farmhouse

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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two children in halloween costumes
Brenna

Guys, the best season of the year is upon us: FALL!! Honestly, I am just so excited. All things creepy, spooky, cozy, snuggly, and pumpkin spice-y come out of the woodwork, and I have to say, I’m totally here for it. I love how crisp the air feels when you take your first step outdoors. And how beautiful the leaves look when they change from green to yellow to orange to red. I love how they fall all over everything, and crunch when you step on them. It’s truly magical, you’ll never be able to convince me otherwise.

This fall has been a strange one, I must admit.

As I’m sure you saw, back at The Farm, we’ve already had snow! (Which admittedly isn’t totally unheard of in September, but it’s still a bit early). Here on the other side of the country, it’s been pretty dang hot. My heart is yelling “Drink some hot chocolate! Curl up under a blanket! Wear some fuzzy sweaters!” and my head is yelling “Brenna it’s 34°, run as fast as you can to somewhere with A/C so you don’t melt!” Naturally, my head won, and I have sought asylum inside a local Starbucks, drinking something very chilly, and very non-pumpkin spice-y.

laptop and notes at Starbucks

I think one of the things that makes fall so special is all the anticipation.

Kids and adults alike have returned to school, and there’s a buzz in the air. There are new books, new classes, new friends and new places to explore. The weather is changing (in weird ways, apparently) and there is excitement in the all around. For some, there are lingering thoughts of eating unreasonable amounts of turkey at Thanksgiving. Or if you are Jess, you’re already wired thinking about Christmas. The thing I look forward to the most about fall, is dressing up for Halloween.

Halloween has always been a family production.

I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that this post doesn’t have much to do with farming, but it has a lot to do with family. We have always picked a theme (usually from a movie), and then our characters, and got to work with creating the most amazing costumes. I remember spending hours with Dad looking for the perfect red coat at Value Village for when he went as Captain Hook (Jess and I were of course Peter and Wendy). I remember searching the school gymnasium for Mom on Halloween, only to find her wearing the perfect emerald cloak and pointy hat for her Minvera McGonagall costume. Jess and I went as Harry Potter and Hermoine Granger, and I must say, my accent was perfect! 😉

One of our most famous Halloweens was the year Dad came to the elementary school dressed as Shaggy. Mom had immaculately replicated Scooby Snacks using some coloured paper and a cereal box. My friends were delighted to find that there was still cereal in the box, that Jess and I happily shared. Our Mystery Inc ensemble was complete. We had Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, and a gaggle of kids in creepy costumes following us around.

Jim, Brenna and Jess dressed up for Halloween

My parents were always wonderful with supporting Jess’ and my imaginations in a million different ways.

From the books they read us, to the endless imaginary tea parties I invited them to. Or all the times I wanted Mom to comb her hair with a fork (you can thank The Little Mermaid for that one). They always made the space and time for us to explore and play. For a while I thought that Halloween was an extension of that: just another activity for our enjoyment. I have since come to realize that their love of Halloween, the effort and the creativity they put into all of our outfits and experiences wasn’t just for us. It was something they had come to love and enjoy themselves, and they were teaching us to love it too. If you want proof of that, just check out this picture of Mom as Catwoman and Dad as Joker almost 30 years ago! They killed it!

Group of adults in halloween costumes

Nothing gets my creativity racing like planning our Halloween costumes.

Without a doubt, this sense of fun that my parents always seemed to bring to this holiday has had a huge impact on my love for Halloween (and all things costume involved, really). Fall just wouldn’t be the same without us designing our Halloween costumes way too far in advance, and sending text messages and pictures of the final products back and forth to each other. Fall, and Halloween, make me miss everyone back home, but I know that much like every other year they will have something amazing planned for it.

Halloween is going to be very special this year, because we have someone new on the farm: you! We will be sure to keep you all up to date with the plans, plotting and scheming for Halloween, and we are sure you won’t be disappointed! I don’t know how they plan on dressing, or where they plan on going, but I know without a doubt they’ll have a blast, and I can’t wait to hear all about it.

 

Any costume/event suggestions for us? Comment below and let us know what you think would make a good group ensemble for us this year! We would love to hear from you!

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fox hole
Jim

It seems there’s always something new to discover on the farm. Sometimes at play, sometimes at work. These discoveries are not always a good thing, but I especially appreciate the ones that are. It’s those that can spark your imagination.

While hauling hay in from the field this year

I happened upon an area on the edge of a hill that ought to have been green. Or at least greenish. It was only week-old hay stubble, so a greenish brown would’ve seemed about right.  Instead of that expected hay-stubble colour, the ground looked sandy brown. In fact, from the seat of the truck it appeared to be completely tan.  It was about 30 yards away, not too far. Off I go, my curiosity just wouldn’t leave it alone. This discoloured area had to be inspected.

As the truck got closer

and the sandy coloured spot became more defined I could see that this was not hay stubble at all. It was sand. The sand formed a small mound directly south of a freshly dug hole.  Since this mound had buried the stubble it couldn’t have been here long, a week at the most.  It’s odd I hadn’t noticed it sooner. As I stood there, looking at that hole I naturally started to guess at how it may have gotten there. In no time at all I found myself carried back in time to some of my most beloved childhood storybook characters: those brought to me by Mr Thornton W. Burgess. Do you know the ones?

Where did this hole come from?

Well to start with it is no doubt a hole, so definitely not Sammy Jay. It’s too small for Buster Bear and I didn’t smell Jimmy The Skunk. Danny Meadow Mouse would never have needed a hole this extravagant and there’s not enough water nearby for Little Joe Otter. It looks about the right size for Reddy The Fox my mind told me. It could definitely be something he might’ve put here. So, using the size of the hole as my guide, I let my mind settle in on it being a fox.

In years past, our neighbour across the road would keep chickens.

And chickens are too inviting for any fox to pass up. So those chickens begat foxes. Just across from their hen-house, on my side of the road, I kept four steel grain bins. The foxes built themselves a comfortable burrow under the wooden floors of those old bins and used to spend their nights terrorizing those chickens. Well, the neighbours and their chickens are no longer around, and with the chickens gone, the foxes also packed up and left. Since those foxes built their home under my grain bins I’ve never actually seen a foxhole, but again, this hole seemed to meet the criteria, size wise.

Being inquisitive,

for three days we had a trail cam stand guard just a few feet to the south of the new hole. Over those three days it would average 192 ‘events’ per night. But it didn’t record anything except 192 different ways a breeze can toss a blade of grass back and forth. It’s crazy how little movement can trigger this trail cam. All those pictures and not a single critter. How disappointing. Actually that’s not entirely true.  I guess there were some shots of ‘Kirby the hound’, our yellow lab. She was equally curious about this site.  But there were no new critters on film. My theory is; they found their new neighbours, us, a bit too nosy and shuffled on to find a better spot.

I have to admit, I am still wondering what it might have been.

As I guess at the possibilities my mind wanders back to some of Mr Burgess’ storybook characters and I can’t resist a smile. I guess in the long run it doesn’t really matter which one it was.  I’m just thankful that Mr. Burgess let them come along and set for a spell this summer, just like he did in his storybooks, all those years ago.  Even if it was just a day or two.

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