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.

I also went to Kaspas Desserts in Worthing and Five Guys in Brighton in August. I only go to Five Guys about one a year since it's expensive and not that near to me. I still miss their coffee milkshakes but the chocolate ones are nice too! 

Here's a picture I took at Brighton Marina when I went to Five Guys:  

View of Brighton Marina.

 

In early September I went to a belly dance workshop with Katie Holland at the event Orient Expressions in Angmering. We learnt a choreography to an Egyptian pop song. I hadn't danced since the beginning of the year (I'm not currently going to regular classes), so it was nice to do that. I did go to a class with Nadia Undine in Brighton earlier this month as well though.
 

Then in late September it was Madron /aka Mabon and the Autumn Equinox. You can read my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/10/madron-2023.html

And I went to Starbucks at the end of September and got a Pumpkin Spice Latte (only the second PSL I've had!). I also got my favourite mocha Frappuccino while I was there, since I don't go very often, lol.

Apart from that, I've mainly just been going to Action for Happiness' Happy Café Meetup events (in September it was a year since I started going to the Brighton ones) and walking in the park. As I mentioned before, I hadn't been doing my weekly park walks due to family car problems, but I'm now going more regularly again. 

Here's a photo I took in the park in September when the leaves were starting to turn on the trees:

Hove Park.

 

It was a year in September since the Queen died. I wrote about it in last year's update. It's strange to think it's already been that long! Now Charles is king and Camilla is the new queen, which still feels strange.

Weather wise it was varied this summer, as I mentioned in my Lammas 2023 post. The cooler summer continued in August (very different to last year!) and then in early September we had a heatwave, the first time in recorded history that there were 7 days of 30C (86F) heat during that month. It didn't get quite that hot here in Sussex though (at least my part), the hottest was about 27C (80F). By the end of September/beginning of October it was more typical autumn temperatures, around 19C (66F) during the day and cooler at night.

Apart from my usual sabbat baking, I did make some other things this summer and autumn. In July I baked lunch lady brownies, a recipe from the Southern Lady Cooks: https://thesouthernladycooks.com/lunch-lady-brownies/

They were nice, I liked the chocolate icing/frosting! Here's a pic:

 

I also baked these condensed milk afternoon tea cakes in August: https://www.lavenderandlovage.com/2023/02/condensed-milk-afternoon-tea-cakes.html

I didn't take a picture but they did look similar to the ones in the post! They were easy to make and quite nice. 

I made Vietnamese style iced coffees at home during the summer and now that autumn's here, I've been making hot chocolate. My favourite to make is French hot chocolate, based on a recipe on Well Plated (although I sometimes use other recipes). Visit this post to see a picture of when I made it: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/04/april-update-beltane-inspiration.html

 

So that's it for the update! The first half of 2023 was quite difficult for me. It did get better towards the middle of the year but I had an anxious summer, where my health anxiety got worse. And I also felt more depressed at times.  

Now we're in the middle of autumn or over a month in (depending on whether you go by the meteorological or astronomical start), the days are getting colder and darker. The clocks went back early thus morning and I tend to find it hard to deal with losing an hour. Sunset has now gone from about 5.42pm to 4.42pm.

However, autumn is a beautiful time of year and Hallowe'en and Samhain (one of my fave sabbats) are coming up. See below for more on that! I will do a post about my celebrations next week.

How was your summer and how is your autumn going? (Or how was your winter and how is your spring going?) :)

Read: The Husbands by Chandler Baker (really enjoyed this!) , The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (one of my favourites that I re-read), The Key in the Lock by Beth Underdown.

Saw: Don't Worry Darling, M3GAN. 

 

Links I found useful during summer and autumn: 

Devi Sietaram video about 7 shifts you can make to stop negative thinking (to help with anxiety, negative thinking etc.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOpAv0CHTW0

A video to watch when you're sad (Tam Kaur): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sitAHu6uxtA&t=443s

P.S. It's Samhain on Tuesday (31st October). Although I'm no longer doing any new celebration idea posts, I thought I'd share a few links at the bottom of this post .(Like I did for Beltane at the end of my winter-spring update.) Plus, Samhain is my favourite sabbat apart from Lammas! :)

Note: I also celebrate Hallowe'en which is thought to have originated from Samhan, so my past posts contain ideas for that too.

 

Here are some links with ideas for celebrating:

Samhain/Hallowe'en Round-up (my round-up post from 2021): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2021/10/samhainhalloween-round-up.html

Happy Samhain/Hallowe'en! (last year's post): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/10/happy-samhainhalloween.html 

How to Celebrate Samhain and All Hallow's Eve: https://www.wild-moon.co.uk/how-to-celebrate-samhain/

Celebrating Samhain: https://rhymeandribbons.com/2023/10/celebrating-samhain-3.html 

Your Own Personal Samhain (a good post from Tess Whitehurst about middle age and getting older): https://tesswhitehurst.com/your-own-personal-samhain/

Samhain spells, blessings and divination: https://otherworldlyoracle.com/samhain-spells/   

Moody Moons post with a recipe for pumpkin coffee cake (American style which is eaten with coffee, rather than made with coffee): https://www.moodymoons.com/2023/10/20/samhain-cakes-ale-pumpkin-coffee-cake/

12 Halloween Recipe Ideas To Make: https://www.clairejustineoxox.com/halloween-ideas/

 

Or if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, here are my most recent Beltane posts:

 My 2021 Beltane round-up (also my Winter-Spring 2021 update): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2021/04/winter-spring-update-beltane-round-up.html

Last year's Happy Beltane! post: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2022/04/happy-beltane.html

Winter-Spring Update (2023) + Happy Beltane! (links at the bottom): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2023/04/winter-spring-update-2023-happy-beltane.html