Kilt-O-Ween Monday!

'Cause let's face it,

Mondays can be so rough, hard, difficult.

Have You Ever Gotten A Song Stuck In Your Head . . . And. It. Just. Won't. Go. Away?

BOO!

Guest Blogger Today!

Happy! Happy! Happy! A long time mentor of mine stopped by yesterday and allowed me to coerce him in to working on a few of my house plants. Hank has had quite a green thumb in his day, and has taught me a great deal about growing things, especially about fertilizing them well.

The first thing we did was to make some self-watering planters, because I have a terrible habit of over or under watering my house plants. If you'd like the instructions, they can be found {here}. We modified the plans a bit, but not much.  

In the first picture you see: soil, 2 litre soda bottles (empty), screen circles to cover the holes, and felt strips to act as wicks.


The instructions are simple, really.

1. Cut the bottle approximately in half. 
2. Invert the top half. 
3. String a felt strip so that it will draw water from the bottom half up into the soil 
4. Insert the screen circle. 
5. Fill with dirt and plant. 

Hopefully I can keep these guys alive better. (Now I just need to outsmart the cats.)

Next, Hank took a look at my spider plant in the front window. It was getting dark by the time we got to it so the best picture I got was actually from outside. (Please pay no attention to my dirty windows.) You can see Hank in the background, almost hidden by the massive plant, and some of our Halloween decorations in the foreground.

He did a bit of trimming, but the good news is that I have managed to avoid damaging it, and it is in ripping good health.

Hank loves to nurture heirloom, rare, and just plain odd plants that he finds on his travels or through people he meets, and he gave me a pot full of seedlings. (I hope I do him justice.)

It's right there in the center of this not very clear picture.






My camera isn't very good and there is a glare from the lights, but here is a closeup.

From myself, my family, and 'Hank,'

Have a safe, fun, and happy Halloween!

Question:

Does this qualify as a Saturday Farmer's Market post even though it's on Thursday?

Listen . . .

With faint dry sound,

Like steps of passing ghosts,

The leaves, frost-crisp'd, break from the trees

And fall.

November Night 

 - Adelaide Crapsey 

What Do You Think Halloween is Like in the King Home?

{Source}

Boo . . . to You.

The Real Origins of Halloween

Halloween History

HAVE YOU SEEN Food Network's NEWEST PROGRAM?

As if Bobby didn't already

have enough shows!

What's Who's 

on the grill, Bobby?

BLESSED SAMHAIN (sow-in) OR HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts celebrated their new year on November 1, to mark the end of summer and harvest and the beginning of winter.

According to my Irish grandmother, they believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. Otherworldly spirits who came to visit would cause trouble and damage crops, but their presence also helped the Druids, the Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. Since their people were entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

All hearth fires were extinguished and the Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people, in costumes gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. They also attempted to tell each others fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

Through the years (400) that the Romans ruled Celtic lands, a couple of their festivals were thrown into the mix: Feralia, when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead, and a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain may explain the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

When Christianity hit Celtic lands, it too left its mark on the 'holiday.' In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, probably in an attemp to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.

Later, the church made November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. Its celebration was similar to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils.

Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.

(Illus #2 - Spirit Raising Samhain © Rich CrystalWolfe Baker)

THE EVOLUTION CONTINUES . . . . MUUUHAHAHA

All these images come to us courtesy of Worth1000.com. And as always, will grow larger when you click on them.

"May all your treats be chocolate, 
and may all your surprises be ghastly ones."