Yule 2024

The Friday before last (21st December) it was Yule/the Winter Solstice. I celebrated by having a chocolate Yule log from Tesco. I occasionally make my own but it's easier to buy one, especially during the busy time just before Christmas!

The Yule log was quite nice. I put two candles on top to represent the light returning. Here's a pic:

 

 

I also lit a red candle in the evening because Yule is a fire festival and the shortest day, so the light starts increasing from now on. Here's a photo:

 

 

I got the candles from Mayberry Garden Centre and I lit another one on Christmas Day. I could only get red this year, rather than both red and green. I just realised that I didn't have a free Cats Protection advent calendar this year, like I did in 2022 and 2023!

I'd planned to have some hot chocolate/cocoa in the evening but wasn't feeling like it, so I had some the next night. Just Green and Blacks that I got from the supermarket, rather than from scratch. (Some years I make spicy hot milk for Yule, although more recently I've made hot chocolate.) I did make some hot chocolate on Christmas Eve (based on my favourite crockpot recipe) and will probably try a new recipe for New Year.

So now we're "officially" in winter! It had warmed up a bit just before Christmas but it's feeling colder again at the moment (similar to last year). I don't know if we'll get any snow in Sussex this winter though. The temperature is about 9C (47F) during the day and 6C (42F) at night.

I didn't end up baking anything for Christmas this year and just bought a fruit cake and some vanilla icing to go on top. But I am planning to bake some gingerbread cookies for New Year. I'm going to write my last update post for 2024 (autumn-winter) next month, so I'll write a bit about Christmas and New Year in that.

The next sabbat will be Imbolg/Imbolc in early February and I'll do a post about my celebrations. Hope you had a good Yule/Christmas and any other festival you celebrated. (Or Litha/Summer Solstice if you're in the Southern Hemisphere.)  Happy New Year! Wishing everyone a great start to 2025. :)