It's already October, so it's time for my 3rd quarterly update- summer to autumn! You can see my previous updates at the links below:
Winter-Spring Update (2022): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/04/winter-spring-update-2022.html
Spring-Summer Update (2022): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/07/spring-summer-update-2022.html
In early July I went to a metal fusion belly dance workshop in Portslade with Lianna Greene, which was fun. It's been good to get back into dancing again this year (after the lockdowns and uncertainty due to the pandemic) although I'm not currently attending regular classes.
I also went to Lancing Beach at sunset during July. It was more of a "gentle" sunset but still nice. Here's a photo:
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| Sunset at Lancing Beach. |
I filmed a short video as well (YouTube Shorts) which you can see here: https://youtube.com/shorts/uL7YNV3qcfw?feature=share&si=EMSIkaIECMiOmarE6JChQQ
It was also during July that our Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that he was resigning as Conservative leader and stepping down as PM. He stayed on while other Conservatives competed to become the new Prime Minister over the summer. They voted internally to choose a new leader which ended up being Liz Truss.
At the beginning of August, I celebrated Lammas. You can read my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/08/lammas-2022.html
That month I also went to Kaspas Desserts (a chain of dessert houses/restaurants) in Worthing, which I'd been meaning to go to for ages but never got round to! I had the Bubblelicious sundae and a chocolate frappe. The frappe was my favourite and I went back in September to get another one!
In early September I went to a belly dance class in Brighton taught by Nadia Undine. I'm not currently able to go regularly but it was good to go to a class again. :)
A bit later that month I went to Goring (part of Worthing) Beach. It wasn't the sunniest day but it was still decent weather. Here's a pic:
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| Goring Beach. |
I stopped at the bar and kitchen Number 24 in Worthing on the way (it was Macari's for a long time) and got an iced coffee, and I also got an ice cream from the cafe on the beach (a 99).
During mid-September I went on a walk in Shoreham with a group from my local mental health resource centre. We walked by the houseboats and over to the beach.
And then later in September I celebrated Madron aka Mabon/the Autumn Equinox, which marks the "official" start of autumn. You can read my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/10/madron-2022.html
And at the end of September, I went to a Meetup event, Happy Cafe, which is part of the organisation Action for Happiness. They used to run regular get-togethers (where you meet up in a cafe, play games and discus happiness topics) in Shoreham before the pandemic. Face-to-face events have started up in Brighton again ow, so I went along. The Happy Cafes are currently at Brighton Beach Club.
I've hardly been to any meetups since the lockdowns ended. Quite a few of the Meetup groups I belonged to closed down and with the ones that were still running, it took a while for in-person events to get going again. In fact, I think the last Meetup event I went to (prior to this one) was nearly two years ago! That was a pancake/crepe brunch in Brighton and we were under the Rule of six at the time. It was good to go along to the Happy Cafe and I hope to get back into going to events more regularly again.
I also did some baking this summer. In July I made Scotcheroos (although they are technically no-bake!) using this recipe from Simply Taralynn: https://simplytaralynn.com/2022/04/27/fun-festive-scotcheroos-no-bake-easy-to-make/
I don't think they're common here in the UK but they're similar to other Rice Krispie no-bake treats I've made, or come across. I did like them but thought they could have been a bit nicer. I'd never actually had any before, so wasn't sure what they were supposed to taste like.
Then in August I baked a one bowl chocolate cake, a recipe fom Six Sisters Stuff. I've made it before and it's nice. Easy to make too, since everything is mixed in one bowl! You can see my post from when I first made it in 2017 (it also features a 7up cake that I baked): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/07/baking-one-bowl-chocolate-cake-and-7up.html
Apart from that I've been doing my weekly walks in the park and going to the supermarket and library. Here is a picture that I took in Hove Park recently (beginning of October):
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| Sunset in Hove Park. |
It's been an eventual time lately in the UK. Liz Truss officially became the new PM in September, after meeting the Queen.
Then the Queen died on 8th September, only two days after appointing Liz Truss. It was kind of a shock but not exactly, because we knew she was getting older and her health hadn't been good in the last year or so. It feels strange because she was the only monarch that many of us had known. Her son Prince Charles has now become King (known as Charles III).
The country then entered an official mourning period until the Queen's funeral on 19th September. The state funeral was televised and it was a bank (public) holiday on that day. It's been announced that King Charles' coronation will be on 6th May next year, which is the same day as his grandson Archie's 4th birthday (Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's oldest child). His wife Camilla has now become Queen Consort and will also be crowned on the day.
There was a heatwave during July, where temperatures reached 40C (104.F) in some parts of the UK. I also mentioned it in my Spring-Summer Update post. In Sussex it didn't get as hot though, I think it got up to about 33C (91F) in my area. Still pretty hot for us though! There was another heatweave in August, which wasn't quite as hot. The highest recorded temperatures were around 34C (93F) in Wiggonholt in West Sussex and Charlwood in Surrey. (I live in Sussex but I hadn't actually heard of Wiggonholt, maybe because it's so small!)
Like last year, I started transitioning from making my own Vietnamese style iced coffees to making homemade hot chocolate last month (although I still like to drink shop bought iced coffees year-round! lol). My favourite one to make is French hot chocolate. You can see a picture of it and a link to the recipe from Well Plated in my 2019 April Update + Beltane Inspiration post.
This year I also tried a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL) for the first time! I don't think they've been in the UK for that long, but a few years now. Last year I had a Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino. I like them both. I also had my favourite mocha Frappuccino!
So that's it's for the update! It seems weird that we're already in the last quarter of the year. The transition from summer to autumn feels a bit hard to me because summer is my favourite season and I don't like the cold and short days of winter. The days are getting steadily shorter now (sunrise is currently around 7.26am and sunset about 6.06pm in my area) and it will be even earlier when the clocks go back at the end of the month. But autumn is a beautiful season, so I do like it and find inspiration from it. :) The next sabbat will be Samhain (my favourite sabbat apart from Lammas!) and also Hallowe'en. I will probably do some sort of celebration post soon.
How was your summer and how is your autumn going so far? (Or how was your winter and how is your spring going?) :)
Read: Be the Love by Sarah Prout, Positivity is Our Superpower by former Love Island contestant Malin Andersson (Kindle version), both non-fiction and On the Edge of Darkness by Barbara Erskine and Six Crimsom Cranes by Elizabeth Lim (fiction).
Saw: Repeats of Ninja Warrior Japan (original title SASUKE) and some new episodes I don't think I'd seen. I used to enjoy watching it but it hadn't been on for years!
Links I found useful in summer and autumn:
Post from Hello Malavika about what to do when you're tired of your own drama (it's an old post but I came across it this year): https://hellomalavika.com/2016/06/07/what-to-do-when-you-are-tired-of-your-own-drama/
Videos from Kay's slow living and homemaking channel Living the life you love (they're nice and relaxing, plus she has two really cute ragdoll cats!): https://www.youtube.com/c/Livingthelifeyoulove
I also came across Lisa Alexandra's channel (topics covered include lifestyle, the Law of Attraction/Law of Assumption and spiritual things): https://www.youtube.com/c/CocoLili
Leeor Alexandra (not related to Lisa above!) video on how to have more good days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyIxaYYHM7Q
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