Ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties …

Ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties …

http://mcgore.com/interesting-decoration-halloween-design-ideas/black-bats-wall-decoration-with-shaw-laminate-wood-flooring-and-vintage-gel-fireplace-in-modern-living-room-design/

In Britain, we’re somewhere between the full-on Trick or Treat fest that our North American cousins enjoy and the slightly darker European traditions linked to paganism and witchcraft when it comes to marking Hallowe’en. In its purest Christian sense, it’s All Hallows Eve, the night before All Saints Day on 1 November. It is also All Souls Day on 2 November, so for Christian folk at least, it’s a time when the departed are very much to the fore.

Of course, this ‘celebration’ of death has acquired a new and spooky vocabulary in modern times. We have a lot more monsters to choose from if we’re dressing up for a Hallowe’en party. Because whatever its roots as a festival, Hallowe’en is very much about celebration.There is a change in the air, the clocks have gone back and summer (if we had one at all) has departed. Inevitably, Christmas is already on the horizon. There is no escaping it! It is also usually half term, so the kids are extra excited about having some time off. All in all, Hallowe’en is the start of the last quarter of the year and gateway to a season full of excitement, ritual and wonder.

http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/844773/great-reasons-to-go-apartment-building-trick-or-treating

For all its focus on the darker things, Hallowe’en is a homely celebration. It’s about parties and welcoming visitors to your home, even if it’s just the local kids trick or treating at the door. At this point, I’m bound to say that today’s trick or treaters don’t have much in the way of tricks. When I was a boy … well, let’s just say that most of the fun was to be had the following morning when the grumpier souls in our street, the ones who opted for ‘trick’, found their cars quickly spluttered to a halt. It’samazing how effective a potato firmly wedged in the exhaust pipe could be. Don’t do it, kids!

http://uk.pinterest.com/pin/284078688970837239/

Whatever the excuse – and Halloween is a great one – these colder, longer nights are a great reason to curl up on the sofa with a good book (or a spooky film) and be glad that you’re inside and nice and warm. One of the homeliest of the Hallowe’en traditions is the jack o’lantern, usually carved from a pumpkin or, if you’re a hardcore traditionalist, a turnip. It’s amazing how relaxing a flickering candle inside a hollowed-out vegetable can be. Nothing’s wasted either. You can make soup from the flesh and save the seeds to plant for your own seasonal crop next year.

Of course, you can enjoy the relaxing warmth of a real flame all year long. It’s just extra nice at this time of year anda Bio Fire is an excellent way to do it – either as a full fireplace or a table ornament. They’re clean and efficient, stylish and a real asset to any home and if you want to add a whiff of seasonal ambience to your living space, there are lots of scents you can use with your fire for that extra seasonal touch!

http://dferraro.me/2013/02/25/assignment-2-book-cover-in-progress/book-cover-goodie2/

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Turn off, tune out - 'come home to a real fire'

Turn off, tune out - 'come home to a real fire'

In the olden days – say, the 1970s – you could relax in your home safe in the knowledge that the boss couldn't ring you up from his car, nobody would be sending you messages about things that needed to be done in the morning and that once you closed your front door, that was more or less it for the night. You could relax. You could switch through all three TV channels (no remotes!), confident that even if there was something you wanted to watch, the broadcast would finish at midnight.

Picture source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-2418874/How-television-killed-Fair-Isle-jumper-ARMCHAIR-NATION-BY-JOE-MORAN.html

Life has changed a bit, hasn't it? None of those things are true today. The telephone is in your pocket, you are receiving text messages and emails at all hours of the day and night and there are more 24hr television channels than anyone could ever watch. Relaxation is now something you have to actively seek. You have to make time in this modern, distracting world to simply do nothing.

Busy as life is, everyone needs to recharge, to have some downtime and just be free to do or think about nothing at all. And we all need a place to do it. For some it's a favourite bit of the settee, for others it's a sheltered corner of the garden. As mankind has known for thousands of years, there is no better way to relax than in front of a dancing, mesmerising real flame. A Bio Fire offers you a unique opportunity to enjoy the soothing effect of a real flame in any number of domestic settings. Because it can go wherever you want to be in the house, it can be a permanent fixture in your favourite room or you can enjoy a more portable unit that can grace any room in the house – or space in the garden.

A couple relaxing by a bio fire - no chimney and no worry about fuel suply.

What could be more soothing and revitalising than quality time spent relaxing in your favourite part of your home, watching the dancing pictures in a flickering real flame? A Bio Fire gives you a superb range of options for your hearth or tabletop. They can also be freestanding and come in a wide range of traditional and modern styles to match your existing décor. And a Bio Fire is not simply a stylish and decorative addition to your living space: it will warm your room as only a real flame can, but without the need for a fixed chimney or the worry of your fuel supply – you only use what you need.

As they used to say in those old television advertisements, 'come home to a real fire'.  Except progress is your friend in this case. Your modern real fire is clean, stylish and efficient. And that's one less thing you have to get stressed about.

Left picture source: http://bungalowclassic.tumblr.com/post/68972245255
Right picture: Bio Fires

Picture source: http://www.liscombelodge.ca/2014/05/07/lovers-hide-a-way/