Am I just a 'Grumpy Old Woman' ?

Crossed posts maggiemaybe !

my grandson has his birthday today (unfortunate boy ) so Halloween mayhem and dressing up is de rigeur at their house.
I am not bothered by T and Ters as I live down a muddy track at the mercy of roaming dairy cows (plus a bull) overnight and have 'lurch' dog to keep them at bay
when I grew up (rural Midlands) halloween was un-celebrated and Bonfire night (buying our own fireworks for our own bonfire of course) was the big thing
it was only when I lived in Canada I became aware of trick or treating and remain un-impressed.

I have just watched over-the-road's firework display that they didn't warn us about. What happened to people warning others with pets? Or warning the neighbours? We always used to invite and inform everyone.

The reason Sainsbury staff were in costume a day early was to get you to buy one before the day.

I'm with you Tiggypro I feel embarrassed with adults dressing up, but it's fine for children.

Where about in the UK did you Grans whose local towns celebrated Halloween live. Was it in what we might now regard as those with a strong Celtic or catholic traditions.

Oh dear tiggypiro I do hope I am wrong (surely I must be?) but your post of 18.44 reads so very snobbish ! (Surely it's just me....) I love the little children coming to my house all dressed up for Halloween, perhaps I live in an area similar " to where you taught" but thankfully don't live [thigrin].

Jeeeeez honestly .

GS1 had his birthday party on Sunday so that was Halloween themed. It was great fun, he was dressed as the grim reaper and all his friends came in costume. DD had made a giant spider birthday cake and I made green iced cup cakes and chocolate witches hats (Thankyou Waitrose magazine)

The staff in our local Asda seem to dress up at the drop of a hat. One particular staff member is about 5' tall and almost as wide and she appears in all types of strange costumes most of which are somewhat inappropriate for her proportions (!).Her most recent piece de resistance was as a baby, sporting a very large terry towelling 'nappy' which I found a little off putting .
My children used to go guising to friends and neighbours and they always prepared a song, a joke or a poem. Tonight DD had some children at the door and they just wanted 'the goods' - no tricks, just the treats.

Tonight , in the supermarket, I saw a woman in a witches dress with a cape pushing a trolley with a toddler who wore leggings and a T shirt. I thought she must be the child's mother but on passing her I realised she must be the grandmother, she looked absolutely ridiculous. Some people really do need to grow up.

Driving down a nearby road tonight, we saw a house with the most elaborate Halloween "decorations" - in the front garden, downstairs and upstairs (the whole thing must have cost a fortune). On the bedroom window - I think it must have been backlit - was a black silhouetted figure of a man leaning forward , his arm raised and his hand holding a large knife.

Given the number of women murdered in their homes, I don't understand why this sort of thing is is considered to be just a bit of fun.

Children will see enough of the real horrors of the world as they get older - why make an "entertainment" out of it?

I don't have much time for it. I feel that the trivialising of blood, death, horror, fear and cruelty for crass commercial reasons is bad enough, but when young kids are encouraged to take part, I regard that as little short of abuse. I'm certainly not a kill-joy, but it should never be forgotten that many of our cherished rituals have their origins in our dark and bloody past. I detest seeing the shops full of Halloween tat, and when I turned on the One show yesterday to see the presenters kitted out like ghouls, and then the same on Autumn-watch, I couldn't stand it any more and just switched over to a good old-fashioned war film. Much more acceptable!

Oh the irony papaoscar and of course there is no blood or death in a "good old fashioned war film" is there?

Forget Halloween, I have been informed this morning, that Waitrose has the first delivery of Cadbury's Cream Eggs and mini eggs on Christmas Eve.
When is Easter - April?

I can see where you are coming from with my post of 18.44 gillybob but I was referring to the 'mischief night' shenanigins. Colleagues of mine who did live in the area where they taught had quite nasty things happen to their property - rotten eggs through letter boxes, graffiti on walls and doors, garden gates removed and burnt etc etc. and teachers were a particular target. And all in the name of good fun. So on the night of 4th November (mischief night) I was very pleased not to live in the area.

Now I'm really grumpy, got everything set up for Halloween callers, bowl of sweets (special spooky ones) bucket of water over the door !.

BUT - no one called, rumours of the grumpy old git must have circulated the village ghouls.

Me too pompa - now I will have to eat get rid of all those chocs!

Aren't Cadbury's Creme Eggs on sale all year round, hilda?

I suppose dressing up at work is a bit of fun for stressed overworked under paid staff? Its a cheap morale raiser for the management.
I remember in the hospital ward my MIL was in the staff seemed to go berserk with the Halloween decorations. All at their own expense and sadly completely unappreciated by the poor old residents who were extremely ill. However, the staff had tried so hard, (just as they went decoratively overboard at Christmas) that us visitors couldn't but admire their dedication and attempts to cheer the place up. Sorry wandered off the thread but I could never get over the shock of that dingy ward transforming into an orange and black, blood dripping fiesta of a place with the largely comatose residents hardly noticing. It was a shame.

Hallowe'en is now over and soon shop staff will be wearing Santa hats and the piped music will be desecrating Christmas carols.......
Grumpy? Moi?

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo not the "C" word again, and I can't believe we've already seen the "E" word.

We have bonfire night next don't forget.

Next ? Fireworks started here about a week ago. (as I type this bangs etc are going off outside)

They are cadbury's choc. Screme eggs.

When exactly is Hallowe'en? Is it me, or does it mean the evening of the 31st October (ie the evening before All Hallows Day)?

If so, then how did we have 'the warmest Hallowe'en on record - 24C in some places' as the BBC and ITV kept telling us? It wasn't that warm in the evening, only in the day time.

Or am I just being picky? Or grumpy? Or both?

Diwali has been celebrated recently here with fireworks going off 4-5 nights in a row. Tonight it sounds like the start of WW3, I dread to think what these fireworks cost and how many more nights we have to endure this awful noise, probably until New Year. Yes, I am a GOW. I still think that those letters mean a glass of wine, much more preferable!