Countdown to Christmas: Day 3

It's the third day of our festive celebrations, and it was another cold one today. The snow settled a little bit overnight, and the temperatures didn't get up to much today. We had some festive missions today though, so time to wrap up warm!

Crumpsall Park Litter-Pick

Freezing cold litter-pick with Friends of Crumpsall Park, followed by mulled apple juice and mince pies in the park.

Christmas Earrings

I wore my lovely new Christmas earrings today... a pair of mince pies from So Berry Crafty.

Mulled Apple Juice

I had a little bit of the mulled apple left from this morning, so we took it round to my mother-in-law's for a little festive drink.

Christmas Trees

Today's main festive mission was helping my mother-in-law put up her Christmas trees. My mother-in-law takes her Christmas trees very seriously, so this is a big job. We were rewarded with the second roulade of the weekend.

Advent Tea

Behind Door No. 3 in my Bird and Blend Tea advent calendar... Candy Floss at the Fair!

Avon Advent Calendar

And behind Door No. 3 in my Avon jewellery calendar... a pearl pendant!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 2

Second day of our festive countdown, and it was a very cold one. We thought we were wrapped up warm enough for our afternoon out, but perhaps another layer or two would have been good! It snowed though, so that was pretty special.

Road Trip Mince Pie

On a festive road trip and eating a mince pie. It's December, baby!

Winter Foraging

We went on a (very, very cold but really enjoyable) winter foraging workshop this afternoon with Forage Box, finding rosehips, hawthorn berries, garlic mustard, artists conk, trooping funnels and loads more, then warming up with a cup of wild mulled wine.

Trooping Funnel

Taste-testing a trooping funnel mushroom! And we definitely approve!

Saturday Night Dinner

We went to my parents' for dinner tonight. First roulade of the weekend!

Advent Tea

Behind Door No. 2 in my Bird and Blend Tea advent calendar... Whisktea!

Advent Jewellery

And behind Door No. 2 in my Avon jewellery calendar... a pearl pendant!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 1

It's the first day of our Christmas countdown! Lots of festive things to look forward to before the big day!

Advent Calendars

We take advent calendars very seriously in our house. Rob has his wooden winter village calendar, which I fill with teeny tiny envelopes each containing a chapter of a teeny tiny story I've written for him. And I've got a Bird and Blend Tea calendar (from Rob) and an Avon jewellery calendar (that I bought for myself in last year's sale!). It's not in the picture, but the cats also have an advent calendar.

Christmas Earrings

I wore my first new pair of Christmas earrings today... sparkly holly leaves from 22 Jewels.

Santa Cupcake

Got a festive but kinda trippy cupcake from the local shop.

Advent Tea

Behind Door No. 1 in my Bird and Blend Tea advent calendar... Brighton Rock!

Advent Jewellery

And behind Door No. 1 in my Avon jewellery calendar... a silver chain!

Events in December 2023

Bailey's Wood Festive Winter Walk and Talk
Wednesday 6th December
11.00–12.30pm
Friends of Bailey's Wood
I'll be leading a gentle, social walk in the woods with a festive theme
Booking Link

Virtual Writing Retreat
Sunday 10th December
10.30–5.00pm
Hannah's Bookshelf
I'm hosting an online writing retreat for creative writers with writing exercises and structured writing sessions
Members Event

Winter Solstice Walk in the Woods
Friday 22nd December
2.30–3.30pm
Friends of Bailey's Wood
I'll be leading a sociable walk in the woods to enjoy the changing seasons
Booking Link

Interested in booking me for an event? Click here to find out more.

My Year in Books 2023: November

Just one book on this month's list. Oops. Like last month, it was a bit of a busy time, so I guess that's my excuse!

In case you're interested, here are my reviews from the rest of this year: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October

The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware (2018)

This book was a library book, and it looked so interesting that I started it the day I checked it out (which almost never happens!). I’ve read one of Ware’s other books – One by One – and I quite enjoyed that one, so I had a rough idea what to expect. The thing that appealed to me most with this one was the setting: a creepy and dilapidated house in Cornwall. Hal Westaway is a young woman eking out a living reading tarot cards on Brighton Pier after the death of her mother. She receives a letter from a solicitor informing her that her grandmother, Hester Mary Westaway, has died and left Hal an inheritance. The problem is… Hal’s grandmother wasn’t called Hester. Hal decides to risk a bit of deception and, instead of letting the solicitor know they’ve made an error, she travels to Cornwall in the hope of passing herself off as an heir. What she finds at Mrs Westaway’s crumbling old mansion is a dysfunctional family with Agatha Christie levels of secrets and resentments, and a Mrs Danvers-esque housekeeper (it is Cornwall, after all). Hal is out of her depth. For all her claims of being good at cold reading, she misses various hints that would help her avoid trouble, and she frequently gives herself away by forgetting her cover story. The final revelations are quite easy to guess, and some of the characters are kinda OTT, but you cannot fault the eeriness and atmosphere of this one.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 31

It's the big day! Wow! I can't believe it's been a whole month... because it feels more like years. Can anyone actually remember when I started celebrating Halloween? I know I said I was going to do it properly this year, but I think I may have gone above and beyond. Anyway... here's what we got up to on the actual day itself.

Pumpkin and Ginger Tea Bread

The perfect Halloween breakfast.

Samhain Tea

Samhain Tea break! Chai with ginger, cinnamon, orange and clove (with pumpkin sprinkles) from Raven Mystic!

Ghost Pumpkin Frappuccino

Work meeting in Starbucks. So... Ghost Pumpkin Frappuccino it is then. Lot going on in this one. Lot going on.

Halloween Dinner

Halloween Dinner at my mother-in-law's... Potato Pie followed by Pumpkin Pie. So much pie! And ghosts!

31 Halloween Films: Death Line

We brought one of the films on our list round to my mother-in-law's to watch tonight. MIND THE DOORS!

31 Days of Halloween: Day 30

Thought I'd take advantage of a sort-of day off to do some Halloween cooking to use up leftover veg before our next delivery. I think I went a bit overboard. There were no clean spoons left in my house. No spoons at all. But there was some nice seasonal food.

Pumpkin and Pepper Soup

I called this Pumpkin and Pepper Soup, because there were four different types of pepper in it! Red pepper, green pepper, a little bit of chilli and quite a bit of black pepper. Plus pumpkin, of course.

Apple and Pear Crumble Cake

I don't want to sound too arrogant, but I think this might be the greatest cake anyone has ever made.

Halloween Notebook

New notebook!

31 Days of Halloween: Day 29

A slightly quieter day today, but still chock-full of Halloween goodness!

Samhain Forest Bathing

Just perfect Samhain forest bathing session this afternoon with Natalie Rossiter Wellbeing, finding beauty in decay, sycamore for protection and messages in the trees, then soul cakes, mulled apple juice and reflection by the fire.

Autumn Charm

One of the things we did on today's Samhain forest bathing was to make up our own plant folklore. The idea of let-go leaves and holly to prevent the holding of grudges seemed particularly apt, so I collected some up and made myself a little autumn charm.

Halloween Cupcakes

Halloween cupcakes!

31 Halloween Films: Resident Evil

Back to our film list this afternoon, and the random number generator has decreed that we are watching Resident Evil this evening!

Halloween Dinner

We had our traditional Halloween Dinner tonight... Pumpkin and Sausage Casserole!

Halloween Gifts

And after dinner, we exchanged our traditional Halloween gifts... the final two whiskies for our seasonal tasting sets that we'll have in December.

31 Halloween Films: Dracula: Prince of Darkness

There is a small chance we won't make it through all of our list by the end of October, but for tonight, we have Dracula: Prince of Darkness.