Halloween

I have a tale for you today about our Halloween. 98% of Aussies don't celebrate it, although there is a huge push in this country by retailers for people to do the Halloween thing probably because it helps their fiscal bottom line.  It's slowly creeping in though and I suspect that in about 20 years half the country will be dressing up as ghouls and goblins and banging on doors demanding candy. To date, I've only ever had one set of trick or treaters at my doorstep and that was a group of scarily dressed zombie teens four years ago and they got two packs of Tim Tams because that was all I had that met the strict high sugar criteria for Halloween handovers. 

But yesterday at  the last minute  we decided we just had to do the Halloween thing.  Yes - that's right- we did it a day late. In a rush. And without any prior planning. Which is another reason no sewing has been done this weekend. Halloween sucked up my Saturday despite the witching night being well and truly over. 

I was talking to Super E on facetime at lunchtime on Saturday, when I casually asked if he had been trick or treating the night before. He told me with supreme conviction that if it wasn't raining he planned to do it last night. I had to break the news to him that Halloween was over and that people probably wouldn't be expecting trick or treaters. I was met with a little crestfallen face and a desperate question seeking reassurance that there was still some Halloween candy out there that he might cadge from the general population. 

I'm nothing if not flexible and quick thinking on my feet. I told Super E that I was pretty sure it was still Halloween at my place because I have American friends and it was still Halloween in their part of the world ( by my calculations it was still Halloween in Hawaii- just) and that I was sure if he came over he would still be able to find some Halloween magic. 

Sewing plans for the afternoon went out of the window. Halloween was on! Mr. P and I flung ourselves out of the door and raced around to about 4 different stores swooping up what we could of leftover Halloween decorations (none of which was on sale mind you WTF? - its the day after Halloween this shit should be on sale !!!) and then belting home to do the quickest previously unplanned decorating you have ever seen. Behold the spooky results ...

Spooky table set for dinner . Note to the far left the zombie on Super E's plate. 

Bowl of skulls and a poisonous albino scorpion.  

Candy bowl at the front door ready for the sole trick or treater

Front door skull , warning tons of fun would be found inside. 

Even my quilts were not immune from the obviously nuclear affected spiders that left these webs. 

Sadly Super E didn't turn up - so we had to make do with mini Spiderman instead.

Who was suitably impressed by the decorating and the overwhelming amount of candy he managed to shove into his special Halloween bag . Although initially he was kind of grossed out by the body parts candy , he later informed me that eating eyeballs, ears and noses was delicious. The candy corn was also a hit .

Mini Superman's contribution to dinner. 

Which went perfectly with the eyeball, cockroach and skull cupcakes I whipped up , that had fake blood concealed inside.  

End result : One happy little boy who got to celebrate Halloween Aussie style. Two grandparents who were utterly grateful that after all that Halloween candy Mini Superman was going home for the night. I strongly suspect based on the amount of sugar consumed his poor father was still trying to get him to sleep at 3am....