I was bitten by the Halloween bug this year. I put this down to the fact that, on a whim, I planted some pumpkin seeds and was able to carve my own this year. I'd never done it before so why I chose to do so this time around is a mystery.

When I was growing up we didn't really do anything to mark the occasion. As small children, my brother and I were allowed to sleep in the same room on Halloween. There was a candle holder on my brother's wall which, on this night and this night only, my parents lit the candle to keep the ghouls at bay. To a five year old this seemed ridiculously exciting!

As we got older we went trick or treating a few times. The trend hadn't really taken off in the UK at that point, so it was a pretty fruitless exercise. We rarely played tricks on anyone - we taped up the odd letterbox or put toothpaste on door handles but nothing too serious.

One Halloween I remember a house decorated with cobwebs and pumpkins, we excitedly knocked and shouted "trick or treat" as the door opened, expecting a wondrous bounty. Instead the women gave, what I can only describe as, an exasperated howl. She was obviously having a fancy dress party but hadn't counted on any trick or treaters knocking on her door. It tickled me that she obviously didn't want to open her door to the likes of us, however, she had no choice but to answer, in case her guests were knocking. She simply slammed the door. Needless to say she got taped and toothpasted.

Anyway, my Halloween turned out to be somewhat different to what I'd planned this year. No bat t-shirt, no delicious pumpkin bites, no ghoulish fondant fancies, no scary movies. Just me, in bed, feeling poorly.

I managed to carve my pumpkin the night before but then started to feel decidedly off colour. Maybe I can blame the onset of illness for the complete hash I made of my first ever pumpkin carving. Who would have though it would be so difficult? I had no idea, I just grabbed my knife and started hacking away. I'd almost finished when I slipped cutting out his nostrils, sliced into my finger and punched out his cheekbone. I have to be honest, I nearly cried. It had taken me ages!


Not to be deterred, I repaired it with some sticky tape and dress making pins. It was enough to hold it in place and didn't look to bad with a tealight burning inside and the lights out.

Anyway, I'm feeling better now and have a feeling that the fondant fancies won't last another night!

Love