May/June Update

It's time for the May/June update!  You can read the other updates (each covering two months) at the links below:*

Jan/Feb: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/03/januaryfebruary-update.html

March/April (+ Baking Inspiration): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/05/marchapril-update-baking-inspiration.html

May started with Beltane on the 1st. (Although some people celebrate on 30th April). You can read my post about celebrating here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/05/beltane-2020.html

Back in March we went into lockdown in the UK due to the coronavirus and this continued into May. So, there's not really much to report, I just went out for food shopping/essentials a couple of times a week, lol. In the past when I've been really depressed, I haven't gone out much, but in recent years I've been doing more things, so I've had to adjust that. (I do realise it would be more of a big change for some people).

We had some nice weather and sunny days and beautiful flowers blooming. Here's a picture I took while out one day:

Litha 2020

Last weekend it was Litha aka the Summer Solstice. (Sat 20th June). As I mentioned in my Litha + Summer Inspiration post I celebrated by making tomato and onion salad and lemonade. The tomato and onion salad is a recipe from The Kitchen Witch book by Soraya, and the lemonade is "Hello Kitty" lemonade (the recipe is from a Hello Kitty book!).

This year I also made some potato salad. The recipe is from Apply to Face Blog and I first made it for Eurovision last year (I like to have some food and drink while watching the contest). Here's a link to the recipe: https://applytofaceblog.com/potato-salad/

I actually forgot to check the recipe before going shopping, so missed some of the ingredients. It ended up being based on the recipe and being mainly potato and red onion! Never mind, lol. I did have some spring greens but we'd forgotten to put them away and they went off. I'm planning to make it "properly" this week. It was still nice though.

I had the tomato and onion salad and the potato salad for lunch with some chicken drumsticks, tortilla bowls and dip. Here's a pic:

Litha + Summer Inspiration

Note: I normally post on Sundays or Monday but I realised I forgot to post about Litha last weekend, so I'm doing it today instead! :)

It's almost time for Litha  and the official start of summer! This year it's on Saturday 20th June (tomorrow!). Summer is my favourite season so I'm looking forward to it, even though this year's summer may look very different to previous ones, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere Yule and winter are nearly here, so you may like these posts:

Yule Celebration Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/12/yule-celebration-ideas.html

Celebrating Yule + Christmas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/12/celebrating-yulechristmas.html

My Winter Round-up + Inspiration post: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/12/winter-round-up-inspiration.html

Yule Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/06/litha-inspiration_17.html

And here is a guide to both the Midsummer and the Midwinter solstices: http://www.stellaseaspirit.co.za/solstice-ritual/

For the past few years I've done posts with ideas for celebrating Litha aka the Summer Solstice and summer. You can see them below:

Litha/Midsummer Celebration Ideas (also a baking post): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/06/baking-no-yeast-dinner-rolls-and.html

Celebrating Litha + Summer: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/06/celebrating-litha-summer.html

Litha Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/06/litha-inspiration_17.html

This year I'm featuring more inspiration for Litha and ideas for celebrating summer. :)

March/April Update + Baking Inspiration

Time for the March/April update! This year I decided to do updates every couple of months rather than monthly ones like last year, because I sometimes found it hard fitting them in with the sabbat posts.

I'm a bit later writing this because I did the Beltane 2020 post last weekend. This will be quite a long post because it's covering two months. Also at the end I've included a baking inspiration section because lots of people are baking right now! So if you're here for the baking, just scroll down. :)

Read Jan/Feb's update here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/03/januaryfebruary-update.html

These past couple of months have been hard worldwide with so many cases of the coronavirus and lots of countries introducing lockdowns/quarantines. Late Feb/early March was like the last "normal" time here in the UK (before lockdown).

March started with my birthday. I had a good day, I got some nice presents and had a red velvet cake again, like last year. Then a few days later I went to Nando's with my mum, the Brighton one this time rather than the one in Hove. I had my "usual" (although I only go about once a year! lol), chicken butterfly (plain-ish), chips and Coke. Then for a change I had frozen yoghurt for pudding (dessert) and bought some carrot cake to take home. Here's a pic of my food:

Beltane 2020

Last Friday it was Beltane and  I celebrated by making guacamole and salad. I used my favourite guacamole recipe from The Kitchen Witch by Soraya, and the salad I made was this avocado one from Precious Core: https://www.preciouscore.com/simple-healthy-avocado-salad/

Last year I made her Kachumbari (Kenyan tomato and onion salad) for Beltane. As I said in the More Beltane Inspiration post, I thought it would be nice to add an African touch since I'm part Cameroonian (English and a little bit Scottish as well), and Precious who runs the site is originally from Cameroon. The salad was really nice and simple to make. I had both that and the guacamole with some ciabatta bread, chicken, tortilla chips and dip for lunch. Here's a picture:

More Beltane Inspiration

 

Beltane is coming up on 1st May, (a Friday this year). (Or Thursday 31st April, since some people celebrate from sundown to sundown on both days). The past few years I've written posts with celebration ideas and inspiration for Beltane. You can read them below:

Beltane Celebration Ideas:  https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/04/beltane-celebration-ideas.html

Celebrating Beltane/May Day: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/04/celebrating-beltanemay-day.html

April Update + Beltane Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/04/april-update-beltane-inspiration.html


Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere Samhain is coming! Check out my Samhain Celebration posts here:

Hallowe'en/Samhain Celebration Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/halloweensamhain-celebration-ideas.html

More Hallowe'en/Samhain Celebration Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/more-halloweensamhain-celebration-ideas.html

Celebrating Samhain/Hallowe'en: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/10/celebrating-samhainhalloween.html

Samhain/Hallowe'en Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/10/samhainhalloween-inspiration.html


This year I'm featuring more Beltane inspiration. :)

Note: Although this year's Beltane will be different due to to lockdown/quarantines because of the coronavirus, I hope you can still can find some things to inspire you. :)

Easter 2020

Last weekend it was Easter and I baked the frosted white chocolate cake that is one of my favourites to make. The recipe is by British chef James Martin and is a Madeira style cake with white chocolate in the sponge and cream cheese frosting. For more on the cake and the recipe link, visit this post: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/04/frosted-white-chocolate-easter-cake.html

 I made it on Saturday and then iced it on Easter Sunday (12th April). Some years I do it all on the Saturday, just depends.  Here's a picture: