31 Days of Halloween: Day 19

It's Day 19 of our Halloween celebrations, and I had a couple of community events today (followed by a couple of horror films).

Pumpkin Earrings

Wearing my new pumpkin earrings today!

Late Autumn Walk in the Park

I led a Late Autumn Walk in the Park today for Friends of Crumpsall Park, talking about seasonal traditions, nature and folklore.

Samhain Walk in the Woods

And then straight after that, I headed to Blackley to lead a Samhain Walk in the Woods for Friends of Bailey's Wood, also talking about seasonal traditions, nature and folklore.

Black Forest Cake

Little afternoon snack after all the walking and talking.

Spaghetti Squash

Rob cooked our spaghetti squash for tea tonight. It was so good.

H is for Halloween

Carrying on with our A-Z of horror tonight, and the choice for H was a pretty obvious one!

I is for I Know What You Did Last Summer

And then a classic 90s slasher to complete our double bill.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 12

It's the twelfth day of our Halloween celebrations, and I think my cold might be starting to lift! Time to crack on with celebrating the season!

Park Write – Spooky Season

This afternoon, I ran a spooky-themed creative writing workshop in the park for Friends of Crumpsall Park.

F is for Friday the 13th

We were back on our Halloween A-Z this evening, starting with Friday the 13th.

G is for Ghost Story

And then we watched Ghost Story (after a bit of back-and-forth about which 'G' film to watch).

31 Days of Halloween: Day 6

Day 6 of our Halloween celebrations, and we were out and about for a lot of the day.

Litter-Pick in the Park

This morning kicked off with the monthly Friends of Crumpsall Park litter-pick. Mostly, this was an excuse to take pictures of mushrooms, golden leaves and cobwebs.

Roam for Cats

In the afternoon, Rob and I went for a 5-mile walk as part of our Cats Protection Roam for Cats challenge (we're a bit behind our target of 100 miles).

D is for Death Line

Continuing our Horror A-Z with Death Line...

E is for Eden Lake

... and then Eden Lake.

Autumn Equinox: Day 6

It's the penultimate day of us celebrating the beginning of autumn, and oh boy! we've got a lot going on today.

Crumpsall Park Autumn Equinox Walk

This morning, I led a gentle, social walk for Friends of Crumpsall Park to enjoy the changing seasons in the park (especially the trees!).

Hannah’s Bookshelf Autumn Equinox Special

This afternoon was my Hannah's Bookshelf Autumn Equinox Special on North Manchester FM, where I shared some folklore of the season, but also played a selection of original, seasonal flash fiction from some fantastic writers who contibuted to the show. Also... I brought in apple pies for the volunteers at the community centre where the radio station is based.

Cherry Pie

I've had a LOT of apple pie so far this autumn, so I thought I'd mix it up and have cherry.

Bailey’s Wood Autumn Equinox Walk

After the radio show, I led a seasonal walk for Friends of Bailey's Wood, sharing folklore and stories of the season and enjoying the woods getting its autumn clothes on.

Autumn Equinox Dinner

Tonight was our Autumn Equinox Dinner, and Rob made us the traditional meal of meatloaf and root vegetable rice, followed by blackberry crumble (made with blackberries I picked when I went mad for brambling at the end of the summer).

Autumn Equinox Gifts

After dinner, we shared our traditional Autumn Equinox cards and gifts. Two more whiskies to add to the tasting set we'll be enjoying in December.

Dark Night of the Scarecrow

For the past couple of years, we've struggled to find a film that could be our regular seasonal film (we've got one for all the other seasons). But... the quest is over! Our (newly) traditional Autumn Equinox film is Dark Night of the Scarecrow!

Autumn Equinox: Day 3

Day 3 of our autumn celebrations, and it was a bit of an outdoorsy day today.

Walk and Talk in the Woods

I led an Autumn Equinox Walk and Talk session for Friends of Bailey's Wood this morning. We shared some stories about the season and went mushroom spotting, before apple pies and cherry squash.

Autumn Equinox Poetry in the Park

In the afternoon, I took residents from Castlerea Care Home to Crumpsall Park for a seasonal Poetry in the Park session. We had some seasonal poetry (Keats is compulsory on this annual trip, of course), and then we went for a sensory autumn walk, finding little signs of autumn in the natural world. Me and one of the residents got pelted with acorns by some squirrels! Then we came back to the Visitors Centre for more poetry, dandelion and burdock, and some apple pies.

Cat Walk

This evening, Rob and I did another of our Roam for Cats walks for Cats Protection. It was a lovely autumnal walk with some very pretty trees, but we massively misjudged the timing and ended up having to quickly exit the park as they were locking up!

Autumn Equinox: Day 1

It's the first day of our week of Autumn Equinox celebrations! And autumn has arrived right on cue. Even the air smells different this week. It's weird, because I genuinely enjoyed summer for the first time in a long (I was pretty much a summer person by the end of it), so I'd almost forgotten how much I love autumn. But now that it's here... bring it on!

Mushrooms in the Park

Look at these gorgeously autumnal mushrooms in Crumpsall Park!

Autumn Gifts

A couple of little things to kick off our celebrations... my mum got us a little autumn mouse, and I got us a dinky wooden wheel of the year.