THIS IS HALLOWEEN!! (insert music)

October 1st is always a fun day.  I've been obsessing over Halloween props all summer and then the day arrives and I finally give myself permission to go full throttle in decorating.  Not entirely sure why I hold myself back--Sam has mentioned (with a suppressed amusement) that she wouldn't mind if I started earlier.  But part of waiting til October 1st is a kind of self imposed anticipation.  So the decorations in the living room came out.  The living room is always a very concentrated expression of Halloween and where the majority of decorations go (besides the front lawn...and the porch).  And lots of old favorites come out, ones that I'd forgotten about--it's just a lovely tradition.  Sam helped by being tape/bat girl with painter's tape while I put up my swarm of bats.  They're a pretty basic decoration but I do love the simple optical illusion.  My mantle has become a place to put some of my favorite pieces that people have given me over the years--this year made room for a lantern ceramic cat that Sarah's mother gifted me with--along with a bulb to give him a bit of a glow.
I also got some of the harder stuff up--like the poles on the porch for added infrastructure and the big one--the backdrop for the porch.  This is always a hassle and normally I have to pick the day very carefully.  No rain and no to minimal wind is best.  Anything more than a gentle breeze is havoc and misery.  But today behaved, so I cautiously continued.  I haven't used this type of background before--except in the dollar store format, but that was going vertically.  I had found a 100 ft roll of gold tablecloth plastic sheeting at Zurchers for $13, which worked out perfectly.  There was enough to cover the entire inside and outside of the porch, plus a bit extra.  I used to just do the interior porch, but it just looked a little weird from the outside, and also this way it's less transparent.  Tomorrow I'll do one more mow cut a little shorter and then start hauling out all my stuff.  Much work to do ahead of me, but it's exciting that it's started!