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Post by 3piggles on Oct 1, 2015 19:40:44 GMT
I never heard of the rabbit thing for the beginning of a month, but for those who do that, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit  Hello October. Great month. In the US we have Columbus Day on October 12. That always results in Native American protests that he brought death and destruction to the native people, and protests by groups insisting Columbus didn't discover America at all, and shouldn't be honored for what he didn't do. That's always an interesting weekend/week in mid October. Of course, Halloween in October 31, though different cities/towns celebrate it on different days. Some always have trick or treat on the actual day. Some always have it on the nearest Sunday. Every year a list of trick or treating dates and times is published. We do it on the 31st, which is a Saturday this year. It's also apple picking time in New England, though I don't know about the rest of the country. We have apple orchards around every corner, or at least it seems that way. Everyone has a favorite orchard where they buy apples and other fall/winter treats. What interesting events happen in October where the rest of you live? Can someone tell me if there's an actual python in the "python with eclipse" thread. I am terrified of snakes, so don't want to open any threads with a snake in it. Thanks. |
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Post by bazookagoof on Oct 2, 2015 2:23:18 GMT
Can someone tell me if there's an actual python in the "python with eclipse" thread. I am terrified of snakes, so don't want to open any threads with a snake in it. Thanks. Not to worry, it's some computer-related speech and has nothing to do with reptiles. Since you mentioned you don't like snakes, don't watch my Indiana Highlights video in the Personal Video Thread- there's a shot of a snake slithering by. (I apologize if you did watch it already.) |
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cavylady
Bronze Member
just keep laughing
Posts: 254 
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Post by cavylady on Oct 2, 2015 2:26:36 GMT
Nope no snake pics!
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Post by Bean on Oct 2, 2015 8:33:42 GMT
Oh you beat me to it - I remembered just after I powered down my computer last night!
Last month was all about the apples here - people have been picking, eating, stewing, preserving, bottling and juicing. I got my best ever crop from my own apple tree so that was great - they're quite small but sweet and full of flavour. Will try to remember to do a crumble this weekend as they work well in that.
Can't think of anything special going on here this month besides Halloween. Just out of interest, with the US being a more religious country than us, is there any conflict over there with Christianity and Halloween? Over here, many Christian families don't do anything to mark it because of its associations with witchcraft and being seen as a celebration of evil. In fact, quite a few churches have a 'light party' on Halloween so the kids still get a celebration and fun like all their friends, but without any nod to anything Halloween themed. There are plenty who do still get involved, but a significant number who feel strongly that it conflicts with their faith.
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cavylady
Bronze Member
just keep laughing
Posts: 254
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Post by cavylady on Oct 2, 2015 13:29:24 GMT
Yes some families believe that here too but we do have churches that celebrate it and give out candy as well it really depends on the church my cousins parents let her celebrate it as long as she wasn't a witch,demon,monster,ect. Anything scary or mean.
And p.s what are the monthly chats do\for do we talk about our monthly plans?
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Post by jolovespiggies on Oct 2, 2015 19:06:43 GMT
Arr, I love snakes, I used to have quite a few about 25 years ago.
Hugs
Jo xx
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Post by Bean on Oct 3, 2015 8:38:38 GMT
And p.s what are the monthly chats do\for do we talk about our monthly plans? It's just for the kind of everyday chatter that you wouldn't necessarily start a thread about, but can post in to touch base with everyone. Sometimes it evolves into a particular conversation about something anyway, other times we just mention the weather - anything goes! |
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Post by butterfly88 on Oct 3, 2015 12:48:08 GMT
Rabbits for the beginning of the month, never heard of that either.
How is everyone?
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 3, 2015 16:46:14 GMT
Butterfly88, I think you and I are the only ones who never heard of the rabbit thing My Facebook friends totally spammed my news feed with rabbiting on October 1 Glad there are no pythons Phobias are hard to explain, and they definitely take the fun out of a lot of things. We used to have Halloween parties in school, when I was a kid, and a Halloween dance for the older kids who weren't really into trick or treat. By the time my daughter got to school, there were no more holiday parties, because the holidays were religious, and the schools were funded by all taxpayers, not just christians. We also had Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentine's day parties. These parties consisted of having the parents send sweets to school with us to share, having time away from the usual courses of study to have some treats, and making holiday-themed items in art class, that were then taped up on the windows for a festive effect. My mother always baked a dozen or so cookies, put them in a sturdy box, and sent them to school with me on party day. I also baked cookies and brownies for my daughters school parties, but the parties weren't holiday themed by then. Most of the teachers had a monthly party to celebrate all the students birthdays for that month, and since there were poor kids who weren't going to get any other celebration, I had no problem baking for the monthly birthday celebration. I was rather glad to see the Valentine's party cancelled, as we were all supposed to bring cards for our favorite people, which meant some kids had overflowing baskets of cards, and others had none. Not what the school was supposed to be promoting. For the Christmas party, we were all supposed to bring an inexpensive gift for the teacher. Again, some of those kids weren't even going to have a full meal for the holiday, and couldn't afford to bring the teacher anything. Not bad to see that go. The schools did start doing holiday meals, even if they didn't call them that, serving a full turkey dinner before the Thanksgiving and winter breaks. The separation of church and state has some rough edges over here, that's for sure, but anyone or any organization that wants to have a holiday party can open the party to all comers, and that's usually what happens. It's just not funded with taxpayer money anymore. Some of the towns/cities have costume parades before Halloween, as those costumes can be pricey, so parents like to get as much use out of them as possible. Those parades used to be done at the schools, back when I was a kid, and I think it's great to have a civic organization running the parades instead. All ages can participate, not just school aged children, so it's more of a family event. |
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cavylady
Bronze Member
just keep laughing
Posts: 254
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Post by cavylady on Oct 3, 2015 21:29:48 GMT
Ha,for Halloween we don't hand out candy we usually turn the door light off and watch movies mostly cause usually its older teenagers with no costumes!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Oct 4, 2015 16:27:48 GMT
Ha ha, yes, we had a few of those knocking on our door in the past or they would send the little ones in costumes and hide further down the house but I always caught them.
Hugs
JO xx
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 4, 2015 21:07:41 GMT
At our last house, with a 550 foot driveway in a rural town, we got the neighbors kids only, so about 5 kids each Halloween. I even made treats for them, as we all knew each other. Here, in the condo village, we get a lot of kids, but we love it. If it's warm enough, we sit outside on the front step, give out the candy and take pictures of some of the cutest costumes. If it's cold, we have the storm door closed, but the inside door open, so we can see when people are coming. We just really enjoy all the costumes, talking to the neighbors, etc. We always run out of candy before the trick or treat time is over, and have to turn off our light, but we do enjoy it There are four houses in our row of condos, and 3 of us enjoy trick or treat. The other one turns off his light, and watches TV |
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cavylady
Bronze Member
just keep laughing
Posts: 254
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Post by cavylady on Oct 4, 2015 21:48:37 GMT
After we had 2 teenage boys with bags over there heads and purses for their candy bag we stay inside and watch movies,lol!
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Post by Bean on Oct 5, 2015 8:51:38 GMT
Yes, I think I would too - doesn't sound like much fun if that's what you get turning up on your doorstep! My kids are fascinated by the toilet papering of trees which they've seen in American films - never seen it done over here. I think they imagine every tree being like that the morning after Halloween!
Very happy to see that shops over a certain size now have to charge for plastic bags - 5p a pop. All the money they raise goes to good causes, not to the company's profits. I really hope it sees carrier bag usage go down (we produce billions a year which then hang around for centuries causing all sorts of mess and pollution) as it has in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. I'm generally pretty good at taking reusable bags when I go shopping, but this will definitely help remind me to always have one about my person!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Oct 5, 2015 19:19:00 GMT
That sounds lovely Piggles hun, when I have lived in a similar community we knew who the kiddies were even with their costumes and I loved them coming around. Yes Bean from now on all bags are 5p. I know I haven't been shopping for some time but I didn't think any of them were free anymore.
Hugs
Jo xx
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 11, 2015 20:34:43 GMT
Can you bring your own bags, and not pay the 5p? I ask because I'm sure not everyone can afford 5p per bag, especially if they're shopping for a large family, and may a whole lot of bags. We don't get charged for the bags, but one supermarket gives a discount per bag for bringing our own bags, and all the supermarkets sell reusable bags with their names on them, some have flowers or scenes on them, etc. We have insulated bags with zipper tops, and regular cloth bags, but we don't see a lot of other people bringing their own bags. It is hard to remember to bring the bags into the store, but we've been using them for years, so we're pretty good at it. Jo, hubby does our food shopping, so I might forget the bags, but he usually doesn't. Food has gotten so expensive, I really wouldn't want to have to pay extra just to get it bagged. We have some warehouse stores that allow people to bring boxes or bags, and they don't provide any bags or boxes. If we don't have our own bags or boxes, all the items go into the car loose, and that's not good. The leaves are slowly starting to turn around here. We're in the southernmost part of New Hampshire, so we get the color change last. It's nice to see some patches of colored leaves on the grass, but I know that means soon, all the leaves will be down, and we won't see any grass! The grounds crew have a huge sucking hose attached to a big truck, and they come around and suck up the leaves. It's kind of cool |
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Post by Bean on Oct 12, 2015 8:18:39 GMT
I bet you're getting some wonderful displays. We've seen some gorgeous scenes with all the trees turning.
Yep, you can take your own bags, and many people have been doing so for years anyway. You can get the fairly flimsy ones but also stronger reusable ones which cost a bit more but last ages (and are more comfortable to carry!).
We got caught out yesterday - we went to a shopping centre and I had my bags as usual. But then we realised time was running out before the shops shut so I took the kids off to the next shop leaving my husband to pay - I forgot to leave him with bags though... I'm sure it'll only take a few times of that happening for my memory to improve! I always consider it a personal mission, to never take plastic bags from shops, so when I saw the two bags he was carrying I was all 'Noooooo!' and he clearly though this was an overreaction!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Oct 12, 2015 15:50:47 GMT
Yes I think you can bring your own bags Piggles love, I know Paul does so he doesn't have to keep paying. He does all our food shopping too. I love this time of year, the autumnal colours but I haven't been out much lately so I have missed it.
Hugs
JO xx
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Post by 3piggles on Oct 12, 2015 20:50:28 GMT
I've forgotten the bags a few times, but as you said, it's learning the hard way. We have some very strong, insulated bags, which unfortunately hold a lot more than I can lift. Grocery baggers love to fill them to the brim, but then I can't lift them out of the cart into the car. So I have to watch the bagging very closely. It amazes me that, since we have a lot of bags, they will overfill as few as possible, and hand the rest back to me unfilled? I've often rebagged at the car, so I could pick up the bags. The hold 6-2 liter bottles, or 3 gallon bottles. Way over my lifting limit! I got some good pictures of trees changing. It's great when they're the only ones in a bunch of green trees. Makes them stand out more |
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Post by jolovespiggies on Oct 13, 2015 17:59:27 GMT
When I used to shop when I wasn't as bad as I am now, I used to find that Piggles. When someone packed for me they overfilled the bags and it nearly killed me getting them into the car.
Hugs
Jo xx
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Hello October. Great month. In the US we have Columbus Day on October 12. That always results in Native American protests that he brought death and destruction to the native people, and protests by groups insisting Columbus didn't discover America at all, and shouldn't be honored for what he didn't do. That's always an interesting weekend/week in mid October.
