mini owl pumpkin

Happy Hallowe'en...

...to Yoo-hoo

I didn't have much time or energy to spend on carving a pumpkin this year, so decided to go small and carved it in about 5 minutes this evening.  As I carved I thought I saw torchlight in the back garden, but was just the kitchen light glinting off the knife.  No wonder a pack of passing 'guisers' didn't bother to knock on our door! 

'guising/guizing' is a scots word for what others call 'trick or treat' which has become common in the UK but is really an american expression.  I think guising comes from being in 'disguise' but not sure.

It was a tradition when we were growing up that the guizers be invited in, whereupon they would perform a joke, a little sketch or a song in return for payment - mostly money (!) but sometimes sweets and apples etc.  When we lived in London for a while, I remember inviting the Trick or Treaters inside.  I looked at them as if to say, go on then - but they just stared back.  When it was intimated that we expected some sort of performance for their fee, they looked at me as if I was mad, before hastily retreating - I've never had guizers since! (*v^)

Comments

[ginny]

i can just see you there carving away. lovely pumpkin. xx

[Diana]

Lovely pumpkin...and it looks like the house is ablaze in the background! I'm not a fan of trick or treating...perhaps I'm just mean-spirited!
D x

[carolyn]

That's a beautifully carved pumpkin, hope you enjoy your Halloween weekend.

[sallyanne]

A beautiful pumpkin, and was that a bonfire in the garden outside? Such a great photo with all that magnificent orange blaze.

[Frances]

Hello to you from New York,

I found my way over to your blog via Snapdragon, and am delighted to see what a creative person you are. From pumpkins, to quilts, to appreciating the beauty of nature, your posts are a grand taste of life far away from here.

Cheers!

[snapdragon]

Oh Really - do trick and treaters not have to perform outside Scotland? What a swizz. We got no guisers here 9but we are a bit off the track) so ate all the sweets ourselves.
Much nicer pumpkins than ours!
J
x

[melissa]

brilliant story, c! you crack me up... :)
and that is one beautifully carved pumpkin. the first i've seen that i've really like the look of! xx