fall

Hotel Slekirk
Jim

It’s time! Costumes are on, props are in place, and we all have our ‘creep’ on.  It’s time to head to town and see if we can’t spook, slink, scrape, screech, and boo everyone we encounter into quaking in their boots. It’s Halloween! Destination; Fort Edmonton’s Spooktacular. And let me tell you this. It.Is.Fun!

The drive to Fort Edmonton is usually over an hour, but on Halloween it seems much shorter.

It could be that all the whooping and screeching and howling at passing vehicles played a hand in that.With the windows down and all the shenanigans going on, the time did spin by a little faster. At least for those making the roar from within. At one point I worried that it may rattle our driver, Frankenstein. It didn’t, luckily Frankie’s a bit slow on the uptake so none of the chaos seemed to affect his ability to keep us between the ditches.

boy and girl in werewolf costumes

woman and man in mummy costumesFrankenstien and His bride costumes

We had a car full of screaming, creepy, classic monsters!

You’d think werewolves, mummies, Frankenstein and his betrothed would be quite frightening for other drivers. Especially with the windows down and all sorts of mayhem pouring out! I had expected our fellow drivers to be startled or gasp in surprise, maybe squeak out an “Oh My!” Nope, not so. As it turns out, this tends to generate uncontrollable laughter. Probably not a good idea while driving. But I don’t get it. I mean, we were pretty creepy! There really ought to have been brakes screeching, cars swerving, cursing, confusion, havoc…all of that. Nothing. I wonder, has the entire world become spook proof?

For those that are curious, the Spooktacular at Fort Edmonton comes to us in many different colours.

At one end of the spectrum things are completely family friendly. At the other end, even steely minded adults would find it on the edge of disturbing. You simply need to pick the path that best suits your group. This was the first year that our entire group was over 18, so of course we chose the scariest ‘avenue’ of entertainment available. And we were not disappointed.

As we strolled through the darkened midway guided by zombie lantern light, we experienced true horror tales from the local past; train derailments, serial killers, hangings, Spanish flu victims, circus elephant rampage. Each tale a little more sinister than the last, and each expertly told.

During one such tale, as has become tradition, Twyla tossed herself into one of the acts by stealing some lines. She was at the front of the group so only those closest to her heard her say them. The lines were predictable and most of us kept quiet. She did not. Once she had said them before the minstrel could they were immediately followed with him growling, “Hey pal, stop stepping on my lines!”, and then he continued with his monologue. This created a little misplaced laughter…most of it by me!

But the night was not only filled with stories…

In addition to the tales we strolled through haunted houses, grotesque butcher shops, in and out of coffins, met ‘Stretch’ and generally mingled with those trying to find their way past our world and into the next. I would recommend the stroll to anyone.

Along the edges of this blog you will find pictures of all of our costumes from that evening. Even though Meaghan, Kenny, Brenna and Surya could not be with us, they had fantastic costumes and they sent us pictures of them. I wanted to share them with you here as well. We’ve put their names in the pictures, can you guess their characters? The only one you probably won’t get is Kenny, and that’s because I think she’s being herself.

There are no rules when it comes to Halloween costumes.

In fact they’re not even a prerequisite. When we arrive at our ghoulish haunt there are many around us wearing the very same clothes they could wear any other day of the year, and that’s fine. However, between you and me, dig around in your personal tickle-trunk to see what you can unearth. Buy, build or borrow that spooky ensemble. It can be anything, it doesn’t really matter. It has been true for us that any costume you wear will bring a smile to your face, when not growling, gasping or creeping. And here’s the best part, you’ll bring a smile to another’s. Be they friends, or new friends. For us that really is what it’s all about.

Frankenstien and his Brideboy and girl in werewolf costumes

 

 

 

 

 

Now we’ve been to Halloween celebrations without ‘costuming up’, I admit. But never do we have as much fun as we do when we put on a little makeup, take some scissors to an old bedsheet, raid the racks at Value Village and blacken out a tooth or two. There is no comparison to the level of enjoyment. Now if this year didn’t work for you, do yourself a favour and give it a think for next year. I know you’ll have a lot of fun with it all! You’ve got 364 days. Let your imagination take you by the hand and see what it can dream up.

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corn field in fall
Jim

It’s Autumn. Summer chores are slowing, and will soon reach an end. All the hay has been hauled and stacked. You can literally watch the farm change from one day to the next. Each morning is new and different and exciting. The colours dance from every tree and every shrub. You can’t look down a fence line and see the same thing you saw yesterday. The leaves are a brighter red, the rose hips look richer, the grass and wild grains have become more golden. It’s always new, almost by the glance there’s something there that was not the day before.

Yellows, oranges, reds, browns and left-over greens sprinkled in. And if all that colour wasn’t enough, take a deep gulp of that air. You’ll never breathe anything like it any other time of year. It’s cool and quiet and crisp and full of scents from every grass every leaf, every pond, and every field. You will feel full to the brim just breathing all this in. There is no other time of year when your senses become so heightened and aware of everything that surrounds you as they do now.

This is autumn, and I can’t imagine a soul who wouldn’t fall in love with her.

Even better, it’s the start of the visiting season. It’s that time of year when the gentler days allow you to take that oft-delayed visit. It’s tough to do in the summer, but not so now. There’s no need to worry about rain or drought or pasture fences or water supplies or, or, or. It’s the season that has the two best holidays. You get to celebrate with an oven roasted stuffed turkey on one holiday and have the bejesus scared out of you on the other. Honestly, you can’t beat Thanksgiving AND Halloween! I love when it’s not too cold out, there’s no place to be, and no chores for me to tackle.

All you need to do, is take your time and use it to have coffee with a neighbour, enjoy some time with your family and find someone to scare the daylights out of!

Start with the visiting. Twyla and I have a number of ‘must sees’ on our list and beginning this weekend we will get on the phone, make some calls and try to figure out whom we get to see first. I confess, Twyla is much more of a social butterfly than I am, so she’ll be making most of these arrangements.

 

Of course we won’t be off to anyone’s house this weekend for coffee.

We can’t. We already have plans to attend the Spooktacular at Fort Edmonton. It promises to be a lot of fun. We’ve done this before and so know a little of what to expect. I can’t wait for it all to begin! We promise to tell you all about it and include pictures of our costumes when we get back home.

Come to think of, you could say that this weekend we will be combining a little of our visiting time with a little of our spine-tingling entertainment since there is a group of six of us going together. Fort Edmonton is beautiful all year round, and is the absolute best in autumn. And best of all, we’ll be costumed up!

On a side note, I also have some scary stuff planned soon. After all it is Halloween.

Someone has to get good and spooked, don’t you think? Now I’m not going to name names but we have one particular neighbour that is deathly afraid of Ouija boards. Who knows why? It’s not logical. We have a decorative Ouija couch throw pillow. You can literally chase her with it. I’m guessing she thinks if it touches her skin she’ll have a curse placed upon her. Maybe, something that changes her into a black crow with one wing, and a broken beak and that continually flies into the same pain of glass for all eternity. That’s just a guess folks…I don’t actually know anything about curses.  😉

So anyway, this autumn I was able to find a very old wooden chipped and worn Ouija board at a pawnshop. It’s seen some crazy hard miles from it’s planchette, just judging from the missing letter paint.  Much of the surface and finish has been scraped completely off.  Well I bought that Ouija board and have it tucked safe and sound somewhere inside her house.  When it’s dark and cold and windy and spooky and when the time is just right she’s going to ‘stumble’ onto that old antique. I’m hoping I have the good fortune of having my phone ready to record it when it happens. Something tells me that video will be worth loading onto the blog!

Happy Halloween everyone!

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Twyla

Each year, the second Monday of October, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. A counterpart celebration to a Thursday in late November for our neighours South of the 49th parallel. A time for gratitude and family, and to switch to colder weather clothing. Our seasons are more pronounced here in the prairie provinces. Especially Summer and Winter. Some years it feels as though we glaze past Spring and Fall in far too big a hurry. Our days are already noticeably shorter! Beautiful autumnal foliage abounds, brought on by dropping temperatures and a few brief dalliances with snow. Warm toned leaves holding on for dear life as brisk winds sweep over our landscapes.

Yes, it’s sweater season. Add a toque. A scarf. Maybe even wool socks. Boots.

But we don’t mind, us hearty Canucks are happy for anything above -40°C! Our thankfulness and appreciation worn on our shirtsleeves this time of year, as we celebrated our Thanksgiving this last weekend.

This is a time for family, reflection, appreciation and great food.

When we gather for a family meal, it is a feast! Generations of stuffing and gravy making skills have culminated in our kin. We produce fantastic fares for the holidays. Tips and tricks passed on through the lineage, create pleasing experiences for the eye, palate and stomach. While we tend to stick to the tried and true, every once in a while a new recipe joins the fold.

I could go on and on about my pride in family and family gatherings. I love them so dearly. But today I’m stuck on one aspect of the get-together: dessert!

Talk about blessings, I was born into a long line of very gifted women in the kitchen.

Pies are the Thanksgiving dessert of choice in our clan. All sorts of fruit pies, made from scratch, with love. My earliest pie memories; Grandma Nellie made the best apple pies. For many years, Mom took on the endeavour. She claims that she never cared for making pies. But obviously enough to make them great. Her lemon meringue pie cannot be beat!

I believe I was about 12 years old when I learned to bake pies. I quickly garnered it’s much more involved than muffins, breads or cakes; there is an art to it. And for some reason, just like my Mom, to this day, I’ve never baked just one. If I’m committing to bake a pie, a minimum of 6 are created. I laugh to myself, while skimming a magazine or Pinterest, when I encounter a recipe for a single piecrust, I immediately dismiss it. If the first ingredient listed doesn’t ask for 4 or more cups of flour, this recipe is not for me. It simply seems disrespectful to the craft!

I’ve made my fair share of pies over the years.

For family meals, special events, and just because. I take great joy in the process and the end products. As a young girl, Brenna took to these pastries!  A natural, if not a little messy, in the kitchen. After a few years of refining her skills, I think she was  about 14 when she made them the first time for the family Thanksgiving meal. They were amazing! Pies quickly became her specialty. She soon tweaked and reinvented and expanded her repertoire. We gladly sampled her fares.

This year, while Brenna remains clear across the country. Her cousin Kenny stepped up to the task!  True to teenager form, she even experimented with a new found piecrust recipe! Dangerous territory.  The results were tantalizing. Sitting there that evening, slicing through the flaky layers on my way through a gorgeous slice of peach pie. I knew exactly what I was most thankful for. Each beautiful bakers’ rendition of a classic recipe. Pie. Good old fashioned, home made pie, created and eaten with love. Pie. Tradition.

 

 

 

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