I love this holiday.
I think its because it heralds the "holiday season".
The weather is changing,
and the time is changing....
(well, not till November the 4th)
and the little ones are so excited to
consume mass quantities of sugar.
And the slightly cool occult undercurrent of it
makes for an interesting night.
Its believed that the current traditions have stemmed
from ancient Celtic and Gaelic harvest festivals
of Samhain.
They usually disguised themselves as spirits,
to ward off any ill effects during the harvest.
They believed that during that time of year,
they could convene with the dead.
It was best done around the witching hours.
They felt that most of the apparitional
experiences were sensed between midnight and 2am.
This was a Pagan celebration.
Once the Celtic and Gaelic people became
Christian, the church turned those old festivals into
All Souls Day and All Saints Day.
So, in the years since I was a kid and costumed in an old sheet
with eye holes cut out,
a homemade witch
or a Beatnik,
(don't judge, it was the late '50's early '60's)
this holiday has been "consumerized".
Every store has decorations,
the big box specialty Halloween stores pop up
to entice parents into buying "fancy",
one time use, costumes,
and the candy makers ramp it up.
But...
I still love the goofiness of this day.
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The girls are enjoying some cut up cabbage.
That's Lucy, Sandy and Henny.
The other girls didn't partake.
They still aren't laying.
This is the second time I've had to buy eggs.
The CEO is thinking of a barbeque.....
Oh! My!
Apparently their egg strike isn't unusual.
We've been checking out various agriculture sites,
and they all say the same.
Just wait it out.
Heavy sigh........
C'mon girls give us a break!
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Just when we were about to write off the veggies for this year,
we got a pleasant surprise.
The vine has about 6 small Mirlitons
.
This unusual looking plant is
Patchouli.
Its supposed to be great at repelling mosquitoes.
So far, so good.
Has that nostalgic smell too. 😁
The Stevia, mint, oregano, basil and rosemary are
doing well, because the hens don't eat them.
Yay!
The tomatoes and bell peppers didn't fare well this year,
a combination of the girls munching on the plant and the veggie,
and the weather.
It was way too hot!
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The best dog in the whole world wasn't doing well.
She had an eye and ear infection.
She has diabetes, so its pretty easy to get these
opportunistic bugs.
Her left eye has some drainage and her ears were itching her.
She has a cataract in her right eye and small benign
growths on her left bottom eye lid,
but these are existing conditions
and had nothing to do with her current problem.
The meds we had to combat infections weren't working,
so off to the vet she went.
2 antibiotic eye drops,
1 oral antibiotic,
and
she's back to her silly self.
She still has a droopy left eye.
Its getting better every day.
Here, she's on the prowl for dinner.
She usually eats twice a day, morning and evening.
This was taken around 6pm.
"So, Mom, where's my dinner???"
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*****still tweaking Boudreaux *****
the Little Cajun Ghost.
I keep rewriting it.
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And in keeping with the holiday...
The penultimate line from an old Scottish poem....
From ghoulies and ghosties
And long legged beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!
and
From Dante's poem, Inferno,
the inscription over the gates of hell....
"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!"
(I might put that over the coop.....)
There's a lotta poop!
No hope of not getting it on your shoe.
Just sayin'
Whatever you are,
be a good one.
Abraham Lincoln
