Pre-Halloween lunch.

Miss C came over for lunch today, inbetween her classes at school. Depending on her weekly schedule, she sometimes gets a lunch period and a study period back-to-back. Being that she's a senior now, C can sign herself out of the school and drive herself home, or to our house, then go back to school for the rest of her classes. C had called me on my cell phone yesterday, to ask if she could eat her lunch here yesterday, but I was at J's antique shop when she called and said You're not home! Where are you!?

So we arranged a lunch date today, and I surprised her with a Halloween lunch, being that part of her plan was to look through my Halloween magazines and books so we could decide what to cook and/or bake for the party. When C walked into our breakfast room, I had the table set with pumpkin plates and napkins, a witch centerpiece, yellow tea cups that matched the orange and yellow plates, plus I made the turkey and cheese biscuits that she likes.

And we can't have a lunch party if we don't have place cards and favors, so I made those too--- yellow place cards with orange and black pumpkins, plus little paper candy cups in orange and brown. I had found these candy/nut cups on eBay, and was surprised that they're still being made. I remember them from the 1950s-- my Aunt Dolly always had them for all the holidays, in all different colors. That was a little "favor" for everyone in the family, and it was my job to fill up the paper basket-cups with small candies or nuts. "Use that spoon now... don't touch the candy with your fingers.... but wash your hands first before you touch anything!"

Miss C hadn't ever seen these little paper baskets before and she thought they were just "too cute." I filled ours up with orange and yellow M&Ms, plus I put a white "Peep" ghost into each little basket. One thing about these Peeps-- no matter how many years go by, they always taste just the same as they did twenty, thirty or forty years ago. They must have very good quality control at those Peep factories. One half of one Peep is about all I can manage... they're very sweet, but they are cute.

We had our lunch, and our tea, then C paged through the Halloween books. I think she picked out seventeen recipes that she wants to try for the party. I told her she'll have to look again, and whittle those choices down to two or three. Everyone else will be bringing food for the potluck dinner, so I don't have to plan on feeding thirty people. C is also going to have a Halloween party at her house, on Halloween night, so I told her she could borrow my books and make some of those recipes for her friends. When she went back to school, she was carrying her little candy basket, and planning to tell her friends how Aunt Dolly used to give those to the family when I was a kid. C loves to hear all the Aunt Dolly stories, and she will ask me from time to time to take out the old pictures so she can see everyone.

The weather has changed just a tiny bit now. We're still having warm sunny days up in the high 90s, but the nights are cooling off some. Too cool for Mickey Kitty, who didn't want to sleep on the screen-porch last night. I opened the porch door for him and he raced into the house and down the hall to our bedroom. Up onto our bed he jumped, right between the pillows. He spent half the night literally wrapped around my husband's head, then he moved over and spent the other half of the night on top of my pillow.

I was paging through one of my "Autumn" books yesterday and I found that quote--- "There are only two way to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is." The person who said that.... Albert Einstein.