Playdate in the Leaves

Today is the second day in the El Día de Muertos and I had my little alter lit up first thing in the morning and glowing all day long.  It may not be a proper ofrenda, but it works for me.  It does not have photos off all who have past in my life, but they are there in thought and spirit, so to speak.  

“	On October 31, All Hallows Eve, the children make a children's altar to invite the angelitos (spirits of dead children) to come back for a visit. November 1 is All Saints Day, and the adult spirits will come to visit. November 2 is All Souls Day, when families go to the cemetery to decorate the graves and tombs of their relatives. The three-day fiesta filled with marigolds, the flowers of the dead;muertos (the bread of the dead); sugar skulls; cardboard skeletons; tissue paper decorations; fruit and nuts; incense, and other traditional foods and decorations.	”
— Frances Ann Day, Latina and Latino Voices in Literature[12]

In the early am, because the time on the clocks may have changed, but Eddy's did not.  

And with some sun light to brighten the day. 

I also made Dead Bread with a skull and cross bones, as is the tradition.

It was a good, eggy, soft, sweet bread and delicious warm with butter!  

Landon came over before lunch and the boys played inside, outside, inside, and outside as they so desired.  Baylor showed Landon the fun with leaf piles.  And yes, Baylor is wearing his PJ top.  We went to the flea market in the morning and since it was cold, we just put his clothes over his PJs to act as long johns.  

He even came over to pet Eddy while I was taking pictures of her.  He does not like dogs, at all, so I was pretty surprised to see him go up to her to pet her.  He is such a sweet kid! 

Eddy laid in the leaf pile for a long time and I snapped as many photos as I could.  She rarely will pose for me and I love her in the leaves!  And then I sat there playing with the editing settings. 

I made the boys pepperoni pizza for lunch, they were too busy to help me make it themselves.  But they enjoyed their living room pizza picnic.

While the boys were playing, I dug up the horseradish roots growing in three places in the gardens.  I don't remember digging any up last year so they were nice and big.  

We found one mantis in the dying asparagus plants.  With all the egg cases I thought we would see more but we only saw two adults this year.  

And while spying on the mantis, I saw this dead bird in the bird house.  Very odd and I am not looking forward to cleaning this out next spring.  

We started a fire around the time Joey was picking up Landon.  Having a bonfire is one of the traditional ways to celebrate Samhain which is also this time of year and where we get part of the Halloween traditions from.  This is why I love Fall!  Baylor loves fire, he cannot help it, it is in his blood.  Landon was a bit hesitant but was having fun until his dad showed up and then wanted to stay.  But it was just Baylor, Eddy and I by the fire.  

She may wander off some but most of the time she is happy to lay beside where ever I am. 

And Baylor too.  

We had gathered sticks from the picnic area at the fire hall a few weeks ago.  I was hoping to have a fire at the party last week but never got around to it.  My dad had brought some big pieces of wood and of course there were tons of leaves to burn. 

And sticks to make smoke signals. 

Baylor learned about leaves and fire.  They make a lot of smoke and then whoosh into a big fire.  I remember throwing leaves into the fire as a kid and my grandparents warning about them.  And I told Baylor he will do the same some day. 

And we roasted marshmallows of course. And ate a bowl of chocolate wafers to go with them.  

We had the fire out around 5:00 and Baylor made the most of the last embers burning leaves.  I have a new camera lens so I played with the shutter settings. 

He asked to do sparklers and I was happy to.  It was only a bit after 5:00 and was dark enough for them!! Darn you day light savings!  But much better than waiting until after 8:00 for the dark. 

It was a good day. 

I processed the horseradish too.  Two full quarts of the stuff!!! Gloria tried it and it about blew her head off!  I know what people are getting for Thanksgiving and Christmas!