Tuesday 1 November 2016

All over bar the toothache.



My little neighbour, Zara, came to deliver a notice (as she always does) saying that the local children would be visiting us on the evening of Halloween at 6 pm (as they always do), and that we should be prepared to be horror stricken (as we always are).

So, in the little time I've had free, I've made a coffin which was filled with sweets and spiders, and hopefully sent shivers up their darling little spines.


I'm not big on Halloween, but I do like to make some effort. They always do; so it's only reasonable that I do too.

The sweets were accompanied by some very nasty loud screaming, a mad monk (moi), an eerie green light, and a resulting bunch of seriously petrified children and parents.

Sadly a somewhat diminished gang turned-up this year. Some of the local children now consider themselves too grown-up for such frivolity. They must all be in their low teens; hmmm.  

Thank goodness it's all over for another year.

p.s. Please note that I also offered a few apples for the diet conscious. No takers!




49 comments:

  1. Ha - that's brilliant. I might have to come trick and treating next year.

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  2. Fantastic coffin! If I were wee, I'd be duly spooked.
    My Mom used to hand out tiny boxes of raisins to the neighborhood kids. You can bet they were quickly binned.

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    1. Yes, I don't think children appreciate such healthy gifts.... they want SUGAR.

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  3. I have noticed it too, there are fewer children ringing at the door bell each year.
    Did you make the little coffin? It is - strange adjective for a coffin - beautiful!
    Greetings Maria x

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    1. Yes, I made it, but very quickly. I don't think it'll last too long.

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  4. That's a seriously cute treat container! I'll bet you had fun!

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    Replies
    1. And there were sweets left over. That's never happened before.

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  5. The coffin is brilliant..well done Cro. I forgot it was halloween and twice answered the door to see a dressed up child (with a parent hovering in the background) who was gracious when I had to apologise for not having any sweets to hand out. Although I must admit I don't really approve of Halloween and trick or treating so maybe my subconcious let me forget........

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    1. I'm not a fan either, but childhood memories are made of such evenings, and I try to contribute.

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  6. Fantastic coffin. What a great idea. I am the only one in my family who loves Halloween. They indulge me by putting up with the candlelit dinner I provide for the occasion.

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    1. A candlelit dinner sounds pretty good to me, as long as you don't have to keep answering the door every 10 mins.

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  7. Fantastic that you got into the spirit of it. Is it always at a prearranged time or do you also get random callers? X

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    1. They always say they're coming at 6 pm, and always arrive after 7 pm. We don't get random callers as we're way out in the styx. Our 'celebrations' are between about 5 houses, so the children all go out together.

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  8. No Halloween here. It has always been unheard of in England and long may it remain so. The shops need little hikes in sales and who can blame them and they try to push it. To make something yourself is highly commendable.

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    1. Some shop bought stuff is OK, the Spiders were good, but otherwise I make everything myself.

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  9. No Halloween here either though in years gone grandkids have enjoyed carving a squash. Brilliant coffin and spiders

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    1. We didn't carve a Pumpkin this year, we only have one big one, and I didn't want to waste it.

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  10. Even though I'm not a lover of Halloween ( Guy Fawkes night is the British way ) we do always make a bit of an effort. My husband and I made some black and white striped bags filled with sweets and a bit of loose change. Not so many takers this year so we've now got 6 bags left over ..... a few can be taken to the grandchildren this afternoon.
    I love your spooky treat container ..... puts our efforts to shame !!!! XXXX

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    1. Jacqueline, we have our bonfire ready for Saturday. Just because we're on the wrong side of the channel doesn't mean we don't enjoy burning a Pope or two.

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    2. Good on you Cro ..... keep those British traditions going !!!! Mind you, I think that we started the Halloween stuff back in the Pagan era. XXXX

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    3. Yes, people conveniently forget that, when blaming the Americans.

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    4. Every year, at the city square, on the eve of 6th January, a big bonfire is lit and on top of it the old "witch" (resembles the old year) is burnt and the direction in which the smoke or sparks blow, will tell if the coming year will be a good or bad harvest year...a pagan belief but a very felt tradition here.
      X

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    5. Bonfire Night (Nov 5th) in England is a bit more bloodthirsty. We burn Popes, and unpopular celebrities; just effigies of course.

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  11. Around 10 kids from the school came around to me.....mary went spare!

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    Replies
    1. We had just 3 children and 2 adults. Still, we did our bit.

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  12. Sweets and spiders - brilliant idea.

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    1. I couldn't get any real ones; Spiders, I mean.

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  13. Aussies never used to "do" Halloween ut as in all things we copy America so it is beginning to catch on. Well trawling the neighbourhood in makeshift costumes asking for lollies ( sweets )is catching on anyway! I'm definitely not a fan !

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    1. Best to discourage it NOW. It gets out of hand.

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  14. Fair play to you for making an effort, as you say whether you agree with it or not those nights are what memories are made of

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    Replies
    1. My junior memories of Bonfire Night in my Surrey village are wonderful. Part of my character forming.

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    2. Yes, Bonfire Night or Cracker Night as we called it was a great occasion when we were kids but sadly it doesn't happen anymore as "crackers" are now illegal here.

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  15. All quiet here in regards to Halloween and Bonfire Night. But I do have memories from my childhood....of when every house had a bonfire which ended up with the air thick with smoke at the end of the evening, and my Grandfather, who used to love holding rockets and bangers in his hands, parallel to the ground, so that the firework would shoot off in front or behind him. Bless him, in hindsight he must have had a crazy streak in him!

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    1. We used to have huge torchlight processions through the village, with all nearby villages sending marchers in amazing outfits. Bonfire night was big (and quite dangerous) in Surrey.

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  16. A brilliant effort for a mad monk.

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  17. I'm sure that the local children are delighted by the scary welcome at your house. It's great that you take the time to prepare something special for them.

    I've posted one of my usual Halloween decoration blogs, showing what some folks in my neighborhood do to entertain children of all ages.

    Downtown, the Village Halloween Parade made its way up Sixth Avenue, with all sorts of costumes, floats, music and craziness. It began decades ago as a much smaller procession organized by Ralph Lee, a talented puppeteer, and has evolved into something that is not so appealing...way too big and commercial. It's even televised for hours.

    I've got chocolate candy left over...and I'll be giving it to apartment building staff.

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    1. We have a lot of sweets left over too. I shall limit myself to just one piece per day.

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  18. Wish I lived next door to you. It would certainly have added spice to my birthday celebrations (and I would have eaten the apples!!)

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    1. I didn't think the Apples would have any takers... more for us!

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  19. I think the way you do Halloween is fabulous and fun. My sister who lives in Vermont lives in a family estate that gets hundreds of children from all over the area -- being driven by their parents. When I was a girl it was a walk around the neighbourhood with fellow 'kids'. As with everything it all got out of hand and commercialized -- and expensive (of course).

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    1. I'm not keen on Halloween, it doesn't seem to have any purpose. Especially here where All Saints Day is quite a big festival, with everyone visiting the graves of their ancestors, etc, and decorating them with Chrysanthemums.

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  20. Agree with you Cro, it doesn't seem to have any purpose. I love your coffin - very spooky !
    Halloween trick or treat, was an unknown event in the UK when I was young. It wasn't until the 1970's that it first started to be "celebrated". One 31st October there was an item on the TV programme "Nationwide", about how much effort children in the U.S. put into the evening. Within 15 minutes of watching this, there was a ring on the doorbell and two normally dressed boys rudely demanded trick or treat. Not having any sweets, we played dumb and asked them what they meant. When they couldn't explain apart from "give us some sweets or else", we told them to go away. Later, we found both cars, which had been parked on our driveway, had been bombed with bags of flour and the paintwork scratched. There was flour over our garden and along the road. What a mess. Several neighbours suffering a similar fate called the police ! We often wondered how much flour those kids must have carried about with them !

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    1. That, sadly, is the bad side of it. I also heard that certain nutters in the USA had been handing out poisoned sweets, and that parents had been throwing away all the collected sweets that their children brought home, and were replacing them.

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  21. So cute. What an wonderful neighbor you must be.

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    1. I try to be Donna, but don't always succeed!

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  23. Like many of your commenters I admire your efforts. I'm afraid that even if there were trickers and treaters in our township (there are only two children and I think they are in their early teens anyway) I'm not very good at 'playing the game' in the way you did.

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