Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Autumn Inspiration: Spooky Walks

Just before Halloween, we visited Ham House with Grandma and Grandpa, formerly the home of the Earl of Dysart, courtier to Charles I, and supposedly one of the most haunted houses in Britain. It was a sunny autumn day, and fun to visit, especially with one of the rooms shuttered and dark and a group of costumed ladies inside telling ghost stories (or were they actually there at all? Ooooooo.....).

Call me crazy, but one of the most fun things about autumn and the shadowy, rusty season is spooking yourself out of an evening. Maybe you don't share this taste, but according to me there's really nothing like a good ghost story to bring the season to life, and make you want to burrow under a cozy blanket while the first frosts creep over the pumpkins. As the temperature is due to drop tonight, now is the perfect time to dust off your collection of Sherlock Holmes stories. I dare you to tell me they don't just hit the spot.

Today after dropping Isabelle off at school, I took a walk through my local spooky woods, in the rain and mud, wearing running shoes.

Apart from the ill-considered footwear, it was fun to follow the trail where it led, through arcing branches and around the back of the local spooky churchyard, and finding not ghosts but gold:

Yes, my friends, not only is it spook season, it's time for sloes! And the hedgerows are chockablock with them. Time to get picking.

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