Friends, am I the only person in the world who feels sorry for what pumpkins have to go through every Halloween? I hope it isn't - and if you feel the same, why not write and tell me your innermost thoughts and feelings on the subject? Postcards only of course!
At least there's one poor little local boy, who's with me on this one, as I read this morning in the local Onion News for East Hampshire - but I warn you, keep a box of tissues handy !!!!!
Poor Owen !!!!! And poor "Jack" !!!!!
And, here in rural, semi-grassy Liphook, Hampshire this afternoon, even Yours Truly had to look away, as my light-to-moderate wife Lois took a knife to our Halloween pumpkin, holding my hands to my ears in case the little fellow cast aside his British stiff-upper-lip and let out the occasional little scream.
I have to look away this afternoon as my light-to-moderate wife Lois
takes a knife to our little 2025 Halloween pumpkin - eek!!!!!
Lois does a great job, however, and there are loads of compliments this evening from the trick-or-treaters, especially from the mums shepherding their little tots round the neighbourhood.
The pumpkin's wry, ironic, slightly sideways grin wins him many plaudits, and Lois's idea to mount him on a little bell-shaped flowerpot draws some interesting comparisons, both with baby penguins and with beloved Disney cartoon characters - oh, by the way, please send your ideas for names to the same address: winner gets a voucher for extra mini-Mars Bars next October, so get your old "grey matter" working on that one!
[Sorry, Colin, I'm just far too busy for any of that kind of nonsense! - Ed]
Lois's idea to mount the little chap on a bell-shaped flowerpot wins her
many plaudits this evening, especially from all the mums shepherding
their little tots through the dark rainy streets of Liphook, drawing
comparisons with baby penguins and with beloved Disney cartoon characters
- awwwwwww!!!!
Yes, awwwwwww!!!!!
Meanwhile, for our 12-year-old twin granddaughters Lily and Jessica, 9000 miles away in Perth, Australia, Halloween is over already. What a crazy planet we live on !!!
Our 12-year-old twin granddaughters Lily (right) and Jessica,
showcase for us their Halloween costumes for 2026:
but for them, it's all over, and time for bed - what a crazy planet we live on !!!!
Here back in England, however, for Lois and me it's going to be our first Halloween since moving to Liphook, Hampshire, back in January, so we weren't sure how many trick-or-treaters to expect. Seeing, however, that we're now living on a housing estate, we had guessed we'd get quite a few, and I had stocked up in advance with 70 mini-chocolate bars - and in the event all but 7 of these had disappeared by 7 pm, when the rush had started to die down.
We're just not used to these busy Halloweens!
For 36 years, i.e. for most of our married life, Lois and I lived in a house on one of the main roads out of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. And Halloweens were always very quiet, and (ironically!) a bit "spooky" (!), because the heavy traffic, plus the fact that the houses were spaced far apart, meant that we were lucky to get a single trick-or-treater most years.
We had bought the house in January 1986 shortly after returning from our 3 years in the States, when our two daughters Alison and Sarah had to get used to a lot of weird new things, like learning to "talk British" (just like "mom and dad" (!)) and also having to cope, for the first time, with school uniforms and all that "malarkey" - poor girls!!!!
flashback to 1985-6: a big change for us, as we move back to Cheltenham after 3 years in the States, buying a house on one of the main roads out of town
And earlier today, we got the chance to re-live our memories of those 36 years, when our neighbour from those times, Frances, drops by for a cup of coffee and a chat, on her journey back home to Cheltenham from Eastbourne, Sussex, where she's been visiting her daughter Elizabeth.
Frances, who was our neighbour for 36 years, when Lois and I lived in
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, drops by for a chat on her way home from
Eastbourne, Sussex, where she's been visiting her daughter Elizabeth
Thirty six years, until Lois and I sold up in October 2022 - a huge slice of our lives, when both Lois and I, and Frances and her husband Stephen, were bringing up our kids and seeing them through primary school and grammar school, going off to university and then seeing them get married and move away etc etc. And we recall also all the times we looked after each other's houses, watering plants, picking up post etc, when either of us was away on holiday.
flashback to August 2019: the last time Lois and I looked after our
neighbours Frances and Stephen's extensive back garden, while they were
away spending a few days with daughter Elizabeth
These, really, were the days of all four of our lives, when you think about it: although Frances' husband Stephen sadly died during the winter 2019-2020, at the start of the pandemic, so it's almost 6 years now that she's been a widow.
It's certainly very nostalgic today for Lois and me to get the latest news also about some of the other neighbours we knew there between 1986 and 2022, although in some cases it's a bit bitter-sweet, when we hear about some of their recent problems - mainly health issues of one sort or another.
And it makes Lois and me wonder - how long till our luck runs out?!!!
Yikes !!!!!
Still, we're all right for now, and so is Frances, so fingers crossed haha !!!!!
And thank goodness that we "old codgers" can always depend on younger people to brighten our lives up for us, like North Norfolk Digital FM's to DJ Alan Partridge does for a local retired dental nurse, on his show on BBC1 tonight!
Local North Norfolk Digital Radio listener and retired dental nurse Gillian, has written to seek DJ Alan's help, after Cadbury's discontinue making her favourite chocolate bar, leaving her a bit depressed.
And in a bid to "make a difference" to yet one more of his listeners' lives, DJ Alan rounds up a group of local tradesmen and craftsmen to "spruce up" and modernise Gillian's tired-longing front-room in her house in Norwich, while she's away on holiday.
All the craftsmen and tradesmen are giving their time and labour for nothing, which is heart-warming. And in this scene, Alan watches some of those volunteers in action.
Hmmm, awkward !!!!
The end result, however, is definitely impressive - just feast your eyes on these typical "before" and "after" shots:
When Alan welcomes Gillian home and shows her around, her initial reactions are a bit hard to read....
Still you know what us old codgers are like, don't you! We tend to like our "old style" living-rooms. But I expect Gillian' "new look" lounge will grow on her eventually - in a few years' time maybe, or in a decade or two at least haha!
But what a crazy world we live in !!!!
Will this do?
[Oh just go to bed! - Ed]
22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzz!!!!!!
