What October is like at our house.
You know that feeling you get when the sun sets? It’s like your body starts to relax, and everything becomes easier. This time of year I can feel myself drawing in closer to home with each passing day as darkness descends upon us all throughout October. This time of year for us is the beginning of making gifts, crafting together in the evenings, soon we will carve pumpkins and enjoy pumpkin soup and cake making with the children.

Candy, costumes and being busy?
So soon, pumpkin carving is going to be in full swing. More and more we feel the pressure to fill this festival with fairy lights, costumes and sweets: but at our house its a slower festival. On Halloween my kids will have some chocolate, but they will also have fires in the garden, lantern walks across the fields and meals with family. We will eat pumpkin and squash, we will laugh and run around in the autumn leaves. But mostly I will turn my phone off, get outside and connect with it all.
We call this way of living, Slow Living, looking at our place and relationship with the changing seasons. Across cultures all around the globe, this time of year, is seen as a time to remember our ancestors and the spirits of the land; and to bring a light in the darkness. I wondered if our obsession with bright costumes and action packed weekends is to distract us from a growing stillness where we can only look inward for reflection, self-improvement and strength?

Top 3 ways to have a SLOW halloween
So here are my TOP THREE favourite ways to bring a slow Halloween home:
- Lantern Walk: We make a lantern. Very simply from paper, but if you don’t feel confident with that you can use a jam jar and add a string handle. We go marching up and down the lane in the dark, this year we might go around the park!
- It’s a feast day so have a feast. Decorate the table in a special way. Bake or cook something special. We lay a place at the end for our dear departed.
- Collect Conkers on your walks, then you can turn them into scary eyes in a jar as a seasonal craft, walk and celebration!
- Carve a pumpkin. We have done this every year, now it’s a tradition for us, after we have craved them we light them in the dining room and have them as a table centre for the evening meal before they go outside!

