Lammas Lughnasadh crown

Happy Lammas to you all.

We are sat in the countryside, not 20 feet opposite a lovely large corn field which was harvested last night. The French it seems harvests at night all the time (we might too, it's just I've never seen it done then before) and the smell this morning is beautiful. The sun is shinning and the heat is high already (yeast out bubbling ready for the loaves in a moment).

So we asked if we could have a lttle of the corn, the farmer has left some in what appears to be no-man's land, amazing how far those seed throwers spread, and have started to make some dollies and a John Barleycorn crown for littleun.

All we did was plait 6 together for one side, six for the other and then with some course string tie them to form a round.

After that we weaved the remaining heads into the plaits and very quickly the crown formed. Littleun will wear it later when we have our meditation and give thanks. Later we are heading to a Dolmen, been there before and its lovely and peaceful, tucked away in a corn field we can connect with the earth so easily there.

Hope you all hve fantastic day, wherever you may be. BB

(ps sorry about the spacing on this post, blogger is being stubborn wth a mind of its own!)

Lammas/Lughnasadh, The weather held...

Well despite having a sea fog roll in the day before and slight rain first thing in the morning by the afternoon the weather was bright and sunny, in fact rather hot!

At sunset on Saturday we held our small family ritual welcoming in Lammas, the bread just freshly finished and warm on our altar, we gave our thanks for our good harvest. We have had the allotment only a short while but we have been very blessed with the abundant crops we have had in such time.

On Sunday we had headed to Eastbourne and joined the crowds at celebrating Lammas. Sitting with my family and friends sharing the Dwarfs loaf/Lammas Loaf I had made (anyone who reads Discworld will know what I mean by that!) and realising that although it looked great it was in fact an ickle bit on the tough side, was good. Soon delving into the pies and quiches I had made from our home grown ingredients, we were surrounded by the lovely sound of music and sight of Morris Dancers.

The great thing about Morris is that they encourage anyone to have a go and I have to say those children really did show us adults’ sense of timing and rhythm up! Finishing our feast and wondering around we came across many a craft from Pottery to Ironwork, Painting to Carving. Stopping to say hello to folk we knew and to congratulate those we didn’t know on their hard efforts took us to the gentle point of needing a refreshing drink so off to the music/hop tent.

Eventually though it was time to go, a fair journey home and a sleepy child to contend with. Hoping you all enjoyed your celebrations.

John Barleycorn at Eastbourne Lammas Festival

I have snuck out of the kitchen where I have been cooking all day (8 hours so far!) in preparation for our feast with our friends tomorrow. This is from 2008, hoping that this years is just as good! Blessed Lammas/Lughnasadh to you all.

Lammas/Lughnasadh: Courgette (Zucchini) Chutney Recipe

Sorry it’s yet another recipe day...

I like to make things (just in case you hadn’t already noticed that!) and definitely enjoy cooking as it’s both a great thing to do for your health and for the family unit to be together. Apart from our crafty things food is a big part of our life, from the planting and growing to the wondering what on earth we will be doing with all the crops we have managed to get.

This year, as in previous, we have a mass of courgettes and tomatoes. So I have again decided to make a chutney, lasts a long time and is something most people like so makes great gifts. It will also go well for our Lammas feast as an alternative to the rhubarb relish for the cheeses.

To make the chutney you will need:
4 lb courgettes
2lb 8oz onions
2lb 8oz brown sugar
Large piece of fresh ginger
1/2 tspn pepper
2 pints malt vinegar
2 heads of garlic
2lb 8oz tomatoes
1 tspn cayenne pepper
2 tspn salt
6 1lb sterilised jars and vinegar proof lids or parfait/kilner

Chop all the vegetables, add vinegar, sugar and spices and bring slowly to the boil, stirring now and again. If the courgettes have a tough skin, you can peel them and compost the skins.
Simmer for about two hours (don't forget to stir as it will stick) until thick.
Pour into heated jars and seal.

Needs at least 3 months to mature, which is why I, Blue Peter style, am using one I made earlier!

4 days to go yippee...

Recipe from allotment.org.uk

Lammas Lughnasadh: Altar-gether

He he please excuse the silly name for this post, just in one of those moods!

Right what I’m going to ramble on about in this post is our altar. I always try and involve Littleun in the making of our altar and we often start putting it together in the days leading up to the relevant celebration. Although it isn’t ever difficult to find something that Littleun wants to add, this particular celebration being for both Lammas and Lugh makes it easy for him to join in.

Last years small altar, got more space this year

There are so many little crafts that can be represented by him ranging from the corn dollies to drawings, berry bracelets, Apple candle holders or just candles made to look like apples, to name a few. This mixes both the arts and the harvest at the same time.

This year we have befriended a local famer who has been growing corn and wheat and has kindly given us some sheaths. We will start by making a horn for a cornucopia, then Littleun has said he would like to add the plastacine fruits we made (bunches of grapes) and some of the flowers from the allotment.

The colours for the altar are going to be golds, oranges, greens, representing the time of the year with the golden growth but that there is still more to come so the green for the continuous growing season.

If you would like to make your own apple candle holders it is very easy to do: (from about.com)

"Rinse and dry the fruit or vegetable thoroughly. Polish the outside with a soft cloth until the apple is shiny. Stand the apple up on its bottom, and use a knife or a corer to make a hole in the top where the stem is located. Go about halfway down into the apple so that the candle will have a sturdy base. Widen the hole until it’s the same diameter as your candle. Pour some lemon juice into the hole and allow it to sit for ten minutes. This will prevent the apple from browning and softening too quickly. Pour out the lemon juice, dry out the hole, and insert a sprig of rosemary, basil, or other fresh herb of your choice. Finally, add the taper candle. Use a little bit of dripped wax to secure the taper in place."

Right am off to find the maize maze with Littleun, more (if you aren’t bored yet) about our lammas celebrations later...

Lughnasadh/Lammas: How do you celebrate yours?

Well we will be mixing with good company at Eastbourne’s Lammas Festival. In its 10th year they will be celebrating with good music, beer and lots of little craft and extras stalls. The best bit? Well all profit goes to the RNLI so a worthwhile event.

We went last year and apart from the horizontal rain (yes it was that bad) had a ball. The people were welcoming and willing to natter about anything. The music was great and Littleun loved dancing to it whilst taking lots of photos. This year we will be going with some family & friends and taking a picnic with us.

Food for celebrating this time of year is obviously important. Lammas is the first of the harvests and with that in mind we try to represent each part in our feast/picnic. We make our own bread and as we break the first loaf remember the hard work that has gone into the growing of the wheat, remembering also to keep some of the grain to sow in the New Year. This year we have been particularly lucky with the weather and we give thanks to our family deities. The other foods we take tend to be things like a jar of the strawberry jam, some of our first apples, this time abundant in the garden, quiches made with the veg and salads again grown by us. Oh and a jar of cidre made by a rather pickled but clever friend!

There are lots of things good about the Eastbourne celebration one of which is the ability to mingle with crafts and arty folk. You can sit and get shown how to make corn dolls, or see leather work going on. You can try your hand at wood turning, in my case making a rather wonky wood bowl, lovely to look at but useless as things will fall out of the side as I got the angles a bit wrong! I like to sew so it’s good to chat with the girls and find out how they did the turn that looks wonderful but impossible, or where to find the right material for the bodice I am making etc. And of course the music I mentioned earlier is an art too. We like music in this house, never far from the radio or instruments and Littleun is becoming rather good at drumming so a perfect excuse to get up and join in the ceilidh that will be going on.

Well that’s how we will be doing ours, how will you be doing yours, do leave a comment if you fancy sharing!

What Path am I on?

For a long while now I have been reading and researching anything I could get my hands on. My ancestry is Irish so I was naturally drawn to the Celtic Path but thought it best to read about as many as I possibly could. One thing I have come to the conclusion of is that I am a solidarity pagan. It’s not that I don’t like others or want to hide away but more that in the area I live in most are solidarity and there isn’t a group or Coven nearby. Friends get together and we will at certain times take turns at our feasts/celebrations to lead any rituals but in general I go it alone. Plus at certain times of the wheel the locals go for it with massive celebrations, particularly at Beltane and Lammas/Lughnasadh and Littleun and I definitely join in with these.

I have read over the years about most faiths and beliefs, often drawn to the Egyptian pantheon and on occasion the Greek, but still can’t settle on one path. I know that this is the life I want and that like most things if it is worth doing then you will no doubt get tested but I feel a little frustrated that I still can’t seem to see clearly. I often feel lost, but then something will make me smile and seem to nudge me the right way forwards and more often than not it’s something involving Cernunnos / Green Man. Will I ever know the answers or is the nature of my Path to always be questioning?...