Sunday, November 1, 2020

The Eleventh Month


Well, we had no trick-or-treaters, as expected. Which is just as well because we had no candy.

But there was plenty of Halloween activity out there yesterday. When Olga and I went to the cemetery in the afternoon for our daily walk, there were tons of little kids scampering around in costumes with their parents in tow. I guess I should have anticipated that the cemetery would be deemed an appropriately ghoulish place for a Halloween family outing.

These were British kids, too, based on their accents. Some of you asked in yesterday's comments if British people celebrate Halloween, or if my pictures depicted American households. At least some British people certainly do celebrate to some degree. I'm not sure who was putting out all those pumpkins, but I don't think Waitrose would set up its big pumpkin display just for American expats.

Other than our walk to the cemetery and a morning walk around the neighborhood, I spent virtually the whole day on the couch, reading. I've almost polished off my Robert Galbraith tome -- in fact, I expect to finish it today.

The picture above is our delphinium, which is blooming again. Even this late in the season, some of our flowers are chugging along!


Our Christmas cacti are blooming as well. The two on the left -- the pink ones -- came from cuttings that broke off a big Christmas cactus at work. I'm glad I was able to keep them alive and get them established enough to bloom. The one on the right I bought at Homebase last year, and it's always seemed a bit stressed to me -- see the dark pigment in the leaves? But it's blooming quite profusely too, so I guess it's happier than I thought.

You've probably heard that we're about to go into another lockdown. England's Covid numbers have been climbing crazily, particularly in the north and northwest, so after Thursday, all non-essential businesses, including shops, restaurants and pubs, are to close except for takeaway service. There are also greater restrictions on household mixing, I believe, as well as an extension of the government's support program for furloughed workers. But schools will stay open, and Dave and I are lucky in that our day-to-day lives probably won't change much.


Welcome to November!

40 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

When I was a child, there was no such thing as "trick or treating" in the north of England. Any lanterns were carved from turnips and not pumpkins. Most of the Halloween shenanigans you see on this island today have filtered into our customs via American films and TV entertainment. By the way, I find the expression, "Happy Halloween!" very puzzling. How can we be happy about devilment and ghouls?

Frances said...

I was also pondering on the " Happy Halloween" yesterday when I was out with the dog and saw the message in a window!
Halloween wasn't even a " thing" with us when my older kids were young...(they are 40 and 42 now)
I think I have told the story of some years ago when a group of lads ( teenage) turned up at our door...no costumes.....and demanded trick or treat, and I don't think they wanted sweeties! Luckily a neighbour came up the drive behind them as they had pulled plants out in his garden and they decided to leave. We phoned the police and the next day one of the lads was brought round by his Dad to apologise. (One of them was showing that he had a knife ). I think it is an unwritten rule these days that kids only go to houses that are decorated with pumpkins etc...........a bit pointless going anywhere else anyway as they wouldn't have bags of sweets ( candy)

Ursula said...

OH. MY. GOD. Thanks for reminding me it's November. Of all the months in the year November is, and has been consistently, my nemesis.

I never ever wish time away. Till come November. Then all I wish for is December - preferably alive. Seriously, some of the most detrimental moments of my life occurred in November. Other than the one on 18th February a long long time ago.

Yes, sigh, in November my normal cheerful self goes into hiding and makes way for the sitting duck within me. Resigned to whatever will come my way. And it will.

Thanks for the flower and the leaf, Steve. Thirty days to go.

U

Ursula said...

To answer your question, YP: It's a bit like brandishing the cross at the devil - in self defence, or wearing a string of garlic to fend off your local vampire. If you succeed you'll be happy. Hence the wishes.

U

gz said...

It maybe called an American tradition, but don't forget the Celts and Scandinavians who took it there!
I wouldn't be surprised if there are some First Nation traditions too...

Anonymous said...

I am quite envious of you being able to lounge for hours reading. I last about 15 minutes and then I must get up and do something else, then back to reading. Always so much to do. I don't have time to sit for hours. But how much is what I have to do over what I choose to do?

Moving with Mitchell said...

How beautiful. We had no success in this apartment with our Christmas cacti. But I love seeing yours in bloom. It's interesting that Halloween is not a traditionally British holiday, but it's caught on so much that some British families we know here have been pushing for years for their neighbours to take it up here. I'm not usually a traditionalist but I don't like so many American traditions taking over here in Spain.

Linda Sue said...

That sounds like a perfect Saturday, Love the bright red leaf in your hand of good lines ( reading your palm). I took a glow-in-the-dark ghost bucket of organic gummy worms and teeth pops to the neighbor children, knowing that they would not be out trick or treating- another holiday lost to covid. Just in case, though I did pick up a bag of milky way and kit kat, which i promptly opened and devoured a few. I trick or treated myself.My costume was "old lady, half dead", so realistic.

Sharon said...

Infection numbers are climbing rapidly in lots of places. Here too however there are still a huge number of people here who don't believe it. I saw a guy at the grocery store yesterday with a shopping cart full of bags of Halloween candy. I wanted to ask him if he really expected a huge turn-out but the store was so busy, I was in a hurry to get out of there. Great looking blooms!

VRP said...

You have a Thanksgiving cactus

Red said...

Very quiet halloween here because of covid. I did not see one kid. Many places were decorated.

Anonymous said...

The numbers are spiking in the US as well. I worry about the holidays and people gathering. That's often when the typical yearly flu spreads, but this is going to be even worse. Stay safe and healthy there.

Debby said...

I have never seen a Christmas cactus that color before. It's beautiful!

Allison said...

Christmas cacti die when I approach them. I've given up on ever having one.

Sue said...

We just discovered that our cactus is actually a Thanksgiving cactus! Apparently there are 3 types - Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. Not only do they bloom around a different holiday, but the leaf shapes are all slightly different. Zooming in on the leaves, I think yours might be Thanksgiving cactus too - although they might call them something different in the U.K. 🙂

Margaret said...

I've heard that Halloween has become more popular; anything with costumes and candy is bound to catch on. I had about 12 trick or treaters and am left with a whole bag of Twix plus about half of the other bag. It seems that every country (and state) is struggling right now. I have the Galbraith on my Kindle but am intimidated to start it. 900 pages??

Sabine said...

In complete synchronicity, I can report blooming delphiniums, xmas cacti and a lockdown from this end of the woods. Only, we don't call it lockdown, need to keep the terminology light and reserve this for the real thing which may yet follow.

The big awful German tabloid bild had a big fat headline "And now they are outlawing our Halloween" as if we ever had a Halloween tradition here and people all over the place were raising their heads, asking what did we miss all these years?

Sharon said...

Hi Steve, I'm popping back to answer your question. I still use the old iPhoto on my older Mac. I organize them mostly by place. For my local Phoenix photos I have files that narrow that down to Parks, Museums, Neighborhoods, etc. For others it's by city like Scottsdale, Tempe. For further away, I have files labeled US-Santa Fe or US Newport and for out of the country it's Vacation-London or Vacation-Argentina. I don't always remember where things are filed but it's way easier than by date the way the new Photo app works. If I had to search everything by date, it would be impossible. I have a Flickr account but I rarely go there any longer. I should use it more because we all know that the old iPhoto will die one of these days. Thanks for the Flickr reminder. Organizing that will be a good stuck-at-home project.

Ellen D. said...

All of our candy was given away so we consider our COVID Halloween table a success. Individual bags of candy spaced on the long decorated table at the end of our driveway did the trick! I watched from the window so no danger to me. Now how to figure out a safe way to celebrate our Thanksgiving! Hhhmmmm....

Steve Reed said...

Carving a lantern out of a turnip sounds like an arduous task! Surely you could have started with something hollow. A marrow, maybe? As for "Happy Halloween," despite all the ghouls and goblins, modern Halloween is fundamentally a happy occasion focused on kids and costumes and candy.

Steve Reed said...

Yes, I remember that crazy story. I bet those kids are in jail now!

Steve Reed said...

I like November because it's my birth month, as well as American Thanksgiving, which is my favorite holiday. But yeah, as months go, it usually ranks pretty low on everyone's list. Dreary!

Steve Reed said...

Absolutely! Most of our Halloween traditions come straight from the Celts! Pumpkins certainly came from Native Americans, though I've never heard that they carved them.

Steve Reed said...

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have to continually refocus on my book -- because our human monkey brains are like that, aren't they? Always casting about for some kind of mischief to get into!

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, sadly, American pop culture is everywhere -- but as Gwynneth points out above, at American Halloween traditions had roots in the British isles.

Steve Reed said...

I'm glad my palm has good lines! (I think I've been told that before, actually...?) Love your definition of your "costume," though I don't think things are quite that dire. :)

Steve Reed said...

Maybe he was having a party (even more worrisome), or stocking up on candy at sale price? I saw a guy yesterday leaving the grocery store with several bags of toilet paper. I thought, "Oh NO! We're not back to THAT again, are we?!"

Steve Reed said...

OK, I thought you were joking at first -- but now I see there really IS a Thanksgiving cactus. And I think you're right!

Steve Reed said...

Well, decorations are better than nothing, I suppose!

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, I think holiday gatherings may be a bit few and far between this year. There's already been press here about "cancelling Christmas."

Steve Reed said...

Thanks! (But apparently it may be a Thanksgiving cactus?!)

Steve Reed said...

I'm surprised we've done as well with these as we have, honestly. I'm not sure I would have even attempted them if those pieces hadn't broken off the parent plant.

Steve Reed said...

OK, thanks for filling me in on this. I had NO IDEA. I think I've heard of an Easter cactus, but Thanksgiving was entirely new to me. And yes, looking at the leaf shapes, I think that's what ours are.

Steve Reed said...

The good news about the Galbraith is that despite its length, it's pretty good. I didn't have any trouble maintaining momentum through the whole thing. I agree it's too long overall, though. There are some little diversions that I'd have cut out if I were the editor.

Steve Reed said...

Oh, brother -- tabloids. The forerunners of 4chan! Yeah, there are varying degrees of lockdown, aren't there? I think we're going to be pretty locked, aside from schools, but time will tell.

Steve Reed said...

OK, good to know! As I've taken more and more pictures over the years, organizing becomes a continuing struggle! Everything on my computer and my external hard drive is chronological -- which, as you mention, is not ideal. I do at least have those Flickr tags.

Steve Reed said...

Glad that method of treat distribution worked! And I'm glad you kept an eye on things, so no single "goblin" made off with the lot!

The Padre said...

Right On - Christmas Cacti In Bloom - Love Those Little Guys - Gorgeous Leaf In The Hand There - Be Well Bother And Stay Strong

Cheers
P.S. Hide A Just Because Treat For Olga From Uncle T

ellen abbott said...

that's a great shot of your delphinium. perhaps the pigment in the leaves of the (Thanksgiving) cactus is simply a product of its particular hybrid/flower color.

Edna B said...

Your Christmas cactus plants are beautiful. I have some the same color as your pink ones. But that one on the right is just gorgeous! Mine grow other times of the year, not just for Christmas. You have a great day, hugs, Edna B.