October's end

October's last day - Samhain tonight. The village will be filled with little ghosts and princess-witches. There will be knocking at the door and sweets given and costumes admired. This is the first year in many that we have simply not got involved. Oh - we have the sweets and we will answer the door and light up the window skyscape and pumpkins but the boys have suddenly grown up and don't want to actually join in with the festivity of it......boo.

We have a diva in our midst.

She poses and pouts. She wears her outfits with aplomb. She knows how to work her adoring crowds.

Oh, oh - here she comes!

Pan models a seasonally coloured cowl with wooden buttons made for a metro-sexual Siamese 

(his owner's description, not mine!)

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I thought I would do an October montage

A lot has happened.  Birthdays, foul weather, walking, Samhain, autumn arrived and Lily* vanished. 

*Yesterday, as I flung open the bedroom curtains, a big ginger cat was sitting on the kitchen roof. My heart did a skip but at the same time I knew it was not Lila. The cat turned and stared, it was a huge tom cat, short coated and sporting - a purple collar and bells.... He jumped off the roof and disappeared.

I think that this cat is the one that folk have been seeing. She has been gone for 15 days now, not a sign, nothing. We have to face facts - she is gone.

Celtic designs and city skyscapes

Still on the theme of 'decorating for Samhain', the three of us (Himself was busy doing the loft conversion) got creative.

In between walking around the village for Lily (there has been several possible sightings of her  so we have been out all times of day and night in hope) Youngest and I have been carving pumpkins and Eldest has made a brilliant window display.

He first drew a skyscape on black paper, cutting many windows. He was definitely practising multi-tasking as he was watching Fawlty Towers at the same time.... !

We had, on one of our Looking-for-Lily walks, collected some very vibrant leaves, which Eldest then painstakingly taped and trimmed to fill the windows with colour.

I then taped it to our front window for him and we strategically placed fairy lights behind the windows and....

Just look at this!

before switching on the lights

The leaves made gorgeous colours and they really showed off all his 'windows' he had created - I am really pleased with his creativity.


Youngest and I ended up with two decorated pumpkins and a huge pot of pumpkin, chilli and garlic soup and home-made cinnamon bread - aaah heaven!

So, now the house is fully Samhain-ed and souped up.

PS - the possible sightings of our dear Lily are still coming in, I have just had another phone call saying that a cat was spotted - So without much of a thought apart from grabbing a coat and a torch, I set off, but  - nothing.  We do still have hope - how many deep red super furry fluff-cats live in our village?

Hawthorntime horrors

For Angela and C,

Hopefully a little inspiration to set off your Samhain mojo 

I trawled the internet and found some free templates. ** I've listed them below

With a little bit of scissor action and a lot of snippity bits left everywhere.

We now have a murder of crows cackling above our mirror.

A swarming colony of bats dashing across our wall.

Goulish faces watching our every move.

And skulls adoring our walls.

I've not quite finished, there are spiders and their webs waiting to go up and a few last touches.

AND!

Yesterday we bought two pumpkins -

Just think of the fun (and the soup says Himself and Eldest)

For the spider look HERE

For the Crows look HERE and HERE

For the goulish faces look HERE

For the bats look HERE

Thank you for your lovely comments about my last post, they are a delight to read :)

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The richness of autumnal shades

 I'd felt that our rather insipid summer had seamlessly drifted into autumn with out the usual bang fizz until we were out last Saturday and my eyes were invigorated by some gorgeous colours.

So, inspired to seek out more eye popping colour I wandered into the garden and was pleasantly surprised.

Reds 

Rhus typhina

American Blueberry 

Acid yellows

Hydrangea petiolaris

Rosa rugosa 

Oranges

Geranium sanguineum

Cotoneaster microphyllus

The last of the calendula

Purples

Akebia quinata - Chocolate Vine

All the colours of the season - makes it feel right to think about decorating the window in preparation of Samhain (Halloween). The boys are up for it and it does mean we can go and collect leaves and cut up card and legitimately make a mess!

Over the hills and far away.

To clear heads and exercise legs, we took the boys for a walk a few days ago. We picked up Eldest's friend along the way and set off for the hills. There was a brisk breeze which slapped at our cheeks as we piled out of the car and layered our walking gear on. Giddy dog was excited, squeaking and pulling on her lead as we strode  along the lane to the gated access to the moorland.

We were the only ones out. Youngest and the friend chatted  incessantly about anything and everything related to boy-favoured subjects. Ranging from harpoons to ground to air missiles, from fireworks to fast cars and everything else in between. Eldest added a word or two but seemed content to allow his brother to monopolise his friend.

Despite a definite autumnal chill to the air and the waning warmth of the sun, grasshoppers sang their last songs of the summer. Eldest managed to catch one too busy singing to notice him stalking up. A quick photo, then it binging off his finger and disappeared into the grasslands.

We chanced upon this handsome fellow. He obligingly let me burrow my face into his neck and inhale deeply. I know there is always a risk when snorting sweaty horse scent that the sweaty horse in question will object and bite, but, it is a risk I am prepared to take. I guessed he was a Percheron and was probably  quite used to being petted as we were not too far from a horse trekking centre. The boys too thought he was beautiful and made plans how they could keep a horse in the back garden (yeah right) I suspect they don't realise that a horse this size would eat the entire contents of the garden in a day. (I was able to stand beneath the crook of his jaw bone without having to bend my neck....) 

The weather constantly changed from brooding rained filled clouds to light whispy clouds that filtered the sun, making it feel cooler. We found a sunny spot and hunkered down for lunch. The boys wolfed their food and cheerfully slurped their tea. Within moments of finishing, they were ready for more walking, while I, with tea half drunk and feet resting was quite comfortable and not quite prepared to yomp off just yet!

I love the relics of old time farming. The gentle rusting over years and years of abandonment adds to their charm. In the brief flashes of the sun, these degenerating lumps of retired metal glowed with a warm russet hue.

We came off the hills as the sun began to sink a bit low and the air definitely became chilly. Our walk took us through the village of Kettlewell. Today it gave off the air of quiet rural contentment but during summer it is heaving with walkers and tea-room hoggers. Day trippers clad in brightly coloured walking clothes that have only ever walked from the car to the shops fill the narrow streets. Gaudy tourist attracting clapper boards jostle for pavement space, all trying to entice the wallets inside. But, as we walked through, it was just us.

We reached the car as the sun sunk completely, leaving a brilliant orange glow. Three hungry boys, still nattering, muddy dog and a feeling of release. Himself and I exchanged a look and smiled. A good walk.