Tag: Halloween

October Reading Wrapup

November has been such a busy and turbulent month that reading and blogging have been on the back burner and I’m only just finding time to share my October reading wrapup midway through the month.

Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie 🎧

This book really requires the reader to keep an open mind as it challenges many of the preconceptions people worried about climate change hold. Having said that, I wholeheartedly agree with the central premise of the book that despair is as dangerous as denial when it comes to climate action, and that we have to remain hopeful that we can mitigate the worst effects of climate breakdown and adapt. Hannah Ritchie refutes most of the clickbait headlines by zooming out and taking a wider look at progress and trends over longer time frames. She also promotes focusing our efforts on a few actions that will have the greatest impact rather than stressing about lots of things that won’t actually make much difference. I found it a bit contradictory in places, and I still believe that individual actions pale in comparison to tackling corporate and industry emissions but this is an informative, pragmatic and hopeful book that counters climate doomism.

The Witches of New York by Ami McKay

I often feel a bit apprehensive about books that are over 500 pages, and I found this one had a very slow start as the story didn’t really grip me until 300 pages in. The story follows three witches, Eleanor and Adelaide, who run a tea shop in New York and their new apprentice, Beatrice who is only just discovering her powers. This was a bit reminiscent of the Practical Magic series, but set in the late 1800s, as the women navigate personal traumas, grudges and persecution. Overall I enjoyed this and loved the strong sense of female friendship and camaraderie throughout, but it was let down by pacing issues, and although the main storyline wraps up neatly, there’s a few subplots left open for a potential sequel.

The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange

Having thoroughly enjoyed, The Island at the Edge of Night, I was eager to read more of Lucy Stranger’s backlist and picked up her first book from the library. The Secret of Nightingale Wood is narrated by 12 year old Henrietta as her family move from London to Hope House in the countryside following the tragic death of her older brother. Henrietta is a plucky heroine who has to overcome her own fears, grief and survivor’s guilt in order to save her family from the scheming husband and wife villains who intend to use the family to further their own ambitions. It’s a tense, poignant children’s adventure from a writer who brilliantly captures the fears and feelings of helplessness of childhood.

Weyward by Emilia Hart

A powerful tale of three desperate women from the same line moving from fearful victims of male lust, spite and violence to survivors. The story follows three women from the Weyward family from Althea accused of witchcraft in the 17th century, to Violet a rebellious and determined young woman straining at the shackles her father and society have bound her in, and Kate in the present day fleeing an abusive relationship. This is very much a story about female choice and agency, but one that is often bittersweet as the three central characters have to make difficult choices based on circumstances beyond their control. I was completely hooked by this and adored it from start to finish.

Cackle by Rachel Harrison

What a strange and surprising but thoroughly enjoyable story this turned out to be about love, heartbreak, friendship, trust, fear, and spiders. Cackle follows Annie Crane, recently hearybroken and scared of dying alone as she moves from New York to the little town of Rowan and immediately falls under the spell of her new friend, the mysterious and charismatic Sophie. Cackle seemed like it was going to be light-hearted romance, but it was such a delightful novel about female empowerment with some unexpectedly unsettling moments and atmosphere.

The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland

This seemed like a cross between two of my favourites, Ninth House with all  occult elements and a female version of The Raven Boys as three teenage misfits band together to stop a serial killer hunting women. The plot follows Emer, a curse writer (or witch) who helps women willing to exchange part of their soul for magic; Jude, an exiled, filthy rich socialite looking for a witch to help her break a a curse; and Zara, a grieving woman investigating the murder of her sister. I devoured this supernatural murder mystery full of twists with a slow burn saphic romance in a couple of evenings, though I found it more gory than spooky, but the final section was particularly cinematic.

Have a lovely week. X

All aglow for Halloween 🎃

We ended October with our second light show, Glasglow at the Botanic Gardens in Glasgow. Glasglow has been hit and miss in previous years, but we all really enjoyed it this time around. The kids are also at an age to appreciate these kinds of events, especially with the treat of toasted marshmallows (which appears to be a staple at outdoor events now) and chips for supper.

Taking place around Halloween often means the theme has a few spooky sections, but there were only a couple of parts with clowns and skeletons that were a bit too scary for kids (and big kids like myself).

Elsewhere there were smoke-filled bubbles to pop, strings of lights changing colour in time to the music to walk through, a graveyard full of amusing epitaphs, and a walkway over the field of light, and of course, Kibble Palace itself to list our favourite parts. Just like last year, the designers had filled Kibble palace, a 19th Century glasshouse home to the national fern collection with lasers, it is a genuinely original way of using the space that delighted the kids and I’ve never seen anything like it at any other light show we’ve visited.

Back at home, I carved pumpkins for the girls’ nursery Halloween party. Our 4 year old asked for a ballerina, and our nearly two year old wanted a hedgehog, which ended up winning a prize.

It gets dark early in the autumn and winter months here in Scotland, and I really appreciate these evening events that give us a reason to wrap up and get outside for a few hours. October has been such a busy but lovely month, and Glasglow was such a fun night to round it off with. Have a lovely week. X

Halloween at Glasglow

Last week instead of taking our girls out guising for Halloween, we visited our second light show of the season, Glasglow at the Botanic Gardens.

It’s always fun to see somewhere so familiar where we’ve strolled and fed squirrels during the day all lit up at night. The theme this year was “Ghostbusters” but there wasn’t any jump scares or other spooky parts that would upset the kids.

Our favourite part was actually inside Kibble Palace, a glasshouse home to the national fern collection, which had been filled with lasers for the event, it was spectacular.

Having been to a few different light shows over the years, and regular visitors to the Enchanted Forest in Pitlochry, Glasglow is one of the few that is worth visiting with a clear theme, making good use of the space, and conveniently located for us.

We’re disappointed that Elfingrove, the other winter event Itison hosts, will not be on this year as we all loved ice-skating and the ferris wheel but I’m sure we’ll find some other festive fun at the Christmas Market instead.

Have a lovely weekend all. X

Halloween at Home

Just typing out a quick post at the end of a busy but lovely weekend spent celebrating Halloween. With my due date just around the corner, we’ve been staying close to home but have still found lots of ways to have fun while we wait.

I bought a pumpkin to make a Jack O’Lantern and my daughter requested a cat. It’s a bit of an odd skill but I enjoy the challenge of carving pumpkins, though compared to some of my previous ideas, this one felt like I was resting on my laurels.

We had planned to light the firepit in the garden to toast marshmallows but rain scuppered our plans so we baked a spiced pumpkin cake instead. Lucky for us, our daughter is almost always happy to bake, paint or shape playdough so we don’t have to worry too much about being stuck inside when the weather is particularly inclement.

We haven’t been too cooped up though as there was a Halloween party at our toddler sensory group, full of themed activities and fun. We also went for wanders around parks between rain showers to let the little one burn off some energy splashing through puddles and thrashing through a thick carpet of leaves, while I admired the autumn foliage.

We’ve spent some time in our own garden too, making a note of ideas for next year and little jobs to do over the winter. I don’t bother tidying up too much and just let things die back naturally as the weeds tend to take over when the soil is left bare, but we really need to trim the hedges, thin the bamboo and mow the lawn once more before winter. Another job for winter is to paint and seal the inside of the summerhouse.

My last minute winter veg experiment has had mixed results: the winter spinach has done quite well, but slugs ate most of the rainbow chard, there’s a couple of daikon (mooli) and a single turnip growing too. I planted a row of peas to add a bit of nitrogen to the soil, and scattered some wood ash as I’d read that it can deter slugs and add potassium to the soil. I started some more chard in the greenhouse that seems to be doing reasonably well, but the cabbage and kale failed, which is disappointing as leafy greens are one of the few cravings I’ve had during this pregnancy.

I really love the “embery” months from September to February with the contrast of wrapping up in coats and boots to venture outside and making ourselves cosy at home with blankets and candles, and this Halloween weekend has been full of simple, seasonal pleasures. Happy Halloween, and have a lovely week. X

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

I watched the film adaptation of Practical Magic starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman many years ago, but picked the book up from the library recently when I was in the mood for something witchy to read in October.

Practical Magic follows sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, raised by their aunts who practice witchcraft. Sally and Gillian are as different as could be, sensible to a fault, Sally just wants to be normal, while Gillian is a free-spirited drifter, but both are trying to escape the Owens’ legacy and the family curse of doomed romances.

After nearly two decades apart, Gillian turns up at Sally’s door with her dead boyfriend in the car, and the plot revolves around what happens when he continues to haunt them after they bury him in the backyard.

I really appreciated that it captured the complexity and intensity of female relationships between sisters, mothers and daughters, and even aunts and neices, the love and loyalty, the rivalry and jealousy, and even the sense of duty and obligation that characterises so many familial bonds.

I was hooked from the first page, the prose is descriptive and atmospheric, and the story wrapped itself around me like a blanket. Practical Magic is a tale of love, heartbreak, family, superstition and witchcraft, and it was a perfect choice for October and Halloween reading. Take care, and have a lovely week. X

Happy Halloween!

Halloween1

A few weeks ago we were in Perthshire for the Enchanted Forest, but this week we visited a lightshow closer to home at the Glasgow Botanic Gardens, which have been illuminated for Halloween.

The designers made great use of the space and existing features, and it was wonderful to see the grass meadow where locals flock to picnic and sunbath during the summer transformed into a sea of lights, as well as the ferns in Kibble Palace all lit up, and a few spooky effects scattered around the gardens.

As much as we love the cosy autumn and winter months, my husband and I are outdoorsy types and we’re always grateful to have an excuse to wrap up warm and get outside to stretch our legs at this time of year, and “Glasglow” at the Botanic Gardens was a delightful way to spend a cold, dark October evening.

Halloween6

Tonight and tomorrow we’ll try to eke out the Halloween festivities a little longer watching Dia de los Muertos themed films (Coco and The Book of Life) and eating leftover sweets we bought for the local kids out guising (or “trick or treating”). Happy Halloween and have a lovely week! X