Midsummer: Day 1

It's the first day of our Midsummer celebrations! After a muted Spring Equinox and a Beltane curtailed by illness, we're really looking forward to at least some festivities this season. Fingers crossed we're not completely cursed! Today was all about our now traditional Midsummer picnic at a stone circle, though we stayed a little closer to home than last year.

Cheetham Close Stone Circle

This afternoon, we went hunting for a (sort of) stone circle in (almost) Greater Manchester. Cheetham Close is a megalithic site on the moors above Egerton in Bolton. It's the site of an early Bronze Age stone circle that was destroyed by a farmer with a sledgehammer in the 1870s. There are still remains that can be spotted, if you know where to look.

Midsummer Tea

We took a moment to take in the atmosphere of the season and the setting at Cheetham Close. There's only one tea that's perfect for drinking in the remains of a stone circle above Lancashire... Fairies Chapel from The Tea Crew!

Imbolc: Day 3

Another day of celebrating Imbolc! And Sunday happened to be our monthly Date Day (a very strictly observed tradition), so we planned a very lovely day together today. Here's what we got up to...

Picnic in Sunnyhurst Wood

We went on a picnic in Sunnyhurst Wood in Darwen today. And as is tradition (i.e., we did it last year), we went looking for waterfalls!

Imbolc Tea in the Woods

While we were in Sunnyhurst Wood, we took a reflective moment to enjoy the season. (The tea was Apple Crumble from The Tea Crew.)

Dinner at Croma

We finished off our day with a dinner date at Croma in Prestwich... with Salted Caramel Espresso Martini, Tomato and Basil Soup, Melanzane Parmigiana, Toffee and Chocolate Sundae.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 8

It's been an incredibly busy week, so today was a game of two halves. A litter-pick in the park in the morning, but then a quiet afternoon making soup and reading a book.

Today's Tea

Tonight's tea was Druids Dream from The Tea Crew. It's an infusion of hibiscus, apple, elderberry, banana, rosehip and strawberry. It's absolutely delicious and looks gorgeous, but it leaves the question: do Druids dream of bananas?

Today's Story

Tonight's classic tale of horror was 'The Vampyre' by John Polidori.

Boggart Hole Clough Litter-Pick

I was out in Boggart Hole Clough (a park that is reputedly haunted by a boggart) this morning for the monthly community litter-pick. It was quiet, but gloriously autumnal. I've taken lots of acorn pictures this year, but seem to have missed the conkers. Went to a big chestnut tree in the Clough today to look for some, and this is literally all the squirrels had left, the greedy little nutkins.

Mystery Allotment Squash Soup

Remember my mystery squash from Tuesday? Well, I cut into it and I really don't think it was a summer squash or a round courgette. I'm pretty sure it was some type of winter squash. Anyway, I made it into a soup with a red chilli (also from the allotments), and whatever it was it tasted great.

Tiny Birthday No. 18

I'd been saving Demon by Matt Wesolowski to read as a birthday treat, but, as I had a week off, I decided to reread the rest of the Six Stories series first, accompanied by Bertie's Revenge tea from The Tea Crew in my new upside-down cat cup (a present from Rob).

(This is how I'm celebrating my birthday this year - see here for the reasons why.)

Midsummer: Day 2

The second day of our Midsummer celebrations coincided with our monthly day off together, so we decided to have a trip out. Since Midsummer is (for some) associated with the Fair Folk, we decided to go somewhere that might (depending on what you believe) be a good place to spot fairies.

Midsummer Earrings

Since we were going to a (possible) fairy site, today's earrings were a sparkly fairy and star set.

Castlerigg Stone Circle

We took a trip out to Castlerigg Stone Circle near Keswick today. After a picnic near the stones, we carried on for a walk (which was a lot longer than we'd been led to expect!) through the stunning landscape around Blencathra to Tewet Tarn. When we arrived back at the stone circle, we took a bit of time just to appreciate the setting, accompanied by a cup of Fairies Chapel (lemon and wild berries) tea from The Tea Crew.

‘Sheep, Hay and Rushes’

I ended the day reading the second chapter about Midsummer in Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun: 'Sheep, Hay and Rushes'.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 18

Another day of Halloween, but another quiet one. Things are going to get busier later in the week, but today I'm content with my daily horror story and another Halloween-themed tea.

Today's Story

Today's story was 'The Words of Guru' by C.M. Kornbluth. This was another new one for me. It's very short but packs a lot into the space (quite a bit through implication and suggestion). It definitely leaves you with questions.

Today's Tea

Today's tea was Fairies Chapel from The Tea Crew, a green rooibos (don't think I've had one of those before) with fruit and berries. The lemon and raspberry give this one a nice sharpness and pleasantly light flavour. (And if you don't think fairies are very Halloween-y, you're reading the wrong fairy stories.)

31 Days of Halloween: Day 13

So today's Halloween activities included something pretty dramatic. I don't know if it was technically a Halloween-themed event, but it was pretty special so I'm definitely including it!

Firewalk!

So, today I walked on fire! Okay, technically I walked on hot coals but I think that's a pretty big deal. I took part in a sponsored firewalk for the We Love MCR charity... and it was amazing! I've seen a video that one of my friends took of me doing the walk, and I looked totally relaxed about it all, but in truth it was a bit of an adrenaline rush. Plus, I raised over £350 for the charity!

Today's Story

Today's story was 'Cinci' by Luigi Pirandello. It's another one I wasn't familiar with, but another one I enjoyed. An unsettling little piece (translated from the Italian) about a boy and his dog.

Today's Tea

Today's tea was Pendle Witches Brew from The Tea Crew, a spiced orange black tea that looks pretty Halloweeny to me! (Though it smells a lot like Christmas pudding mixture!) This one is dark and spicy and tastes like winter, but in a festive way. I can't decide whether to drink it all for Halloween, or save some for Christmas.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 8

Carrying on today with my story-a-day and my Halloween tea-a-day. I've got something a bit livelier lined up for tomorrow though...

Today's Story

Today's story was 'The Idiots' by Joseph Conrad. This one is far from my favourite so far, and I'm not even sure it counts as a horror story. Ah well, there's always tomorrow's story!

Today's Tea

Today's tea was Blue Moon from The Tea Crew, another very fruity fruit tea. (And if you don't think Blue Moon has any Halloween/horror associations, then you're watching the wrong films.) Although it's meant to be a blueberry cream flavour, Blue Moon tea is quite red, and it tastes of very strongly of purple Skittles (but definitely not in a bad way).