Happy Halloween!

Halloween, (All Hallows Day) Is a holiday of pure fun, celebrated on the 31st of October.

-It is largely a secular celebration, but some Christians and pagans have expressed strong feelings about its religious overtones.

-The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture, and is sometimes regarded as the "Celtic New Year". Traditionally, the festival was a time used by the ancient Celtic pagans to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. The ancient Celts believed that on October 31st, now known as Halloween, the boundary between the living and the deceased dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops.

-On All Hallows’ eve, the ancient Celts would place a skeleton on their window sill to represent the departed. Originating in Europe, these lanterns were first carved from a turnip or rutabaga. Believing that the head was the most powerful part of the body, containing the spirit and the knowledge, the Celts used the "head" of the vegetable to frighten off the embodiment of superstitions

-Rituals of October 31st.

Traditionally, children (and some adults) dress up in costume for Halloween.

Children "trick or treat" (The word "trick" refers to a threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given) to gather candies and prizes from neighboring homes.

Also, Halloween parades and such are performed.

And in teenage cases, "rolling, or tipeeing yards" with toilet paper and toothpicks thrown into trees as a trick to the property owners occurs.

Haunted houses and mazes, carving pumpkins, horror tales&movies, ghost tours, and candied foods also take place.

Info from Wikipedia.

Have a SAFE and Happy Halloween!!!

John Winston Lennon

Today would have been John Lennon's 69th Birthday. Wow, what to say. There's too much to say about this man to fit in one post. Let's just start with one fact. He..was..AMAZING. Great.

Born in Liverpool on October 9, 1940 to Julia and Alfred Lennon during a German air raid in World War II.

Died in New York City on December 8th, 1980 at 11:07pm in the entrance of the Dakota Apartment Building by Mark David Chapman.

John Lennon was widely known as; one of the four Beatles, singer-songwriter, artist, peace activist, writer, and musician, husband, father, and friend.

*His best words:

Imagine there's no Heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one*

Time for another

Month full of facts!
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Special about Today:


It's World Vegetarian Day!
--Free rural delivery of mail began in the United States, October 1, 1896.
-First "Model T" Ford put on the market, October 1, 1908.
--Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, born in Plains, Ga., October 1, 1924.



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-October is the 10th month of our year.

-The 8th in the Roman calendar, and therefore, acquired it's name, October, from "Octo(Latin)"

-In the nineteenth century, the month of October was dedicated to the devotion of the rosary in Roman Catholic countries.


-By the Slavs it is called “yellow month,” from the fading of the leaf; to the Anglo-Saxons it was known as Winterfylleth, because at this full moon (fylleth) winter was supposed to begin.

- The Saxons called it Wyn Monath because it was the season of wine making.


-October's birthstone is the opal, thought to have the power to predict illness. This is because the opal responds to heat. If you are sick your temperature increases before signs of illness appear. The increased body heat causes the opal to lose its shine, leaving it dull and lacking color. It is also said that the opal will crack if it is worn by someone who was not born in October.


-Its birth flower is the calendula


-Aside from October being the month that hosts Halloween, it also hosts National Down Syndrome Awareness Month. So remember this

You know it!

Or you'd have to, because it is now officially Septempre! That means?

Fall is near! You can walk outside and feel it getting cooler, time to crack out the pull-overs!

As newly promised, there will be some fun facts about September, following this short post.

Read ON:

Gemstone: Sapphire

Flower: Aster

The name September comes from the old Roman word 'septem', which means seven, because in the Roman calendar it was the seventh month. The Anglo-Saxons called it Gerst monath (Barley month), because it was their time when they harvested barley to be made into their favourite drink - barley brew. They also called it Haefest monath, or Harvest month.
The Romans believed that the month of September was looked after by the god, Vulcan. As the god of the fire and forge they therefore expected September to be associated with fires, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

At the Harvest Festivals in September, people made Corn Dollies. Down here.....

Traditionally 24th September was the day on which harvesting began in medieval England.

Rood is another name for a cross and traditionally on 14 September children were freed from school or work so they could gather nuts.

1st September 1951 : Britain's first supermarket opens at Earl's Court in London.

1st September 1971: The penny and the thrupenny piece coins cease to be legal tender as Britain continues the changeover to decimal coinage.

2 - 6th September 1666:The Great Fire of London raged for four days - destroying more than 13,000 houses and almost 100 churches - including St Paul's Cathedral. A total of 6 people are killed.

2nd September 1752 : Britain adopted the Gregorian calendar.

3rd September 1939 – 15th August 1945: The Second World War. Great Britain, France, New Zealand, and Australia declare war on Germany after Adolf Hitler, refuses to withdraw his troops from Poland.

6th September 1527: Magellan completed the first circumnavigation of the world.

6th September 1852: First free public lending library opened.

7th September 1533: Queen Elizabeth I was born.

9th September 1835: The 'sport' of bear baiting was banned by parliament.

9th September 1835: Local government constituted in the UK.

9th September 1950: Soap rationing ended in Britain - introduced in 1942.

9th September 1087 : William the Conqueror died

18th September 1839: George Cadbury was born.

19th September 1960: First parking tickets issued in London.

22nd September 1955: ITV started.

September 1735: Sir Robert Walpole becomes the first prime minister to move into 10 Downing Street in London which has since become the official home of the british prime minister.

23rd September 1940: George Cross instituted.

26th September 1955: Bird’s Eye fish fingers first went on sale.

26th September 1580: English seaman Francis Drake returns to Plymouth in the Golden Hind, becoming the first British navigator to sail the earth.

27th September 1825: The world's first public passenger rail service begins - between Stockton and Darlington in the north of England.

28th September: St Wenceslas Day

28th September 1745: First singing of the National Anthem.

29th September: Michaelmas Day.

29th September 1758: Nelson was born.

30th September 1928: Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming

--I got my info from woodlands-junior