A long tailed story!

I have noticed that it has become fashionable to put little black mice and rats on your Halloween stairs/tables/vignettes.  I had a quiet chuckle to myself,  because,  I lived on the Isle of Man (In the Irish Sea) for quite some time.  The inhabitants of the island are very superstitious.  They seriously believe in fairies,  and leave messages for the fairies to ask for help,  pinned to trees at Fairy Bridge.  Even the famous TT motorbike riders go to fairy bridge to ask for help!

Anyway,  they believe that rats are bad fairies.  The word rat is not allowed to be uttered on the island.  They use the word 'long-tails' instead!  I learned this the hard way by uttering the word rat naively at work one day.  The whole office descended into a black silence.

Melanie is having a giveaway!

I wish I were in the same country, I would enter,  but just look at her new kitchen, and the stunning giveaway! http://prettiesandposies.blogspot.com/

Just passing by.....

I was trundling into town this morning,  past my favourite shop,  and noticed their Autumn window.  Took some quick photos,  alas,  not very good,  but you can see my point anyway!!!

Have a great weekend,  and please spare a prayer for my son on his Atlantic adventures!http://breezerunner.blogspot.com/

Loving animals

I see that it is the Feast of St Francis of Assissi in the United States:  Have a lovely day with your pets!

Samhain and Halloween

Everyone is getting ready for Halloween,  especially in the US where it is a great tradition.  It all began in Celtic times,  the Irish called it Samhain,  meaning roughly 'Summer's end'.  or the 'end of the harvest'.
Eventually, it became combined with All Saint's Day and All Hallow's E'en (becoming Halloween).
The Scottish, who called it Samhuin,  started using turnips - hollowing them out to light lanterns inside to ward off evil spirits.  I suppose that is where we began with pumkins?

It was considered that on 31st October,  the veil between life and the afterlife became thin,  and  I suppose that is where the 'spooky' stories began!

I am enjoying all your Halloween preparations!  Thank you all for sharing.