Test-or-treat

It was a soggy old night for trick-or-treating - glad I didn't have to go out and do it this year.

The kids reprised their costumes from last week's party at school - the Girl was a blue-haired Japanese boy from some anime or other, and the Boy was - of course - a three-hole punched sheet of paper.  Each teamed up with a friend (the Boy picked the Grim Reaper) and braved the weather, and each dragged home more candy than I can even bear to look at.  Meanwhile I was manning our own front door and handing out little packets of Fair Trade chewing gum (yes, there is such stuff) - which to my surprise was quite well received by our few fancy-dressed callers.

Best-dressed trick-or-treater of the night: the kid disguised as a New York State Grade 7 test paper. What could be scarier?

Scooter

 I've had to scoot around today doing jobs of one kind and another.

Although it's getting seasonably cooler around here, the Boy is also still enjoying scooting around with his friends when he gets the chance.

Moving thoughts

Exile #2 came round for an impromptu cup of coffee this morning - trying to keep out of the way of a posse of realtors at her house, which is on the market.  For the Exile is about to start a new job in Maine - our friends and compatriots will be moving! We're sad for ourselves, but excited for them.

Maybe it was the thought of house-moving that stirred me to action, but I then spent a chunk of the afternoon clearing through drawers and picking through bookshelves - and even managed to get some of my gleanings not only into bags but actually out of the house altogether, so that was good going.

I cooked dinner this evening to a percussion accompaniment from the basement.  You'd think it would be a nightmare to have someone practising drums in the house, but it really isn't bad.  Not soothing, but not at all bad.  Practising the violin as a kid with no aptitude was much worse - for the whole family, I'm sure, but especially for me. That awful noise, and so close to my ear.

Neat and tidy

I hope everyone we know in the south of England is OK after the big storm there.  There's no wild weather brewing here at the moment (unlike last year), though it's definitely chilly.  It was crisp and frosty down at Five Rivers first thing this morning when I met my friend for our regular walk.

And otherwise it has been a quiet day - I saw another friend for lunch, but have mostly been at home. Every time I've looked up from what I'm doing I've been startled by the general tidiness, the result of several days' effort last week ahead of our Saturday event.  It makes me think that we should probably have parties more often.

Albanibanana, part 2

I spent yesterday morning at the farmers' market, promoting Fair Trade bananas again.  It was the last outdoor market day - next Saturday it moves indoors, and just as well as it was perishing cold.  Luckily I had an extra layer to peel on and keep me warm...

In case you're wondering, I'm not pledging allegiance - just trying to stop the suit from riding up.

LOFT house

We had a party today, with a reprise of the LOFT theme we've gone with before.  It was great fun - lots of interesting people and lots of excellent food.  The first guests arrived shortly after 3pm.  The last guests left shortly after 10pm.

We're pleasantly full, and pretty exhausted.

Good on paper

The house is eerily quiet as I write this.  The Man is working late.  The kids are at the Middle School's Halloween Ball.  I had some involvement with their costumes, but thankfully neither was too complicated.  The Girl is disguised as an anime character - don't ask me who, but she's wearing a fetching blue wig and I had to paint red patterns on her face.  The Boy is a wearing a white t-shirt with three circles down the front: he's a...well, can you work it out?