Oldman's Pumpkin Carving

Here they are!

I carved my pumpkin tonight while handing out candy

to all of the Trick or Treaters.

We had lots of lots of children in great costumes visit our door.

The kids looked really good this year.

We gave out lots of candy and sugar free gum.

The first bowl was empty in less than 5 minutes with the very first crowd.

Afterward, we gave out all of the candy to the neighbors kids

when we were finished so we never ran out.

I hate those years when you run out and have to turn the light off early.

This is my attempt at a Veggie Tale face.

I got the idea for this one on a video I posted on

Oldmanblurtsout: My Journey to a Happier and Healthier Life

You can view this video of How to Carve an Award Winning Pumpkin

by clicking on this first photo.

There you will also find the

Tale of the Jack o Lantern and

Directions for Roasting Pumpkin Seeds.

We still haven't roasted ours yet, but I will try to remember

to let you know how they turn out.

I like this one the best.

(Sorry I could not do the Falcon's logo, too complicated)

Here's my simple side.

This took all of maybe 5 minutes to carve.

Here's me holding my masterpiece. Don't I look thriller. LOL
I had a busy day so I was pretty tired after I finished carving.

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SUPERSTITIONS

Here are a few superstitions to keep in mind through this Halloween season.

• Do not sit under a Hawthorn tree on Halloween if you do not want to be enchanted or carried away by faeries, but to release a person from ghost or faerie possession, throw dust from your footprint at them.
• To prevent ghosts coming into the house at Halloween, bury animal bones or a picture of an animal near the doorway.
• It is told that owls ate the souls of the dying by swooping to earth on Halloween.
• A clear moon on Halloween means fine weather ahead. Clouds racing across the face of the moon mean storms are on the way and the wind at midnight indicates the prevailing wind for the coming season.
• Seeing a spider on Halloween means that the spider could be the spirit of a deceased loved one who is watching you.
• On Halloween Don't: Go hunting.
• Go to a crossroads at Halloween and listen to the wind, you will learn all the most important things that will befall you during the next twelve months.
• Halloween babies have the gift of second sight.
• At Halloween all family members should put an ivy leaf without spot or stain into a glass of water overnight. If the leaf is still spotless in the morning, the person is assured of life for another year but if the leaf has spots on it, the person who put it in the water will die within one year.
• You should walk around your home three times backwards and counterclockwise before sunset on Halloween to ward off evil spirits.
• Like at anytime, bells ward off evil spirits.
• If a candle flame turns blue there is a ghost about.
• On Halloween Don't: Watch your shadow in the moonlight.
• When bobbing for apples, or when apple snapping, it is believed that the first person to bite an apple would be the first to marry.
• On the morning of November 1st throw a silver coin through the front door of the house. The coin has to remain where it has fallen in order to bring financial luck.
• On Halloween Don't: Turn around to see who is behind you.
• Unless you were born in October, the wearing of an Opal will be very ill-fated.
• It is lucky to catch the falling leaves from trees in autumn; for every leaf that you catch before it hits the ground, you will have a lucky month the following year.

Happy Halloween!!!

Our First Pumpkin

Today we carved our first pumpkin for this Halloween. I think it came out pretty good. Now I say we but really I had little to do with it unless you call sitting back and saying you can do this or that counts. My son and his girlfriend really did the work. We, oh there I go again, they bought three pumpkins in all and are talking about going and getting another one. They say one of them is mine to carve so I guess I will try my handiwork. It has been a long time since I carved a pumpkin but I'm going to try to do one of those fancy ones, not too fancy though. I will post the pics once it's done. Here are the pics of the first one. They did do a nice job.

To learn more about pumpkin carving, roasting pumpkin seeds and the legend of the Jack-o-Lantern see: Blurt: Pumpkin Carving & the Jack-o-Lantern Story

The History of All Hallow's Eve

October brings in a season of harvest and with it comes the beautiful landscapes of Autumn leaves, the celebrations of Oktoberfest, pumpkins, hayrides, crisp morning air, and of course All Hallow's Eve or Halloween as it has come to be known. Today I offer a few videos. The first is a video from National Geographic on the history of Halloween. The remaining videos are from the History Channel offering a series on the Haunted History of Halloween. I hope you enjoy.