Feeling Festive

[anyanka_eg]

I went to the farmer's market today and I'm finally starting to feel a little festive. It's not like it was all full of lights or anything but I feel a bit more Christmasy now. Possibly because I bought sprouts. Purple ones, not the usual green. Also purple carrots and purple kale. Okay, so I like the colour. I also bought a Lancashire Volcano!!

It's strong Lancashire cheese encased in wax to keep it fresh. I can't help thinking it's not that much like a volcano though.

The farmer's market is about 10 miles from my house over the moors. Think Wuthering Heights, just not quite so remote as the North York Moors. This is the West Pennine Moors
 

It was cold up there this morning. The back of Winter Hill (I live on the south west side of it) was still covered in thick ice because it doesn't get the sun at all I don't think. There weren't too many sheep on the road this time. Last time I came whizzing round a bend to be confronted by a cow in the road. Unnerving really.

The farmers market is at Hoghton Tower, which is a Tudor fortified manor house. The Hoghton family have lived there since the 12th century but the current building is only from 1565. Positively new :-)
 

It's believed that Shakespeare's lost years were spent here as a tutor. There's fairly good evidence that Shakespeare was a catholic and the Hoghtons were part of the Lancashire catholics when it really wasn't a good time to be a Catholic. The met in secret and hid priests to avoid persecution.

Enough history. I'm off to make gingerbread cookies with my new cookie cutter (reindeer shaped).