| Whats Happening Lately |
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| Whats Happening Lately |
| The caretakers and servants at Collinwood are preparing for the upcoming Hallow's Eve party that is held every year.. Because of the fire two years passed without the great celebration. Now that the new house is completed everyone is looking forward to attending this grand celebration and being able to see the new house. Rsvp's are still coming in and the guest list looks to be quite impressive. |
| Although the local people do not attend, this group is mostly made up of "Old World Friends". Most of the guest fly in from Europe and Asia and have been friends of the Collins Family for centuries. Everyone has heard the news that Mistress Muffy has moved back to Collinwood and has brought the family business, "Collins Chocolates" back to its roots where it started here in the states. The art of candymaking has been in this family for centuries and goes back to early European Royalty. |
| The party plans are underway and the staff of the house are preparing everything. Silver is being polished and the good linen is being pressed. Decorations are being unpacked and now all the material has been draped from the ceilings. A "Spell & Potion" room is the first feat at hand. Ceilings were draped in black material and borders around the ceiling were covered with a black type paper. |
| Drapes were covered in black material and cheesecloth that was cut and shredded was laid over the material. An entire bolt of maroon netting was draped over the black drapes and curtain rods. Strings of fushia lights that have spiders and webs on them were strung thru the netting. Black and orange spiders were attached to the netting. |
| Behind the old antique radio large branches and cut weathered berryvine that still had berries on it are nestled behind a huge autumn floral arrangement. The radio also holds 2 large hurricane lamp type candles. Orange lights were strung across the wall and spiders webs hang down. |
| The ceiling is covered with metallic strings of spiders and the chandelier has been removed to make way for a eerie light fixture that has cheesecloth and vines. The china hutch is covered with grapevines and orange pumpkin lights and is filled with all the best of our orange autumn dishes and serving plates. The Halloween village sits on the china hutch and on the very top of the hutch is the brother & sister scarecrows with all their straw wreathes and baskets. |
| The table this year is the main attraction, covered with an old gypsy tablecloth that has pink fringe on it. Candles, oil lamps and candlelabras are mixed in with the old Collins Family Spell & Potion Book. There is a cauldron and also something brewing that has the table filled with sultry smoke. There are jars of mysterious and un-mentionable things and bowls of ears, noses,hearts, various types of spiders, jems, crystals, frogs, vampire teeth, eyeballs and jars of various herbs, animal parts, unusual items for any spell under the moon!! |
| The menus have been planned for the party and the Mistress will prepare special Gore May treats for her guests. The "Gore May" buffet will be served in the main kitchen this year so the dining room may be left intack as a "Spell & Potion" parlor. So that means the kitchen has to be decorated as well. Oh the work to be done!! |
| Following is a journal of getting ready for Hallow's Eve |
| Well we all spent the evening outside last night getting the Halloween lights and ghouls in their places. Strings were strung on all the bushes and the large spider that lights up was placed on his window. Spotlights were set up and on the figures on the lawn and the man that hangs in the tree was finished. The large orange pumpkin that lights up was set out on the lawn and today we are getting ready to set out the skulls and bones along the walk. |
| Today the stakes are geting placed in the ground and filled with orange and purple lights that will light the driveways and walkways here at the house. Yesterday all the ghoul figurines were assenbled to be put outside but we had to stop because the wind was blowing kind of fierce. Today we will also try and assemble the large scary scarecrow that will sit near the front proch and we will also try and hang orange lights on the front porch. |
| Today was a great fall day and I got out there myself with the lawn keeper and we built an 11foot high scarecrow that will lay up against the side of the houses chimney. We bought him a special coat and shredded it nicely and covered his head in burlap and added bloodshot eyes and glow in the dark fangs. Other monsters that had gotten built in the last week also got put up. Flood lights were set up at night for a terrific light show. |
| Today we took a pattern we had bought for a large witches head and cut her out. She came out great! Its still raining pretty bad here so we had to wait to paint her. Autumn baskets were made today made up of all types of gourds that were grown in the houses gardens this last summer. They have been placed on the front porch of the house. Special field corn stalks were tied together and tied to the columns of the front of the house. All the flickering lights were added in the front window for a scary Halloween night look. |
| Today and this evening was spent in the kitchen. The house really does have quite a few trick or treators each year even with its horrid past. This year the little ones will be invited into the house for the first time since the new house has been buikt. The kitchen will house a commercial popcorn machine for the kids to get a bag of fresh popcorn and they will also get a small bag of goodies too. The kitchen has Halloween tinsel around the ceiling followed by a ghost and pumpkin border and then there are novelty Halloween hangups on each cupboard. The light fixture has shredded cheesecloth on it and is covered by a large black spider and her babies. Boufonts of netting have been added to the ceiling for added atmosphere and a floral arrangement is in place with a large talking tombstone and a casket and ghost. The "Monster Tribute" gallery was also added yeasterday to the "Spell & Potion" parlor. It is a wall in honor of the oldies from yesteryear. The great monsters and the people who brought those stories to life. "Happy Halloween" borders were added to the front foyer and the dining room. More things are getting added to "The Bat Room", which is really the bath room. I am trying to decide if we want to put up more, I think its customery for haunters to just keep putting stuff up until October 31st actually gets here. We just keep pulling more and more out of boxes and there are still 3 full boxes left. Bit I think I will tackle them tonight. The gas man came today to run all the lines and get the gas ready to go for the Candy Kitchen, there are just a few more things to do and we will be ready to start. We hope to have everything done by the day of the party so all the guests can tour the new kitchens and celebrate the opening of "Collins Chocolates"! The rest of the week will be spent by the staff still tiding up the house and getting ready for the party. I must also have the staff start preparing the foods today, I think today they are making Vulture Egg Rolls and Pumpkin Bread. Preparations will be made daily this week in getting ready for the buffet on Hallow's Eve. Baking starts on Thurday of this week to make cheesecakes, cookies, cake and candies. It will be a festive week here in the Collins Mansion. |
| News of the Hallow's Eve Party |
| Festivities are Underway!! |
| It is the Merry Month of May here at Collinwood Manor and Mistress Muffy is hard at work building the families Chocolate business into something to be proud of again. She is absolutely delighted that she has heard from her cousins son David that he is planning to finally make a trip to the states for a visit to see what the Mistress has done with the new house and the candy business. He has told her he will be accompanied by a very special guest and will also be bringing great news of a surprise. He will be coming from the famlies house in Europe. |
| They should be arriving some time near the end of June so the Mistress has many things to get done before their arrival. Much has been taking place at the mansion as there is still extensive work in the house and also on the grounds . The cemetery is till being worked on as fence panels are being replaced and broken pilliars rebuilt. All the tombstones are being refurbished from neglect & vandalism. Right now they are building a new arch to hold the Collinwood Cemetery Sign that has been coming apart. |
| The Month of May at the Mansion |
| Halloween Quickly Approaches as August 2009 Arrives |
| Coffin Contest |
| David Arrives Home with a Surprise June 2009 |
| You think you have all the time in the world & before you know it Hallow's Eve just creeps up on you! There still is so much to do. Everyone is hard at work right now trying to complete their assignments on the grounds. The cemetery that has to be completed by the Hallow's Eve Ball still needs a lot of attention. Several projects have been started but still we have much to do. Today the wedding dress & bridesmaid dresses have arrived. The bride, Sarah, is making her own veil. Most of the floral arrangements will be made by the Collinwood master gardener with fresh cut flowers out of the estates gardens. Due to the nature of this wedding being close to Halloween, favors for the guests are being made by Sarah & her bridesmaids, they are small coffins that will contains 5 of very specially selected "Collins Chocolates". |
| June has snuck up on so fast and with it brought the arrival of Master David & his special guest. We were so happy to see him as he has almost remained estranged from the family for some time. Each family member has their own way of dealing with the horrific past of this family but it seems as the younger generations are now trying to get past the history of their ancestors. Indeed David did bring wonderful news to Collinwood Manor. He & his gracious lady friend came to the states to make the annoucement of their wedding. A wedding that is going to take place right here at Collinwood Manor. It has been years since there has been a wedding on these grounds. Mistress Muffy is over joyed at the news and the planning is already begun. The wedding will take place the weekend before the Hallow's Eve party, this way guests will be here for the party & now will be surprised with a wedding. |
| The journeymen carpenters of Collinwood Manor wanted new coffins being built to be made of wonderful & creative craftmanship so the head carpenter suggested a contest among them to see who would be the mastermind behind an unusally designed coffin. The contest lasted thru the month of July with everyone building away. Some beautiful entries were completed but only one stuck out as built in the old ways of the old country. It was the one selected to sit in the mansion in the funeral parlor. Everyone else is hard at work for now not only tasks were getting completed to be ready for the upcoming Hallow's Eve Ball but now there were even more preparations with the upcoming wedding. |
| We're Getting Ready! |