1. To put Bettany's carved pumpkin out at the front of the house and help her go through the dressing-up bag in search of a costume.
2. To half-supervise Alec spooning treacle and syrup into a pan -- he's making another parkin.
3. It's an unseasonably warm night and there are even a few stars peering through the haze when I put out the last of the recycling. We are surprised and delighted by this evening of soft air that makes you think you wouldn't mind sitting outside in the pub garden. But with October, you never quite know what you're going to get; and I think that we would be no less surprised and delighted by a hard frosty night with our breath shimmering in the air under brittle stars.
