spooky

Mention Hallowe'en and E.T. comes to mind and his walk in the film through the people who were in various weird costumes. In some places in America the grown ups seem to take a much bigger part in Hallowe'en than they do in this country. Here it is mostly the children dressing up and knocking on doors saying "Trick or Treat".

There have been some very large pumpkins for sale, but after they have been hollowed out to make lanterns, I don't think much use is made of the flesh. It is sweet, orange coloured and can be used in soups, meat and savoury dishes and in the popular American dish, pumpkin pie. The best method of cooking it is to peel, cut up (removing seeds) and roast it round the joint like potatoes, but I have never eaten any.

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Why do we change the clocks?

Various reasons have been given for changing the clocks and it's not, as some people thought many years ago, in order to save candles. I think the best reason for advancing the clocks in March is so that during the summer months we can enjoy the longer hours of daylight, but now we are at the end of October so we have to change them back again. I alter my clocks before I go to bed on the Saturday evening. It takes me a little while to do them all as I have to get out the instructions for some of the things. Usually I change everything except the telephone. I always forget the telephone. When everything else is done, then I have to change me.

nazgul

I wonder which of the nine Ringwraiths this is? I think it must be the Lord of the Nazgul as he has had me wandering around the Encyclopedia of Arda reading up on all sorts of things and ignoring any jobs that I should be doing. I now know that Tolkien only named one of the nazgul himself, Khamul the second in rank after the lord of the nazgul. The name Sauron is pronounced Sowron, as in "now" and quite a few other things. That's the trouble, I start off with one thing and get in a word chase hopping from one to another.
I think this picture is really good with the fire behind the figure and the moon shining through the smoke. He is very powerful, but not for good.

My Photo

I wonder why my hair turned out yellow?

Spent the day at Elizabeth's. John was visiting Geraldine and Ian and David were at football in the morning. Later I had a battle with Ian and Elizabeth over trying to protect a precious statue of one of the old kings of Middle Earth. I had men of Rohan and Elizabeth's force was the enemy, Ian was the referee. I kept forgetting the names of my men. I hadn't given them very inspired names (Bard, Grey, Gloin, Fletch, you get the idea) . Elizabeth had much better names, but even she had to resort to calling one bronze helmet as she couldn't distinguish which one he was. I won the battle and one of my men was promoted and got a horse, but that was only the first battle. It's an on-going thing. It's a good job we each have sheets to put down the names of the men and a little description so that we know who they are.

raincoat

It was pointed out to me recently how dirty my summer raincoat had become. I hadn't noticed, but when I did take a good look I felt really ashamed. Goodness knows what my neighbours must have thought. There was dirt on the cuffs and the lapels were badly stained. I put it in the washing machine and next year I will have to look around for another light one as the shops have gone over to winter clothes now.

Upminster 002

It's sometime since I was last on Upminster station. I've taken the bus when I have gone into Romford and I haven't been to London by train at all this year.

Autumn at Arge - Claude Monet

The window boxes are looking very forlorn. I shall have to take out the plants and pot up the geraniums to keep inside for the winter. It feels quite chilly some mornings so I have switched on the heater in the hallway on the lowest setting.

fog

Today we had the first thick grey mist of the season. The cars parked along the streets were all very wet and most of the drivers were keeping to a sensible speed. It gradually cleared and had gone by mid'day.

Ford Prefect

Strange that a Ford Anglia saves something in Harry Potter and Ford Prefect saves everything in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and then afterwards the H2G2 guide gets written!

>I find it hard to grasp the concept of space. A nothingness that has no beginning and no end and we are just suspended in it. We have learnt that some of the stars we think we see are no longer there, having burnt out many years ago, but their light is still travelling towards us. Living in towns and cities we cannnot see the night sky properly, but away from the city lights there is a wonderment about it. We can only see a small piece, but what's beyond?

Spiders and Harry?

...but wait! Didn't Harry Potter have a few dealings with spiders in the Chamber of Secrets? I think he had to take a different approach...
Yes, but it was the enchanted Ford Anglia that saved Harry and Ron from the very old, blind spider Aragog 's sons and daughters. The car had come into the hollow where the boys were and carried them to safety. Aragog would not harm the gamekeeper Hagrid as he had released him into the forest, but he would not protect anyone else. After Aragog died in the Half Blood Prince, the other spiders wouldn't let Hagrid anywhere near their webs, as it was only on Aragog's orders that they didn't eat him. Hagrid was upset about that as it was the only part of the forest where he could not go.

Snail's pace

Starting to blog takes quite a lot of time. Some may say it's like starting at a snail's pace. I am sure it will get easier.

Whilst thinking of small creatures, I put the spiders out of the window and I wonder if it is the same ones keep coming back, although I do shut the window for a while after I have put them out. There is a round body with short legs, a small body with long legs and the small ones. I don't get the little jumping ones here that I've had at other houses. I think of the saying "If you wish to live and thrive, let a spider run alive". I should be thriving.

Autumn approaches

So Autumn is on its way. The first Christmas decorations have been in the stores for two or three weeks, alongside the Halloween and Guy Fawkes items. They will soon be starting to display the Creme eggs again, I suppose.

Years ago this was the season when we gathered the blackberries from the field opposite our house to make blackberry jelly. We moved from that house after the bushes were all destroyed when the M11 was built across the field. Progress.

Tag: autumn, fall, season, faery

Wallace and Gromit

I've worked it out! I had to alter the 5 to 10 on the top of the listings to get it to show Wallace and Gromit again. They had disappeared from the list and I didn't know why.

This is one film I do want to see. I've seen little snippits on the TV. They showed "A Grand Day Out" the other evening and I still found the little robot on the moon funny.

It was on the 21st October 1996 that the Oscar-winning plasticine models Wallace and Gromit were reunited with their creator, Nick Park, after being left accidentally in a New York taxi.

beware of the dog

He doesn't look fierce enough to be a killer. His ears remind me of a long-eared bat. I think he will be a very loyal and affectionate fellow and great fun to be with.

opal the kitten

The kitten wandered into the house one day and despite adverts in the local shops and posters on trees, no one claimed her.The old dog, Sally, eyed her suspiciously at first,  but to everyone's surprise she allowed the kitten to share her bed that night. She had to have a name, so they called her Opal, as she had come to them in October.