Halloween

Jamie had an enjoyable Halloween as he went to a party at a neighbours house on the Saturday where there was a lot of traditional games such as apple bobbing, everyone was dressed up and looked fab.  Jamie went as a ghoul or something that looked a bit like an Ork (?) from Lord of the Rings. 

He hollowed out his pumpkin and cut a face into it and then he went out trick or treating with his friend K, as we set off we bumped into our neighbour and her two children and some other friends and she asked if Jamie wanted to go as part of their group.  It made sense really as it also meant that people weren't getting disturbed quite so many times and Jamie and K both came home with a sack full of sweets, cakes, biscuits and some pennies too.   Jamie was again dressed up as a ghoul and K was dressed up as the Mummy.  We had some tea after that and then K went home, it was an enjoyable evening for everyone. 

We had only a handful of callers which gave them a good choice from our sweets and then Jamie and K shared them out and K took some home for his brother K too.  Jamie's pumpkin looked really effective lit and sat just outside our front door.

I mentioned a couple of blogs ago that I wanted to have a go at making a Halloween arrangement in a pumpkin and here is what I did.  My top tip would be to ensure the oasis is protected from the pumpkin and vice-versa - I've done that here with some cellophane (you could use the cello that the flowers come in if they come from the supermarket).  It is likely that the pumpkin will start to deteriorate before the flowers and this does allow you to remove the arrangement from the pumpkin and place into another container to get a little longer out of the flowers.

A bit of science here - but flowers, fruit and vegetables produce ethylene, a gas, which has an ageing effect on flowers, the more exposure to the gas the quicker flowers will deteriorate so using the cellophane as an extra layer of protection will help slow that process down slightly.  I would normally advise not to keep flowers and fruit near each other, but on occasions such as Halloween there is a great opportunity to use such a fantastic container it is worth the loss of a couple of days of flower life.  Saying that, this arrangement lasted well over a week and I transferred it from the pumpkin to an orange container when the pumpkin was heading past its best.  It looked good sat on the stand I bought in Harrogate too.

I found a witch pick which I added into the arrangement to give it that extra Halloween feel - can you spot her hiding away in the centre of the design.  For extra longevity, when using fruit or vegetables choosing flowers such as chrysanthemum and carnation which have a long 'vase' life is also a useful consideration.  I also used dyed oak leaves, fir cones and some pretty leaves which I found on the walk to school - as they were all dried they lasted very well and gave a real backbone to the design.

The design is a very standard autumnal colour scheme of reds, golds, yellows and oranges, for me it is one of my favourite colour schemes.  I added some ting ting to give height and an asymmetrical line, overall I was pleased with this design.

Ciao

Sue
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Reading challenge 15/16 - currently reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy