All Hallows Eve

"To Autumn" is a poem by English Romantic poet John Keats (October 31, 1795 – February,23 1821). "To Autumn" is the final work in a group of poems known as Keats "1819 Odes" published in 1820. Keats composed "To Autumn" after a walk near Winchester one autumnal evening. The work marks the end of his poetic career, as he needed to earn money and could no longer devote himself to the lifestyle of a poet. A little over a year following the publication of "To Autumn", Keats died in Rome.
To Autumn
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twinéd flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barréd clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

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A Toast to Autumn

Vampire's Dream Drink
This drink is made from two parts cranberry juice, one part pineapple juice with a splash of grenadine.

Blood Orange Margaritas
makes a single serving

Ingredients:

• 1 -1/2 ounces tequila (silver or gold, based on your preference)
• 1 ounce Grand Mariner
• 1- 1/2 ounces simple syrup
• 1 ounce fresh lime juice
• 1- 1/2 ounces blood orange juice (about 1-2 oranges)
• salt for the rim, lime/orange wedges for garnish

Directions:
Rim the ridge of your glass with a lime wedge and dip in margarita salt.

Fill the glass with ice. In a cocktail shaker, combine tequila, Grand Marnier, simple syrup, blood orange and lime juice with ice, and shake for about 30 seconds. 

Pour over ice and squeeze in lemon and orange slices.

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The World According to Bella

My friends and I are all set for the big night. Are you?