September/October Update

Time for the September/October update! There is only one more update post to go after this, since I'm covering two months at a time.

You can see the previous update posts at the links below: 

Jan/Feb: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/03/januaryfebruary-update.html

March/April (+ Baking Inspiration): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/05/marchapril-update-baking-inspiration.html

May/June: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/07/mayjune-update.html

July/August: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/09/julyaugust-update.html

 

In September the Rule of 6 was introduced in England, due to the coronavirus. Unfortunately, it meant my belly dance group couldn't meet up since there are loads more than 6 of us! I was able to go for a socially distanced walk with a group from my local mental health resource centre though. 

I celebrated Madron/the Autumn Equinox on 22nd Sept. You can read my post about it here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/09/madron-2020.html

I also went to the beach in the Worthing area during September. I hadn't been for ages, so that was nice. Here's a pic:

 

Goring Beach

Hallowe'en/Samhain 2020

Last Saturday (31st October) it was Samhain/Hallowe'en. I celebrated with a pumpkin and by making some food and drink. I made my usual Demon's Blood drink and some potato salad, and also baked some gingerbread skeletons. 

Demon's Blood is ginger beer mixed with apple juice and orange juice, and dyed green. The recipe is from Kate West's book The Real Witches' Kitchen. And the potato salad is based on a recipe from The Kitchen Witch book by Soraya. I planned to use spring onion and chives, but couldn't get any chives.

Here's a picture of the pumpkin: 

 

More Samhain/Hallowe'en Inspiration

My favourite sabbat Samhain is coming up on 31st October! (My other fave is Lammas). It's on a Saturday this year. I started celebrating the sabbats in 2010, and since Hallowe'en is the modern version of Samhain, I celebrate both these days.

 

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere Beltane is almost here! Check out my Beltane Celebration posts here:

Beltane Celebrations Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/04/beltane-celebration-ideas.html

Celebrating Beltane/May Day: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/04/celebrating-beltanemay-day.html

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

More Beltane Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/04/more-beltane-inspiration.html 

 

For the past few years, I've done celebration idea posts which you can see below: 

Hallowe'en/Samhain Celebration Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2016/10/halloweensamhain-celebration-ideas.html 

More Hallowe'en/Samhain Celebration Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/10/more-halloweensamhain-celebration-ideas.html

Celebrating Samhain/Hallowe'en: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/10/celebrating-samhainhalloween.html

And last year I wrote a series of Inspiration posts for the sabbats. Here's Samhain's: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/10/samhainhalloween-inspiration.html

 

For Samhain/Hallowe'en 2020 I'm sharing more inspiration. As I've written quite a lot on Samhain in the past, I'll just give a brief background and then share some ideas for celebrating. :)

 

Samhain is the 3rd and final harvest sabbat on the Wheel of the Year and takes place on 31st October. Although some may celebrate from sundown on 31st Oct till sundown on 1st November. It is a cross quarter sabbat, and follows Lammas at the start of August and Madron/Mabon aka the Autumn Equinox in September. This festival is also called the Witches' New Year in some circles. As mentioned before, some people end the old year and start the new year at Samhain (I tend to think of it in this way), whereas others consider Yule/the Winter Solstice to be the start of the new cycle. 

Autumn 2020 Photos + More Inspiration

Back in 2018 I wrote a post called Autumn Photos + Inspiration. You can see that here:  https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/10/autumn-photos-inspiration.html

Now we're in autumn once again, so here are a couple of photos I took in Hove Park recently, and I also thought I'd share some posts with inspiration for things to do during this season. :)

 

Hove Park- early Oct.

Madron 2020

Last Tuesday (22nd September) it was Madron (more commonly known as Mabon) aka the Autumn Equinox. As I mentioned in the Baking for Madron post, my main celebration was baking. I made gingerbread cookie bars with cream cheese icing and I also baked some bread the day before. 

The gingerbread cookie bars are from Handle the Heat. Here's the recipe: https://www.handletheheat.com/gingerbread-cookie-bars-with-cream-cheese-frosting/

It was quite nice but a bit of a crumbly texture. Maybe because it's more biscuit/cookie like than a cake. Here's are a couple of pictures: 

Baking for Madron + Extra Ideas!

Madron (also known as Mabon and the Autumn Equinox) is coming up which means it's almost autumn! This year it will be on Tuesday 22nd September. 

For the past few years, I've written celebration ideas and inspiration posts for this sabbat. You can see them below: 

Madron/Autumn Equinox Celebration Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/09/madronautumn-equinox-celebration-ideas.html

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

Madron Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/09/madron-inspiration.html 

  

Note: If you're in the Southern Hemisphere it's nearly time for Oestara aka Ostara/the Spring Equinox. You may like these posts with ideas for celebrating:

Oestara/Spring Equinox Celebration Ideas: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2017/03/oestaraspring-equinox-celebration-ideas.html

Celebrating Oestara + Spring: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2018/03/celebrating-oestara-spring.html

Oestara Celebration Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2019/03/oestara-celebration-inspiration.html

Oestara + Spring Inspiration: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/03/oestara-spring-inspiration.html

 

For Lammas last month I wrote a post with baking inspiration, since baking is my main activity for that sabbat. You can see that post here: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/07/baking-for-lammas-extra-ideas.html

Lammas is a harvest festival, so baking fits the theme. Madron is also a harvest festival and as I mentioned in the Lammas post, Lammas to Samhain is like "baking season" for me. (I do enjoy baking year-round though!) So, this year for Madron I'm also sharing some baking ideas. With cases of the coronavirus going up again and rules changing, we're still advised to stay at home a lot, so baking is a good thing to do in the house. I will also include some alternative ideas at the end of the post. :) First here is some background on Madron.

July/August Update

Time for the July/August update! You can read the other updates at the links below:

Jan/Feb: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/03/januaryfebruary-update.html

March/April (+ Baking Inspiration): https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/05/marchapril-update-baking-inspiration.html

May/June: https://livingseasonal.blogspot.com/2020/07/mayjune-update.html

 

In July we were still in lockdown but things were easing up. More places opened up and coronavirus cases had gone down overall. But in certain areas they had spiked, so some local lockdowns were introduced. From 24th July face coverings were made mandatory in shops and supermarkets in England. (They were already mandatory on public transport.)

Libraries in Sussex opened for "Select and Collect" which I was pleased about! It was good to be able to get some new books.

We got a new family car which made it easier to get to places, especially since public transport has been more difficult during lockdown.

 

At the end of July, I went to Lancing Beach for the first time in ages which was good. Here are a couple of photos: