If there’s anything I learned from the Americans whilst taking up residency in Brooklyn it is how to embrace, celebrate and decorate any given occasion. As I sit here in downtown New Cross overlooking the pretty yet somewhat plain Victorian houses I can’t help but feel the urge to adorn all the pitiful porches with selections of squash, a helping of hay bales and a littering of leaves. Oh and not forgetting a few Halloween appropriate accessories. Nothing screams “Autumn’s arrived!” quite like the afore mentioned and I for one would take great pleasure in admiring the seasonal displays brightening up the otherwise ever greying streets of London. Come on England, let’s all be a little more Upper West Side.
Never one to be disocuraged by my neighbour’s visible lack of enthusiam for all things Fall, I took it upon myself to incflict a micro version of the American way on an unsuspecting corner of our new flat. Cue a tree stump from the garden, several green waxy leaves and a pot of glitter swiftly followed by some pumpkins, the cutest baby squash (I have no idea what it is other than adorable to look at) and some nicely turned red leaves carefully selected by my ever obliging boyfriend. Add several tealights et voila, a little taste of Autumn. The glitter leaves were first coated in some PVA then sprinkled/drowned in glitter, depending on how the mood took me until a suitably sparkly look had been created. To be super authentic I probably should be investing in some cinnamon scented delights but unfortnately to me eau de cinnamon resembles what I can only describe as scentified torture of the highest form. So no.
With Halloween rapidly approaching the pumpkins will soon meet their untimely fate as they undego a surgical procedure likely to be lacking in both skill and precision. I’m aiming for a Grumpy Cat design this year. Let’s say no more on how predictably terrible this will turn out. I do however feel their insides will have a happier ending as I’ve been on pumpkin soup countdown ever since they crossed the threshold here and I’ve been eyeing up Spoon Fork Bacon’s amazing looking recipes for weeks. Nonetheless, the newly carved pumpkins will still sit pride of place in the lounge until they inevitably rot away and collapse in on themselves, probably in despair of their shocking exterior design. Just for the record, this stage is the only indication that it is in fact time to dispose of our orange friends. Until this point it is totally acceptable to allow them a place in the home, despite the fact they may be getting ever furrier day by day. Take exhibit A from last year; I was still sad to see him go, even when he looked like this.
I love this time of year. I really do. I’m going to keep my little “Fallscape” alive for as long as possible before smoothly transforming it into a Christmas corner. In the meantime, get out those costumes tucked away in the bottom of the drawer (bonus points for whatever inanimate object you can make “sexy” in the name of fancy dress), stock up on embarrassingly loosely “scare themed” edible delights and have a very Happy Halloween!
