October Slow Living Diary from the English Countryside

It's October... I don’t even have to call it nostalgic, cosy, or enchanting, because the name of the month itself carries so much meaning and emotional charge. Forests dressed in shades of rust and gold, pumpkins everywhere, morning mist and spiderwebs glittering in the Autumn sun...The magic hangs in the air for those who are willing to notice it.

If you’re new here, hi! I’m Adriana and every time I share one of my Slow Living Diary entries, I let you know where I’m writing from. Today, I’m at my favourite writing spot - the table at home, accompanied by our “Autumn Mood” candle, homegrown pumpkins and a hot water bottle. I’d love to know where you’re reading from!

Discover our Autumn candles here and the gold star tea light holder here.

This year, for the first time, I tried making “express” pumpkin soup. Express because it’s made with canned pumpkin puree. It turned out delicious and is especially useful if you’re short on time.

Ingredients

- 2 cans of pumpkin puree
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 cups water
- 1 chicken stock cube
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- ½ cup heavy cream
- Salt and chilli powder, to taste

Method

Melt the butter in a pan and add the minced garlic. Let it fry until fragrant, then add the water and chicken stock. Stir until the stock dissolves, then add the pumpkin puree and a pinch of salt. Let it cook on low heat for about 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat and blend everything with a hand-held blender until smooth (this helps avoid any garlic bits). Stir in the cream and season with salt and chilli powder to taste.

The soup should be quite thick - if it’s too thick for your liking, simply add a little more water. Enjoy!

It's first October in our new home. Waking up to mist and fog must be one of my favourite things about living in the countryside. This photo was taken around 7 am, when the mist was already receding (you can still see the white on the horizon), leaving behind a thick layer of dew on the grass. It makes me wonder how the Levels will look in Winter and if we’ll be getting more frost here than in town. I’ll be sure to let you know :)

We also had our first foggy day since moving in - yay! Foggy weather is my favourite, I love the gothic atmosphere it brings, straight out of a Victorian ghost story, although I have zero inclination to experience anything even remotely spooky or dangerous:D

My need for adventure is non-existent. I wouldn’t step a toe into an abandoned house or go investigate strange sounds from the attic in real life, but my soul absolutely relishes reading about such things. It’s true what they say: those who read live a thousand lifetimes - and in my case, they’re usually rather dark and mysterious ones :D

October to November is when the colours in the forests of South West England are at their most beautiful. The coming weeks will be a true spectacle, and I’m so excited about it! This is your gentle reminder not to settle for watching Autumn online only - go out and witness it for yourself.
 

Someone recently asked me why I always stand in my photos, so in honour of that person I’m sitting down in the main photo of this post, haha! But seriously, the answer is simple: because I don’t know what else to do.

I think we can all agree I’m not exactly a model - neither by beauty, height, nor age standards, lol. But over the last couple of years, I’ve become more and more present in my own content, simply because I think it’s necessary.

One reason is the rise of AI - imperfections and quirks are what make us human.

Another reason is that since I talk about slow living and many of you have kindly shared that my writings and videos inspire you, I feel it’s only fair to truly show up as myself - so you can decide for yourselves if I’m trustworthy.

There’s something almost primal about looking into someone’s face - even through a screen. Think about the times before IDs, passports and databases: the only way to judge a person was by your gut feeling and the look in their eyes.

I think that’s also why AI, as perfect as it can be at writing or creating landscapes, still struggles with people. The videos that circulate are really impressive (like, really!), but somehow we can still sense it’s not a real person.

All my photos are always taken by my husband - who, just like me, doesn’t really know what he’s doing... and yet somehow, it works. So I guess I’ll keep standing in my photos - maybe occasionally leaning, just for variety ;)

Autumn has arrived in tiny villages and medieval manors too. Above: Selworthy, near Minehead in Somerset. Below: Great Chalfield Manor, on the edge of the Cotswolds.

One of the things that slow living and closely observing the seasons has made me realise is just how much they interlace. In the midst of Winter, we find the first snowdrops. The first leaves fall at the peak of Summer. And even past the Autumn equinox, plenty of flowers are still in bloom - just look at the gardens of Great Chalfield Manor, the colours are spectacular.

This year I tried my hand at growing vegetables in my little garden, but I can already feel a flower phase coming on. This November, I’ll be trying bulb lasagna planting for the first time, and I’ll probably add some more roses for next year too.

Just a quick mention of Agatha Christie’s Ordeal by Innocence (1984), which we watched recently - oh, how I enjoyed it! Starring Donald Sutherland (Mr. Bennet from the 2005 version!), I loved everything about it: the vintage feel, the wonderfully fake fog, the outfits, the sets - everything is so very British in that classic way.

What I find charming is that although the film was made over 40 years ago, some of the rooms we see could easily look the same to this day perhaps with the exception of the corded phones :)

And lastly… we’ve handed the keys back to our old house. Now it really is the end of that chapter, fully closed. We took a few selfies on the last day - looking rather giggly, as you can see - but that’s because it was a happy moment. It was a very happy home.

Although far from perfect and much too small, it helped us save for our dream home in the village we wished for so much for our family.

From what I understand, the house will soon be up for sale. Whoever buys it will probably rip this kitchen out and rightfully so. It’s old and outdated. Still, I can’t help but feel a little sentimental. This is where I first started making candles and later began filming my YouTube videos. That counter behind us has had more views online than many wannabe influencers, haha.

But I also want to share this as an example for you: start before you’re ready. Use what’s available. Can you imagine if I had waited to start my YouTube channel until I had my dream kitchen? I just reached 150K subscribers and the first 100K came while I was still filming right here.

That’s it for today! Thank you so much if you’re still here. Let me know how Autumn is unfolding where you are. Also are you planning anything for Halloween?

Adriana x