Fall is finally Fell here in Atlanta, so it’s actually beginning to feel like it’s time for Halloween and all things pumpkin.
But about those trick-or-treaters…
This time last year, we were looking towards our first Halloween in a new house, and had no idea how many trick-or-treaters would be coming to our door. The neighbors gave estimates of anywhere from less than 30 to a couple hundred – which is a pretty broad range to work with!
It turned out to be closer to 30 – if that. We live in a cul-de-sac, and, apparently, the local custom is to drive kids to the houses. Cul-de-sacs aren’t popular under those conditions.
We were fortunate – VERY – that the neighborhood took up a collection of leftover Halloween candy to give away elsewhere. We really didn’t care where elsewhere was, as long as it was away from us – but I know it went somewhere charitable I just don’t remember where. Now that neither of us works in an actual office, we didn’t have a “work crowd” to absorb the excess – of which there was a lot.
This year we’ll get treats for 30 and turn off the lights in front IF we run out. Unless conditions have changed a LOT from one year to the next, we don’t expect to.
What about where you are? Do you get lots of trick or treaters? Or just a trickle? Answer in the rafflecopter for your chance at either a $10 Amazon Gift Card or a $10 Book from the Book Depository!
It’s Jack-O-Lantern season, which means we’re creeping up on Halloween – no matter what the thermometer says.
It also means that Pumpkin Spice Season has officially begun. OH NO! Pumpkin spice season, the dreaded pumpkin spice season is upon us.
This is an endless debate in our house. My husband is on Team Pumpkin Spice, and I’m on Team Never Pumpkin Spice. Or almost never. Pumpkin spice belongs in pumpkin pie. I could possibly see my way clear to pumpkin spice tea. I like Constant Comment, and it couldn’t be far from that. Could it? I’m not sure I really want to find out. I might get infected with the Pumpkin Spice virus. Or whatever it is.
Are you on Team Pumpkin Spice Forever, or are you with me on Team Pumpkin Spice Never? Answer in the rafflecopter for your choice of a $10 US Amazon Gift Card (promise me not to buy Pumpkin Spice anything, pretty please !) or a $10 book from the Book Depository.
It’s that time again! Welcome back to the NINTH annual Black Friday Book Bonanza.
Even if you think it’s too soon for the holidays, they are right around the corner!
Just like last year (and the year before that, and the year before that) Black Friday is a great day for a hop. It’s the perfect opportunity to share a bookish prize or two, and also to stay home and surf the web instead of crowd-surfing at the mall.
Welcome to the Follow the Yellow Brick Road Giveaway Hop, hosted by Mama the Fox!
I don’t know about you, but I can’t see that phrase “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” without hearing the song in my head. So if I’ve given you an earworm, sorry not sorry.
But the movie The Wizard of Oz is one of those stories that has passed from being “just a story” to being a part of the commonly understood cultural zeitgeist. If you mention the ruby red slippers, EVERYBODY knows what you mean. Or the Wicked Witch of the West. Or Toto. Or flying monkeys. Or my personal favorite after a long trip, “There’s no place like home!”
I remember being scared of the Wicked Witch and her flying monkeys the first time I saw the movie, on television in the early 1960s. But the moment when the film switches form black and white to color is one of those perfect “Aha!” moments that lives in childhood memories. There’s a cartoon I remember that does the reverse, I think it’s a Roadrunner cartoon, where he races past a sign that reads “Technicolor Ends Here” and then the cartoon switches to black and white. Equally indelible, but I had never seen it again until researching this post and “voila!” there it was on YouTube and it’s Lucky Ducky not Roadrunner. Memory is both fickle and tricksy.
So what do you remember about going “off to see the Wizard”? Answer in the rafflecopter for your choice of either a $10 Amazon Gift Card or a $10 Book.
But speaking of cartoons, as Porky Pig (and occasionally Bugs Bunny used to say, “That’s All Folks!”
September begins the unofficial start of the Halloween season, which, bless its little orange and black heart, keeps most people and places from starting to put up Xmas decorations. (It’s too early, people, the trees still have all their leaves!!!!!)
I’m looking forward to Fall, when it finally reaches us. The high temperature in Atlanta today is predicted to reach the mid 90s, so it definitely isn’t Fall here yet. I took a look at the other cities we’ve lived in, just to see. Gainesville and Tallahassee will both have similar temps to Atlanta, Cincinnati will be in the low 90s this week, Chicago in the mid 80s to mid-70s, Seattle in the high 60s to mid 70s (and rainy). Anchorage is already down to the low 60s and dropping like a rock for the rest of the month. It’s not something I miss.
There are plenty of Fall Festivals around here for the next few weeks – we’ll probably go to one or two.
To help with your Fall Festivities, whatever they might be, I’m giving away the winner’s choice of either a $10 Amazon Gift Card or a $10 Book from the Book Depository.
So welcome to Fall. May all your apples be crisp, and all your leaves be crunchy!
Fall may not officially begin until September 23 this year, but now that it is after Labor Day it certainly feels like Fall – no matter what the weather might be. There’s something about the Labor Day holiday that just marks the beginning of the end of the year. Of course, that something probably has something to do with memories of going back to school, marking that the summer holidays were officially over even if the meteorological season was not.
Labor Day also used to signify a whole bunch of weird wardrobe do’s and don’t that have thankfully gone by the wayside over the decades. There used to be a whole crazy business of not wearing white – except of course for “winter white” – after Labor Day. Or before Memorial Day for that matter. The same rule applied to seersucker suits for men – not that one sees too many of those anymore, either.
So what’s your favorite thing about the change in seasons from summer to fall? Answer in the rafflecopter for your chance at a $20 Amazon Gift Card or $20 worth of books from the Book Depository.
This is the second blog hop this month with a “back to school” theme – so it must be that time again!
What’s the best thing you remember about going back to school? Or the worst? I never was a morning person, so on breaks I would sleep late and then stay up late. I always had another book to read. My mother always swore that someday that would change, but it hasn’t happened yet!
I loved learning new things but hated being told that I HAD to read something. So I read a lot, but usually the “wrong” things. Or at least books not assigned. Some things don’t seem to change!
Tell us what your favorite, or least favorite thing is/was about going back to school for a chance at your choice of a $10 Amazon Gift Card or a $10 Book from the Book Depository!
The theme of this hop is back to school. It’s something that seems both appropriate and not. Let me explain…
The schools here went back yesterday, August 5. That just seems OMG incredibly early. (They also get out in May, so it does all work out.)
But, but, but…I remember going back to school a month from now – just after Labor Day. Then again, I remember that schools mostly weren’t air conditioned back in the dark ages when I went, so they had to close during the heat of the summer. Cincy doesn’t get quite as hot as Atlanta – but it does get plenty hot in July and August. The last days in June and the first days in September could be fairly beastly even with that schedule.
When someone says “back to school” when does that make you think of? Answer in the rafflecopter for your chance at your choice of a $10 Amazon Gift Card or a $10 Book from the Book Depository.
Welcome to the Sweet Goodness Giveaway Hop, hosted by Mama the Fox!
The picture of that watermelon in the graphic above is a pretty good hint about just what kind of “sweet goodies” make up the theme for this hop. Watermelon still feels like one of the signature treats of summer – even if we can get it all year round now at the grocery store. Eating it in the winter just doesn’t feel the same – not even down here in Atlanta where winter usually doesn’t get very wintery.
Watermelon is for eating outdoors in the hot sunshine while seeing just how far you can spit the seeds. But wait – they grow seedless watermelons now. That just doesn’t seem right.
There are so many sweet and wonderful fruits that come into season during the summer. And even though you can get most of the all year now, it’s just not the same. And there are still a few things that, while you can get them everywhere, still taste better nearer to their point of origin – like Rainier Cherries in Washington State. Yum!
What about you? What sweet treat says (or tastes like) summer to you? Answer in the rafflecopter for your choice of a $10 Amazon Gift Card or a $10 Book from the Book Depository. (Giveaway open wherever the Book Depository ships!)
Welcome to the All That Glitters is Gold Giveaway Hop, hosted by Mama the Fox!
When I first saw the name of this particular blog hop, the following instantly came to my mind:
“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost…”
I first read those lines more than 50 years ago (OMG, OMG, OMG) when I was in the 4th Grade. A friend’s older brother had introduced me to The Lord of the Rings, and those are the words that Gandalf used to describe Aragorn, the last of the Rangers. I’ve been hooked on epic fantasy ever since – and will forever remember the person who introduced me to what become one of the great loves of my life. And by that I mean epic fantasy in general. As much as I loved LOTR, I still have arguments with it. (Not nearly enough women, not remotely enough women with agency, ARRRGGGHHH!)
But this blog hop is all about gold that actually does glitter. Or at least posits that all the things that glitter are gold. I was thinking that silver glitters, but it gleams more than it glitters. Or it glistens. Or something. I digress.
We all have things that glitter in memory. For me, that first introduction to epic fantasy is one, as is the memory of watching the original Star Trek with my dad, at least the final season, as it was broadcast. From thence comes my lifelong love affair with science fiction.
What about you? What was your first introduction to something that turned out to be a lifelong love or lifelong influence? Answer in the rafflecopter for your chance at one of my usual prizes, either a $10 Amazon Gift Card or $10 in books from the Book Depository.
Welcome to the Back to School Giveaway Hop, hosted by 
