Autumn Preparations in My Tiny Cottage - Cozy September Homemaking Vlog

The very first days of autumn have arrived, and personally I couldn't be more happy. I adore this time in between the changing of the seasons, and especially this change from summer into autumn. It marks the beginning of a new school year for me and my students, and there's always so much to think about and to look forward to. And for me personally, it does always feel like the start of a new year in general, filling me with fresh new energy and inspiring me to dream once again. And something I always look forward to doing at the changing of the seasons is refreshing my wardrobe, and in this case swapping over my multitude of gingham and linen dresses for more cosy autumnal shades and styles of clothing that make me feel most comfortable in the colder months. For me, this has always been very 60s and vintage inspired looks, and I've found that since I still work in London almost every day and need to travel, these kinds of styles work very well for me, providing comfort, but also allowing me to enjoy dressing in the way that makes me feel my best, and I've found that this can change with the seasons. I've also found that by separating my clothes seasonally, and only bringing out the specific pieces of clothing at different times of the year, in this way, I never really get bored with my wardrobe, as every time the same pieces of clothing feel new again after not seeing them for a while, and this in turn has helped me be more minimal and conscious of my purchases, saving me money in the process. This summer, I've really taken to using my bread making machine so much more. Initially, what was a gift from my parents some years ago, and something I thought I'd use on occasion, has become my main way of making my own bread at home, and even though I do still wish to improve my own bread making skills, this amazing machine actually saves me a lot of time, and I'm very grateful to have it, so I've decided to use it a lot more often. However, I also wish to live more simply and frugally in my home, and make my own things, and when I realised that for the cost of one pack of bread flour, you can make two loaves of bread instead of purchasing one loaf from the store, this made me even more motivated. So even if you don't have a machine, you can still very easily learn to bake your own bread at home, just like our grandparents did. I think in our current world, simple little skills like this, as well as learning to cook more meals from scratch, and learning to preserve our food for longer, can make such a difference, and it's something I want to get better at. Hello everyone, so today I've come out into this beautiful area of nature, really close to my home. Today is a bit of a rainy day, on and off, and there's even threats of thunder and lightning today, but I took a chance anyway. I really wanted to go outside today and go for a long, long walk, and I kind of wanted to explore this area that I have near me, which is so, so wonderful. I feel so lucky. There's so much nature, there's a river and this kind of wooded area, and it is the beginning of autumn. It is just... I absolutely love this time, this transitional time between the seasons. It's just so magical, so beautiful. There is so much going on in nature during this time. I feel like things are very alive right now, and I also wanted to basically see what is growing at the moment, what is kind of available to forage. There's so many new things that come out during this time that are not available in the summer, so I really wanted to see what is kind of happening in nature at this time. Please excuse the airplanes. But yes, so I'm going to go for a long walk and see what is around. At the moment, I've spotted a lot of hawthorn berries growing, and it's a perfect season for hawthorn now. If you remember in the spring, I showed you hawthorn flowers, which were wonderful for teas, and now the berries are also incredibly medicinal and nutritional. Hawthorn is amazing for the heart, as I mentioned previously. The berries can also be made into wonderful jams, jellies, also be dried and used as teas, can be made into tinctures and syrups. So there is just such an abundance of hawthorn right now, and I'm definitely going to collect some. But I wanted to also see if I can find perhaps some elderberries, if I can find them. It's definitely the season for them now, but I haven't seen any yet, so hopefully I might find some. I've also seen a lot of rose hips, which is really exciting, and still some blackberries as well. So there's so much going on right now. I'm excited to go for a walk, and hopefully it doesn't start pouring down while I'm here with the camera. So yeah, I'm gonna go for a walk now. See you in a bit. The clouds were gathering and there was a thickness in the air, like this feeling just before a big rain comes. It was beautiful. After the heat of this summer we've had, the autumn rains bring everything back to life, and the landscape here already looks so different. This season brings with it new and incredible plants and berries that we can forage and make into delicious foods and medicines to help us throughout the colder months ahead. And today, I really wanted to get to know my area better and to see what nature has to offer. And here we found some elderberries, they're beautiful. In these next weeks, I'm very excited to begin preparing and stocking up my home with fresh fire cider, beautiful infused honeys, tinctures, and teas for not only myself, but also for my friends and family who live in the city. And now is the best time to begin making medicines before the cold arrives. It is so exciting to me that the very simple ingredients that we have always had in our kitchens can be made into potent medicines. Ingredients that are completely natural and have been used for centuries by others. That nature can provide everything we need, and that preserving and sharing this knowledge is something we must continue to do. And today, I'm also making my very first soup of the season, my absolute favorite. The traditional Welsh cow stew that feels so much like home. I'm also setting up a new batch of elderberry infused honey today as it will need around one month to be fully ready to use. And this is a honey I always make sure to have on hand and ready for the cold season to help fight sore throats and infections. You can use either fresh or dried elderberries and by mixing them with raw honey, if you can find it, you also get all the beneficial enzymes and antibacterial properties that the honey contains. However, you can also always use any honey that you have on hand. Thank you dear friends so much for watching and for spending this day with me. I hope you enjoyed the video. Let me know in the comments below what you most look forward to in autumn. I love and appreciate you all and look forward to seeing you in my next video. Take care.