If there were any ghosts or gouls abroad last night we scared them off. Full from way too much beef and squash casserole, lemon pudding, beer and wine Richard, Martin and I staggered around the block to inspect the various halloween parties going on. Adrian down the road won, his whole front garden full of skulls, gravestones and pumpkin lamps.

My own feeble attempts to make a pumpkin lamp failed at the first hurdle. After trying Tescos (moved onto Christmas goods and pumpkin-less) I tried Sainsburys which had, next to the butternut squashes, a few ornamental guords. I rummaged for the most evil looking one (so evil it didn't have a label) and went to pay. Chaos ensued as it was unlabelled but after the supervisor was called, and with a little bargining I was an evil guord owner for 20p. So, last night I set about carving it. Only to find, after nearly loosing 3 fingers and dulling my best kitchen knife, that ornamental meant plastic and it could be used to score a decent six off at the local cricket field.

We had more luck with the Scooby Doo goodie bag and the luminous green wand, a great investment for 99p even though it wont last to the next day once it's chemicals are mixed.

I've nearly done all the clocks and rebuilt the laptop to get sound back meaning I can use it again as a wireless radio to listen to yesterday's From Our Own Correspondent and the last Home Truths, a funny and bittersweet review by Roger McGough of John Peel's work.

Later I need to put my uniform on and do some more work for the Army. For now I think a trip to the country and the Farmer's Market calls....