Halloween!

Week 6 marks the Ballymaloe mid point exam, and with this gloomy prospect on the horizon we all naturally turned to halloween related procrastination! More of the exam later, slightly too traumatic an experience to relive now! Anyway with the sole aim of trick or treating Darina, the pink cottage this week put their heads together to come up with a collective costume design both scary, and foodie. Difficult. After considering a few various options we finally settled on….

Which, to elaborate, consisted of: a gamekeeper, his wife, their adorable black Labrador gun dog and various bloodied guinea fowl, pidgeons, woodcocks, grouse, and pheasants. A trip to Midleton high street and several feathery hours later….

Grotesque, food-themed, and totally relevant!....the 1st of November marks the beginning of the Irish game season and, needless to say, Darina was impressed! After returning with our trick or treat spoils, we went to the Barn’s Halloween party across the courtyard where we feasted on a pumpkin filled with pumpkin risotto served by 3 luminous pumpkins....




Then seemingly the entire school converged on the Blackbird in pursuit of the free 'blood shots' awarded to best costume. At this point there were more feathers on the floor than on our 'wings' so we didnt win, but still good fun! And, included for their romantic creepiness, the castle ruins that border the Blackbird's beer garden.... for one night only haunted by a candy-floss-pink-be-wigged Rosie...

Happy halloween!