…even though the 31st was 10 days ago the pumpkins and decorations are still evident
This will be probably be the last weekend for Hallowe’en decorations. With Christmas fairs and church bazaars about to open their doors for the holiday season we will start seeing Christmas lights, door wreaths and lawn ornaments pop up all over the neighbourhood.
…just too much going on
I had every intention to report on our Hallowe’en experience last week but every time I turned around there was something else going on that took me away from the computer.
This year’s Hallowe’en was exceptional. I don’t really know why….it was a cold night and everything around here was last minute. Last minute decorations, last minute pumpkin carving and last minute decision to dress up. Maybe it was exceptional for me because I wasn’t here last year to open our door to the little ones (first time in 45 years).
On the day I quickly put out the few decorations that I had and I cleaned out the pumpkin. Normally I can’t be bothered to do anything with the seeds because no one eats them but this year I looked up a recipe and added a few more spices than I normally do. They were delicious and my husband and I and anyone who has come to visit has been slowly emptying the bowl of spicy goodness.
When Kevin returned from his dentist appointment he quickly carved out a Jack o lantern design and I put the candy and chips in bowls. Then I went upstairs to put together my costume. Nothing very original but I found a witch’s hat from the dollar store that I liked. I pulled out a black dress, black long sleeve shirt and a black shawl. The fun part was putting on the make-up. I was going for a more glamorous witch this year.
As it was getting dark I place candles inside the pumpkin and Kevin found some spooky music that he attached to speakers to broadcast from the porch. I was all set. Now it was time to wait for the first trick or treaters. Here was the first customer:
All in all it was a great night and we had a record turnout…80 kids. That may not seem like a lot to some of you but we’ve had fewer than 20 in some years.
…certainly people in my neighbourhood are
As much as I’d like to have more decorations for Hallowe’en, I was shocked at how much money people are paying for their spooky lawn decor. I thought I could find some items on sale yesterday but there was either nothing to choose from or everything was still regular price. Many of the decorations, especially the large ones, were well into the hundreds of dollars. Maybe I’ll check out the stores after the 31st and see if there are any deals to be had for next year.
…it is much more than a corn maze
Last year in September, The Green Pig Country Market in Salisbury, NB, burned down. Earlier this year the owners started to rebuild and when we arrived last week they had a great selection of pumpkins and a variety of squash.
After Winnie’s special birthday breakfast we drove to The Green Pig. I thought we were just going to a corn maze but it turned out to be much more. Apart from the market and the corn maze they had a great play area for kids of all ages.
A fun Day was had by all the rain held off till we got back into the car.
…my sweet little girl is 8 today
Our trip to the east coast has fallen on three days of celebration, Thanksgiving, Winnie’s birthday and her father’s birthday.
We started today with a special breakfast at Steve’s Diner in Riverview.
After breakfast we drove to The Green Pig to walk through the corn maze.
Later in the day we continued the birthday celebration with breaking a piñata, a sushi dinner (Winnie’s favourite food), opening presents and birthday cupcakes.
…with birthday gifts that will never let me forget
This past August, while I was returning Tober, our neighbours cat, back to his house for the evening I was accosted by a trio of raccoons.
It all started one warm August evening, when I headed over to my neighbour’s house thinking that Tober was right behind me. I had left our front door wide open and Tober was sitting on the porch. I called him over and when he wouldn’t move I went into the neighbour’s house and brought out a bag of cat treats. I shook the bag, hoping that the sound would entice Tober to make his way home. I saw some movement on the lawn and because it was already dark I assumed it was the cat. Upon closer inspection, though I discovered that the moving object was a large raccoon. I wrongly assumed that the raccoon would scurry away when he saw me but he or she was quickly joined by not one but two more raccoons.
When I realized that they were all headed in my direction I opened the treat bag and threw a small handful of treats down the driveway. As they gobbled up the treats I made my way for the front door of my neighbour’s house. It only took a nano second for them to finish the few treats and they came straight up the stairs onto the porch and put their paws on the screen door. I yelled at them, kicked the front door and nothing deterred them. I was at a loss as to what I should do. I knew that if I opened the door they would come into the house and go straight to the cat’s bowl of food.
On most evenings there would be numerous people out walking their dogs before going to bed but on this particular night there wasn’t a soul in sight. What to do? I found the land line in the house and called my husband. No answer. I knew that he probably didn’t recognize the number so I tried again but the phone had been off the charging cradle for so long that it died. I tried calling out onto the street and over to our house but no one heard me.
Luckily for me the neighbour, on the north side of the house was still awake and on his computer. I opened the window and called over. He looked confused because he didn’t know where the cry was coming from. I told him where I was and he looked out his back window. I told him I was trapped in the house. At first he thought I was joking but he quickly realized that I wasn’t. In a few minutes he came over, with his 7 iron golf club. He had no intention of hurting them but he thought they would run away as soon as they saw him. They didn’t. He nudged them with his club and made a lot of noise. They were stubborn but eventually they left the porch and I was able to get out of the house. He helped me get the cat back to his house and we parted ways.
A week later it was my birthday and unbeknownst to me my husband, Kevin had told everyone about my adventure with the raccoon trio. At the party he was very anxious for me to open my presents. This in itself was unusual but I decided to humour him and started to open my gifts. The first few were lovely, thoughtful presents and then all of a sudden raccoon themed gifts started to appear. After the first raccoon gift everyone wanted me to retell the story. Little did I realize that the rest of the gifts all had a raccoon theme. It was definitely a fun birthday and one that I will not soon forget.
This week’s trio is more a story than a photo challenge but one of the cards does have a trio of raccoons on it. If you have any trios you’d like to share just copy my link and post it into your blog. I’ll check it out and leave a comment.
…Happy 48th Wedding Anniversary, Kevin
…a sunny warm day
When our daughter invited us to join her and her wife at the Cheltenham Badlands, I thought we were driving there to look, take a few photos and then drive over to Spirit Tree for lunch. When we arrived at the parking lot we discovered that they were hiking on the Bruce Trail and were about 30 minutes away from us. They suggested that we get on the trail and walk towards them. Luckily I had on walking shoes but my pants were way too warm. Nonetheless we made the short hike, met them and then hiked back toward the Badlands.
After a short walk back to the car we drove to the Spirit Tree Estate Cidery. We found a shady area under a tent and ordered cider and wood oven baked pizza.
…children and bees don’t care that dandelions are weeds
The Prosecco is from the wedding that we attended last week.
If you have any trios you’d like to share with us, just copy my link and paste it into your post. I’ll be sure to leave a comment.
…some colourful Easter goodies from Eataly in Toronto
Before our trip to the ROM a couple of weeks ago we stopped in at Eataly for a bite to eat. The Easter goodies were on display and very tempting but the prices made us think twice. In fact we put the Easter chocolates back when a small bag (about 6 small Easter eggs) weighed in at $12.00. It was feast for the eyes only that day.
Happy Easter to all my Ukrainian friends.
Mama Cormier 