Shifting into Winter + Yule/Christmas Links

I normally post on Sundays or Mondays but was a bit behind with this post, so it's on a Tuesday instead. :)

Winter is starting or has already started, depending on whether you go by the meterological or astronomical start. Earlier this year I wrote two posts about moving into the next season,. Easing into Spring and Easing into Autumn. I didn't write one for summer this year but last year I did a post called Shifting into Summer, so this post will be the seasonal equivalent of that one. :) 

Note: If summer is starting where you are, you can see the Shifting into Summer post here (or click on the link above): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/06/shifting-into-summer.html

 

As I've mentioned before,  I find moving from winter into spring an easier transition than going from summer into autumn, because summer is my favourite season. I feel sad to see it ending and I find the colder weather of autumn and winter depressing. 

And I find the time of year when we move from autumn into winter quite sad because autumn is a beautiful time with all the leaves changing and different colours. Also, it's not too cold and bleak yet. But although winter is my least favourite season there are still good things about it, such as Yule/the Winter Solstice and Christmas, and "cosy vibes"!

Back in 2017 I wrote a post called Getting Ready for Winter. You can see it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/12/getting-ready-for-winter.html

In that post I mentioned that there are two "official" starts to winter- 1st December and around 20th December, which is the day of the Winter Solstice. The exact date varies each year. 

Hallowe'en/Samhain 2024

On Thursday the week before last (31st October) it was Hallowe'en and Samhain. I celebrated by carving a pumpkin, putting up decorations and making some food and drink. Unfortunately I wasn't well on the day itself, so I had a slightly delayed celebration! 

I put the decorations up on Hallowe'en (I like to decorate then and keep them up until the beginning of December!). And I made my favourite Demon's Blood drink  (ginger beer mixed with apple juice and orange juice), which is a recipe from The Real Witches' Kitchen book by Kate West.

Then the next day when I was feeling a bit better, I made the food and drink. I baked gingerbread skeletons and made some potato salad (one of my favourite types to make, which is based on a recipe from the book The Kitchen Witch by Soraya).

I normally use spring onion and chives for the potato salad rather than rosemary which is in the recipe, since it's quite strong. But this year I decided to use rosemary for a change. It was quite nice, I didn't use too much. I didn't take a picture but if I make it with rosemary again next year, I'll take one then. :)

I had the potato salad with some buffet type food from the supermarket (cheese and pineapple, paella arancini balls, halloumi fries etc.).

Here's a picture of the pumpkin:

 

Summer-Autumn Update (2024) + Happy Samhain/Hallowe'en!

It's October once again and time for my summer-autumn update! You can see my previous updates for 2024 at the links below:

Winter-Spring Update (2024) https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2024/04/winter-spring-update-2024.html

Spring-Summer Update (2024) + Happy Lammas! https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2024/07/spring-summer-update-2024-happy-lammas.html

I've also included a section with Samhain/Hallowe'en inspiration, so scroll down to the bottom for that. :)

In mid-July I went to a belly dance event called Yallabina!, which was co-hosted by Nadia Undine whose classes  I've been to. I watched performances and danced a bit at the end. It was the first time I'd danced this year, so it was nice to get back to it. 

At the beginning of August I celebrated Lammas. You can see my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2024/08/lammas-2024.html

 

Then in mid-August I went to Five Guys at Brighton Marina. I got a burger and chips (fries), Coke and a chocolate milkshake.

Here are a couple of photos I took at the marina:

Madron 2024

Last weekend (Sunday 22nd September) it was Madron, also known as Mabon and the Autumn Equinox. My main celebration for this sabbat is baking and this year I made a gingerbread traybake. The recipe is from The Baking Explorer: https://thebakingexplorer.com/gingerbread-traybake/

When I've baked gingerbread cakes or muffins in the past, I've often made a cream cheese frosting (one of my favourites is from the James Martin white chocolate Easter cake I've made several times). But this time I made the buttercream icing that goes with the recipe. It's a simple one made out of butter, icing sugar, ground ginger and vanilla extract.

The traybake itself was quite nice. Here's a picture:

Pic taken before I cut it!

 

Easing into Autumn

I normally post on Sundays or Mondays but I was behind with another post on my entertainment blog Star Sparkle Blog, so I'm posting on a Tuesday instead. :) 

Autumn is starting (or has already begun, depending on whether you go by the astronomical or meteorological start). Back in March, I wrote a post called Easing into Spring, so I thought I would do the same for autumn. :)

I've previously written a few posts about getting ready for autumn, which you can read at the links below:

Getting Ready for Autumn: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/09/getting-ready-for-autumn.html

Celebrating Madron + Autumn: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/09/celebrating-madron-autumn.html

Summer Photos + Preparing for Autumn: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/09/summer-photos-preparing-for-autumn.html

Saying Goodbye to Summer, Moving into Autumn: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/09/saying-goodbye-to-summer-moving-into.html

 

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, spring is starting! You might like my Easing into Spring post: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2024/03/easing-into-spring.html

 

This time I'm sharing  a few links with inspiration for autumn and also for the autumn festival Madron/Mabon aka the Autumn Equinox. Madron is on 22nd September this year (Sunday).

As with the spring post, I've called this one Easing into Autumn because the start of a season is a transitional time. Sometimes you might feel ready to go straight into the next season, while other times you might want to go slower. And of course the weather often varies, especially in the UK!

Lammas 2024

The other week it was Lammas (Thursday 1st August). Although some people may celebrate on 31st July or 2nd August. My main celebration was baking, I made gingerbread and also some bread (using a mix).

The gingerbread recipe is the BBC Good Food one that I've used for the past few years: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/gingerbread_men_99096

This Lammas I made bear and cat shapes as well as the "men"! I used cookie bear and cat cutters that my friend gave me for my birthday. :) I used ready made icing this year. Here's a pic:

Spring-Summer Update (2024) + Happy Lammas!

I planned to write this post last weekend but had internet problems. So I'm doing it this weekend instead. :) 

We're now more than halfway through the year, so it's time for my 2nd quarterly update of 2024! I write them in April, July, October and January (covering the previous 3 months), so technically they're not all in the same year, but never mind! lol. Anyway, here is my spring-summer update. :) 

You can see my winter-spring (2024) update here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2024/04/winter-spring-update-2024.html

 

I wasn't really up to a lot during April, apart from a Happy Café (Action for Happiness) meetup and walking in the park.

At the end of the month I went to Lancing Beach as part of my Beltane celebrations and then had my main celebration on 1st May. You can read my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2024/05/beltane-2024.html

 

Here are a couple of pictures I took during April and May:  

Churchill Square, Brighton- April.