We've had the most beautiful weather over the last few days. Which has meant that it's been the perfect time for my brother to experience the Island for the first time since he was a child.
The combination of the glorious autumnal colours, with so much warmth and light has been wonderful. Then throw in the fact that I have been able to share our new home with one of the most important people in my life, and it's led to a wonderful, wonderful weekend.
As well as having my brother visiting, we also threw our first hallowe'en party since losing mum. Up until she died, we had a party every year, and loved it. But losing mum in the middle of October, put an end to that and we just haven't had the heart to have another one.
But moving here and starting a fresh has given all of us a new lease of life, so when the girls asked if we could finally have another hallowe'en party and if they could invite everyone from both their school years, we thought what the hell!
In Leeds we only had a tiny backyard and it was noticeable if we had even an extra couple of children in the house, but here we are blessed with a good sized garden, full of trees and places to play, which meant that we had over 25 children, and we didn't even notice! It was amazing. As was the fact that all of the kids were great fun and as well as being respectful and engaged. We had two hours of apple bobbing, mummy wrapping (toilet roll everywhere!!) pumpkin pinatas, hide and seek and running around, all in the glorious sunshine (thank goodness because we would have been screwed if it rained!).
On Saturday evening the village held their annual pumpkin carving competition, (which we'll definitely enter next year), with pumpkin soup and toffee apples.
It's been a great weekend. I've loved showing my brother just how stunning the Island is, and I've loved seeing him enjoy it so much. He goes back to Berlin today, but will be back at Christmas, where he can look forward to the village Christmas Tree competition and other christmassy village delights.
The girls are back to school today and Jim has started his new job on the mainland, so I guess it's all about getting in to a real routine from now on.
