Minimalist Halloween

Compton Durville 2009

Some pumpkins lanterns   somebody else made much earlier; put my minimalist Halloween  offerings to shame.

No callers this year. I guess the rain put them off.  It Was Not To Be. Never mind - Mr GP and I are enjoying our Haribos. And we and friends did do  our bit last weekend in the pub Halloween quiz,  some of us revealing gifts the others never realised that   we possessed. Like my knack for dredging all manner of pop and rock trivia from the recesses of my mind that even I didn't know were lurking there.  And should Mr GP be reading this, no, we're not talking Abba - Greatest Hits here!

Have a peaceful All Hallows, everybody.

Here's One I Made Earlier: Halloween

Minimalist Halloween

 Don't ask! I don't plan these things you know. No pumpkin in our veg box this morning and Mr GP had nicked the squash to go with last weekend's chicken.  Sometimes One just has to improvise: ecologically, (the mini wind-up torch inside the orange), theologically, (the Samaritan woman's bucket) and totally illogically, (the handful of frost-nipped nasturtium blooms skulking in the background). Look -  there's even a cat getting in on the act!

As for the mysterious light near the top of the picture, I've no idea where that one came from: I'd like to think it's to do with this:

Christus Mansionem Benedicat, Epiphany House Blessing 2012

For other All Hallows musings, who better to sum  up the season  than that poor, beleagured Archdruid Eileen and Antonia. Enjoy.

Dear me,   my 'Christian' stance on Halloween really  has mellowed over the years.   On glimpsing  a Harry Potter  stand in the local shopping centre this morning, my first reaction wasn't : "Oh no, not  Halloween again," rather "Crikey! I know that 'Holy Hogwarts,' like all of the Anglican Church,  is trying to nurture younger calls to the ordained ministry, but this is ridiculous!"

The Calm before The Storm

Received a welcome e-mail this morning from GP daughter, currently in NYC, who's realised by the number of messages she's received from worried friends back home that we might just be concerned for  her safety . She is, apparently,  in a low-risk district,  and does feel the UK media are ever so slightly exaggerating the situation. She and friends are how  settling in for a day spent eating pizza and watching movies.

Right then...This anxious Mum with Enneagram Sixish tendencies had best push all memories of a certain British forecaster's slip- ups 25 years ago to the back of her mind and get on with the week.

Sunday Afternoon Blogcrastination, Tea-Making Tips and Invisible Threads

It could have been made for me.  Thanks to my latest "follower," Dormouse for inadvertently pointing me towards this vintage 1940's film , "Tea-Making Tips." I'm inspired;  there'll be no more stale, or (horrors!)  "flet," tea dished up  in the Greenpatch household!

It also reminds me of a tale my mother used to tell  from her secondary school teaching in the 1960s. Apparently they were still using wartime public information films in health ed, which led to some puzzlement from the pupils: "Miss, where are all the blokes?"


To return to the creative repurposing, we're experiencing problems with frayed edges and cut thumbs. (Ouch!) I'll need to rethink the glove pattern: tracing the outline of my hands directly onto the wool isn't working and some invisible thread would come in useful for turning up the brim on my hat. Never mind, with this cold snap setting in, I'm determined I'll have both ready for when I next set off on my travels. If you should come across a slightly bewildered looking stick of rock weaving her way purposefully over the Welsh hills, do come and say hello.

Where Did You Get that Hat? Yet more Creative Repurposing

Beaker struts his stuff in a fetching ensemble of green lab coat and  matching tie, topped off with a snazzy lambswool  beret cunningly fashioned  from an old Monsoon cardigan. And there's still enough material left over to make a pair of matching fingerless gloves.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm taking this creativity thing too far...

Beer, Curry and Tractors

Before I pop off for the day, thought you'd enjoy popping over to Dave Walker's blog to find out why he doesn't go to his local church  mens' group.  Can't say I'd want to learn about chopping up logs, either, Dave, but as to handbag essentials, I'll have you know that the interior of your average women's handbag is a dangerous place; who knows what horrors lurk within! In mine, anyway.  Incidentally, our church ladies  went out for a curry recently, and a great evening we had too. I suspect we may have some secret Cartoonblog readers amongst our number...

Pigs, Papers and Penny Whistles

                                                      Threepenny Bit - seen here in Chichester, Winter 2011

I simply had to put in a good word for this brilliant Ceilidh and busking band, Threepenny Bit, who put a spring in our step and brightened up market day for us all, yesterday. Currently busking round the South of England, you can find out more about them here.