Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Monday, October 28, 2013

Any Excuse

Countdown to Halloween . . .
Tristan - acting evil.
Our family loves to dress up.
Maybe that's the reason we love theatre so much.
It's legal there . . .
For my husby and I, it started in our respective childhoods.
We carried it, happily, into our own family.
Through the years, any excuse to dress up was instantly seized.
Halloween.
NewYear's.
St. Patrick's Day.
Thursday.
As I said, any excuse.
Our costume collection grew apace (real word).
In no time, it outgrew the large cardboard box that I had originally stuffed things into and into its own room.
The kids spent many, many happy hours in that room, playing dress-up.
As they grew, so did their costumes, becoming more elaborate and detailed.
Bunnies, ladybugs and clowns became Elizabethan gowns and chain mail.
And I mean real chain mail.
With gauntlets.
The room that holds the costumes now is bigger than our first living room.
Our neighbourhood has grown accustomed to seeing our family traipsing around, dressed . . . unusually.
It's fun.
And now our grandchildren have caught the spirit.
Sometimes, good things are passed down through the generations . . .
Queen of Hearts


And yes, that's real chain mail. He knits it . . .
Expecting their/our first child/grandchild


A night in Bethlehem

Notice the backpack. Authentic in every way! Not!
My Husby as Teddy Roosevelt
Passing it on to the next generation . . .
Yes. They are PJ's

20 comments:

  1. Oh, what wonderful costumes!

    I was a 1950s style biker chick this last weekend, complete with the most wonderful hair... I may have to write about it. :-)

    And thank you so much for the "call out" at the top of your page! That is so nice of you!

    Hugs,

    Pearl

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, those are pictures that need to be seen!
      I call them as I see them! :)

      Delete
  2. I remember that cubby under the stairs at the first Beaumont house. You kept all the costumes under there, and every time we had friends over we'd get in there and just play. Of course we were 'careful' to put everything back in so we could close the doors again...

    ReplyDelete
  3. You would make the coolest neighbours.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ooooohhh, a side of you that I, for one, did not see coming - although it seems natural now that I think about it. What fun! Are you dressing up this Hallowe'en?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ill be the nasty, nasty queen of hearts! Pictures to follow...

      Delete
    2. Excellent! Hope you're working on your heartless cackle!

      Delete
  5. Oh how fun! Our kids dress up all the time but the adults kind of lost the luster of it. Maybe because where we grew up there weren't many reasons to dress up but then again, what's wrong with doing it for the heck of it. Hmmmm, I should rethink this. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your costumes are awesome. The Queen of Hearts? Amazing. Your sewing machine(s) must have been busy.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I didn't think you had to dress up to be the Queen of Hearts; wouldn't that me more as a 'Come as You Are?' Ha, ha, just had to make that dig. Myself, I can dress up as a biker, right down to that shrunken leather jacket...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Real costumes! And such fabulous costumes. My kids wore costumes for book week a couple of times, stuff made form cardboard and aluminium foil. We weren't at all theatrical.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I LOVE THIS POST! Our family always got into the spirit of Halloween, WAY INTO THE SPIRIT. I still love it, but I married a man who hates Halloween. I must say this, if I had only known BEFORE the wedding. But then again, how would I have known to ask "Do you have strong feelings for or against Halloween?" LOL. He is getting a little better about it, but as far as the costuming and decorating I'm pretty much on my own!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel your pain! My Husby is as crazy about dressing up as I am. Maybe more so. And that just opens a whole new can of worms . . .

      Delete

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