Countdown to Christmas: Day 23

It's my penultimate post! Wow... did not expect it to take so long to publish these! But here's what I got up to on Christmas Eve Eve!

Advent Tea

My penultimate advent calendar tea from Bird and Blend Tea was Mascarpone and Sour Cherry!

Ninja Book Box Week 4

My final Ninja Book Box advent parcels brought Syd Moore's The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas, a little book charm/decoration and a recipe for Gingerbread Latte Fudge!

‘Misrule’

The penultimate Christmas chapter in Ronald Hutton's Stations of the Sun was 'Misrule'.

Bailey’s Wood Winter Solstice Walk

To celebrate the season, I led a Winter Solstice walk for Friends of Bailey's Wood today. It was raining quite heavily, but we still got chance to enjoy some holly, ivy and silver birches, plus some midwinter folklore and stories.

Countdown to Christmas: Day 22

This is a relatively short post, as it was the last day of our holiday and we spent most of the day travelling back from Cornwall. Still, we had a nice little stop-off on the way.

Advent Tea

Day 22 on my Bird and Blend Tea advent calendar was Moondrop Dreams!

‘Hobby-Horse and Horn Dance’

The next Christmas chapter from Ronald Hutton's Stations of the Sun that I read was 'Hobby-Horse and Horn Dance'.

A Trip to Truro

We usually stop off in Truro on the way home from Lizard to do a bit of Christmas shopping. I always like to pop into the cathedral to see their Christmas tree as well while we're there.

Countdown to Christmas: Day 21

Another very belated festive post! This one's about our last day in Lizard, before we headed back home for Christmas.

Advent Tea

Day 20 on my Bird and Blend Tea calendar was Mint Pistachio!

‘Mummers’ Play and Sword Dance’

The next Christmas chapter of Ronald Hutton's Stations of the Sun was 'Mummers' Play and Sword Dance'.

Muddlebox Cocktail

Tonight we opened our November Muddlebox box, and it was an Acapulco!

A Christmas Carol

Our final film at the cottage (as most years) was A Christmas Carol!

Black Lake Manor

And the last book I started while we were away (though I haven't yet finished it) was Black Lake Manor by Guy Morpuss.

Countdown to Christmas: Day 20

I'm still determined to get these all published, even though we're hurtling into 2023 now. This one is quite a big post, as we did quite a lot on 20th December. We'd had quite stormy weather while we were away, but this was a day when things calmed down a bit so we took advantage of that and went on a couple of trips.

Advent Tea

Day 20 of my Bird and Blend Tea calendar was Peach Soda!

Christmas Earrings

Today's Christmas earrings were a snowflake and Christmas tree combo!

‘Rites of Hospitality and Charity’

The next Christmas chapter I read in Ronald Hutton's Stations of the Sun was 'Rites of Hospitality and Charity'.

Coastal Path Walk

We went for a walk along the coastal path today to enjoy a bit of midwinter sunshine. Although the sun was shining, the sea was still pretty wild! And we got to see a waterfall as well, meaning that we ended the year in the same way we began.

Midwinter Greenery

There are some fantastic evergreens along the coastal path, including ivy and juniper, which was a nice reminder of the season.

Ann’s Pasties

A walk along the coastal path to Lizard took us straight to Ann's Pasties, of course!

Mousehole Harbour Lights

This evening, we went to Mousehole to see the harbour lights. Sadly, since lockdown, they haven't been able to do a big switch-on event as in previous years, but all the lights were up and on by the time we went.

Praze-an-Beeble

On the way back from Mousehole, we always like seeing all the little villages lit up for Christmas. One of our favourites is Praze-an-Beeble, who always put on a good display.

The Santa Clause

Our next bit of festive viewing was The Santa Clause trilogy!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 19

We're up to 19th December now, so I've only got a few more Christmas blog posts to write. The 19th was a pretty big day, or rather, it was the day we did a pretty big job!

Advent Tea

Day 19 of my Bird and Blend Tea calendar was Dozy Girl!

Christmas Earrings

Today's festive earrings were my dangly Santas!

‘Rites of Purification and Blessing’

The next Christmas chapter of Ronald Hutton's Stations of the Sun I read was 'Rites of Purification and Blessing'.

Apple and Blackcurrant Flapjack

We had another one of the flapjacks we got from Flapjackery in St Ives today... Apple and Blackcurrant this time!

Christmas Pudding

And this was the big job... it was time (slightly late, admittedly) to mix the Christmas pudding. I use quite an old-school recipe, which not only takes a lot of mixing, it takes a lot of steaming! (And as I'm posting this after Christmas, I can add that this year's pudding tasted great!)

Christmas Jumper Biscuits

Each time we go away to Cornwall, my mother-in-law buys me a festive baking kit to take. This year it was Christmas Jumper Biscuits. They look a little wonky, but they tasted great.

Muddlebox Cocktail

We caught up with another of our Muddlebox boxes today. This one was from September, and it was something called Sex on the Brain!

Nativity!

Our festive film tonight was Nativity!

Gifts

And tonight's (very festive) reading was Gifts by Laura Barnett.