31 Days of Halloween: Day 31

And so it's the big day! We were both working on Halloween itself, so most of our big celebrations happened on Sunday, but I still had some final things left to mark the season.

Today's Tea

My final Halloween tea this year was the appropriately named Samhain Tea from Raven Mystic. It's a ginger, cinnamon, orange and clove chai tea!

Today's Story

And the final classic tale of horror for my Halloween story-a-day was 'The Tomb' by H.P. Lovecraft.

‘Gunpowder Treason’

The last chapter from Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun for this season was 'Gunpowder Treason'.

Halloween Earrings

And my final pair of Halloween earrings this year were my cow-in-a-tractor-beam UFOs.

Halloween III

And a brill finale to my month of Halloween fun... watching Halloween III at Chapeltown Picture House with my brother. It was very cool that the screening ended dead on 9pm as well, just in time for the big giveaway.

And so the wheel of the year turns... We'll be celebrating again at Christmas.

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 29

On to Saturday now, and another busy day with several costume changes!

Today's Tea

Saturday's tea was the final vial from my Rosie Lea Tea gift set... Wolfsbane! It's green sencha with sea buckthorn and cornflower petals. Wow, I've had more sea buckthorn than I was expecting this Halloween!

Today's Story

Saturday's classic tale of horror was 'The Damned' by Algernon Blackwood.

‘The Modern Hallowe’en’

I read another chapter from Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun on Saturday... 'The Modern Halloween'.

Litter-Pick in the Woods

It was the monthly Friends of Bailey's Wood litter-pick on Saturday morning, and in honour of the spooky season, fancy dress was encouraged. Am I fleeing the Castle of Otranto? or am I on a community litter-pick? It's hard to tell!

Hannah’s Bookshelf Halloween Special

Saturday was also the day of my Hannah's Bookshelf Halloween Special on North Manchester FM, featuring the shortlisted (and winning) entries for this year's 3 Minute Scares competition. And, as is tradition, I presented the show in fancy dress!

Dinner with my Mother-in-Law

And it was Halloween Dinner (potato pie), dessert (pumpkin pie), and a film (The Lost Boys pie) at my mother-in-law's on Saturday night.

31 Days of Halloween: Day 28

Friday was quite a busy day for me. Mostly, it was work stuff, but there was still time for a good bit of seasonal celebration too!

Today's Tea

Friday's Halloween tea was Spooky Halloween Spice from Tea-Adora! It's black tea with ginger, coriander, cinnamon, orange peel and cloves!

Today's Story

Friday's classic tale of horror was 'An Inhabitant of Carcosa' by Ambrose Bierce.

‘Saints and Souls’

The next seasonal chapter of Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun that I read on Friday was 'Saints and Souls.

Halloween Film Afternoon

We had the Halloween party at Castlerea Care Home this afternoon. I did my annual dramatic reading of The Raven (with audience participation), then we watched The Mummy and drank a brew of Dried Mummy's Brains!

Fancy Dress Cluedo

Friday night Cluedo with my mother-in-law at Halloween can only mean one thing... it was the return of Fancy Dress Cluedo!