A Frightfully Good Weekend

Halloween was what you might call unprogrammed at 58 Knock Eden Park this year. Noah had attended the school disco before his midterm break last week, so the day sneaked up on us. At the 11th hour we were in Lisburn for a chiropractic appointment and Noah picked up the frightening mask pictured below. After a pizza (that I swear was made at Butte Silverbow Pizza Parlor and shipped to Pizzarelli's in Lisburn) we tore home and pulled the monkey suit out of storage.

For those of you privileged enough to spend Halloween with 1.5 year old Noah, this photos of Erin's handiwork clothing my handiwork is a blast from the past. The only difference: Octavia is 3! Oh, yeah, it was a teensy bit long on Noah that year but still...he was a big boy. Note Tatie's bag. Empty. Pretty big. By the time we'd worked our way through Mount Merrion Crescent, up Flush Park and over to the Ember it was nearly full. At the Ember there were a few games to delight: pin the tail on the cat, ghost toss, and the traditional apple bobbing. Noah quickly mastered the apple bob. Those swimming lessons this summer paid off!

I was going to post a photo of our friend Gosia here but her mask was far too scary for the general audience. Amazingly enough, Octavia was not fooled nor even much alarmed.

Saturday was busy with the farmer's market at St. George's and my novice attempt at gumbo. I didn't want to rue the attempt so my roux was not as dark as it should have been. Still, the dish was tasty and a good use of the peppers and okra I got on the reduced shelf at the shop midweek. I am less preoccupied with food than with the change of seasons that requires more soups and hot dishes. Scott made a lovely baked dinner today of garden root veg, mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy and veggie roast. For those of you accustomed to fowl, if you perceive chicken, it is veggie roast which has its origins in 'mycoprotein'. Look it up.

The chef (and the kitchen looked like a chef had been at work!) followed the meal with an Applescotch Pie. The blurry bit of my shirt is The Bump, not my bust, trying to overshadow dessert. The only thing that might have improved the dining experience was a roll of easy-off duct tape for certain small chatterboxes who insisted on babbling away at fairly high volume whilst Scott and I attempted to converse and enjoy the autumn leaving blazing out the window.