Some people decorate for Halloween here, but it’s not really celebrated here like in the US. I’ve had Halloween trick or treaters at the door once, and I didn’t even have treats lol. I offered them an apple that they refused. Since then I make sure I buy a bag of candy but no one ever comes. My city is fairly international but in my area immigrants are often Asian so around October, more homes are decorated for Diwali than for Halloween.
In some parts in my country they celebrate St Martin’s Day on 11 November and it involves kids walking in a procession with handmade lanterns and trick or treating. So that’s a competitor for Halloween too. In my area St Martin isn’t really traditionally celebrated but schools organize processions and some kids carve pumpkins instead of making a lantern.
I have always thought carved pumpkins looked cool, but cutting up one for cooking is difficult enough, I figured carving would be too much. Watermelons are easy to carve! But they are pretty wet inside so thought a real candle would be better than an electric one.
Finished one thing! Getting ready to make another.
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AIMR
(Linda -2026 time to regroup and renew :us:)
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Pumpkins are really easy to carve! They are hollow inside. I scrape out the seeds to roast and then scrape the flesh to make carving easier for my husband. He uses a plain old paring knife. We don’t put ours out until a few days before Halloween so it doesn’t moldy. We then throw it in the yard for the squirrels and deer to eat.
S/O is in a week! Yikes! Time has flown by quickly. I’m nearly done with my medium and I’ve got a good plan for a small. The medium is a bit more time-intensive, obviously because it’s a medium but also because it requires several steps that take time. The small could be made in one go.
I worked a ton of unexpected overtime yesterday, I worked two shifts back to back, and in my company instead of getting paid for it we are supposed to take overtime as PTO, asap. So I’m off tomorrow and now I have a three day weekend for Summerween crafting.
I’m done! Pictures have been snapped, creepy creations wrapped, and my package is ready to go.
@Immaculata - oof on all that overtime. I hope you get lots of sleep and the chance to destress. My work doesn’t have a formal comp time policy. Because we’re all salary, if I work a 70 hour week (and I have a few times) there’s no extra compensation or time off.
Good news is half of my company has an accounting degree, so the numbers have to add up! I am supposed to put in 16 for Wednesday in our timekeeping software, and -8 for tomorrow, and end up around 0 at the end of the month. This time my extra shift was voluntary. They were looking for someone to cover it and I still felt fine at 2pm when I offered, and I knew I’d be able to take Friday off. Right now (Thursday evening) I’m a bit sleepy but I’ll be fine tomorrow.
I worked about 15 minutes longer than normal today, because at the end of the workday I had to give my summer intern his tasks for tomorrow when I’m not here, and arrange which coworkers can help him out if he gets stuck, but that investment will pay itself back because he won’t be calling me for help tomorrow. I sometimes ignore callers on my day off but I wouldn’t want to leave my intern hanging.
@Tapestry Oof!! 70 hours is a lot. In my previous job, unpaid overtime was expected too. They used to say unpaid overtime was factored into our salary, but as I was the only junior assisting a bunch of senior consultants that didn’t feel completely fair. They were all literally earning multiple times my salary. I’m glad my current employer has such a clear policy. There’s no payment but you are expected to actually take the time off, and in many cases overtime is semi-voluntary.
I finished two smalls, and i’m at least halfway done with the large… i think i’m dragging my feet on this one because I’m not sure it’s going to look right, but i won’t know until it’s almost completed…
I also have a small collection of tiny goodies to send too.
Sadly, this was an accounting firm . But there was a pressure to get billable hours.
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(Linda -2026 time to regroup and renew :us:)
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Same when I worked for accounting and law firms…billable hours meant a lot of missed dinners, planes, parties, weekends…looking back, I am glad for the retirement accounts and salaries but I can never get the time back. Glad I quit early and moved on to a more reasonable work week. I am making up lost time now that I am retired and able to do what I want.
I overworked myself doing a couple face painting gigs and I’ve been recovering for most of the week. I’ve been trying to finish up my medium but I also ended up going to the doctor several times. I still have to do my small. I may need to go in to the doctor again tomorrow. I’m hoping I get some crafting in, here!!!
I was going to finish a thing today, but I’m a bit uninspired! Also not as fit as I’d hoped. I’m going to take a break now and hopefully when I look at it with fresh eyes, it will all make sense again. My medium items is a craft I’m not really familiar with, but this seemed like a good idea and it still is a good idea, but trying new things can be hard!
. But there was a pressure to get billable hours.
I may need to go in to the doctor again tomorrow. I’m hoping I get some crafting in, here!!!