May Update

May's update! :) Read previous monthly updates here:

Jan: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/02/january-update.html

Feb: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/02/february-update.html

March: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/04/march-update.html

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


May began with Beltane on the 1st. (Although some people celebrate it on 30th April). You can read my Beltane post here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/05/beltane-2019.html

It was also my mum's birthday this month and I made a Birdies Perch Malteser slice (one of my favourite things to "no-bake") since she likes Maltesers. I didn't take a picture but you can see what it looks like here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2013/09/birdies-perch-malteser-slice.html

I made it for Oestara 2016 (with McVitie's Disgestive Nibbles in as well. I also like similar chocolate fridge square recipes and for this year's Oestara (Spring Equinox) I made a Malteser slice.

I also did some baking this month, red velvet cupcakes. I've baked red velvet cake several times before and had trouble with it. The first time I made it, it tasted horrible! (Maybe I put too much oil in?). And it's hard to get it to actually come out red. This time I used a recipe for cupcakes which you can find here: https://insideoutsideandbeyond.com/the-perfect-red-velvet-cupcake/

I couldn't get them red again, but I realised it was because I should have used gel food colouring as well. The recipe uses both but I didn't have a lot of money at the time, so only got liquid.  I'll remember that for next time! Apparently unless you use gel colouring, baking the cake makes it go a darker brown instead of red. I also made my own buttermilk but that shouldn't make a difference since I've done it before and it usually works fine. If you can't get buttermilk or would rather make your own, here's the recipe (at the bottom of this recipe for One Bowl Chocolate Cake which I made in 2017): https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/one-bowl-chocolate-cake-made-from-scratch/

The cakes were nice though! And I liked the cream cheese buttercream. Sometimes it takes me ages to mix it right and stop it tasting too "buttery" but this time it blended easily. So I was happy with the cupcakes apart from the colour! lol. Here's a pic:

It was also the Eurovision Song Contest this month. I enjoy watching it every year and having some food and drink with my family. This year I made some potato salad to have with bought food. I actually found this recipe a year ago but at the time I was making another potato salad for Eurovision. Here's the recipe: https://applytofaceblog.com/potato-salad/

Note: I keep having trouble loading this site, but could be my computer or my browser (Firefox).

It was really nice. I used spring onion instead of chives because they didn't have any at the supermarket that day, but the next day they had some, so we put some on the top later. I made the potato salad the night before Eurovision and chilled it in the fridge. Here's a photo (without the chives):

If you'd like to read my Eurovision posts on my entertainment blog, here are the links:

Countdown to Eurovision 2019!: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2019/05/countdown-to-eurovision-2019.html

Eurovision 2019 Favourites: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2019/05/eurovision-2019-favourites.html

After a warm spell over Easter in April, it's been quite a cold May, although it's warming up a bit now. It's 16 degrees C (60F) today. Since we're in spring and summer is coming, I've been making a couple of Vietnamese style iced coffees at home. (I drink iced coffee/frappuccinos year round but tend to make hot drinks at home in the winter!). I tried the new McDonald's iced drinks as well. I'm not impressed with the iced latte (it tastes bitter and is nothing like the adverts where the milk is left separate on the bottom!) but I like the Millionaire iced frappe.

Seems strange that we're already almost halfway through the year! 2 years ago I wrote a post called Reflections on my other blog Falling Petals, which was like an update on how the year had gone so far. It wasn't quite halfway through the year then, but last year I wrote a Mid-Year Reflections post and I think I'll do the same next month.

In the April Update I mentioned how in 2018 it seemed to take me till about May to feel really "settled" into the year. It didn't take as long as this year, I started to feel better when spring properly started and the weather lightened up, but I do tend to feel better the nearer we get to summer. Beltane marked mid-spring and the days are getting longer. Here's a pic I took at the park this month:

Buckingham Park, Shoreham-by-sea.

So now summer is almost here! The next sabbat will be Litha aka the Summer Solstice (21st June this year), which is the first official start of summer. I'm looking forward to that because it's my favourite season. :) In anticipation here's last year's post about getting ready for summer: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/06/getting-ready-for-summer_3.html


Note: I decided to add a couple of new categories to this end section. :)

Read: The House at Baker Street by Michelle Birkby, The Vampire Diaries: The Hunters: Destiny Rising by L.J. Smith, The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden (last in the Winternight trilogy) and The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins- another of my faves, I got it years ago from Sussex Stationers (they've nearly all gone now) for £1 and I've read it a lot!

Saw: The films Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (the new one about Ted Bundy with Zac Efron and Lily Collins) and Stree (Bollywood).

Current favourite songs: Gimme- BANKS, Never The Right Time- Janine and BET BET- NU'EST (K-pop).

Links I found useful:

Leeor Alexandra (of Living Lovelee) beliefs and affirmations video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VxRYxH6qZA

Your Courageous Life post on why your life matters: https://www.yourcourageouslife.com/why-your-life-matters/

Post about manifesting happiness and forgiveness from SoyVirgo: https://soyvirgo.com/spiritual-awakening-story/

Update 27/5/19: Also wanted to add a link to this post about feeling depressed and anxious during the change of seasons (the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes):
https://dooce.com/2014/09/18/dane-depression-fall-equinox/

I've mentioned before how I think I have seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and don't like winter, but I haven't heard as much about being affected during spring. I do think I have a "seasonal sensitivity". Although we're past Oestara/the Spring Equinox now, we are about to transition into summer next month (in the Northern Hemipshere), so I thought this post was appropriate to share, especially since I've been thinking about how I'm affected by the seasons. If you feel the same, I hope it helps you to put a name to it. :)

How is your year going so far? Hope it's been good. :)