This Saturday I shipped Laurel up to Lancaster for a bit of grandparental fun involving Wassailing. For those of you who don't know (and I didn't) wassailing is a pre-christian new-years and fertility ceremony performed to ensure a plentiful harvest of fruit (and thereby booze) for the following autumn. The residents of Fairfield put forth a most splendid presence in their community orchard armed with clattering pans and spoons (to scare away the evil spirits of course) and processed up and down the length of the orchard chanting:

Laurel looked on in fascinated confusion and when not licking her spoon (yummy turmeric) had a good go at bashing her pan.

Other entertainments laid on included the coronation of the Oak King and Apple Queen, a traditional, weird but funny Mummers Pay (yes they all got blacked up) and Libations for the Oak tree and all assembled.