Post Halloween

Yup, I'm finally back. This pictures how sloppy I was for Halloween this year. Obviously didn't have very good spray paint coverage.I'm going to blame it on the fumes.

This picture shows that we got prematurely excited and carved the poor squash too soon. We'll hopefully remember this gaff next year and not repeat history.


Here we see that I can't organize a display. I threw everything everywhere, BUT... we were the best (and almost only) decorated house in the neightborhood. For once we were the unattainable Joneses. Lots of Trick-or-Treaters too, but not enough to keep me from looking for the Tootsie Rolls in between doorbell rings. MMM, MMM GOOD!

Cemetery, Cemetery, Come To Me

I don't know if I have revealed this earlier, but it seems appropriate due to the season and the "Why I'm Weird" meme traveling the net, but I started a strange project. I have been trying to find all the little, off-the-beaten-path cemeteries while I'm on my travels, and taking a picture of my MINI at each of them. So while these were taken mostly during the summer, imagine, if you will, dark, spooky nights, and then put the car there.

Bay Center Cemetery, Bay Center, Washington

Fern Hill Cemetery, Mason County, Washington

Kinder Cemetery, Off HWY 30, East of Portland, Oregon

(There are tales of a ghost of an old man haunting the rear of the cemetery!)

A Pumpkining We Will Go

We went to the pumpkin patch last week to hunt for pumpkins. The patch is near the river cabin, and we have been going there for about 18 years. The farmer has a trailer with straw on it, and everyone gets on the trailer and he tractors it to the pumpkin patch. Everyone runs and finds their pumpkins, and he comes back and picks us all up with the trailer.

I never get tired of this ritual. Most of the time we are the only ones there, so it's like our own private family pumpkin patch. There are sheep and horses there, and the kids get to pet them and feed them treats. Of course, the animals are my favorite (still not really a child person.) This year was sort of fun because right when we got there, a huge flock of crows suddenly swooped over us and cawed and gathered in the trees. Straight out of Alfred Hitchcock and Edgar Allen Poe (who was a big cat-lover, BTW.)

I probably won't carve the pumpkins until next week. No rotting squash on my porch! I finally dragged the decorations out of the garage, but I seem to be missing some. Probably due the move last year! Maybe I have to go buy a new bunch of them (sound of hands rubbing together gleefully.) I'm also being slowed down by the darn migraines. I'm exhausted form the poor sleep and the extreme pain. Got to get some artificial life.

Morgen- I will post pics- I've got plans!

Our First Halloween

Here is the story of our first Halloween that I mentioned in my last post. It seems like a good time to repeat it.
Our first Halloween was a bit different than most Halloween experiences. My mother made our costumes. We (my older sister, younger sister and I) became witches. My mother made the tall hats, skirts and aprons and put all sorts of "witch-type figures" on them. We carved our pumpkins, and they were attached to the end of sticks so we could carry them. They had lit candles in them (this was before the days of fire safety awareness.)
Okay, here is the corker. My mother knew nothing about Halloween, and the actual day of Halloween fell on a school-night that year. She couldn't imagine that everyone would go out on a school-night, so she took us out on the preceding Saturday. We got some weird looks, but people gave us candy anyway. Needless to say, we were the only costumed kids out there. We got candy!
When my mother found out that kids do go out for Halloween on school nights, she took us out again. We got candy twice!
That was how we learned a little bit more about Halloween.

Tag! I'm It!

I've been tagged by Morgen. It's Morgen's Halloween Meme. So, here goes!

1. What's the scariest movie you've ever seen? I don't remember the name, but it was a flick about an evil doll/puppet, released in 1979. Dolls give me the creeps, especially when they form their own pesonality (like Barbie). I don't watch horror films because my unconcious seems to suck them up and regurgitate them as horror dreams at night.
2. What was your favorite Halloween Costume from childhood? Probably the witch costume my mother made for my sisters and I when we first came to America. That Halloween has a wonderful story behind it- please see 13 August 2006 post (I'm having a hell of a time formatting links to my previous posts).
3. If you had an unlimited budget, what would your Fantasy Costume be for this Halloween? A Victorian Mourning costume, complete with mourning jewelry made of the deceased hair. It's Halloween, isn't it?
4. When was the last time you went Trick Or Treating? I think I was in fifth grade. It didn't stop me from begging and stealing candy out of the bowl, though, or buying it well before Halloween and eating it all. This also proved to make the haul successful, because I got to pick out what I like.
5. What's your favorite Halloween Candy? Almond Roca and candy corn (which I have a weird year-round fondness for).
6. Tell us about a scary nightmare you had. OMG- this could take days. I don't always remember them, but I know I do a lot of screaming. B has had to wake me 3 times in one night because I was screaming. I have tons of night terrors (Halloween never ends, does it?) and I usually have to take a shower when I wake up. I know there are bloody knives, machine guns, and a lot of chasing.
7. What is your Supernatural Fear? Erm, Chucky? Dolls that come to life? Barbie?
8. What is your Creepy-Crawlie Fear? I have two- flying ants and slugs. Like you, Morgen, I witnessed acrege covered with flying ants, and god, they make my skin crawl. Just thinking back...I don't mind any other insects (except for killer bees, which still haven't materialized up here) and actually enjoy watching them, but acres covered with buzzing, marching flying ants- gives me the kriebles. Slugs- grew up with them and I still have not made peace with them. The first time you step on with your bare feet one stays with you the rest of your life. Even though they move slowly- ick. I have been known to pick them up with a shovel and quickly flip them into the neighbors' yard. I will not touch them.
9. Tell us about a time when you saw a ghost, or heard something go Bump in the night. This one is easy. We used to live in an old house (1906) and I know we had some old-timers in there with us. I remember sitting on the couch in the living room, with the cats, and suddenly there was a blast of cold air going by us, along with a heavy scent of perfume. Weird. One of the bathrooms upstairs had a clawfoot tub, and it was generally considered to be my territory. A couple times pictures flew off the wall in front of me. B said the hair on the back of his neck would rise when he was in there, so he pretty much avoided it. Another sort of weird thing was that our bedroom door would open suddenly, at odd times. I would be laying in bed (a favorite hobby) and it would fly open. I wonder if the present owner is getting company.

10. Would you ever stay in a real Haunted House overnight? Well, based on my previous entry, I have! The Amityville House, I'm not so sure.
11. Are you a traditionalist (just a face) Jack O'Lantern Carver, or do you get really creative with your pumpkins? These pictures of a couple of my pumpkins, and I have big plans for this year's. We go to a real pumpkin patch every year and find our perfect carving pumpkins. I love decorationg for Halloween!
12. How much do you decorate your home for Halloween? As I said above, I love decorating!I have black cat accessories everywhere, and I make ghosts with balloons and cheesecloth. I have a lit spiderweb that I put over the front doors, and all sorts of halloween candle holders. We have a skeleton for the door, and vintage Halloween stuff from when B was a children. Storage is a problem!
13. What do you want on your Tombstone? No tombstone for me. I plan on being made into dust, and scattered from our saiboat where B and I first met. This comes from a close friend's very sudden death. We made a sailboat train, with us in his boat first, and went out on the water. We then said a few things and scattered his ashes on the water. This has been the most meaningful memorial service I've ever been to.

This has been a lot of fun! Thanks, Morgen!