Hallowe'en haul of horrors

Hallowe'en arrived at last.  A ghoulish Girl and hippie Boy prepared for an evening of fun and foraging in the 'hood.

A potluck supper at a friend's house preceded the expedition, so the adult chaperones at least were well-fed before our long walk in the cold.  We certainly saw some horrible sights along the way (as well as finding out where a couple of teachers live)...

...but the full horror of Hallowe'en was only revealed   when we got back to base.

Halloween-een

Tomorrow night my children will go Trick-or-Treating.  But today at the Farmer's Market I was "Reverse Trick-or-Treating" with a bunch of fine kids from the same Middle School club that helped me out back in May.  They did an excellent job, handing out fair Trade chocolate samples and information on how to help improve the lives of cocoa farmers (buy fair trade, of course, and lobby the major chocolate manufacturers).  A couple of the girls were there for a full four hours and showed awesome dedication to the task.

So that was a tiring but very satisfying morning.  There was then just a little turnaround time before we set out to the annual Halloween party at our ex-English friend's house.  As usual there was a potted panto, followed by much eating, drinking and conversation - while kids of all ages and sizes marauded round in packs inside and out. 

Here are just a few of them mucking about by the lake.  Looks cold, doesn't it?  Of course, one fell in* -  and it wasn't one of mine, yay!



*He was fine.

The Man adds...later I enjoyed a rare Saturday night out with work colleagues in Saratoga Springs. Being Halloween, the city centre was very lively and we were virtually the only people in the bars who were not in costume (unless you count "middle aged balding geek").  It was a long evening - I got home after three - and a fun one, but tempered with underlying melancholy: we were bidding farewell to a friend who is going back to England tomorrow at the end of his three year contract in New York. He and his wife will be greatly missed.

Harvest Dance

Tonight was the night of the school Harvest Dance.  It was LOUD and a little crazy but lots of fun.  Our kids partied with gusto.  Interestingly it was quickly evident that Boy has a huge circle of friends he hasn't been letting on about.

Being used to the gentler events of the kids' previous much smaller school, the gym jam-packed wih families came as quite a culture shock for the Man and me.  Yet I didn't feel like a total stranger as there were many people I recognised - neighbours, acquaintances from the Farmers' Market, people I've met through the Farm-to-You Fest activities... 

There's a full-on weekend ahead, what with Halloween and all.  To my surprise, I haven't been very aware of that festival creeping up on us.  Last year I wrote rather snootily about people's extravagant Halloween lawn ornaments, but I have to admit I'm disappointed with the general lack of them this year.  A neighbour's mailbox draped with fake cobwebs is about as spooky as it gets round here.  So we're going to do our best and hang some trash-bag ghosts in our trees ahead of Sunday night.

Oh no - Noo-noo

We've had a spell of strangely warm weather recently, but it's about to come to an end so I made the effort to get outside this afternoon and finish painting those deck railings.

While I was out there I heard the hoovering drone of the municipal Noo-noo doing its rounds of the neighbourhood.  So as soon as I'd washed my paintbrush I dashed out the front and raked leaves furiously, until the rake head fell off and then I raked very gently.  Darn it, the Noo-noo never made it to our street!  But the goods will all be there waiting if it comes tomorrow.

And then the kids got home and I had to make a trip to Indian Ladder Farms so the Boy could choose a pumpkin (he wasn't fussy, it turned out, so long as his was bigger than his sister's).  And tonight I've been at a meeting.  So, quite a long and productive day all told.

H-H-H-H

My kids signed up with the local 4H Club this evening.  4H is a kind of agriculture-based version of scouting, without the salutes and uniforms.  It seems mostly to involve making crafts and entering them for shows - a concept we're very familiar thanks to the Linton and District Garden Club; and studying farm animals.  This year the club will do a project on sheep and the children might also get to try rearing chicks in an incubator - cool!  (Or rather, warm!)

It's not going to expand their social lives vastly - there are only four other kids in the club (and two of them weren't there tonight).  But the Boy instantly hit it off with the 5th Grade lad who shares his interest in aircraft, and the Girl found it an excellent forum in which to expound on her summer goat-tending experiences.  They both clamoured to fill in the enrollment form, so I guess we've found them a new niche.  It's actually the first time the Boy has volunteered to join anything, so it's a bit of a giant leap in that respect.

Here's the 4H pledge, to explain what all those Hs are about:

I pledge:
My head to clearer thinking
My heart to greater loyalty
My hands to larger service
And my health to better living
for my club, my community, my country and my world.

Back for more

My fat-faced friend was back on the birdfeeder again today - here he is, caught bang to rights.

And in other news, I had the car's brakepads changed today.  This means that we'll no longer have to put foot to floor and listen to a juggajuggajugga sound whenever we come to a stop sign.

While I was waiting for the car to be fixed I paid my usual visit to the Salvation Army Thrift Store and stocked up on secondhand jigsaws: a total of 2,500 pieces for less than $2 -  unbeatable value.

A cheeky side order of chips

I started putting seed in the birdfeeder again this weekend.  We were able to admire the usual wonderful variety of birds for a couple of days, but now the thieving squirrels have cottoned on to the free provisions.  Oh well, maybe that means they'll leave what's left of my daffodil bulbs alone now.

Before the squirrels had completely emptied the feeder for the day, I noticed another uninvited visitor (you may have to click on the picture to get a better look).

Silly creature.  He got himself in and filled up his cheeks, but then couldn't get out again.  In the end I took pity and released him, rather than waiting until he ate himself free.