HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

This is my seventh English Halloween. Although trick-or-treating seems to become more popular in England with each passing year, it's nowhere nearly as popular as in Canada. In fact a poll on a news programme this morning revealed that 94% of people thought Halloween should be banned!

(my candy bowl at the end of the night)

Nevertheless, I had the best turn out of trick-or-treaters ever tonight. About 30 of them! Unfortunately, I had no Jack-o-lantern as I wasn’t paying £4 for a pumpkin the size of my cereal bowl! Instead I turned all the lights on in the front of the house and put some candles in the front garden (it's about 3 square metres big!).

I have fond memories of Halloween as a child. I've dressed up as a clown, a witch, an native Indian, a princess, a fortune teller, a pioneer, a bloke, a bride, a 1950s teenager in a poodle skirt and a Goth (not so much a Halloween costume...I was 13 years old so enough said).

(Laura and Angela trick-or-treating at Grandma's
Halloween 1992 - I think!)

Dad told me a few years ago he almost liked Halloween more than Christmas because like Christmas the family decorates the house, people go to parties and everyone can have some fun. And the added bonus?? ... Unlike Christmas – NO PRESENTS!!! J