Sunday 1 November 2009

A Halloween...of sorts...


Well, our Halloween this year was a strange one.

I won't say it was a non-event, but it went from being an entrenched tradition to... well, let's say a scattering and a smattering.

Every year, for as long as we've had children, we've spent Halloween at my parents. And they have the house brilliantly spooky, and the kids find money in their dinner, and a ring in the brack, and they get to knock on the same doors as I did with my brothers and sister and our friends.



But this year one was invited to a party, another to a sleepover which went pear-shaped and didn't happen.
And the oldest decided he wasn't going on his own, so went to a friend's.



So I was left with a disappointed (read devastated) six-year-old, and a two-year-old who hadn't a clue what was going on but happily went in whatever direction he was pointed in, like a little wind-up bunny!



And between everything I mentioned in the last post, and more, we had left it until the last minute to decorate the house, only to find our decorations had been decimated by a wee mouse sometime in the last year... sigh.
I think that's called the icing on the cake?

So, for the first time ever we had no colcannon, no barm brack, no decorations, and no pumpkin! And for anyone that knows me, that is a sorry day indeed.



But you know, we have friends. We have great friends, who said 'come on, come to us'. And we did (which is where these photos were taken) and for the first time ever we went trick or treating in our village.

And they got to knock on doors, and they got bags of goodies, and they all had a great time and that's what matters.

And today they all said 'Next year we are definitely going to Mamo and Grandad's...'



55 comments:

Sara said...

I am glad Halloween was saved. I bet they are all looking forward to next year already. :) Enjoy your November. xx

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

By the looks of that smile, your friends saved the day! Halloween is so much fun.

Annah said...

We had a bizaar Midterm and Hallow'een of sickness too and miserable kids so disappointed with their energy levels. I took Cal to the Knitting and Stitching Show. Big mistake....K-Doc Sunday, they think he had Swine Flu....Poor boy.

Roll on Next Year.......

Emma said...

I can only imagine the devastation. Poor little chap! For a child who spends half his life in costume anyway, Hallowe'en must be the one night when the world is totally on his wavelength and making complete sense. And then it threatens to fall through!

But I am glad to hear it worked out in the end. That gleeful face says it all. I hope the others had a fun night too.

Tia said...

Ciara (to sound like the woman I am that was born in the wrong century as husband says...) EVERYTHING happens for a reason dear...who knows what the universe saved you from...and in the end things worked out...as for ourselves...to say we got "wet to the knickers" (its funny now) while we were trick or treating is an understatement ;0) but we wont forget this Halloween...hugs xx

affectioknit said...

I'm so glad you managed to have a Happy Halloween...

Anonymous said...

congrats on making it to Blog of note :)

Jess said...

Aww, I hope Mamo and Grandad didn't miss you all to much! :)

Mr. Dickie said...

Very nice! Good writing and eye-catching photos.

group band said...

By the looks of that smile, your friends saved the day! Halloween is so much fu

tips forex said...

congrats on making it to note Blogspot

Hartinah said...

blogjumpiiinggg!!!

nice halloween :) .
i always hope in my country, there's an halloween party too T.T

Lisa said...

Lovely Blog! Congrats on Blogs of note!

Lisa said...

I just saw you are a Blog of Note!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So cool!
Congratulations!

Whole Food Pioneer said...

I followed the Blog of Note, too. We've already decided to go to Grandma and Grandpa's next year - it will be a Sunday!

Lynn Kellan said...

Found you on blogs of note! Hope you all are feeling better; there sure is a lot of stuff going around, isn't there?

I hope that nasty wee mouse didn't eat any more holiday decorations!

gayle said...

I am a grandma (Gramme) of a two year old so I love the fact that your kids want to go to their grandparents next year!!

Silkhol said...

Hi! Is my first time in here. And I don't speake in english, so I'm sorry.
But I loved your blog =D

Tussy said...

Congratulations to you, being Blog of Note today :)

My Bangkok Through My Eyes!
You Got A Posty

José Luis Avila Herrera said...

Hey there,

I just want to say
CONGRATULATIONS on being Blog of Note

Enjoy this great moment.

Google loves you.

Cheers and best regards from Canada.

-Jose
My photoblog

andy said...

życia jest muzyka

Tea said...

I loved your story. They grow up so fast and want to do their own things. It's a good thing I guess but hard for us moms.

I'm from the United States and am very curious as to what these terms you wrote meant. "we had no colcannon, no barm brack"

Great Post

Anonymous said...

I can only imagine the devastation. Poor! For a child who spends half his life in costume in any event, Hallow 'must be a night when the world is at your wavelength and to give a complete sense. And then threatens to go!

Unknown said...

Traditions are so special, but when things go awry, it's sometimes just as special to discover new adventures! (Hope that mousie got a big tummy ache...)

Falkor said...

Happy Holloween!!!!

Ciara Brehony said...

WOW!!!

I am gobsmacked by this! Thank you all so much for your wonderful, sweet comments. I am honored to be accolade.
Thank you Blogger!
Nothing like the spotlight to make you polish off what's been a teensy bit neglected lately! So I have my blogger hat on at a jaunty angle, and my socks pulled up.

MilkmoonMama is back on full time duty!

Anonymous said...

When I first started to read this I wondered if everything would turn out for the best, and it seems like it did! I went through Halloween this year without carving a pumpkin and roasting the seeds (my roommate and I did have a pumpkin, though). Also, I was Posh Spice for this year's Halloween, but the rest of the Spice Girls (couple of my friends) decided to do their own thing and split up. When I was little, Halloween was always a tradition to have at my home and everyone in the family got dressed up. We haven't done that for a while, but as long as I'm surrounded by friends and family on Halloween, I'm good to go.

The villager: said...

Good Halloween shots !

blessingsgoddess said...

I enjoyed your blog, Ciara.

Kas said...

I am very impressed with your blog, I am also a big fan of Ireland. Thanks for the inspiration to further improve my own blog.

A Good Moroccan said...

Lovely pictures.

Paddy said...

Congrats on achieving Blog to Note!

Mary said...

Well done on Blogs of Note!
Enjoyed the Halloween post and the pictures ... good friends are worth their weight in gold!

The Soho Phantom said...

What a lovely family you have. I'm new to all this and you came up as a blog to read. Love your style of writing. Looking fwd to reading more!

Unknown said...

Waw that's wonderful, we don't make that in France :(

steve said...

hi

sher22 said...

Good day Milkmoon, Yes halloween is always a fun time. My girls were always so excited about it even now that they're grown. I guess it's apart of growing up we all never really forget. Glad yours was a good one.
Be well...Enjoy the day. Sherrie :)
Creator of: THe Babytree
http://thebabytree.net

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DeMo said...

Hey! you have a really nice blog! love it! I'm gonna follow you! ^^

Shorty said...

What a beautiful blog! I love your writings and your pictures. So glad to have found you as a featured blog. Congrats!

Carrie said...

Congrats on being named Blog of Note! :)

-Carrie, fellow Blog-of-Noter.
http://address-the-world.blogspot.com

Daydream Believer said...

Congrats on being a Blog of Note! I am really enjoying "catching up" on your blog! :-)

http://jamiejenson.blogspot.com

Brooke said...

Hey :) Love your writing , I'm glad everything went fine during halloween =D I'll be always passing by here. Hope you see my blog too^^ I startet it today ^^ xoxo, brooke

www.dotbrooke.blogspot.com

Megs said...

I am so glad Halloween was saved and I hope next year works out great!

Unknown said...

Nice!

Herrad said...

Hi Ciara,

Lovely name Ciara and a lovely blog.
Glad your halloween was rescued by your friends.
Concannon and barm brack sound very good to me.
Being a blog of note gives new people like me a chance to get to know your blog.
I plan to visit often and hope to get a glimpse of beautiful Ireland.
Hope you enjoy being a blog of note.
Have a good day tomorrow.
Love,
Herrad

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Anonymous said...

nice blog i like your blog and keep writting

thank you

Anonymous said...

Nice blog! Expect more

Unknown said...

hey very nice

Queen. S said...

your blog is so cute i love it!!

Unknown said...

It's so hard when kids grow up :(

Sometimes I feel so old--I've seen far too many family traditions come and go throughout my own childhood. I'm going to make it a point to emphasize the importance of traditions with my own children : )

Cosmic Navel Lint said...

Sounds completely different to the Hallowe'en we had: I spent most of the night rugby tackling wee ones who'd managed to make it through the barbed-wire and anti-personnel mines I sprinkled liberally around the perimeter-fence.

Mind you, they still ran rings round me - cost us a fortune in tricks and treats! :)

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Kathryn said...

I loved reading about your Halloween in Ireland. My daughter and I, having just a smidge of Irish ancestry, are all about things Irish. I wanted to tackle barm brack this year but the ingredients weren't readily available. I didn't know that colcannon was a tradition, is that just with your family or much of the country?