Walking with Alice & Hallowe'en

I know that this is a little late, but I thought you might like to see my Hallowe'en window. We really don't get many Trick or Treaters here....Hallowe'en (despite the best efforts of the shops) isn't a huge thing in the UK as it is over the Atlantic. As we were driving down to Boston, through New Hampshire, I saw whole mock graveyards set up on people's front lawns...spiderwebs covering bushes and trees....skeletons and ghosts peeking from every window & from behind porches...oh no, over here we may have the odd carved pumpkin and spooky table decoration but we really don't do Hallowe'en like our American cousins!

Still, we do our best! I had a grand total of 12 little ones knocking on the door that night - actually quite a lot compared to recent years. I made some spooky cupcakes for our local coffee shop too...I was pleased with the eyeballs (inspired by a post on Gwyneth Paltrow's GOOP blog!) The cakes were red velvet, so should have had a nice 'bloody' look to them...

Every morning during the week (Paul takes over at weekends), rain or shine, I take Alice out for a walk...we usually end up at a local beauty spot, about 15 minutes drive away. We always take a different route to keep it interesting, and I love seeing the seasons and the weather come and go throughout the year....from the top of the hill you can see the Prime Minister's weekend house, and if the weather's clear (which it wasn't when I took these, obviously!) you can see across 4 counties...The memorial commemorates local men who fought and died in the Boer War and it's been hit by lightning more than once!

Sometimes, when the bad weather closes in and we're battling across the hill with with wind and rain battering against our faces it can feel like a bit of a chore...but I never regret it afterwards - there's always something new to see, smell, hear. And our girl loves it so much too!