friend Andy, can you? (This one wasn't from Jason Ward's book. It's all my own invention.)

Today's Story

Today's story was 'Taboo' by Geoffrey Household, a werewolf story! Or is it?

Today's Tea

Today's tea was All of Them Witches from Tenacious Tea, another spiced apple brew. The spice in this one is distinctly clove-y, which feels very seasonal. (This one also has an awesome name, but it's actually only my second favourite name from Tenacious Tea... we'll get to my favourite later this month.)