Hello there! Thanks for all your comments on my last post - it made me so happy to share the party with you and know that you would "get" it.
Joining in with Jen over at little birdie, here are this weeks happies from our house...
Bella and I carved a pumpkin. She scooped, I wielded the knife and lit the candles. The expression on her little face was priceless and made me think that I may have to up my game for Halloween next year. She is fascinated by "trickle treating" (Sweets! And more sweets" And dressing up!!!) and knows that all her friends are doing it...and so it starts.
And tying in with the Halloween theme, this treacle tin just made me smile. I so love some seasonal packaging.
I haven't tired of admiring, collecting or photographing leaves yet this autumn. Sorry. Angus loves to collect a big, fat handful then throw them up in the air and watch them fall.
And finally, this welcoming and very pretty guest bed. I love it when you stay at someone's house and so much care has been taken to make your stay comfortable; a dressing gown hanging on the back of the door, clock and bottle of water on the bedside table, lots of feather pillows. My mother in law is a very warm host.
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I am very much hoping that my bloggy friends on the East Coast of America are staying safe and have not been too badly affected by Hurricane Sandy (or Superstorm Sandy, as I heard one news channel call it today. Honestly.) The wreckage wrought by that storm has been dominating the news here and it looks pretty shocking. It's especially eerie to see NYC so quiet.
Have a happy Halloween and thank you, as always, for reading. It is pretty cold here in Durham and we are staying toasty warm by the fire.
I love your happy things... and what lovely pillows!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWhat a great pumpkin and I love that treacle tin- it's fab! It's funny that Bella calls trick or treat "trickle treat" because that is exactly what my little boy calls it too! Hope you all have a very happy Halloween :0) xx
ReplyDeleteI love those Lyles tins, especially as I can wash them out and use them to plant in.
DeleteHappy you carved a pumpkin - fun isn't it!! The guest room looks very cosy, love the colours, hope you have a relaxing stay.
ReplyDeleteIvan
It's lovely, thank you...we are all super relaxed.:-)
DeleteHello lovely Gillian! I'm so happy to see a tin of black treacle again! It's been years since I set eyes on one and it is so good to cook gingerbread with too.
ReplyDeleteHappy Hallowe'en to you and your children.
Stephanie
So much cooking at this time of year requires treacle...parkin, gingerbread, bonfire toffee...I love it!
DeleteYour pumpkin lantern is splendid Gillian! And I love the treacle tin - like you I adore seasonal packaging! Have a lovely break with your in-laws. E x
ReplyDeleteThank you, it was fun to carve...once I found a really sharp knife!
DeleteI love your carved pumpkin...very festive! Enjoy your time with family! And the guest room looks so warm and inviting. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteThank you Julia - i hope you had a fun Halloween.
DeleteI must get one of those tins! Ada :)
ReplyDeleteDo - I want to buy a couple more before they all go!
DeleteI never tire of autumn leaves. Today I saw a suited and booted chap kicking with wild abandon through piles of leaves, swinging his briefcase in the air with a massive smile on his face. I wish I could have photographed that moment!
ReplyDeleteAce pumpkin too - hope you've had a good one!
What a wonderful moment - thank you for sharing that!
DeleteI love Bella's phrase - trickle treating! So cute. Max loves halloween, so even though I prefer bonfire night I try to put a bit of effort in - at the very least a bit of pumpkin carving and dressing up. Somehow managed to miss your last post, what a fabulous party - well done! And I'm sure the toffee on toffee apples is meant to be hard, they look perfect. x
ReplyDeleteI'm going to make some more toffee apples for bonfire night now I know what I did wrong on the last batch...and i am so looking forward to bonfire night!
DeleteGreat pumpkin. Elizabeth has been really interested this year too, she though it was really funny that people come to the door all dressed up and get sweets. Shes very keen to do that next year!
ReplyDeleteThat room looks lovely, hope you have a great break. xx
Thank you - we are having the best time. :-)
DeleteTrickle treating ... what a cutie ... I love the pumpkin ... we are just in from the fireworks display ... we have transferred three sleeping bambinos from car to bed and are chilling by the fire now too ... Bee xx
ReplyDeleteThat sounds lovely - we are going to a friend's house for fireworks on Sunday and the kids are very excited.
DeleteArgh. Halloween. Such mixed feelings about Australia getting in on the act with an American tradition- guy Fawkes is closer to our heritage, but really even that's not relevant- but then as you say the kids miss out when all the friends are doing it. And it's a but of healthy harmless fun really...apart from the sugar. ;) what to do.,,Australian culture is full of borrowed traditions I guess.
ReplyDeleteI used to feel the same but it's really hard to be anti-halloween when your kids get to school age - it's all they talk about!
DeleteGillian, I love visiting you!! I had to look up Treacle today... never heard of it here in the US ;-)
ReplyDeleteThank-you for your well wishes... our rental property had a tree fall on top of it, but folks & their puppy inside were safe, thank goodness. We're inland Connecticut, so we didn't experience nearly the damage as other states & the shoreline. We are very grateful.
Till next time friend, Happy Hallowe'en!!
Well thank you, Debra! Treacle is like a dark, thick syrup made form molases I think - it get used a lot in cooking this time of year. Glad you were not affected by the storm.
DeleteTell you a secret - J thought it was trickle treating til last year! I had no idea!
ReplyDeleteLove that treacle tin - ad I've just un out too - how serendipitous!
I promise I will never mention that to J!
DeleteLove the pumpkin. Oh and what a nice guest bed.
ReplyDeleteThank you - I even got to stay in that bed past 8am this morning!!
DeleteJ`adore votre citrouille !! :0) Elle est fait tres bien!! :0)
ReplyDeleteEt aussi je suis voter nouveu membre!! :0)
Avec amitié
xxx Maria xxx
Bonjour Maria! Thanks for stopping by, it's nice to meet you. :-)
DeleteNow these are things that would make me happy too! And that bed looks so inviting ... I home your few days away are proving really restful :D
ReplyDeleteAnnie, it's been the best, most restful tonic. So nice to be looked after.
DeleteThe bed looks beautiful! The duvet and little cushions look especially lovely.
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely, isn't it? I wish I had a guest room we could make pretty instead of a sofa bed in the play room!
DeleteLove autumn leaves. When I was young we always had a Nature Table at school on which we placed our leaves, catkins, conkers, chestnuts, whatever ... I don't suppose children have Nature Tables these days. There was even one in our local natural history museum.
ReplyDeleteThe bed looks lovely - congratulations to your Ma-in-law for making you so welcome (although I'd like a larger bedside reading lamp - ours are huge as I love to read in bed.)
I've never carved a pumpkin in my life (what am I missing, har, har!) as when our boys were young Halloween wasn't celebrated in the way it is today, it was just Bonfire Night that was celebrated (I'm talking the 1970s/early 1980s.) Now we have an infestation of Trick or Treaters, but thankfully, in the last couple of years the rather menacing teenagers who took it upon themselves to hammer on the door and demand TRICK OR TREAT, have vanished and most little tackers arrived dressed as witches and skeletons with their mums and very often their dads as well, which is nice to see. You can't be too careful and in other circumstances no children would be allowed to roam the streets at night, knocking on strangers' doors and asking for a trick or a treat. We always have a bowlful of sweets for them, including chocolate money which went down well this year!
Margaret P
They still have nature tables! For me Bonfire Night will always trump Halloween but I am starting to see how much fun there is to be had with some quiet Halloween celebrations. And I agree - small kids with parents is endearing (especially when they have nice manners!) but gangs of teenagers wearing a mask as their "costume" - that's another thing altogether!
Deletegreat pumpkin carving skills! I'm going to have to try and hunt down one of those treacle tins, they are so cool! x
ReplyDeleteI am going to try and buy a couple more and save them for Halloween decs next year.
DeleteThat's an excellent pumpkin - we didn't have chance this year and all the shops seemed to sell out in super quick time.
ReplyDeleteNina x
Thanks! We sent my father in law out on Halloween morning for whatever was left. All the huge, perfect ones had gone. Ours was a little warty but we didn't mind.
DeleteI was so excited to see one of those tins in my local shop, that I snaffled it up. Fortunately it is an ingredient for my Christmas cake so a no guilt purchase.
ReplyDeleteI love the bedspread in your guest room. Lovely! x
ReplyDelete