Celebrating the failure of Guy Fawkes to blow up the houses of parliament by burning his effigy has always been a bit of a mystery to me, but I have never failed to be thrilled by watching fireworks.  My earliest memory of fireworks are the ones that my aunt and uncle used to arrange for us in their back garden in Sedgley when they were living in the Midlands and our family had a visit to the UK from our home in South Africa which coincided with the 5th November.  I can recall Uncle Bob fixing a catherine wheel to the garden fence, lighting it, and sprinting away and we would watch it spin, sending sparks flying out the ends, until eventually it began to fizzle out and slow down, eventually coming to a sad stop.

Some friends were kind enough to invite us to their firework event last evening.  They had gone to so much trouble to create a wonderful atmosphere, starting with the lovely candles which lit the lane up to their home:



Stewart was rightly proud of his bonefire which, once lit, showed up the spooky face:

 



It was wonderful watching the children gathering around the fire:



And the fireworks!!  Well, they were wonderful!

 





Stevan and I began our second adventure in the UK 22 years ago on the 5th November 1989.  We can't ever forget the day we arrived as there are always fireworks to celebrate the event!

We left Monika and Stewart's full of sausages and clutching gluhwein cake - a wonderful invention!

But while on the subject of mysteries, can anyone tell me what this is:



I saw it today while out walking the dogs.  At first you can be forgiven for thinking it is something left behind by all the sheep, but it isn't.  I can only think it is a fungus of some sort.  This shot shows the tip of my pen - just to give you an idea of scale.



And finally .... some shop news.  Sadly the high twist falkland merino / nylon 4ply is a yarn which is being discontinued.  All the final stock of this yarn is now up in the shop, and once it is gone it is gone, so if you were wanting some please visit the shop now to secure the colourways you want.  I am very sorry to see this yarn go, but it is no longer available for me to buy in the UK.