Friday 1 November 2013

Hallowe'en

Just a hint of Hallowe'eniness here.  We carved a pumpkin in the morning.  Well, mostly I did.  I offered the thing round for anyone who fancied it to stick their hands in and pull out the middle, but no takers.  The biggest boy had a little go at carving, but after about a minute I couldn't stand it any more, waiting for the knife to slip and take off a finger, so I finished it.


Then we made pumpkin soup, which was surprisingly good.

After lunch we went to Slimbridge and did the Hallowe'en trail and looked at ducks in a row.


We saw some of the first of the Bewick's swans to arrive, all the way from arctic Russia, some 2,500 miles away.  Every autumn they leave their breeding grounds there and make the long journey to various places in England where they spend the winter.  Slimbridge usually have about 300 of the 7,000 who come, and the staff always identify each individual swan.


I didn't get a decent picture of one close-up because of the low light.  The winter colours are dominant now.  Beautiful muted browns and greys.  Cows are still grazing on the flood plains, but it was very muddy where they had been gathering and I'm thinking they'll be moved soon.


The sun was low the whole time we were there, and by the time we were heading out it was very gloomy.  The sky was full of noisy jackdaws, landing in the trees then swooping up again, arguing, cawing, jostling for position.  Quite appropriate for Hallowe'en I felt.




Back at home we lit the candle in the pumpkin and handed out sweets to a few trick-or-treaters, although there weren't as many as usual, maybe because of the rain.  There was a little Hallowe'en yumminess in the shape of these orange jellies.


Not quite Martha Stuart, but you knew that already.

28 comments:

  1. Love those ducks in a row. And the Bewick's. Perfect Halloween!

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  2. Your bird pictures are lovely despite the light :)

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    1. Thank you. Hopefully it will be a bit brighter next time we go.

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  3. Your pumpkin looks great. You got some excellent bird shots, wow. I enjoyed seeing them. The orange jellies look really good, I've never seen those before but now I want to try making them.

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  4. I don't celebrate it but it's good to see that you had fun. Flighty xx

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  5. I love Slimbridge, although I remember being chased by geese on a school trip when I was younger!! They are terrifying! The colours are changing here too. Slate grey and green. Still beautiful though.

    Leanne xx

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    1. The geese are a bit much, especially the greylags. The littlest boy spent ages trying to keep them away from some grain he'd put down for the less aggressive nene geese. Every time he turned his back the greylags started rushing forward again. I wish I'd filmed it!

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  6. We went to an RSPB rserve near us yesterday and had similar low light problems especially difficult for photos as the birds were at a distance and I needed to use zoom. I only kept a couple of photos and they were a bit fuzzy.

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    1. I saw the two pictures on Martin's blog which I really liked. It's nice to see the birds in all weathers I think. The reserve you went to sounds great as well.

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  7. Those orange jellies are fab, I'll have to remember to make those. It did look very Halloweenish with the jackdaws flying about and the low light levels.

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    1. Thanks Jo, it was quite eerie by the end, especially as we were some of the last people there.

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  8. Sounds like the perfect family day to me, CJ! A bit of busy with a bit of outdoors time - super! I'm fascinated by your orange jellies and have to ask, do you carve them after the jelly has gone in? Sorry, I'm probably being a bit thick here but they do look gorgeous and a fab project for Hallowe'en!

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    1. I wondered about how to get the jelly to stay in too. The recipe said to set the jelly in a bowl first, then put them into the oranges, which have the faces already carved in them. I did it before the jelly was fully set and I had to quickly wrap them in clingfilm to stop the jelly oozing out. Once they were completely set it was fine.

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  9. I love those orange jellies!

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  10. Ohhh those orange jellies are brilliant !

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  11. I love those orange jellies they are such a good idea, I haven't seen anything like that before. Those jackdaws must have known it was Halloween.
    Sarah x

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    1. Thank you Sarah. I think they did, it was very spooky.

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  12. Love the pumpkin! I kept telling myself we were going to actually carve one this year, but we didn't get to it. Next year, though:) Those orange jellies are absolutely adorable and look delicious!!

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    1. Definitely next year! The jellies were quite nice, they had orange juice in them (squeezed from the oranges), so they were extra orangey.

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  13. I've never seen a jackdaw before, but I love when birds fly about together. It always takes my attention away from anything else around. I LOVE your pumpkin oranges. I think they are very Martha Stuart-y, if not better! I hope you and your family had a very happy Halloween CJ!

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    1. Thank you Devon, you're very sweet. We did have a good Hallowe'en, I hope you did too.

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  15. Hallowe'en yumminess in the shape of these orange jellies........ ummm feeling yummy :) haha.

    Again Nice post, thanks.

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