Spooky Times

When James was little I had the best time with him on Halloween. Starting when he was very small and hardly knew what was going on, I would roll him through the autumn streets with my friends and their kids. Back then, we got all dressed in costume. I was Groucho Marx, and many different witches. Witches with big pointy hats and later on a witch with a headband that had googly springy pumpkin lights that blinked on and off. I had a candy corn necklace that had blinking lights and painted my face green one year. I think that was the year that James was Dick Tracy. We really hauled in the loot. It usually started with the Halloween Parade at school and went on from there. Since we live way up here on this hill, we never get trick or treaters..ever. Of course now that James is grown up and too old to trick or treat, I merely observe from a distance. It's probably for the best since candy is a no no for all of us. If it's around I can't control my sweet tooth and Roger and Bob are diabetic. I hope I'm around long enough to have fun with grandchildren on Halloween. It's a fun time. There was a little Halloween celebration down in the park this past weekend. Pumpkins and candy and hayrides for the kids. The village has a safe Halloween zone for the kids where they can trick or treat all around Main St. At least I think they are having it. Maybe with financial things being so bad this year they aren't having it. I'll have to check that out.
One year my friend Terry and her husband Jim dressed up as street people with buckets and mops and brooms. Their outfit was so successfully creepy, and it was such a surprise to see anyone at the door, that it took us a minute or two to respond to these really hideous looking people who clearly had dressed themselves from a rag pile. They said they wanted to clean the house for us. They were really awful looking with dirty faces and ripped, dirty, hoodies. They used to do a lot of stuff like that. One year there was a party at their house and a couple brought dozens of soft shell crabs in a huge box. Needless to say, the crabs were escaping the box and had to be rounded up. We got to be crab wranglers for a while that evening. For several years Jim rigged a big light on his roof and dropped the ball like in Times Square on New Years Eve. I'm not sure why we don;t do fun things like that anymore. Probably because everyone from those days is working outside their home and too busy. Lots of fun memories though. Terry is also the mistress of crank phone calls. It took me a couple of those to get wise to her. Very funny lady that friend of mine.
Anyway, this year Terry and Jim are in Las Vegas for Halloween. I can't wait to hear all about that one. It seems like the kind of place where it could be Halloween every night and maybe not in a good way. I really hope they're having fun. When Terry is home she dresses up in costume at the Library. She was Dorothy (Wizard of Oz) one year and a Hershey Kiss another year. I really miss my friend when she's not here. There won't be any Thursday Night Quilters this week since she's gone. I'll enjoy spending the evening with my guys watching Survivor and CSI instead. I look forward to those evening as well.
I spent the afternoon getting the window toppers measured and ironed into place so I can just zip through them on the Viking tomorrow. I'm getting ready to do a good fall clean-up which is sorely needed around here. The inside of my house looks like it's decorated for Halloween and I haven't done a thing. Between the cobwebs and dust it's getting a little spooky around here.
Whatever you are doing to celebrate Halloween, I hope you have fun doing it. Stay safe.

Quick Laurel Panel &Chunky the squirrel

Sorry for the poor quality of the picture but I was shooting through a screen and into the sun. Chunky climbed up the bird feeder and hung upside down trying to get some thistle seed. It was really fun to watch. I can't help noticing how poofy and thick their tails are. That's supposed to be a sign of a very cold winter to come. Hope that's an untrue Old Wives Tale cause the squirrels outside in my yard a just plain fat and thick-coated. By the way, that's the last yellow rose of summer hanging on to that bush.

I have a plant related question for anyone who can answer I'd appreciate it. Can I move 3 bunches of cala lillies that have been in the flower box for a couple of years and move them elsewhere without killing them? I want to get them out of the box in front of my door since, once they are finished blooming all that remains is a very large bunch of long unruly leaves. I hate to kill them but I'm not sure if I've left it too long for transplanting. Help!

I was surfing around seeing what people were up to and ran across Brooke's Blog. We both are working on a Laurel Burch Panel. Brooke has taken the time to make hers unique, whereas I have thrown some borders on it and called it finished. I just want some festive stuff to have for the holidays without a bunch of finishing details. Hers looks cool but then everything those sisters do looks cool. There must have been something in the water they grew up drinking. Anyway, hop on over there and have a look see when you can and then hop on over to Melody and see the great piece she made using a horse silhouette. Great colors and design.

Well, at least I've got something finished(I love that word) bright to hang up and bring some holiday cheer to the place. We really need cheer at this time of year since we are in a forrest of trees and by 3 in the afternoon it looks like 5. If you go down the hill and get out of the trees you are always surprised to find that it's still daytime out there. Needless to say this time of year it's very dark, often early.

I did a lot of cleaning Friday and my back is screaming so I'm taking a cup of tea and something to get rid of the pain.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Mixed bag of goodness

I went to a quilt show out east yesterday. It was supposed to be a horrible windy, rainy day but the weather held off until last night. The wind was really howling then though.

Anyway, I'm sorry to say I have no idea who made this quilt because on the the unfortunate things about this show was that they didn't have signs up for a lot of work. What signs they did have didn't say anything about the quilter or have much info regarding the making of the quilt etc. I like to know a little about the thought process that goes into these things. This quilt was large wall-hanging size and very nicely done. I really liked seeing some of the quilts that had quilting done well that enhanced the piece. There were very few pieces that had hand quilting done. Maybe it is a dying art to some degree. Or maybe many of the quilters are like me and having issues with eyesight. It's easier to send the thing out than squint you way through to the finish. I got to thinking that the reason I make such small pieces lately is that very reason. I can handle the work on small doll-sized pieces and wall hangings. I found the other day that I used the walking foot to finish a little Christmas piece for myself. It's a lesson in humility and a lesson in letting perfection go. The piece is not perfect but it's done and will make the house look more cheerful. But I digress......The very best thing about going to the show was I got to meet Judy from Northport... Judy rocks. Great sense of humor and such a fun personality. I was embarrassed to ask if I could take a picture so I didn't. I'm hoping Judy will come out and play sometime in the future. There are too few of us artistic types who don't take themselves too seriously around here and I got the impression that Judy would be fun to get to know. That was the best part of yesterday. Other than that, we went to JoAnn's where they were having their midnight madness sale and madness was the key word there. I came away with thread and scissors. The line for cutting fabric was around the store. I'm not sure why they bother to send out coupons for that sale since you can't use them on any sale items and everything in the store is on sale. Last time I think I used them to buy a magazine or something equally silly.

Today we awoke to a gorgeous day. Look how green the trees are still. Temps in the 60s and bright blue sky. All perfect for a walk on the beach. Wow, they just let anyone walk on the beach these days-who are these people anyway???