[renee]

Happy Midsummer everyone. Here we had a frost last night!
Sweden celebrates midsummer in a big way. Tomorrow over half the population will have a hangover But they all start very innocently at about one o'clock in the afternoon when they decorate a pole with flowers and branches and dance around it.
Many are dressed in antional/regional costume
These photos were taken a couple of years ago. The lady is kindly showing me how to prepare flax.
The last photo is taken last year in the nearest village where I go shopping.I didn't go anywhere this year as my horses escaped and I had to mend fences

[mowhaugh]

Looks fun, enjoy your evening and hope you don't have a sore head tomorrow!

[Fleecewife]

Here the sun just dips briefly below the horizon, but tonight it's overcast so I won't see it.

Happy Solstice everyone 

[Lesley Silvester]

It looks wonderful, Renee. Love the costumes.


Not much is done here to celebrate - I hadn't even realised we had reached midsummer - apart from a few people who like to visit places like Stonehenge.

[Ina]

Would be nice if the sun came out tonight... Especially as it is a Saturday! But I doubt there'll be any festivities here.

[Bionic]

We are going to hear midsummer music at the National Botanic Gardens of Wales this evening.  The weather is forecast to be good but that doesn't really matter as the concert is under their big glass dome.


Taking a big picnic and some friends with us. I am driving though so won't have any alcohol myself.

[Victorian Farmer]

Yes its a festival when the sun shines bright.will be out for tea At summer solstice is the festival of Midsummer, sometimes called Litha. The God in his light aspect is at the height of his power and is crowned Lord of Light. It is a time of plenty and celebration.

[Mammyshaz]

Lovely photos and a great way to celebrate solstice Renee.
Happy Solstice celebrations to all 

[benkt]

I always notice midsummer as its our wedding anniversary! MIL is here to look after the children, a couple of members are sorting out milking and feeding tonight and tomorrow morning and we're off to a B&B for the weekend - in glorious sunshine.

[Treud na Mara]

Been a bit showery here but the bonus is that a rainbow landed on one of our bottom fields     Now all I have to do is persuade OH to go dig it up    Happy solstice everyone !

[plumseverywhere]

Been at a midsummer festival all day - hubby still there, I'm home to feed the goats!

fabulous day. Happy solstice all 

[renee]

I always notice midsummer as its our wedding anniversary! MIL is here to look after the children, a couple of members are sorting out milking and feeding tonight and tomorrow morning and we're off to a B&B for the weekend - in glorious sunshine.

So nice your family and friends can give you some time off. I am sure you will both enjoy the weekend.
Mowhaugh  , I am tee- total and don't even like tea.
Bionic, I hope you you had a nice evening.

[renee]

In Denmark where I have lived a long long time, they celebrate sankt Hans on the evening of the 23rd. There, they build huge bonfires to frighten the witches who then all fly to Bloksbjerg in Germany.

[Lesley Silvester]

I always notice midsummer as its our wedding anniversary! MIL is here to look after the children, a couple of members are sorting out milking and feeding tonight and tomorrow morning and we're off to a B&B for the weekend - in glorious sunshine.

Congratulations. Have a wonderful weekend.


We have just returned from Blists Hill Museum, which is a reconstruction of a Victorian mining town. This evening it was renamed Blitz Hill and had moved forward in time to the[size=78%] [/size][/size]1940s. Lots of visitors had dressed up and I wished I had. The staff were all in costume: land army girls, ARP wardens, Home Guard and many soldiers and nurses. We queued for ages for fish and chips served in paper not polystyrene, and ate them by the canal. The fair ground was up and running and we went in the tea room where, fortunately, the tea was not of war-time strength and we were entertained by a brass quartet. Then we went a little further and found where the 'BBC' were recording Workers' Playtime, playing a number of wartime songs. Then, amazingly, the compere,complete with a proper BBC voice, introduced the next act: a young lady from ENSA who, he said, had just had her 21st birthday. He helped her up on the stage where she sat in splendour and confessed that she is, in fact, 92. she proceeded to sing some war time songs in a voice that many a quarter of her age would envy. I just wish I had been nearer the front instead of right a back with lots of people standing in front of me. I would love to have videoed her. An absolutely wonderful evening followed by driving home and admiring a wonderful sunset over the Wrekin (our local landmark).[size=78%]

[Ina]

In Denmark where I have lived a long long time, they celebrate sankt Hans on the evening of the 23rd. There, they build huge bonfires to frighten the witches who then all fly to Bloksbjerg in Germany.

Hey, that's interesting... Is that the Danish spelling? (It's Blocksberg in German.) And the strange thing is, as far as I know, the witches turn up at the Blocksberg the last night in April... So somehow different traditions seem to have developed apart!  This happens especially at the Brocken, the Blocksberg in the Harz mountains (Blocksberg is kind of a generic term, meaning witches' mountain, but the Brocken is the most famous and the one that is usually meant).