Samhain

The older I get, the more I like Halloween, the more modern name of the Celtic harvest holiday Samhain. I like the timing of it, mostly.  Samhain is old Irish for "summer's end," and likewise, this holiday marks the start of the winter season and its darker, shorter days. A time for taking stock and preparing for the cold weather, with some ghoulish fun thrown in. Same as Thanksgiving, really, and as a Northerner for all of my days, its always seemed Thanksgiving is a month too late.

Xan's first jack-o-lantern.

Shelled beans from the garden.

Part of the gleanings from yesterday's 2nd annual Halloween Slaughterfest. 4 chickens, 2 geese, 2 ducks in the freezer for those darker, colder days. 

Dinner tonight. We just happen to have apple brandy, homemade, and delivered by our good friends yesterday. Brussels sprouts instead of turnips, with buttered barley. Yummmmmmmm.

In other news: suddenly, we are parents of a big baby. This guy has real personality and can do a lot of exciting things these days. I put together a playspace for him this weekend. He loves it! Opposite of his mirror is a desk and Jake recently installed some speakers upstairs, so we played and listened to NPR and worked together lots this weekend. 

Happy Halloween, readers.