As October comes to it's end, it's been a very eventful month. Birthdays, Wedding Anniversary (a fledging 4 years!) and the never ending jobs to do about the house, as well as trying to keep it in a reasonable living state and entertaining our little son who is growing up before my eyes. I started my maternity leave in the second week which happened just at the right time around 31 weeks of pregnancy. My job at the Theatre is great, as part of Wardrobe I maintain the costumes for all the different productions on, it constantly changes season to season. There is pressure in a time scale to get work done on a daily basis, time management! Some shows have more costumes and more notes and demands on them, and then again some shows are a lot lighter. It can vary greatly. I value going to work more now as it is also a bit of escapism and I'm sure I'm not the first to admit that! I work part-time so the balance is good and Sebastian is so happy at nursery on those days now he runs in and doesn't look back!
Still, October is a favourite month of mine, the weather changing so you get that chill in the air that makes you reach for a chunky knit, scarf or overcoat. Beautiful sunny days of blue skies, scurrying clouds with blustery winds and of course the turning colours of the leaves, so beautiful. We have a Japanese Maple tree that is outside our dining room windows, it's planted in a pot and was a present from my mum for my 30th birthday. It's only grown so big but always in October it's leaves turn an amazing fiery flame red and then the wind will come along, whisk them up and whirl them all away. It's about time this tree planted it's roots as it now has room to grow in our new garden.
So tonight is Hallowe'en. Something we didn't hugely celebrate when I was growing up. Sitting here now I can hear the blustery wind whistling at the windows and down the chimneys which reminds me of the house I grew up in, Carreg-y-Groes. My little bedroom as a child had a big sash window that used to rattle in the wind, a lot. The whole house used to rattle in the wind, the roof and the floors would creak, but I think we were all so used to it as a family. I can remember a friend coming to stay and admitting years later that she used to be scared to go to the loo in the night because it was such a creaky, rattley house. The house was down a lane and then a drive and our nearest neighbours were at least half a mile (it would feel like) on road, or slightly less going up through our garden over the fence and into their garden. So trick or treating was never something we did. I can remember there being quite a few power cuts, always in the winter, and climbing the stairs to candle light, brushing my teeth to a flickering flame, always eerie the way the flame would flicker and cast shadows on the walls. As I got a bit older at Hallowe'en my brother and sister were good friends with our neighbour's children and together they would tease me about the 'Mud Men' coming to get me! Our garden had a railway line at the bottom of it, and over the railway line was a piece of land with a shingley beach and the muddy banks of the river Conwy. It was an extention of our garden to us and we grew up with an Enid Blyton like childhood, camping and running free there. So when it came to the 'Mudmen' I knew they were joking but I sometimes would have this nagging doubt and feel a little scared trying to go to sleep in my little bedroom with the rattley sash window next to me. The window was only a few feet up from a grassy bank outside and they (my brother and sister and their friends) used to use the window as a way of getting in and out as they could jump out and climb in quite easily all being bigger and older than me. Still, being the youngest I got quite used to being teased as it was pretty often! Although when it was turned the other way it was not so well received!
So it seems we have not had any trick or treaters here, shame as had I bought a big tin of Quality Street just incase we were inundated.. we could always save them for Christmas but then again..
