Beltane Festival at Celtic Harmony in Hertfordshire

Today is a holiday in England and luckily the weather is a gorgeous 22 degrees and sunny! We headed towards Hertford to attend a Beltane Festival at the Iron Age education centre Celtic Harmony.

Beltane is the Gaelic May Day celebration. It marks the beginning of summer and was when cattle were driven out to the summer pastures. Rituals were performed to protect the cattle, crops and people, and to encourage growth. Special bonfires were kindled, and their flames, smoke and ashes were deemed to have protective powers. The people and their cattle would walk around the bonfire, or between two bonfires, and sometimes leap over flames or embers. All household fires would be doused and then re-lit from the Beltane bonfire. Doors, windows, byres and the cattle themselves would be decorated with yellow May flowers, perhaps because they evoked fire. In parts of Ireland, people would make a May Bush; a thorn bush decorated with flowers, ribbons and bright shells. Holy wells were also visited, while Beltane dew was thought to bring beauty and maintain youthfulness. Many of these customs were part of May Day or Midsummer festivals in other parts of Great Britain and Europe.

Isaac was not very well so we did not stay for the music, dance and ritual (this evening), I was looking forward to it but I guess these things can wait till the boys are older. They enjoyed the time there and we liked using Celtic money instead of pounds. This is what we did today:

Walking into the site you can see the chieftain roundhouse on the right

First stop: sand pit

The play area was nice

The boys were captivated by the ravens

Campfire and basket weaving

They spent ages trying to send the smoke the other way!

We loosely followed a trail around the woods, I have to say it was
one of the best we've done, magical!

The event was sold out but not over booked and the atmosphere
was relaxed and very friendly

Exploring the woods

We were very excited by this but never found him... there was a storyteller
in that direction though

Our last activity, Reuben tried archery, he was very good but such a
perfectionist! He got upset he hit the target but the arrow didn't stick,
I heard him say to the instructor: I only have little arms...

Christmas at the Guildhall

We are very fond of the Leicester museums and enjoy attending most events aimed at children. For some reason we had never gotten round to visiting the Guildhall next to Leicester Cathedral, today my stepson Eddie joined us for some Christmas fun there.

The Guildhall is one of the best preserved timber framed halls in the country, dating back six hundred years. It has had many uses and lives. The Great Hall itself was built in about 1390 as a meeting place for the Guild of Corpus Christi (a small but powerful group of businessman and gentry). It was fascinating walking around the buildings and the boys had much fun running up and down the stairs and chasing each other round the halls, the buildings have had very many uses over the years and now it is a museum and performance venue. Our plan was to take part in the craft activities and the trail then see a puppet show there, by the time the show started Reuben and Isaac were very tired and we had to leave after only 10 minutes, Reuben shouting: "This is horrible, I want to go home!" was a good motivator to move!!! But they spent a couple of happy hours making puppets and searching for clues so I'm not complaining.

Remembrance Sunday

As a life long pacifist I am always in two minds when it comes to war related events, but it is undeniable that many (too many) people suffered during the two world wars and remembering those who died during this time is not something I can criticise. And of course, from a historical point of view it is very important for the boys to find out about these wars and the effects they have on us today. I took them to the d-day landing beaches in Normandy and it was a sobering and touching moment even though the boys are still very young.

Some background (thank you Wikipedia as usual):
In the United Kingdom, 'Remembrance Sunday' is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m. in 1918. Remembrance Sunday is held "to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts".
In the United Kingdom, Remembrance Sunday is marked by ceremonies at local war memorials in most cities, towns and villages, attended by civic dignitaries, ex-servicemen and -women (principally members of the Royal British Legion), members of local armed forces regular and reserve units (Royal Navy and Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Marines and Royal Marines Reserve, Army and Territorial Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Auxiliary Air Force), military cadet forces (Sea Cadet Corps, Army Cadet Force and Air Training Corps as well as the Combined Cadet Force) and youth organisations (e.g. Scouts and Guides). Wreaths of remembrance poppies are laid on the memorials and two minutes silence is held at 11 a.m. Church bells are usually rung "half-muffled", creating a sombre effect.

For children to find out more and engage is some activities, the CBBC website has some good information, and for loads of crafts and activities go to iChild

Here's some other activities I came across:

Coffee filter poppy flower

Fingerprint poppy craft

Memorial day poppy project

Our pumpkins! And why we do them in the first place.

After careful consideration the children decided to go with the traditional Jack-o-lantern. These are their efforts, the rain adds to the atmosphere!

 

The spooky one

The vampire one

The happy one (Reuben's)

 

 

And of course at this time of year they always ask me why we carve the pumpkins in the first place.

It is not certain how the custom of making jack-o'-lanterns at Halloween came about. However, it is thought to come from the British Isles, where turnips, mangelwurzel or beets were used. Turnip lanterns, sometimes with faces carved into them, were made on the Gaelic festival of Samhain (31 October–1 November) in the 19th century in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. Samhain was a time when fairies and spirits were said to be active. The purpose of these lanterns may have been threefold. They may have been used to light one's way while outside on Samhain night; to represent the spirits and otherworldly beings; and/or to protect oneself and one's home from them, they were sometimes set on windowsills to keep them out of one's home. However, others suggest that they originated with All Saints' Day (1 November)/All Souls' Day (2 November) and that they represented Christian souls in purgatory. (thank you Wikipedia, more info here)

 

Shortbread Angels

Ok it's clearly too early for Xmas but we came across THIS GUY:

 

... and we just had to use him!!!!

 

Our favourite shortbread recipe is a slight twist to the original, we use:

(to make about 10 to 14 biscuits depending on the cutter)

150g plain flour

25g semolina or ground rice

100g butter

1 small orange (use juice  and grated rind)

50g caster sugar

 

Baked for 12/15 minutes at 170 degrees centigrade or gas mark 4

Halloween crafts links

Hi, here's a few links to some spooky crafts you might like!
(click on the title to open website)

V is for Vampire!

Ghost footprints

Starlight pumpkin art

Samhain pumpkin heads

And finally a story for Halloween (listen or download), how was the first Jack-O-Lantern created?

5 minute halloween ghosts and bats

This was so quick and so effective I had to share!
Reuben needed some ghosts RIGHT NOW (he is very excited about Halloween) so we looked around the house for some handy materials to make some ghosts he could hang from his walls.

We first scrunched up some silver (kitchen) foil for the head, then we got a square of kitchen tissue paper and tied it around the head with some thread. Reuben drew the faces and I sewed some thread through the top of their heads to allow them to hang. Done!

Then of course we needed bats, even easier!
We used this picture:

Printed the bats out, cut them and added some string to hang them up with.

And Reuben's room is ready to be decorated!