Day 254 and a Half/365 So Much For Samhain...

This is Halloween, this is Halloween...

Our house is decorated in early ghostie. Bobble heads in my office...

The sign up over my office (husband has been warned not to change any letters...)

Our resident mummy looking nervous about all the books...

The walking hand on the fireplace mantle...

Bathroom sconces and skulls (everyone has these right? No?)

Nice little homey sayings on the wall...

Dramatic shower walls and jet black shower curtain...

Bathroom attendant...

and vampire bats in the closet.

And that's year 'round before we start decorating for Halloween.

This morning the husband and daughter were up early putting together the tents for this evening's Halloween display. We fill our front yard every year with something guaranteed to frighten even the adults, and most definitely the teenagers. Barring non-cooperative weather, we draw anywhere from 150 -250 trick or treaters. Cars line the street, church buses dump their kids off, and sometimes too-scared kids wait on the sidewalk while their parents walk through our yard. A couple years ago we had a cop directing traffic when our artifical fog got too thick and rolled down the street.

Every year is a little different and little bigger. Our firm rule has always been "up and down in one day", partly because of time constraints and party because we don't want to leave our spooky collection out in the front yard overnight.

This year daughter designed a wooden set that would bridge a gap and double our space. So she and her dad built it this morning, while I unpacked the various props and put batteries in where they were needed.

Unpacking Halloween is better than Christmas. It's like seeing old friends again.

Some just throw up their hands and give me a quick bite.

I'm thinking of making this my new FB profile pic...

We have a weakness for skeletons and skull lanterns that glow.

Family portrait.

Together forever.

One of my favorites - always happy to get out of the box.

Nothing like a box o' bones...

And the matching jewelry.

Tiny skull fences, stacks of skulls, and that's a skull candleabra off to the right. Nothing weird about us.

This is part of the completed set built this morning. Right after this we hung black sheet panels to enclose the tents. Normally after this we'd start bringing down the full-size coffin, the animated skeletons, witch, mummy and the various electric props, then finally do costumes and remember to bring out the candy.

*But* today, the wind came up - as in, right after the sheets were hung. So between the tents and the sheets, it was like watching a beautiful,black-sailed ship rise up off the ground. Not good. Gusty wind is not good when you have a tent (soon to be a tent in the dark) full of expensive animated props and electrical cords.

So it all came down. No Halloween this year. And after taking an hour or so to tear it down, the wind decided to die down. By that time it was too late to start all over.

And yes, we had trick or treaters knocking on the door, wondering where we were.

Next year is another Halloween.