FREE advertising Space! Can you believe your eyes?! We’re giving away free advertising space in our Festive December issue of the Abergavenny Focus! We must be crazy! Here’s the deal: You need to run an advert with us in December’s magazine AND come up with a festive promotional offer or discount for our readers. In […]
Focus Magazines
The local magazines for Abergavenny, Crickhowell, Brecon & Talgarth – Events, News and Advertising
Category Archives: Seasonal
Things that go BUMP in the night
It’s that spooky time of year again. Time to hollow out some pumpkins and don your best vampire teeth. Whether or not you believe in ghosts or paranormal activity, Monmouthshire isn’t lacking when it comes to reports of ghostly goings on. We did some research and found out about the resident spooks of some familiar […]
Beautiful Bluebells
Legend has it that a field or wood full of bluebells is intricately woven with fairy enchantments, with fairies trapping anyone passing by, particularly children. It’s unsurprising that a wealth of folklore surrounds these flowers, given that carpets of flowering bluebells are one of the most beautiful events in nature’s calendar. There are two types […]
Easter Oven-Baked Scotch Eggs
Scotch eggs are a classic picnic staple, but since their invention by Fortnum & Mason many years ago, they have become increasingly popular, with gourmet versions popping up in posh delicatessens and at Food Festivals all over the country. They do make a fabulous picnic food, but also go down well as a delicious lunch; […]
Nana’s Kitchen: Hot Cross Buns
My thanks for this recipe go to an experienced baker named Mike, who shared his knowledge and expertise with me and showed me how to achieve consistently excellent results with bread and buns. In the past my attempts have yielded fairly abysmal results, but not anymore! These buns are delicious and freeze well. I have […]
Easter Egg Trees
In Germany and Austria, it’s traditional to celebrate Easter by hanging hollow eggs from the branches of trees known as Ostereierbaum. It’s a custom that has gained popularity in recent years here in the UK, perhaps because it is a way of marking Easter with an alternative to gorging on chocolate eggs. One particular German […]
Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String
Instead of using shop bought wrapping paper this Christmas, why not recycle, upcycle or make your own? Check out our gift wrapping and embellishment suggestions below. Eco Wrap Vintage newspapers, old comics (not rare ones!) and pages from magazines can make great wrapping for presents, and won’t break the bank. Co-ordinating ribbons can be picked […]
Sproutng Ideas
Sprouts are a traditional feature of the festive table, but often get a bad wrap. This is largely due to poor quality raw ingredients or bad cooking. When choosing sprouts, go for small, tight, green sprouts, with no hint of yellow. Sprouts should smell sweet and not pungent or cabbage-y in any way. Those that […]
Ava’s Say
Recently I received a letter through the post. I love to receive letters and I love to write them too but sadly these days it seems to be a dying art form as people turn to email and text as preferred methods of communication. Ava Wright, who is 9 years old, wrote a beautiful letter […]
Christmas Around the World
Christmas is all about turkey consumption, cracker pulling and stocking stuffing isn’t it? Of course, we all know there is a much deeper meaning to Christmas, but what I’m referring to here are the deep-seated traditions with which we choose to mark the occasion. It’s always interesting to hear about the Christmas traditions that different […]
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