Countdown to Christmas: Day 9

Another belated Countdown to Christmas post from me. I'm wondering if I'll get all of these up before the big day. I can but try!

Advent Tea

Today's advent tea from my Bird and Blend Tea calendar was Irish Cream!

Ninja Book Box Week 2

This week's Ninja Book Box advent parcels included A Bespoke Murder by Edward Marston and a lovely homemade paper decoration!

Castleton Literary and Scientific Society Talk

I gave a talk tonight to the Castleton Literary and Scientific Society (that's Castleton, Rochdale, not Castleton, Derbyshire) on one of the my favourite subjects: the Medieval Blackley Deer Park. Eagles! Boar! Unauthorized deer leaps! Bankrupt barons! It's got it all! And although it wasn't strictly speaking a festive talk, the drive there was amazingly Christmassy with all of Middleton and Castleton lit up and sparkling through the wintery mists. Just beautiful.

Countdown to Christmas: Day 8

The Countdown to Christmas (and the countdown to our December holiday!) continues. It was mostly work-but-make-it-festive today, though the very wintery weather certainly helped with the festive feel!

Advent Tea

Today's advent tea from my Bird and Blend Tea calendar was Cold Weather Warrior (much needed today)!

A Winter Walk

I had a very frosty estate walk with my colleague this morning. It was a wee bit nippy, but it didn't half look festive!

Boggart Hole Clough

The lake in Boggart Hole Clough looked absolutely stunning in the icy weather today! (And the mince pies at the Lakeside Cafe weren't half bad either!)

Dam Head and Crosslee Christmas Party

The Dam Head and Crosslee Tenants and Residents Association held a lovely Christmas party for older residents on the estates today. Hotpot, massive cakes (seriously, massive), music, a festive quiz and Christmas cards made by kids at the local school.

Countdown to Christmas: Day 7

Another somewhat belated Christmas post, and another rather short one, I'm afraid.

Advent Tea

Today's advent tea from my Bird and Blend Tea calendar was Milk Oolong Chai!

Ronald Hutton Lecture

Tonight I attended an online lecture by Ronald Hutton at Gresham College, on 'Paganism in Roman Britain'. (I know it wasn't actually seasonal, but I'm counting it as part of my seasonal celebrations anyway!) Really enjoyed this one (which is part of a lecture series that will run throughout the year).

Countdown to Christmas: Day 6

Today's post is late going up and very short. The only thing on today's list is my advent tea, and I didn't even get chance to drink that on the 6th. Hopefully, I'll get caught up a bit before the big day (though I'm not counting on it)!

Advent Tea

Today's advent tea from my Bird and Blend Tea calendar was Earl Grey Creme!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

Countdown to Christmas: Day 5

Another belated Christmas blog for me, with some tea, some earrings and a delicious festive meal!

Advent Tea

Today's advent tea from my Bird and Blend Tea calendar was Piña Colada!

Christmas Earrings

Today's Christmas earrings were a pair of red jingle bells!

Dinner at Bundobust

I had such a lovely evening with a friend at Bundobust in Manchester tonight. We tried out Bundobust's festive menu, and I can confirm that sprout bhaji with cranberry chutney is the new taste of Christmas for me.

Countdown to Christmas: Day 4

Another Christmas Countdown blog post from me. It's not the longest post I've done, but that's because I was gearing up for a big week of work before our big December holiday!

Advent Tea

Today's advent tea from my Bird and Blend Tea calendar was Snowball Hot Cocoa!

Christmas Earrings

Today's Christmas earrings were these cheeky-looking Santas!

Litter-Pick in the Park

We were at the monthly Friends of Crumpsall Park litter-pick today. Not festive in itself, but it did give us the opportunity to enjoy a lot of seasonal greenery that definitely had a strong Christmas vibe.

Countdown to Christmas: Day 3

Another day of celebrating the Christmas season, and another blog post that's a little late! It really was a very busy start to December!

Advent Tea

Today's advent tea from my Bird and Blend Tea calendar was Rhubarb and Custard!

Elf Bath Bomb

A festive bathtime with an elf bath bomb from Bomb Cosmetics!

Ghost Stories at the Old Library

We had a fab night tonight at Levenshulme Old Library, listening to ghost stories by lantern-light, written and told by Richard V. Hirst, Adam Farrer, Melissa Wan and Marie Crook. Proper seasonal entertainment.

Countdown to Christmas: Day 2

Another belated Christmas blog post from me! It feels like the first part of December was a bit of a blur, but (not to jump ahead too much) we discovered later on the in the month why these seasonal blog posts are important to us, so I'm going to keep trying to catch up with them, even if it's posted a little after the fact.

Advent Tea

Catching up on my Bird and Blend Tea advent calendar... Day 2 was Chocolate Digestives!

Ninja Book Box Week 1

I opened the first lot of parcels from my Ninja Book Box advent calendar today. Advent Week 1 gave me Insignificance by James Clammer and a lovely little gift edition of 'The Gift of the Magi' by O. Henry!

Charlestown Age Friendly Benches Launch

Very much a 'work, but make it festive' thing today... I was at the launch of the Charlestown Age Friendly Benches this morning. I wasn't able to stay for all of it, but I did enjoy the Whitemoss Youth Club's hospitality (including soup and karate!).

Countdown to Christmas: Day 1

Our Year of Celebrating the Seasons has reached the big finale! It's time for the Countdown to Christmas! We have a lot of festive things planned for December, but also a lot of work things to do so I've not been able to keep on top of these blog posts in the same way as I have done for the other seasons. I think I'm probably going to have to splurge about 20 of them at the same time. Ah well!

Advent Calendars

 We take advent calendars very seriously in this house. Not least the cat, who has been staring at the cupboard door for 11 months now, waiting for the wonderful day when his advent calendar will appear. I make Rob's calendar each year - little letters in each of the drawers that are usually a story, but this year a puzzle. Rob got me a Bird and Blend Tea Co. calendar this year, and I also got a Ninja Book Box calendar for myself as well (with weekly, rather than daily, festive gifts).

Advent Tea

After all the work we put into getting the perfect advent calendars, I nearly ran out of time to open mine! Day 1 of my lovely Bird and Blend Tea calendar was Gingerbread Chai!

Christmas Earrings

It's the 1st December, so I got my Christmas earrings out today. My first pair were my white Christmas tree/reindeer combo.

Library Visit

We did our monthly visit to the Avenue Library today. Although that's not festive in itself, the library was decorated for Christmas, and I tried to get some vaguely seasonal books out (or, at least, books I'd like to read over the festive season).

Christmas Crisps

Since it's December, me and my brother decided to try something festive on our weekly game night. We had some of Tesco's festive crisps: Pigs in Blankets and... Christmas Pudding flavour??