It was a chilly and wet Hallowe'en around here. We were worried that we'd have fewer children than usual but we didn't - although they arrived in a different pattern than in the past.
I'm getting ahead of myself.
I was a bit cranky - my boss scheduled a department meeting for the 31st. This is the first time I have had to work on Halloween in 13 years. I was NOT impressed.
Because I had to work we had planned on carving the pumpkins on Thursday night .. . then we had some wine with dinner. ..and some more and before you know it the wine was done and so were we. No way I was grabbing a knife to start digging into a big orange gourd!
I left work as soon as the meeting was finished, did my errands, and picked Paul up at work.
Our first task was carving those pumpkins. . .
We were all ready to go by 5:00 and I even had time for a rest.
We had appetizers in front of the fireplace while we waited for the children to arrive. They came later than usual - we had no one until at least 6:15 - and they came in groups. At one time we had 22 arrive at the same time!
I think because we have lived here for about 12 years many of the children who moved into the neighbourhood originally have outgrown Hallowe'en and many new families have arrived. The kids we saw were much younger than in previous years which was wonderful.
They arrived in rain gear covered costumes with their parents (many of whom were also in costume). I laughed at one dad who complimented us on our pumpkins. As he left I heard him say 'did you see those pumpkins? They were amazing. It took me 90 minutes to carve a crooked face'.
If only he knew how easy it is to carve cool pumpkins with the stencils and craving tools you can buy. . . well, everywhere!
In the end we had about 115 kids.
I made the traditional big pot of chilli which we served in the sourdough bread bowls that we brought back from San Francisco.
All in all it was a great evening!
Wow, you two did a great job. Love your pumpkins and I can see why the one father was impressed.
Posted by: Karen (Back Road Journal) | November 04, 2014 at 04:03 PM
Wow, what great jack-o-lanterns come from your place. Fun to see the yard decor and that bowl of chili has me thinking that's a happening thing this weekend for ballgame day. Nice Halloween post. :-)
Posted by: Kayte | November 05, 2014 at 06:56 PM
I confess that we do enjoy the fun of Hallowe'en.Can you tell? *smile*
Posted by: JDeQ | November 08, 2014 at 07:50 AM