Thursday Air

[Bruce u]

Well another crisp morning on the farm. Just below the freezing mark this morning. All the Poplar tree's have turned yellow and leaves are falling. One good windstorm and they will just look like seletons. Big difference in how the farm looks between summer and winter.

How is everyone today ? How is the weather in your neck of the woods ?

[eric byrne]

Ooops Sorry Bruce I forgot you had opened under Thurdays Air already,this senile dymensia can be really inconvienient at times.

[eric byrne]

Hi Bruce,

I have just rechecked the times of our posts, seems you had posted during the time I was still writing mine so I did think I was opening todays air.

[dianew]

Well this is the third try to post - keeps disappearing on me!! Hopefully third time will be the charm.

Bruce I hope the trip to the post office went off without a hitch -- (hopefully the clerk was at lunch). So nice to know there is plenty of company out there and I'm not the only one doing these sorts of things. LOL

Eric - according to wikipedia first foot means: In Scottish and Northern English folklore, the first-foot, also known in Manx Gaelic as quaaltagh or qualtagh, is the first person to cross the threshold of a home on New Year's Day and a bringer of good fortune for the coming year. The thing about the Corbies is a proverb. Apparently the Scots are really big on proverbs! Lots of fun reading them and trying to figure out what they mean -- sort of like a puzzle.

Our weather this week is turning out better than I expected. Cool but fairly sunny. I hope it lasts until the leaves are all down (and they've just started here). Once it rains good, then trying to rake them all and bag them is just a big wet mess. It would be nice for the kids if this weather lasted through Halloween.

Anyone have any fun plans for Halloween? Do they celebrate it in Canada and Scotland?

[Bruce u]

Hey Eric and Diane

I know what you mean about trying to rake wet leaves Diane. Fortunately here the nearest tree's is about 1/4 miles from my house so no need to rake.

Of course we celebrate Haloween here in Canada. Unfortunately I have one neighbor 1/2 mile away and the next nearest is about 6 miles. So as you can imagine not many kids come trick or treating. Wait...is it because of the distance or because I put my mother-in-laws picture on the door. LOL I know that is not very nice but it's only a mother-in-law joke.LOL

[dianew]

Good one Bruce. Have to say - as a mother-in-law - that I think I'd prefer my picture being on the door to my being in the cemetery, which is apparently where I'd be in Scotland according to the proverb. LOL

[eric byrne]

Hi Dianne,

Well done on checking out First Foot,a couple of additional points,the first foot in Scotland was preferred to be male,tall dark and handsome at that,should bring with him a lump of coal,and a wee bottle o' the amber nectar.I remember in my youth,just after the bells at midnight,sitting down at a large table with family and friends,tucking into a full steak pie dinner,an old Scottish tradition.This was followed by a party,always someone there to play the piano and everyone sang along to traditional Scottish songs.Every guest was expected to "Do a turn" that is,entertain the gathering with a song or poem.Sometimes to identify the next person to "Do a turn" a bottle was placed on the floor and spun,whoever the neck of the bottle pointed to when it stopped spinning,it was their turn to sing.

Do Scots celebrate Halloween or All Hallows Eve?,well we should, since it originated in Scotland two or three centuries ago.Our kids dress up in costume just as they do in the USA,and travel around door to door in their neighbourhoods,when they rang a doorbell,they were invited into that house and were given some fruit,nuts and sweets,but,before they received their goodies they had to "Do a turn",ie sing,recite a poem or tell a joke.I remember for years as a child,my party piece was the Big Rock Candy Mountain,yes all 14 verses LOL,think I got my goodies early to shut me up.We would also have little games to play,"Dooking for Apples",a basin of water was placed on the floor then apples would be placed into the basin a chair would then be placed beside it,the child would kneel on the chair,they held a fork between their teeth,aim and release the fork to pierce one of the apples floating in the basin,if they succeeded they kept the apple.Another game was a string of suspended treacle scones in a line,the scones were smeared with treacle,and the kids would have to try to eat the scones whilst still suspended on the stringline,without the use of their hands,this of course meant their faces got covered in treacle (all part of the fun).

Halloween has sort of gone a bit downhill since my childhood.Kids today are different as are their parents,in my day part of the fun was coming up with an idea for a costume then making it,usually with the help of a parent,so we were soldiers, cowboys,pirates,Zorro was a favourite one too along with the lone ranger.Alas today,parents cannot be bothered,so buy their kids costumes from the local supermarket in a pack.The kids themselves are more interested in getting money rather than goodie bags,they only grugingly make an attempt to entertain by telling a one liner joke. Its got to the stage now where some neighbours no longer welcome children "Guisers" (as we call them) into their homes,sometimes to the extent of going out for the evening to miss them,or putting out their lights until the kids have passed by,or until their bedtime.

Hope you did'nt mind my wee illustration of Scottish culture.Bye.