These fairy-lighted pumpkins seem to stand guard against evil spirits abroad in the land. We thought it a nice thought on a spooky evening. Happy Hallowe'en, Samhain, Nos Calan Gaeaf!
Giulia & her editor wish everyone a fun & safe Halloween! 
...and other costumes you can make tonight or Sunday. Yes, yes. You can do it. If you're in the eastern part of the country, welcome to snow & ice. Already. There might be materials at home for costume construction; if not, if it's safe to drive or walk, maybe you want to escape all that college football for a bit. Just a thought...
While chasing Giulia (into everything as usual), beginning (!) Halloween prep, & readying for what feels like a sudden cold snap, GG's editor slowed down enough to see deer outside the window early this a.m. The building borders a finger of Rock Creek Park so that makes sense. We know that deer have become a controversial subject in many parts of the country. We're not getting into that now. They are pretty to us.
Make some of these as soon as you can. Pepitas (or pumpkin seeds but it's so fun to say 'pepitas') are fresh this time of year. From pumpkin carving to doing what we did: buy a bag at Whole Foods or your co-op. We just made the Maryland style & there are 5 more variations on the darling Cherry Tea Cakes blog. You can make up something of your own, too. Yum. 
We define domestic violence as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone. --USDOJ Office on Violence Against Women
If you're in the Washington, DC area (or will be by January 8, 2012), definitely stop in to the new Degas exhibit at The Phillips Collection. There's also a Degas exhibit on at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. There are some good articles in the New York Times & a good slideshow on The Guardian. Here's the Degas label on The Guardian, too, so you can see all the article titles at once.
Such a large tummy/ I can't wash it all at once/ A squeegee would help. -- Cat Food Breath 
Of course you can buy honey year-round; but at farmers markets & coops, right now, beautiful jars & bottles of new golden honey are available. Saveur & Martha Stewart have good articles (& recipes) about honey. You can check with the National Honey Board for information about honey in your area.
For ways to celebrate a feline-themed Halloween, check out National Geographic Kids. They have printable masks, costume ideas, labels for collection boxes, & a cat o'lantern for their worthy Cause an Uproar initiative. Of course, there are Halloween ideas that are non-cat related. Eyeball deviled eggs, anyone?
There's time over the weekend to get ready for Halloween. We'll be posting about good causes & Halloween soon. For tonight, though, if you're in North America, Netflix Instant has 39 episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents available. We just scared ourselves silly watching a few. Boo!
We are devastated by what happened in Ohio yesterday. But we do not blame the legal authorities nor the lovely Jack Hanna. We blame people who buy & sell wild baby animals.
The weather here is distracting: gray, windy, occasional downpours. Very dramatic. Or very gloomy. Maybe both. There's little time to write or post. Still, these photographs by Elisabeth Perotin, a wedding photographer living in Reims, France are inspiring; we do love carousels.
No, we are not kidding. Look how people are helping the penguins affected by an oil spill off New Zealand. Thank you to Lori for tweeting a link to the story this afternoon. We're rushing so text below is directly from the etsy blog: If you’re interested in donating a penguin sweater, New Zealand yarn store Skeinz has provided a handy how-to and is organizing the donation efforts.
Yesterday was the official World Food Day 2011; World Food Week activities continue this week.
For some lovely short articles on a wide variety of subjects, visit Toast Travels by Toast. If you don't receive their catalogues, you might like to order one or all of the latest. Giulia pines for these socks but purchasing two pair for four legs, c'est impossible (for now). 
Cade Martin's justly celebrated photographs of The Washington Ballet have been published in a book, Wonderland. (You can order it on the Washington Ballet website. While you're there, take a refresher course in Ballet 101 (or pass it on to someone who feels intimidated by ballet).
Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. - Albert Camus 
Happy holiday weekend to those in the States, happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian friends. Hallooo to everyone else. Bit frazzled today but Giulia is asleep (of course) so that makes one less thing to worry about. For now. We're researching & writing. Some fall-out coming your way later this week & next.
Visit Karen at The Graphics Fairy. Right now. Too bossy? You'll thank us later. Karen is amazingly generous in a world of generous bloggers. She posts lovely images every day & you can print them. And use them. For free. Yep.
Yes, we're pushing it, the season. It's close but not quite here. We know, we've searched. Dashing off to the farmers market near the White House & to check in on marchers downtown & see what's up. Reports back on Twitter.
You're a hero. Everyone keeps telling you, but you don't feel much like a hero. Mostly, you feel frustrated, and angry, and scared. Frustrated at how tasks which used to be effortless now seem like climbing Mt. Everest. Angry, sometimes at the people you love and the very people who are trying to help you, because you hate feeling so dependent on them. This is not the future you had planned. And this - THIS? This 65 pound wagging yellow fool with the floppy ears and the tongue hanging out of his mouth - this is supposed to make any of that okay again? --read on, Hero Dogs 
Singaporean photographer Fong Qi Wei went deeper than just taking photos of flowers and created an amazing series of Exploded Flowers – images that show the radial symmetry of flowers.--from DeMilked (via Illusion) 
Just 3,000 tigers live in the wild today. These majestic animals face grave threats to their survival, including poaching and habitat destruction. It is our work to ensure the protection of the 1,000 remaining breeding females, so that they may live to produce the next generation. Help us give tigers room to grow: Support our efforts to conserve these great cats and their homes. --Wildlife Conservation Society
Giulia sends her regards. She's asleep in a pile of blankets retrieved from the linen closet in the middle of the night. Yes, it has turned brisk. We're off to the farmers market & hope to have rosy cheeks half-way there. It will be a super-successful day if we can find some beautiful tights & also smell woodsmoke on the way home.