Hallowe'en and Sister Cruella!

Hallowe'en is over for another year. I've noticed that in town here over the years, people get decorated almost as much as they do for Christmas. All we ever had was ONE pumpkin with triangle eyes/nose and the square teeth carved at 6:00 p.m. in freezing temperatures when my dad got home from work!

My husband's secretary's kids came to show us their princess and monster costumes. She and her husband were dressed up too, to take them around to a few houses. They looked great. My sister used to do that and get my mom and dad to give out the candy while they went out. What fun and fabulous memories these kids will all have!

My sister is a hoot! (She taught me well!) When you teach school, there are all kinds of opportunities to dress up as different characters on various occasions. I think this pic was when "Cruella" came out during an assembly advertising a Hallowe'en Dance-a-thon. All the kids in her class couldn't believe it! To them, she rocked! I can't imagine one of my Gr. 4 teachers ever doing this in 1963.

I have always loved doing this sort of thing; my years at summer camp make it a natural response. It is so much fun, especially if you can find a partner-in-crime. That is sometimes difficult because not all teachers are hams. I wish I had taught at my sister's school!

Here's to dressing up and having fun!

Black Cats And Pumpkins!

I love the look of fall and Hallowe'en at our front door. It just seems to beckon black cats. Soot, a little black cat we adopted as a kitten,was with us for 16 years! He did his share of hanging around the front porch in the sun by the pumpkins!

Twinkie, a very sweet black cat we had for 7 years, loved to hang out on the porch beside the pumpkin! I called her Twinkie because she had a soft white spot that reminded me of the icing you see when you bite into a Hostess Twinkie. Later, I found out that these cupcake things I was thinking of were really called King Dongs but I just couldn't see calling her that when she had already grown into a Twinkie! Imagine me calling her in at night, "Here, King Dong!" Nope, couldn't do it!











My first cat ever was a black cat that appeared on our curb my husband named, "Goblin". On his first Hallowe'en, he didn't know what to make of a Jack-o-lantern but he sure was curious as only cats can be so he stuck his head right inside!


Living on the main street, we don't get any kids trick-or-treating because kids who are really wanting the loot, hit the densely populated subdivisions, but it's fun to do the carving thing anyway. Ours is the standard as our parents used to do....the old triangles and square teeth....nothing like the fancy carving you see now!

Heck, I'd carve a pumpkin just to roast the seeds!