QueeneMab

For days when all you needed to do for a sniffle, sore throat and a bit of a cough was buy some fisherman's friends, snuggle up under the duvet in front of the telly and have a hot toddy.

*Puts final touches to red cross on front door, puts lid on paint tin away and scralws "GAWD 'ELP US" underneath in green crayon and retreats back in the house to make hot apple with ginger and brandy*

Apart from that my horrorscope is full of doom and gloom but on the plus side the weather was very nice today. Pretty Peaches and cream sunrise and sunset lots of sunshine today, but very very cold. There is a hard frost in the morning at the moment and it was nice and dry today which might be a good and healthy thing and get rid of some of the germs which are hanging about.

This spectaular pageant is the based on the Celtic tradition. It is a re-enactment, using contemporary dance, of the battle between Summer (light) and Winter (dark). The cast is huge, I would estimate nearly 200 people including their "security" team many of whom were also painted very splendidly.

The parade begins at the castle

The procession including the the Green man and cloaked Cailleach (hag or crone),

moves down past the Witchery

and the junction with Lawnmarket towards St Giles

where the Summer King accompanied by his colourful and cheerful court will do battle with the Winter King

whose more sinister followers include ravens and the wild hunt.

There are firedancers

and acrobats and it is very impressive.

It all ends happily ever after with the Winter King claiming his bride.

And they will continue to rule together until Beltaine at the beginning of May when the battle will commence again but this time for the hand of the Spring maiden.

And we all wandered off to the pub.

If you want to learn more about the Beltane Fire Society visit this page

http://www.beltane.org/

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Apparently a Halloween tube map has been produced to help us to find our way around all the spookiest haunts of London this Halloween. Wouldn't that be great.

Here is the link

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/events/article-23762773-celebrate-haunted-london-this-halloween.do

Unfortunately, apparently the following tube restrictions may affect your plans this weekend:

Bakerloo line
Between Queen's Park and Willesden Junction there is no service on Sunday due to Network Rail engineering work. For further details and alternative routes, please click here

Circle line
There is no service on the entire line due to track replacement work. For further details and alternative routes, please click here

District line
Between Tower Hill and Upney (eastbound) and between Barking and Tower Hill (westbound) there is no service due to track replacement work. For further details and alternative routes, please click here

Hammersmith & City line
Between King's Cross St. Pancras and Barking there is no service due to track replacement work. For further details and alternative routes, please click here

Jubilee line
Between Waterloo and Stanmore there is no service due to line upgrade work. For further details and alternative routes, please click here

Between North Greenwich and Stratford there is no service due to line upgrade work. This will affect services to North Greenwich station (for The 02). For further details and alternative routes, please click here

Metropolitan line
Between Aldgate and Harrow-on-the-Hill there is no service due to signalling work. For further details and alternative routes, please click here

Northern line
Warren Street station is closed for improvement work. For further details and alternative routes, please click here

Clapham North, Tooting Bec and Colliers Wood stations are closed for improvement work on Sunday from 2200. For further details and alternative routes, please click here

Piccadilly line
Piccadilly line trains will not stop at King's Cross St. Pancras station due to improvement work on Sunday. For further details and alternative routes, please click here
I see that a helpful Halloween tube map has been produced so that we can have lots of fun visiting spooky places in London this weekend. What a great idea especially as it is the last weekend of half term.

Isn't London a great place to be?

Pah!

X

But strangely, oh so very wide awake.

Nite nite.

X

Another mystery fungus, this time on our lawn and possibly unwelcome.

Un-nibbled by birds and beasts (squirrels), thereforeI am deeply suspicious. Is it an ink cap or worse a juvenile stink horn? I have decided not to take any risks and have disposed of it.

Am curious though, does anyone recognise the type?

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Have got a pan of home made lentil soup (Dahl to be exact) on the go to treat Mr S's cold and another pan of mead which I am warming with the intention of adding some ginger wine. Vaguely distracted about this and that I almost added some asafoetida to the mead instead of to the dahl. Might have been interesting I suppose...........

*cheers*

X

It is sparkling sunshine and a wedgewood blue sky outside today.

The front garden is still full of pink roses and fuscias - amazing how hardy they are! Sadly the dark red perfumed roses seem to have given up which is a shame as they are my favourites.

Today I am going to talk to Sarah about the meaning of Samhain as she seems to be very focused on Halloween as the traditional Christian rather Americanised festival. I was incensed to find that "someone" (ahem) has told her Christians do not celebrate Halloween!!! That is absolute crap, in Mexico it is celebrated as the day of the Dead and in Ireland it was always celebrated and the party games included fortune telling and predicting the future as well as scarey pranks. It is also a celebration of the 3rd and final harvest before the winter.

The American festival that we know in now seems to be an amalgamation of the two. I will try to explain that whether we celebrate All Hallows Eve as Christians or Samhain as Pagans, it should be a time for remembering and respecting one's ancestors and the beginning of the pagan new year a time for regeneration and rest. I have talked to her about the belief that on All Hallows Eve the spirits of our ancestors walked the earth, that the carved and illuminated turnip head or pumpkin was placed outside the door to frighten away evil spirits whilst we welcomed the spirits of our beloved ancestors into our homes with the feast and games inside. I want to try to explain how the pagan calendar tried to work hand in hand with nature and that in a sense in the modern world we are constantly spanking nature in the face. This morning, we will plant an amarylis and watch how although it looks dead and appears to be sleeping it is just resting and will grown in strength and come back to life in a few weeks and bloom.

After that we will go horseriding.

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Went to Hotel Chocolat today with Sarah and Nick. They were very generous with the free samples and so I was inspired to buy loads of chocolate for family and friends for Halloween.

These are really delicious http://www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/cid/BPQTLT6GK8P1Z4AF2XJ9K77PMHN3ZH4E/Halloween-chocolates-P430010/

Sarah has decorated the house with loads of tinsel spiders tonight and we helped her to carve a pumpkin lantern she has done it really well.

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Ever had these? When the salivary glands so all fizzy and feel like they are going to sneeze.
I find I get them from Wine gum sours and champagne. Can't decide if it feels good or bad.

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A replica handbag whatever that is. The spamming on here is seriously getting on my tits.

But joking apart, hope you all had a good week.

Thanks to Scoobydoofus I did get to see the Orionoids and they were well cool. Samhain is a magical time of year.

There have been some splendid sunrises and sets this week so that has been good too.

The trains were rubbish tonight btw, but then I saw the new moon smiling down on me for the first time this month as I waited on the platform.

Had some cornish yarg and a nice glass of chilled old jenevre when I got in tonight.

In other news I have a nasty cold.

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