Midsummer: Day 2

The second day of our Midsummer celebrations coincided with our monthly day off together, so we decided to have a trip out. Since Midsummer is (for some) associated with the Fair Folk, we decided to go somewhere that might (depending on what you believe) be a good place to spot fairies.

Midsummer Earrings

Since we were going to a (possible) fairy site, today's earrings were a sparkly fairy and star set.

Castlerigg Stone Circle

We took a trip out to Castlerigg Stone Circle near Keswick today. After a picnic near the stones, we carried on for a walk (which was a lot longer than we'd been led to expect!) through the stunning landscape around Blencathra to Tewet Tarn. When we arrived back at the stone circle, we took a bit of time just to appreciate the setting, accompanied by a cup of Fairies Chapel (lemon and wild berries) tea from The Tea Crew.

‘Sheep, Hay and Rushes’

I ended the day reading the second chapter about Midsummer in Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun: 'Sheep, Hay and Rushes'.

Midsummer: Day 1

It's Midsummer (Litha) time! We're onto our fourth event in our Year of Celebrating the Seasons! And it's a bumper celebration this time, as we've decided to do nine days instead of the usual seven (because we have stuff planned this weekend and next, so we wanted to include it all). So we'll be taking in the Summer Solstice and Midsummer's Day, as well as plenty of other days.

Midsummer Earrings

I've cracked out my next set of seasonal earrings... today's were strawberries and bees!

‘The Midsummer Fires’

I should probably have started reading this at the start of the year (tbh I've only just thought of it!), but I'm now accompanying our seasonal celebrations with the relevant chapters from Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun. I read 'The Midsummer Fires' tonight.

Midsummer Candle

We lit our Midsummer candle from Chalice Creations for the first time tonight as well... jasmine, rose, lavender, ylang ylang, geranium, helichrysum and melissa lemon to last us through the week.

Cocktails

Not strictly a Midsummer thing, but I've decided to count it! We've been rewatching Waking the Dead over the past couple of months. Our Waking the Dead rewatch is an annual thing, and we like to make a bit of an event of it. This year, I've been making cocktails inspired by the characters. Tonight's cocktails were based on Felix (aka Miserable Frankie) and Stella (aka French Mel). The recipes are up on my Twitter.

My Year in Books 2022: May

This is a bit of a disappointing post to write. Once again, there's only one book on my list for the month, and I'm posting it terribly late. I still seem to be having a problem reading for pleasure. I've read quite a few other books this month, but they were all for review or research. When it comes to just reading for fun, I'm still a bit stuck to be honest. Possibly (I'm not sure), part of the problem this month was that I got bogged down in a book that I just wasn't that into. I don't know if that was the book's fault or mine, but I've reluctantly decided to set it to one side for June to see if I can find something that sparks my interest a bit more. Sadly, it's not the first time I've done that this year, which isn't like me at all.

I don't know if this is an aftereffect of lockdown, or just a symptom of being really tired and busy. I hope it passes soon though.

Anyway, if you're interested, here are my lists for the rest of the year: January, February, March, April

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz (2021)

I bought this for the setting more than anything else. I like island mysteries, but I can’t remember reading one set on Alderney before. I also can’t remember if I’ve read any of Horowitz’s other novels, but I’m a big fan of his TV work (specifically Foyle’s War and his work on Poirot – which should come as no surprise!). A Line to Kill is the third book in his Hawthorne and Horowitz series. I haven’t read the other two, but that wasn’t a barrier to enjoying the book at all. Because of the conceit behind the series, there were quite a lot of references to the earlier two cases, but Horowitz avoids both spoilers and plot points that require some prior knowledge. The series features a character called Anthony Horowitz, a novelist who has previously worked as a TV writer, and who has now turned his hand to crime writing. This is an incredibly self-referential set-up! Horowitz (the character) is on Alderney with his detective muse, Hawthorne, to attend a literary festival and promote the first book in the series, The Word is Murder, ahead of the publication of the second book, The Sentence is Death. But wouldn’t you know it? shortly after the guests arrive, the festival’s sponsor is found dead. A Line to Kill is a lot of fun. I enjoyed the self-referentiality, and the use of the setting was nicely done. The influence of Agatha Christie is noticeable, but it’s definitely not derivative. I enjoyed this one.