Halloween

I have dim recollections of struggling down the Oxdrove in the pitch black trick or treating; picking off the neighbours we knew (about 2 houses) and Granny and Grandpa. Not the most fun, but we gave it our best shot.

So with children of my own I decided this year it was time to unleash Hell on the unsuspecting villagers of East End. This being England it was a (relatively) civilized affair, with the victims warned in advance to give them time to turn the lights off at the appropriate moment and hide behind the sofa.

Fortunately our friends got into the spirit of the evening and took the swarm of small and not-so-small children howling on their porches very well.

Pumped with E numbers (children) and wine (parents), we returned for 'Casper, the Friendly Ghost' (children) and pumpkin soup with more wine (parents).

All together a fabulous evening, finally ending only when I turned off the TV and all the lights, banished the children from the sitting room and requested that they return to the kitchen to find their parents.

Small, hyper-active children + adults + confined space = mass exodus.

Time for Eddie and I to get out the hoover and peel jelly cauldrons off the furniture.