Mummy's Photo

I know. Great pun. What can I say...?
Sorry?

Here's some interesting Halloe'en info that I've stolen sourced for you:
In the old Celtic calendar Halloween - or more correctly Samhain - was actually the beginning of the New Year, and the preparation for the coming hardship of winter. All the animals that were not breeding stock were slaughtered, and their meat salted and stored for the dark months. As one of the most important celebrations of the year, a great feast was held, and bonfires were lit throughout the countryside.

There may have been a more sinister side to the festival in Celtic times, and Caesar mentions human sacrifices during the four festivals of the year. Although Roman propaganda accounts can now be seen as biased, there is no smoke without fire, and evidence suggests ritual human sacrifice was practiced in the past. There is a tradition of the death of the sacrificial king at Samhain, and some of the darker customs of Halloween may disguise older practices.

The Halloween pumpkin originates from the custom of using lanterns to ward off the evil spirits, which were thought to wander through the thin veil into our world.

and I love this:

If a young woman wanted to get a glimpse of her future husband, all she had to do was sit looking at her reflection in a mirror by candlelight at midnight, with an apple in her hand. Hopefully she would see the image of her future husband looking back at her from the mirror.

Hazelnuts were also used in husband divination, to denote a future love each of the nuts would be given the name of a possible lover and placed in front of the fire, the hopeful young lady would then recite "If you love me, pop and fly; and if you hate me burn and die." The first nut to pop would be the girls' likely suitor.

All the above sourced from:
Mysterious Britain


I've also enjoyed reading this, this week, by Barbara Scully in Dublin:
At My Kitchen Table - Oiche Samhain
She shares some personal memories and understandings of Hallowe'en past in Ireland. Her posts are always a good read.

Phew! All that copying and pasting has made me hungry and thirsty! Time for red wine and chocolates methinks.

Richard has taken youngest and middle child to annoy the folk in the next village - Gawd 'elp 'em! - while I stay warm and dry with my online grocery shop and some cooking.

Photo is of our beautiful, blonde-haired angelic little girl just before she left the house. Isn't she gorgeous?