Autumn 2020

With the Tier 2 of covid-19 in force in our local area, Tier 3 all around, we are sticking local as much as we can. We have been staying in more again, keeping strictly to the rule of six, including only our support bubble and childcare bubble. 

Now we have a better handle on the restrictions than when we had during the first peak in the UK, we are able to cater for our children’s needs better, despite the restrictions in place. (But when the government decide to chenge things with only a day or two's notice, that seriously does not help).

It is Halloween this weekend. Our girls love getting dressed up and going trick or treating every year. This year, although it is not banned, I don’t feel it is a good or sensible idea to be going to other people’s doors, taking treats from them and then potentially taking the virus door to door.

I have prepared a picture treasure hunt for the girls to do, a pumpkin hunt and prize bags for them all. On top of that, there are some halloween games for them to play too, with prizes again. I plan on putting Hotel transylvania on the TV whilst they have waffles and/or pancakes with alien slime sauce (Home Bargains), ‘Witches’ blood’ (fruit jam), ‘Sticky zombie pus’ (syrup) and ‘Bat Juice’ (chocolate spread). 

I was thinking of repeating the food from a few years ago. We had mashed potato with sausages stood up in it. I dyed the potato blue and cut a piece of sausage skin off one end, put a piece of fried onion there and called the dish ‘Witches’ fingers in alien mash’. It didn’t go down very well at all. So we might just stick to jacket potatoes and chipolatas this time, no colouring.

I want the girls to have the opportunity to go outside in their costumes, although they already have been to a Halloween event and shown off their costumes…..it would be nice for them if their other friends could see them. So, if the weather forecast improves i might try and hide (ask Hubby to hide…) some of the pumpkins outside and around the street a bit (accepting that they may well get taken by other little Halloween creatures).

Away from Halloween, we have also been looking for fireworks. They have been going off around here for a couple of weeks already. Our dogs, cats and daughters aren’t keen. We have lavender for the animals, to help them remain calmer, but for our daughters, we have been looking for the ideal firework package.

I am hoping it will still be available, but it is in Aldi. They have a package which only contains quieter (sadly not silent) ground based fireworks and a catherine wheel. These are far less scary for our children and can be easily watched from behind the house windows if needed.

Aside from these annual dates, Hubby and i have been trying to keep our minds busy by watching TV together. I have found Gogglebox t be useful for finding new programmes recently. I have watched The Handmaid’s tale on Amazon prime video. I can’t believe it was written in 1985. It certainly made me think abut things. I have had an interesting and difficult relationship with christianity ue to my adopted parents, but a lot of what was portrayed in these episodes certainly rang true from my own past experiences. Obviously not to the same extremes, but the division is felt, the shame and indignation also present. I think everyone should watch it if they have, or have had, any relationship with the church. People with money, or very kind friends, are already able to use a surrogate. Nothing to the lengths shown in this programme or described in the original novel.

Through no desired link, we have also watched A Brave New World. I remember having to study this in high school and hating it. Watching the series makes it far more accessible. 

Both of these views of the possible future for mankind, by different authors, are concerning. I would hope that neither is the truth, but who knows. There are certainly some strange things going on already.

Our current watch is Riviera. It is making me wish we were on holiday in the south of France. I long for the heat, the sound of the cicadas, swimming in the pools etc. But staying safe has to take precedence this year.

Our children all have plans for New years’ Eve, to say goodbye to this year. Hopefully next year will be better. Or perhaps we will all have become conditioned by then.

Halloween Crazy

 Well.....since I booked tickets for us to go to a Halloween Scarefest (family friendly), we have all been on a countdown to Halloween.

We took our friend (in our childcare bubble) to the National Forest Adventure Farm for Spudfest this year. We all enjoyed it so much, we booked for Halloween the next day. It is such a great day out for families, and for those with additional needs there is plenty of space, huge choice of activities and something for everyone. Even now, with the Covid-19 restrictions in place, numbers are limited, staff are cleaning constantly, there is handgel all around to compliment the soap and water sinks available too. We felt safe there, and that says a lot.

I feel really sorry for the children who love halloween this year though. They can't go trick or treating, can't have all their friends over and so I'm not sure what Halloween will be like for everyone in 2020.

Our house was decorated inside as soon as the tickets were booked (October 1st). The girls have put up 3D faces on the walls, hanging pumpkins, halloween bunting and other decorations throughout the house. I have bought patterned paper to make paper chains, but have put it somewhere safe- a lethal and silly mistake on my part.

There is even a skeleton who's foot gets stuck in the cutlery draw repeatedly (just as well it can't feel any more!).

The scarefest was yesterday. With coronavirus, bookings were for one of the two daily sessions. The girls wanted to have their faces painted and to go in halloween costumes. Thankfully, they both agreed to wear jumpers and coats to stay warm too. 

It took me over an hour to paint their faces, but I do think they both looked good.

 I booked the afternoon session because we all have trouble with sleeping lately. It meant we had four hours (the same as if we had got there for the morning session) to explore the mummy maize maze, enter the haunted mirror maze house, pick pumpkins from the field (catching a lift on the tractor), feed the farm animals, enter the musical maze, bounce on  the giant pillow, see the broomstick training, go on the funfair rides and have free time to explore whilst hubby and I tried to havea hot drink together (once we were certain they all knew their way around and where we were).

We had chips for lunch with hot drinks all round- we needed them to warm up from the icy wind. 

There was a demon wandering about, handing out medals to children who were scarily dressed. Since he was mainly targerting the younger children, ours were getting upset. I hoped that explaining their additional needs to him would help. He was great- he played a little game with them and let them win a medal each. Phew!

As usual, their goats were adorable. The guinea pigs got a fuss, cows, pigs and goats were fed and cuddled, then we returned outside. 

I knew, as soon as I saw the maize maze, that I would be the one to get lost in there. Miss A got a stitch so was walking with me (on speed 2) with hubby too. I managed a couple of circles inside the maze, lost our friend and Miss G, entered a second field through an open gate, where the maze continued, and continued to be lost until I saw our friend K coming to rescue us and reunite us all again.

Driving over the large lumps of stones and gravel has left my shoulders and back painful today- so much so that I didn't want to go to sleep last night. I figured it might not hurt so much if  I didn't have to wake up. That logic didn't work though- my medication and a long day combined to help me sleep by 3.30am.

Today they are waiting for the paint on their pumpkins to dry out so they can add a second layer and paint faces or patterns on them. We have two very large pumpkins on our dining table. One pink and one white right now. Miss G chose a smaller, green pumpkin and has decided not to paint hers.

I have promised to buy some pumpkins to make soup with, and we are all going pumpkin picking again on thursday too. Hopefully those pumpkins will last until halloween.

We are having a Halloween party here, within our covid bubble. I have got a sort of treasure hunt ready, my friend has some games and I need to find some more activities they can get up to aswell.  Wish us luck 😉

(and the countdown has begun to the Christmas event at the farm too #NFAF )