"First" sign of Halloween?

There is something I forgot to blog about last month: during an afternoon trip to a nearby town, I stopped at the WHSmith near the station (and yes, I am well aware that it has been rebranded, but I don't care, it's WH Smith for me). And what did I see, by the till? This. These things. Halloween stuff. In freaking February. Granted, it was most likely stock from last week. All the same, it reminds me of the Halloween to come and, although I try to enjoy the present time, I do like to think of my favourite holiday way in advance. It put me in a good mood.

Une cabane à chauves-souris sous la neige

Petite découverte hier lors de notre sortie dans la neige: mon père a installé une cabane à chauves-souris au sommet du mur de la remise. J'ai vérifié et la cabane demeure inhabitée. Dommage. Pas de chauve-souris qui y hiberne. Quand même, j'aime avoir des chauves-souris comme voisines. J'espère que la cabane sera habitée le printemps venu: les chauves-souris, c'est pratique pour contrôler les populations d'insectes. Dans tous les cas, c'est une jolie image avec le chapeau de neige.

Le portico et les chauves-souris

 Photo qui date de l'an dernier, c'est le portico chez mes parents. Comme quoi ils décorent pour l'Halloween eux aussi.

Reese's for Halloween

 At last! I was getting desperate since the start of the countdown: I could not find any Reese's chocolates for Halloween. I mean yes, I could find some, but not the one with pumpkins, just normal ones and (shudder) Xmas ones. The latter have no place on the shelves right now. However, a short trip to the nearest Aldi changed it: not only do they have bags of Halloween Reese's, but they have loads of different figures: the usual Jack O'Lanterns, bays and ghosts. I'm in high protein and sugar heaven. It's not Halloween without Reese's. It is a brand I rediscovered in adult age, but for some reason I really got hooked on it.

A Fallen Angel

 For today's countdown to Halloween post, I thought I would blog about one of the Halloween critters I don't see too often these days: devils. My father saw this one on a garage door recently and I thought it looked so magnificent that I had to blog about it. With his ash coloured burned skeleton, his burning amber eyes and his bat wings, he looks very much like a fallen angel. I love it. Like I said, I don't see devils very often now, as decorations or even in horror stories. Correct me if I'm wrong. He gets outshined by ghosts, vampires and witches. But demons are at the top of the malevolent chain, so to speak. They are the most powerful of all the evils and most likely the hardest to defeat. So they should show up more often. I'm glad someone got inspired and put this one on display. I might try to write a story about a demon.

Bat House

We went to a local fayre about two weeks ago, one of my favourite ones because it's in my favourite time of the year. In one of the stands, they were selling various bird houses as well as bat houses. I love bats, for many reasons, one of them is that they eat insects. And I know we have them around here, I oftens ee them flying in the evening. I don't see them much, they are very elusive. But I considered buyingone house for them. The only problem is that I don't think I would be able to install the house properly. So I decided not to buy it. But I regret it now.

Les chauves-souris

Mon père a décoré le portico avec des chauves-souris, pour quand les enfants du quartier viendront passer l'Halloween. Ce n'est pas l'Halloween sans quelques chauves-souris.

L'Halloween à Chicoutimi

Autre photo prise par mon père lors d'une de ses promenades. Les cours deviennent vite des cimetières quand vient l'Halloween.

Beware the Witch

My father went on a walk recently and he took a few pictures of some lawns decorated for Halloween. This photo is maybe my favourite. I just love that witch! She is so deliciously scary.

Spooky Jack

 My wife bought me this door sign on the cheap a few days ago. She knows me so well: I love this. We might use it on the door during trick or treat, but until then it is on my desk. I love, love, love this Jack O'Lantern. Everything about him is so perfect: the wicked smile, the bats in the background, the witches (warlock?) hat, the mix of ochre and black. I might use it as a model for one of the pumpkins wewill carv, as I think it is perfectly scary. We are now in the middle of October. Time goes way too fast.

L'Halloween à Première Moisson

 Petite nouvelle bouffe trouvée sur la page Facebook de Première Moisson: non seulement ils ont des produits d'automne, mais ils ont maintenant des produits de l'Halloween. Dont cette miche de campagne avec une chauve-souris dessus. C'est tout. Pourquoi on ne vit pas à Montréal?

M&S Halloween Train

We went to Marks & Spencer before October and I was pleasantly surprised to see their Halloween display already. Even more pleasantly surprised to see this box of chocolates. They outdid themselves this year.

No but seriously, sometimes you buy food just for the container. A Halloween train? How much cooler can you get?

Countdown to Halloween!

 Today we are the first of October, so it is our official Countdown to Halloween, b! So happy countdown everyone. I took this picture in August, in the Dollarama on the Plateau Mont-Royal, in Montreal. I was so happy to see that they were already in a Halloween mood. It may the official countdown, but of course I had started preparing for it since last Halloween or so. My personal countdown to the spooky season starts in August, sometimes even in July. Be that as it may, watch this space, I should post daily, mostly but not exclusively about horror stories.

Time for warm clothes (autumn chronicle)

 At last, the time has come! For the last week, temperatures have dropped considerably, enough so we can officially say that we have "sweater weather". It could not come too early. I am happily surprised: last year it had been hot and sticky well into the end of September, even early October. This year's autumn had been fairly cool so far, but for the first time since last April I can wear thick jumpers. Better still: today I wore my old Kanuk coat. I always love that moment when I take it off the rack after months and put it on. It's one of the season's rituals.

New Signs of Halloween at Dollarama

Sometimes happiness come in the most unlikely place. A few days ago, we were checking into a Dollarama (which is the Quebec equivalent of a Poundland or a dollar store) when we saw an entire aisle full of Halloween stuff. Decorations, disguises, some treats too, the lot. Roght in the middle of August. I was not surprised, Dollarama is often early with holiday displays, but it was lovely to see all the same. We bought a few things. The funniest thing was that I did not even have to convince my wife, she was as enthusiastic as the men in the family. ANyway, I bought a lot of Halloween related things at dollarama over the years, it was nice to renew with this tradition.

Halloween Passenger Car

 I might come off as obsessive, but I simply could not wait until October for this one: I saw on the Twitter account of : LGB hasa new wagon, a Halloween passenger car. I want it. I really, really, badly want it. It might be even better than the other Halloween trains they have made before. It is just so perfectly spooky, with its scarecrows and the witch in the full moon and the evil ghostly tree. Oh if storage space and money were no objections...

I've seen a bat

 Well, this post is exactly what it says on the tin (sort of): I just wanted to report that I have seen a bat, a few evenings ago. I say I have seen, but not really: I only caught a glimpse of it. It was in the evening, the sun was falling, but you still had some daylights. I opened the door, and I saw a small triangular shadow flying fast and low. Towards the light, then away. They are so fast. I sometimes see bats at dusk, especially this time of year, but I think this is the first time this year I saw one. I like bats, I am not sure why, but I'm glad I have them as neighbours.

Sweater Weather VS Sweaty Weather

I saw this meme recently on one of the many Halloween and autumnal pages I follow. It showed up numerous times. It was calling me, I guess. We have been having a spell of cold, or at least colder, weather recently. Not enough to wear thick jumpers, but enough to wear long sleeve shirts. Otherwise, the meme says it all, doesn't it?

Cool (if early) Halloween Picture

 Sometimes, chance looks predetermined. Case in point, this anecdote from a few days ago. My wife bought a costume for Wolfie on Amazon, for World Book Day. I will not tell you which one yet. About one of his new fancies. Let's just say for now that the costume is not remotely spooky. It's one of these cheap(ish) costumes you can find on Amazon. So it got deliveredrecently, and it had this very label on it. At first, my wife thought we received the wrong package and we got a Grim Reaper. But no, it was is not scary at all costume. They just packaged it in a Halloween, well, package. And what a cool picture it is. With a scary shadowy Reaper, Jack O'Lanterns, ghosts, bats and what have you. It is so deliciously spooky, I might keep it as a sort of decoration for Halloween itself. I could not throw it in the recycling. I'm a sucker, I know.

Fiendish Fancies and Me

 For today's countdown to Halloween post, let's talk about food again. For that reason. All year round, I don't care about French fancies one bit. I remember discovering them for the first time, before a lecture one Thursday afternoon during my first year at uni here, and I was no impressed. tIt's just sugar poured over a bit of cake. But come October and they change the name into Fiendish fancies and I'm a sucker for them. Maybe it is the pumpkin colours, maybe it is the packaging with the jack o's, but Mr Kipling, you got me there. Given the quantity of sugar in a single one of them, calling them Fiendish is far more fitting. And thus it is far more fitting to eat them for Halloween.