Monday, November 1, 2010

Happy Halloween and out first Jack-o'-Lantern

This weekend was rather frantic,  on Saturday I drove down to Canberra to attend my 20 year school reunion (yes, I am that old!).  On the way down, just as we were passing through the Southern Highlands there was a serious car accident right in front of me.  Literally, the car in front of me lost control and ended up swerving across both lanes twice and crashing into the median barrier.  Fortunately, the driver was uninjured and I was able to stop in time and thankfully the car behind me also managed to stop in time.  I was driving with my oldest and dearest friend who is pregnant with her first baby and also my not so little baby and I am so grateful that we are all okay!  Anyway, the school reunion was fabulous and it was a lovely opportunity to catch up with friends that now live overseas or that I had lost contact with. 

After a wonderful night out, including dinner at Ottoman!  I then got up early on Sunday morning to drive home as I had promised the Captain that I would be home in time to help him celebrate Halloween.  Halloween, although not typically an Australian celebration, is taken very seriously in my neighbourhood.  A letter was deposited into our letterbox, instructing as that Halloween was appproaching and that if we were interested in participating to please tie the attached balloon to the letter box.  The Captain was entranced!  During the week we had purchased a pumpkin with the anticipation of making a Jack-o'-Lantern,  never having made one before I was not sure how difficult it would be.  Luckily, it was quite straightforward!


We started by carving a hole, to make the lid, in the top of the pumpkin.  Once the "lid" was able to be lifted out we scooped out all the seeds and excess pulp.


We then used a pencil to draw a face onto the lantern and I then used a small paring knife to carve along the lines we had drawn.


A candle popped inside and it looked fantastic!  The Captain was delighted with our efforts.


Sitting out on the front porch.


The Captain  Bat waiting anxiously for Trick or Treaters.


Happy Halloween!

7 comments:

  1. Happy Hallowe'en!! Would be so funny if we turned out to live in the same suburb!!! We went with friends to their street which had done the organised balloon thing, was great fun!

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  2. That last picture is so precious...you did a great job with the pumpkin!
    Thank goodness all was fine on your drive to Canberra - reunions are always a bit of fun! x

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  3. Firstly - glad you're ok! How frightening and with your 'baby' and pregnant friend in the car too.

    Bat, you're so cute (not scary in the slightest!).

    I'm not a fan of halloween for (my) children - I just don't like exposing them to spooky stuff at this age, but I can imagine that it will be fun when they're a bit older. I love the balloon idea - sounds like a lovely community.

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  4. Oh, Emma! You've given me goosebumps, yet again. I'm so relieved you avoided crashing. I can't imagine how scary that must have been for you all.

    And what a fabulous job you did for the Captain. We had high jinks in our neighbourhood, too - I'm still coming to terms with the whole concept but the older pixies loved it. J x

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  5. Great pumpkin job...we were leaving for trick or treating and the older kids said "we didn't carve the pumpkin!". Err..yes, I skipped it.

    That's scary about the accident...one of the many things that ends up keeping us up at night :{

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  6. Glad to hear no one was seriously injured in the crash. What a scary thought ... I get so nervous driving now that I have the little guy in the backseat.

    Happy Halloween! Great pumpkin and it's great that the neighbourhood gets so into halloween. Just a lot of fun for the kids :)

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  7. Hi Emma, Fabulous to see you at the Reunion on Saturday ,night and sorry you had such a close call en route. We also had a close call on the way back to Sydney so know how horrid it is when you have your babies in the car.

    Anyway lovely to catch up with you again and your pumpkin ROCKS!!

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