The only bona fide (or at least what I considered bona fide)ghost I can recall appeared to me in a room in the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis, Ireland. I woke up in the middle of the night & the room was freezing cold & over in a corner was a specter that I couldn't quite decipher. I certainly didn't invite it in &, in fact, burrowed deep under the bed clothes & tried to will it away. I guess I did a good job because the following two nights I stayed in the hotel it didn't reappear.

TWO HUNDRED AND FOUR??????????? Oh my gosh. We have had two trick or treaters in the twenty three years I have lived in this house and they were children of friends, who came with advanced warning, and driven here by their parents. We live up a small lane. We have no outdoor lights. We are rural and there are no sidewalks. The house is 190 years old and kids would prolly think it creepy. I buy candy each year, starting a month ahead of time. My husband and I pig out on it, and then I buy more each week. By Hallowe'en there's never any left for trick or treaters anyway and I'd have to write them a check or something. LOL. This year I didn't buy any candy this week. I made a pan of Rice Crispy treats for my DH, at his request and we ate a 9 x 13 pan of them in two hours. Now, that's scary.

You know, I thought you would, Marda because you share my love for bats. When I got to the part where he talked about their 'baby faces' in the violet light, it struck a chord. When we had to replace our ancient roof, and it meant evicting our bat colony, we built little houses and put them up in appropriate places. I am apt to love a poem more for the 'word paintings' than their construction. It's as important as the thought behind them, because it makes the ideas palatable.

I first made these about 13 years ago. Over the years I've adapted the originals. I've not sold these in 11 years at craft shows and am going to try again this year. You use empty paper towel and wrapping paper rolls. I prefer to sew my "dress" and "sleeves". Basicly you cut the fabric the height of your roll and cut the sleeves as long as she want to make the arms. You make a tube for the dress and sleeves. I glue a piece of card board to the bottom and fill the roll with rice or dry beans. I take the dress and hand gather one end, then I glue that to the top of the tube so that the bottom covers the cardboard. Then put a pipe cleanner in the arms and gather in the middle and hand sew. Glue the arms to the back. The head is a styrofoam ball with quilt batting around it glued to the top of the roll. I used my stove eye covers to trace a circle on muslin that I pulled the edges to rip it and wadded it up to make it wrinkled. Then draw the eyes and mouth, drape over the head and tie with jute cord. The pipe cleanners can be shaped to pose the arms and that's how you attach the halloween bucket. I think they look cute on a buffet, dinning table, coffee table etc. email if you have questions. Susan in Bama Here is a link that might be useful: