Autumn and Halloween

[rmmcscott]

I too love fall/autumn... the Halloween stuff is ok... I enjoy seeing kids (even though I have none of my own) enjoying themselves in their costumes, just about as much as I enjoy watching my friends in their more elaborate costumes!

I on thing I miss the most is the homemade popcorn balls that always awaited us at my Grandmother's farmhouse... chewy, sweet, delicious - I can almost taste it today! It was always a treat to go out to the farm and get those popcorn balls, and all the kids in the area came for popcorn balls... even the long-time neighbors came around with their grandkids because she'd been doing them for so long - it started when my mom was small and they couldn't afford a bunch of candy for the kids in the area (not to mention they had 6 kids of their own), popcorn was cheap and making popcorn balls was easy. My grandmother is 84 now, and I should ask her to make the popcorn balls for my niece and nephew!

Anyway... Makeitstop, make your own halloween - invite some of your friends and have an "old-fashioned" halloween. Make it a night in with a jack-o-lantern, some homemade goodies, and good friends!

Scott

[pdcorlis]

Anyway... Makeitstop, make your own halloween - invite some of your friends and have an "old-fashioned" halloween. Make it a night in with a jack-o-lantern, some homemade goodies, and good friends!
Scott

Amen - all traditions have to start somewhere - why not start some of your own today?

[mexpiper]

[

I on thing I miss the most is the homemade popcorn balls that always awaited us at my Grandmother's farmhouse... chewy, sweet, delicious My grandmother is 84 now, and I should ask her to make the popcorn balls for my niece and nephew!


Scott[/QUOTE]

So what's stopping you from learning from Grandmother how to make popcorn balls???? My grandmother died when my brothers were little ( I am 16 years older than them ) I carry on some of the things my grandmother did...[especially tomatoe soup cake--i just made some for my cousins, last week,,, and you could see the tears in their eyes.. and their kids reply was yuck...]
I have not had popcorn balls in years....hmmm i have my neighbors recipe somewhere.

Unfortunately, since i live in a drug/crime infested neighborhood... we don't get trick or treaters. I still buy candy... the good stuff,,, so i can eat it.

I guess, since I purchased some very BMovie dvds (99C) that have some really bad monster movies on them.. I will sit in the dark and watch them!

[kevinkinney]

Hello all,

Halloween signals a change in mood for our town. It's the last great gasp of early Autumn before the slow slide of winter begins. It's our late season Mardi Gras.

Kevin.

[slohairt]

Oíche Shona Shamhna!

Hallowe'en/Autumn is my favourite time of the year as well. My family combines traditional Irish customs such as a big supper with various Irish delicacies like Colcannon and Barmbrack with the usual North American ones. People tend to think of Hallowe'en as a North American holiday, and forget its roots in Ireland and Scotland. In Ireland, it is a public holiday.

Costume-making was a labour of love that began in early September until the last moments before All Hallows Eve. Even today, I still spend a lot of time making costumes. (and even occasionally win money!) Now, I have a two-year-old daughter and look forward to helping her with costumes as she gets older. This year, my wife will be the Wicked Witch of the West, I will be a Winkie Guard, and my daughter will be a flying monkey!

[wsk]

I really enjoyed Halloween as a kid. But then I didn't really participate in Halloween after I got out of the Navy. Moved into the country where we were too far away from the rest of civilized society.

Then my wife and I divorced so now I'm in the city. A single man living alone in the city. I know that my neighbors' kids have been warned about me. When a couple of the neighborhood children discovered that I don't bite, they would come visit when I was working in my yard. But then one day one of them let slip that they were supposed to stay together - this when one of the girls wandered into my garage.

I don't blame the parents for imposing these kinds of restriction on their children given the stories one hears - though the rational part of my brain notes the relatively tiny percentage of children who are actually harmed by strangers is well, tiny.

So, for me - if I'm home, Halloween is a time when I keep my house dark and hide in the basement. I don't want to take any chances. Sad really.

[beloitpiper]

Oíche Shona Shamhna!

Hallowe'en/Autumn is my favourite time of the year as well. My family combines traditional Irish customs such as a big supper with various Irish delicacies like Colcannon and Barmbrack with the usual North American ones. People tend to think of Hallowe'en as a North American holiday, and forget its roots in Ireland and Scotland. In Ireland, it is a public holiday.

Costume-making was a labour of love that began in early September until the last moments before All Hallows Eve. Even today, I still spend a lot of time making costumes. (and even occasionally win money!) Now, I have a two-year-old daughter and look forward to helping her with costumes as she gets older. This year, my wife will be the Wicked Witch of the West, I will be a Winkie Guard, and my daughter will be a flying monkey!

I know that Halloween has it's roots in Ireland, but it's not really popular here... The stores try to push it by selling cheap Halloween decorations and costumes, but nobody really celebrates it.

[slohairt]

I know that Halloween has it's roots in Ireland, but it's not really popular here... The stores try to push it by selling cheap Halloween decorations and costumes, but nobody really celebrates it.

A disappointing reality today. Ireland (especially rural Ireland) has undergone much North Americanization over the last twenty or twenty-five years. The customs that my parents remember, and those even I remember are dying out at an alarming rate. Bear in mind, most of those customs bore only a superficial resemblance to the ones found here. All that seems to be left is a pale version of what it is here in Canada/U.S. Just one of the many reasons why I no longer live there...