4th November

Started off our day a little more slowly as we were not in a rush to go to Walmart's , it is true there is little or no class there and certainly no humour. When at the checkout I told the young lady how upset I was that she hadn't asked for any proof of my age to be buying Viv's red wine, she really didn't understand and certainly didn't crack a smile. Think most of us have had the emails of the bizarre people of Walmart and their dress code, it is true believe me.

Tonight was our first shift at the village, Halloween. Parking was a little more difficult so we made our way to the spot we used  last year but we had been warned this might be the case so it wasn't a problem. strange though to walk past what was the Volunteers Villa as it is now back to be used as a villa again since the refurb earlier this year. We stopped off to say hi to the lovely Mitzi who last year secretly left me a Ms Merry in my car door handle as a surprise after we had done tuck ins .....look up GKTW tuck ins on YouTube   They really are magical.

We then went to clock in for our shift and Shannon, who remembered us from last year gave us a big hug of welcome. We were a little early but made our way over to  Julie's Safari Theatre  to wait for the other volunteers to arrive, a large group who were attending a conference on Orland, we think it was an Orienteering conference. Jane and I were a little wiser this year having done it before not to put up our hands immediately for,  jobs that were being shared  out  - no wands, masks, makeovers or sticky back plastic this year we decided to be Trick or Treaters....10 people, including ourselves  had a big cauldron filled with different types of sweet for the children to come collect in their bags - lots of Mars products which was great as I had hoped they would be great supporters of the village and they were

People who arrived without costumes went over to the workshop area to choose a costume, I had gone as a cat as had Jane and Viv but they chose to add a black cloak to add a little Je Ne Sais Qoi.

Now the children arrived with their siblings and parents for all sorts of activities including our trick

or treating . There was mask making, wand making, dancing, mud pies and worms, mad scientist, The Sorceress with her magic ball and animals plus of course a visit from Ms Merry and Mayor Clayton, the village chiefs!

Highlights of the evening

1  The main one we think was a Daddy bringing a child over to Viv asking her to talk to the child...no he didn't want her to quote Shakespeare or anything like that, he just wanted to hear her accent as they thought she sounded like Mary Poppins.

2. I asked the children that if they wanted a treat then they had to do a trick, a few did including standing on one leg and hopping but my best was a young lady that sang Let it Go from Frozen.

3. Well not a highlight really but at the end of the evening we were all invited to stand in a circle and tell the other volunteers  our name, where we came from and the highlight of the evening , a bit too corporate for,us really but we did it.?

4. Met Phil, a fellow, Brit who was lives out in Florida now and volunteers a lot, a nice chap.

Well think that is it for tonight as getting tired