Autumn 2023 Photos + Winter Links

I've previously written a couple of posts sharing autumn photos and inspiration for the season. You can see them below: 

Autumn Photos + Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/10/autumn-photos-inspiration.html

Autumn 2020 Photos + More Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/10/autumn-2020-photos-more-inspiration.html

 

I thought I would share a few pictures from this autumn today. I do post pics in my seasonal updates but as they're quarterly now, the season has passed by the time I write the post. So it's nice to be a bit more "up to date" as autumn comes to an end. I'm also sharing a few links to inspire as we move into winter. :)

 

First up, here are the autumn pics:

 

Hove Park- late Oct.

 

 

Hallowe'en/Samhain 2023

Last Tuesday (31st October) it was Hallowe'en and Samhain. I celebrated by carving a pumpkin and having some food and drink. I baked gingerbread skeletons and made some potato salad based on a recipe from the book The Kitchen Witch by Soraya. It requires rosemary and garlic, but I used chives and spring onion instead of rosemary because I prefer them.

I also  made my favourite Demon's Blood drink (ginger beer mixed with apple juice and orange juice), which is a recipe from Kate West's book The Real Witches' Kitchen. I had the potato salad and drink with some buffet type food from the supermarket.

Here's a picture of the pumpkin: 

 

Summer-Autumn Update (2023) + Happy Samhain/Hallowe'en!

It's now October, so time for my summer-autumn update! You can see my previous quarterly updates for this year at the links below: 

Winter-Spring (2023): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/04/winter-spring-update-2023-happy-beltane.html

Spring-Summer (2023):  https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/07/spring-summer-update-2023.html

 

I went shopping in Hove at the beginning of July and to Caffe Nero as well. I also went to Wendy's during July. We first got one in the Brighton area last year and I like the food but had only been a couple of times since it opened, most recently last autumn.

At the beginning of August I celebrated Lammas. You can see my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/08/lammas-2023.html

Later that month I went on a walk with my local mental health resource centre. We walked along the River Adur and went to Shoreham Beach. It was almost a year since I last went on a walk with them because the last one was a bit too long for me! But this was a mindful walk and I enjoyed it more. :) 

Here's a photo I took on the walk:

The River Adur and Shoreham view.

Madron 2023

Last weekend (Saturday 23rd September) it was Madron, also known as Mabon and the Autumn Equinox. My main celebration for this sabbat is baking and I usually make something ginger themed. This year I baked these frosted gingerbread muffins: https://simplytaralynn.com/2021/12/02/frosted-gingerbread-muffins-so-easy-to-make/

The recipe is from Simply Taralynn. I've previously made her pumpkin spice bars for Madron last year and her gingerbread cookie bars in January.

The muffins were quite nice. The recipe requires molasses but I used treacle, which I tend to use a substitution because it's easier to get in the UK and is similar. Sometimes the treacle can be a bit strong but these were fine. I last made gingerbread muffins for Madron 2021 and those were kind of like ones I made in 2019, since both have banana in. I used applesace for those though, because I don't like banana!

These muffins don't have any banana in, so I didn't make any other substitutions apart from using mixed spice instead of all allspice. They aren't the same but mixed spice seems to be more common over here, so I usually use it in ginger recipes. It already has nutmeg and cloves in it, so it's good if you don't have those individual spices (which I didn't). Mixed spice is similar to pumpkin spice though and I used it for the pumpkin spice bars I baked last year.

If you're looking for a substitute that is similar to allspice, here is a useful post: https://thekitchencommunity.org/substitute-for-allspice/

And if you want to make your own mixed spice, visit this post: https://fromthelarder.co.uk/mixed-spice/

The gingerbread muffin recipe has a frosting recipe made with powdered sugar (icing sugar), vanilla and milk but I decided to use my favourite cream cheese frosting from the James Martin white chocolate Easter cake I like to make. It goes well with ginger things. 

Here's a direct link to the cake and frosting recipe: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/frosted-white-chocolate-easter-cake

So, although the muffins would taste a bit different to the original recipe, I still liked them. Here's a picture:  

 

TSL's 10th (Belated) Birthday + Fave Posts

At the end of July, The Seasonal Life celebrated its 10th birthday! I thought it was in August but then realised it was July, so that's why this post is late, lol. 

I wrote my first and second posts on 25th July 2013, an intro post and another one sharing my favourite things about summer. You can read them here:

 

https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2013/07/welcome-to-seasonal-life.html 

 

 https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2013/07/favourite-things-about-summer.html

 

TSL was the 3rd blog I started, the others being Star Sparkle Blog in April 2011 and Falling Petals in February 2013.  The other two are entertainment and spiritual/self-help blogs and I thought it would be good to have one about seasonal events and living.  

I started out writing about summer related things and posting recipes. In October and November 2013, I did my first post about a seasonal event (Hallowe'en drinks and then about my Hallowe'en). Then that December I did my first post about a sabbat (Yule).

As well as sharing recipes (seasonal and just ones I like), I started posting more about my sabbat celebrations. And later on, I did a series of posts sharing ideas for celebrating the sabbats. I really enjoyed that but decided to stop doing them earlier this year because I felt I had covered them all. They each have multiple posts and I didn't want to repeat myself.

I still post about my celebrations though and may do more inspiration posts in future if I feel inspired. :) I did share a few links with ideas for celebrating Beltane at the end of my winter-spring update post.

 

Lammas 2023

Last Tuesday (1st August) it was Lammas, my favourite sabbat apart from Samhain! Some people may celebrate on 31st July or 2nd August though.  My main celebration for this festival is baking (usually gingerbread) and this year I made Cornish style pasties as well. (You're not supposed to call it a Cornish pasty unless you're from Cornwall!)

Although I made a pasty the first time I celebrated Lammas, I don't make them that often. The last time was in 2020. The recipe is from Kate West's book The Real Witches' Kitchen. I can't post it online but I did link to a couple of similar recipe in my first Lammas post on the blog: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2014/08/lammas.html

I used Jus Roll pastry which makes it a bit easier, lol. The pasties  (I made one for myself and one for my mum) ended up being a bit hard and the carrots could have cooked more, but apart from that they were ok, lol. Here's a picture of one of them: 

Spring-Summer Update (2023)

We're already more than halfway through the year, so it's time for my spring-summer update! You can see my first update of the year (winter-spring) here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/04/winter-spring-update-2023-happy-beltane.html

Easter Sunday was 8th April this year. I baked the frosted white Easter chocolate cake (James Martin recipe) that I've made quite a few times. I also had a meal at home and got a couple of chocolate eggs, lol. 

At the beginning of May I celebrated Beltane. You can see my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/05/beltane-2023.html

In mid-June I went to Nando's for a (very) belated birthday meal! (I wasn't able to go around my birthday in March due to various circumstances.) I had my usual chicken butterfly (plain-ish) and chips (fries). I had peri-salted chips for a change. Also some garlic bread. I normally have coleslaw but they didn't have any. And I had strawberry frozen yoghurt for pudding (dessert).

The food was nice. Here's a picture: 

Litha 2023

The Wednesday before last was Litha aka Midsummer/the Summer Solstice. I celebrated by making a tomato and onion salad and lemonade (my main celebrations for sabbats are making food and drink). 

The salad recipe is from Soraya's book The Kitchen Witch, although I used both red and white onion for a change. I was going to have some avocado as well to make it similar to the kachumbari (Kenyan tomato and onion salad) that I sometimes make for Beltane), but there wasn't any at the supermarket.

I had the salad for my lunch with ciabatta bread, chicken, cheese and pickle, gherkins, Doritos and dip. The lemonade is "Hello Kitty lemonade (the recipe is from a Hello Kitty book).

The food was quite nice. Here's a picture:  

Shifting into Summer

Summer is starting, so I thought I'd write about shifting into the new season! This post is in a similar style to my previous ones from last year  on Saying Goodbye to Winter, Moving into Spring and Saying Goodbye to Summer, Moving into Autumn.

Note: If winter is starting where you are, you might like this post: 

Getting Ready for Winter: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/12/getting-ready-for-winter.html

While the shift from winter to spring is more optimistic for me, I find the one from summer to autumn a bit depressing (although autumn is a beautiful season). Going from spring to summer feels the most inspiring to me. 

Back in 2018 I wrote a post about getting ready for summer. You can read that here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/06/getting-ready-for-summer_3.html 

In that post I mentioned that are two "official" starts to summer- 1st June and around 20th June, the day of the Summer Solstice (also known as Litha; see below) which varies slightly each year. Some years it feels like summer starts sooner than others.

This year spring has been quite cold, although we had some nicer, warmer weather. It's only in the past week or so that I've really felt the shift towards summer.

Beltane 2023

Last Monday (1st May) it was Beltane. My main celebration for sabbats is making food and drink, and I usually make salad for Beltane. This time I made kachumbari (a Kenyan tomato and onion salad) again. The recipe is from Precious Core: https://www.preciouscore.com/kachumbari/

I've made it several times and it's always nice. Precious' version also has avocado in. I had it for my lunch along with ciabatta bread, grilled chicken, shop bought guacamole (some years I make my own) and crisps (chips). Here's a picture: 

Winter-Spring Update (2023) + Happy Beltane!

For the past couple of years, I've written quarterly updates (from "season to season"). I found it a bit easier than the monthly and "two monthly" (every couple of months) ones that I wrote in previous years. So I'm doing the same for 2023. :)

Note: I'm later posting this than I planned because I'm currently having computer problems. I am able to still blog on my phone which I'm grateful for, but it is a bit harder to do it on here.

You can see my autumn to winter 2022 update here if you like: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/01/autumn-winter-update-2022.html

I went through a bit of a difficult time at the beginning of the year, due to personal issues.  I didn't really do much in the first couple of months but I did go to Starbucks in Hove in late January. 

At the beginning of February, I celebrated Imbolg. You can see my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/02/imbolg-2023.html

I also went to a belly dance workshop with Lianna Greene in February and to Starbucks again afterwards!

At the beginning of March, it was my birthday. I celebrated at home on the day and got some nice presents. I'd planned to go to Nando's but wasn't able to get there due to certain circumstances. I hope to go soon for a belated birthday meal though! 

Later in March it was Oestara/the Spring Equinox. You can read about my celebration in this post: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/03/oestara-2023.html

Easter was in early-mid April (Easter Sunday was the 9th). I'll cover it in the spring-summer update, like I have the last few years. :)

Last autumn I started going to Action for Happiness Happy Café meetups again (I used to go before the pandemic) and I carried on going this winter. I went to Creams Café in Brighton afterwards a couple of times too, since it's in the same area as the meetups.  The meetups moved to a pub over the winter.

I haven't been doing my weekly park walks due to having family car problems, but I did go to the park a few times, mainly for Imbolg and Oestara. I miss seeing the blossom trees in my favourite Hove Park (it's a bit of a hassle getting there by bus), but here's a pic of some local daffodils that I took in early April: 

Daffodils outside the Co-op, Shoreham.

 

 

 

Oestara 2023

Last Monday (20th March) it was Oestara (more commonly called Ostara) aka the Spring Equinox. As I said in my Celebrating Oestara! post, I usually bake for this sabbat (or "no-bake" sometimes!). This year I made spicy carrot cake cupcakes using this recipe from Natalie Mason: https://natalie-mason.com/2011/03/spicy-carrot-cake-cupcakes.html

They have a cream cheese icing. You can make a big cake or cupcakes, and I decided to go with the cupcakes. They were quite nice. I've made carrot, zucchini and apple muffins before (Don't Waste the Crumbs recipe) and they didn't come out that well, but the carrot blended in nicely with these cakes. I've also made chocolate zucchini (courgette) cupcakes several times and really like those.

I'd planned to put Cadbury Mini Eggs on the top to fit the spring theme, but they were sold out in the supermarket, so I got Smarties Mini Eggs instead. Here's a pic:

 

 

Celebrating Oestara!

It's almost time for Oestara (more commonly known as Ostara) aka the Spring Equinox! This year it's on Monday 20th March. 

Note: For those in the Southern Hemisphere it's nearly time for Madron/Mabon aka the Autumn Equinox. You might like these posts:

 Madron Round-up + Autumn Baking: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2021/09/madron-round-up-autumn-baking.html

Celebrating Madron!: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/09/happy-madron.html

 

For the past few years, I've written posts sharing celebration ideas for the sabbats and last year I did a post rounding them up. During 2022 I also started writing a series of posts sharing some ideas and inspiration for celebrating and links to other sites, rather than in-depth posts and have continued that into 2023. As I said in my Yule 2022 one, I feel that I've pretty much covered them all now, since each festival has several posts. 

This Oestara post completes my current round of sabbat ones (which I started last Beltane), so going forward I will probably just write about my celebrations and maybe write short posts before the sabbats. I do appreciate everyone who has read them and plan to continue blogging about seasonal festivals here. I just don't want to keep rehashing the same thing. :) (As with my most recent Madron post, I've previously written a post called Happy Oestara!, so that's why this title is a bit different.)

Oestara (often spelt as "Ostara" but I first heard about it with the alternative spelling) is the 2nd of 3 spring festivals in the Wheel of the Year, coming after Imbolg/Imbolc (which marks the transition from winter to spring) at the start of February and before Beltane (mid-spring) in late April/early May. It's also the Spring Equinox, which is often seen as the "official" start of spring. 

The Spring Equinox is an astrological event where day and night are fairly equal, due to the position of the Earth moving around the sun. It's the opposite to the Autumn Equinox (also known as Madron/Mabon) in September. After this time the days will continue to get longer until the Summer Solstice (known as Litha to some pagans). I wrote a bit about it in my 2019 Oestara Celebration Ideas post.

Imbolg 2023

Last Thursday (2nd Feb) it was Imbolg (more commonly known as Imbolc). Some people celebrate from sundown on 1st Feb to sundown on the 2nd, or on 31st January, but I usually have my celebration on the 2nd. As I said in my Happy Imbolg! post, I normally make pancakes for this sabbat, and this year I made oatmeal pancakes again. I used this recipe from Don't Waste the Crumbs: https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/oatmeal-pancakes/

They were quite nice as usual, but they fell apart a bit this time! They were more solid last year. Never mind, lol. Here's a pic:

 

 

Happy Imbolg!

I normally post on Sundays or Mondays but didn't manage to get this finished yesterday. :) 

 

It's nearly time for Imbolg (more commonly known as Imbolc). This year it's on Thursday 2nd February (or Wednesday 1st Feb if you celebrate on that day, or sundown to sundown). 

 

For the past few years, I've written celebration idea posts for Imbolg and last year I did a post rounding them up. During 2022 I also wrote a series of posts sharing ideas and links for the sabbats rather than in-depth posts. As I said in the Yule 2022 post, I think I've pretty much covered all of the sabbats now (since each one has several posts with ideas for celebrating). So, once I've completed my current round of sabbat idea posts (which I started last Beltane), I will probably just write about my celebrations and maybe do a short post in advance of the festivals.

 

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere it's nearly Lammas! Check out these posts for inspiration:

Lammas Round-up: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2021/07/lammas-round-up.html

Happy Lammas!: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/07/happy-lammas.html

 

Imbolg is the first sabbat of the calendar year and the 2nd or 3rd on the Wheel of the Year, depending on your viewpoint. Some people (like me) consider the yearly cycle to end and then start again at Samhain (also known as the Witches' New Year), while others think of Yule/the Winter Solstice as the beginning of the new cycle. And some think of Imbolg/Imbolc as the New Year instead. So do what feels right for you. :)

 

Autumn-Winter Update (2022)

It's time for my last seasonal update of the year (2022), autumn to winter! For the past couple of years, I've written quarterly (season to season) updates on the blog, which I found easier to keep up with than the monthly updates I did in 2019 and the "two monthly"(two months at a time) ones in 2020.

You can see my previous updates for 2022 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

Summer-Autumn Update (2022): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/10/summer-autumn-update-2022.html

I mentioned in my summer-autumn update that in September I went to a belly dance class in Brighton taught by Nadia Undine. I'm not currently able to go regularly, but I did attend another class in November.

I also started going to Meetup events again in Sept, to Happy Cafe meetups, part of the group Action for Happiness. Before the pandemic I used to go to my local one. That never started up again but there are now face to face Happy Cafe meetups in Brighton again, so I've been going to those during the autumn and winter. It's been good to get back to that. The Happy Cafes have moved from the Brighton Beach Club to a pub for the winter.

In my Summer-Autumn Update post I wrote about Liz Truss becoming our new Prime Minister in September. She ended up only being PM for less than two months before resigning in October! She was replaced by Rishi Sunak. I wrote a bit more about it in the Letting Go of 2022 post on my self-help/spiritual blog Falling Petals.

In October I went to Wendy's again. A new restaurant opened in Brighton in the spring (2022) and I went for the first time in April. The food is nice and the Frosty drinks, plus it's cheaper than Five Guys, which I only go to about once a year (mainly due to the price)!

I also went to Lancing Beach in October for sunset. I went for a walk and took some pics. I just caught the tail end of the sunset that day: 

 

Lancing Beach.

 

Yule 2022

I had planned to write this post before the end of last year but have got behind with things due to having a bit of a difficult time, so instead it's the first post of the new year! :) 

It was Yule/the Winter Solstice just before Christmas (Wednesday 21st December). As I mentioned in my Happy Yule! post, I usually have a chocolate Yule log for this sabbat. This Yule's (or last's Yule's now) was from Sainsbury's, which is where I've most often bought one from. It was quite nice but I think other years' have been a bit better. I put two candles on top to represent the light returning. Here's a pic: