T Stands for Happy Halloween

 

Remembering Ink on his birthday with a photo the Young One made for me after she found a picture of Ink on her computer. 

Ink was always up for a cup of tea and something sweet. He was partial to a crumb or two of vanilla cake. Ink would have been 26 years old today.

Our Halloween pumpkin, a cat butt.

Happy Halloween and T Day!

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

T Stands For Halloween Dinner and 2nd on the Second

Because Halloween was the date chosen to celebrate Ink's birthday, dinners and desserts were holiday themed. Even though he's gone, I still keep up the tradition. So this year we had Mummy hotdogs from a recipe courtesy of the Pillsbury Doughboy along with tater tots, baked beans, and I had iced tea.

Going through photographs I found a blast from the past, the Young One with the Kitty Litter cake made for a Halloween party the girlies had. 

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

And now the Second on the Second, a Friday Five from 18. January 2013

One of the things I did to say good bye to my parents' house, the house I grew up in was to take a picture of the door in my bedroom when I was little. I spent a lot of  time in this room. When Dad was home, he didn't like The Brother and me to make noise, especially if he had clients coming to the house.  Ma would send us to our rooms.

Besides reading, drawing or whispering to The Brother through the heating duct, I liked to look for the faces on the door. The faces were sometimes grotesque, but never scary.

There was the lion. Hi, Leo!

The lion chatting with the sweet potato

I wished I had straight hair like the girl with the pageboy do. There was the potato man and the woman with the fish lips.

And the boy who could blow doorknobs out his nose.

Oh, I think I forgot the owl. Can you find him?

It's your turn to play. From Elizabeth: Now it's time to share your Second on the 2nd.  The rules are quite simple and everyone is welcome to join the fun look back.  All you have to do is bring back a post that you are especially proud of, or perhaps one you shared before anyone knew your blog existed.  Any post, any genre, any artistic endeavor is acceptable.  Join hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth to see what else is being served up the Second Time Around.

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1.  Himself was ordering some science and chemistry tee shirts. He found a shirt he thought I would like, too. 

2. Blue baker's twine arrived. 2 shades of blue and a grey!

3. We got almost an inch of much needed rain.

4. Put out some Halloween decorations though the Ink o'lantern stays out year round.

5. It's Inktober

 How was your week?

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. A blog buddy was having issues reading a T Day post. Her anti-virus program was flagging my blog as an unsafe site. 😮Even if she clicked the I'll accept the risk anyway, it wouldn't take her there.  I had the Young One log in to the website using 3 different browsers and Avast as her antivirus program. No problems for her.  An internet search for the issue brought up the fact that some antivirus programs won't log into a site with the old http:// protocol requiring the new https:// When I add my link to the T Day link up, I use the old protocol. It never seemed to be an issue with other readers.. I asked E to log in to my blog by following the https:// and she was able to.

In another lifetime when I was a computer programmer, part of my job involved answering the phone on the help desk and troubleshooting client issues with our software. When E sent me an email saying she was able to get onto the blog, my first thought was Yes! I've still got it! 😺

2. I was really pleased with the dragon eye I did for the Inktober dragon prompt

3. Found a solar powered Halloween, Black Cat dancer. With light, he wiggles from side to side.

4. Himself donated to the 99 Restaurant for their fund raiser for The Boys and Girls Club. Waiter said we got to pick a  balloon and asked what color. Blue? He brought a balloon over. Gave it to Himself to pop. Suddenly a  memory. I was 5 or 6 and had a helium balloon on a string. Himself ,4 or 5 years old, asked to hold my balloon and then he let it go. Just as he popped the restaurant balloon to find out the prize we won, I saw my balloon (a red one, I think) floating away in a cloudless blue sky! I told him this memory, and we were laughing.  How can you remember things like that? I'm Italian we never forget.

How was your week?

Happy Mail

Lady Caer at The Wiccan Life had a blog raffle for a lovely Halloween wreath. I didn't win the wreath, but Lady Caer had another surprise for me. A cute, black cat in a pumpkin figurine. The package arrived the day before the heavy rainstorm. The box was larger than I expected, and I eagerly opened it. Under a pile of packing peanuts and wrapped tightly in bubble wrap was the figure. And two more surprises. A fun Halloween card, and pretty Autumn dish towel.

The Young One helped me unwrap the figurine, carefully wrapped like a Russian nesting doll. Such a sweet figurine. Thank you, Lady Caer, you made my day.

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Organized the book shelves in the basement. Most of the books on the shelves had been read once and never read again. Those books will be donated to the library to make room for calligraphy books and reference material.

2. Had a chick flick Monday night and watched Lassie Come Home. Baby Roddy McDowell is so cute.

3. My friend, A, sent me a wonderful Halloween card she made. It has a witch riding a boom across the full moon. The witch is on a wobble spring so it jiggles. There was also a lovely note inside. Thank you, my friend.

4. Started another painting

5. From Ink: Herself brought home a piece of mail art addressed to me! Thank you, my dear FinnBadger. The snack on the card is just delicious looking. Perfect timing for the card, too, as today is my 17th birthday.

So, a Happy Birthday to Ink, Blessed Samhain, Happy Halloween, Happy Reformation Day, or just Have a great Friday!

How was your week?

The Friday Five

Christmas decorations that I've started putting up.
 Last year, I wasn't in a festive mood. It was the first year my parents were in the nursing home. I was also dealing with the stress of trying to find a facility that would take both of them.

The shelf sitters were my mother's, given to her by a dear friend. I had them last year, but put them in a bag and forgot about them. Came across the bag while I was cleaning. I haven't decided what to call them. My parents bickered a lot. So much that the staff at the first nursing home they were in called them the Bickersons.

Ma placed this little gal with her Christmas stocking  on the fireplace mantle. I came across her while cleaning this summer. Her head broke on the ride home, but luckily it was a clean break. A little bit of glue, and the little miss is good as new.

 I love the sound of the jingle bells on the back of the front door. Sometimes, they stay all year round.

The year before my parents went into the nursing home, I had brought a small tree to put on the table in the living room as decorating the whole house was beyond them. I bought a few new ornaments for the little tree as there were too many pink ornaments. (Ma's favorite color)

I love the witch The Eldest gave me for no special reason. Love the broom and the sign I made: Yes, I can drive a stick. Pop an ornament on and a decoration for Samhain becomes a Yule decoration.

Have you stared decorating your house for the holidays?

NaNoJouMo - Day 2

2. November

Halloween, Samhain, All Souls, Day of the Dead are all festivals that honor those that have passed on.

Do Not Stand Over My Grave and Weep by Mary Elizabeth Frye

Do not stand over my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain
When you waken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quit birds in circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there. I did not die

Sparkling watercolors, F. W. Acrylic black ink, Nikko G nib.

The Friday Five

1. We didn't get a single trick or treater. Usually, we get one kid. Dear, dear, what will we do with all the Halloween candy?

2. While looking through the candy bag for a mini Milky Way with nuts, Himself remarked kids nowadays have no incentive to go trick or treating. Fun-size just wasn't worth the effort.

3. Ink turned 15 on Halloween. When we first got him, he was so tiny he could fit in the palm of my hand. We think he was weaned from his mama too early as he was unable to eat the kitten kibbles. I had to cook scrambled eggs and oatmeal for Ink. Himself was not happy. Now he rules the roost. That is Ink rules the roost, not Himself.

4. Himself recorded the classic monster movies TCM showed on Halloween. Thursday night we watched Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi in The Body Snatchers. I'd never seen the movie before. I don't know how I missed it. Directed by Robert Wise who directed my favorite movie (The Day The Earth Stood Still), in glorious dog view. (The Eldest's term for black and white films). I loved it. Karloff had such a great voice, and Lugosi was equally creepy.

5. Halloween just doesn't last long enough. I think I'll leave my decorations up another week or two to prolong the season.

Do you decorate for Halloween? Do you take your decorations down right away?

Wordless Wednesday

The Friday Five

Gone are the days of carving triangle eyes and nose with a toothy grin on a pumpkin and calling it good. These aren't your grandma's jack o'lanterns.

The Tenth Doctor and his TARDIS. Lace up your red Converse high tops and run to Pink Ray Gun's site to get the template. http://www.pinkraygun.com/2008/09/23/free-pumpkin-carving-template-doctor-who-and-tardis/ 

From an Apple a Day comes this beautiful carousel. http://vi.sualize.us/an_apple_a_day_pumpkin_carrousel_halloween_jack-o-lantern_picture_gY1P.html

A good old-fashioned scare from The Creature. Found at Yummies 4 Tummies http://yummies4tummies.com/2008/10/05/pumpkin-carvings/

Lots of amazing jack o'lanterns found on a Greedy or  Needy discussion board. My favorite was the dragon.
http://www.greedyorneedy.com/forum/topic/89122

No surprise I'd pick a cowboy. Stay with 'im, Heath! Found at Wyoming Road Trip. http://www.wyomingroadtrip.com/Photography/photographs-wyoming-jack-o-lantern.aspx

After you've carved your jack o'lantern, do your roast the pumpkin seeds?

The Friday Five

Five things I don't like about Halloween.

1. Other than The Monster Mash by the Beach Boys and possibly Giant Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley there are no Halloween Carols. Are there other Halloween songs?  On the other hand, radio stations would probably belt out the Halloween tunes starting on Labor Day so I'd be sick of hearing them by the time Halloween rolled around.

2,Why does Christmas have to cut Halloween short? Target already has Christmas cards and lights opposite the Halloween costumes.

3. Easter is starting to hone in on the action, too. Cadbury has a Screme egg for Halloween! Instead of the white and yellow fondant center used for Easter, the Screme egg center is white and green fondant. Hershey is the U.S. distributor for Cadbury U.K. C'mon, Hershey! Are you afraid your Halloween candy sales will be down?

4. I saw a package of brightly colored Easter eggs with Halloween stickers. Package verbiage suggested having a monster egg hunt. Who brings the eggs? The Easter Bunny dressed in a costume? The Halloween Hare? Is the Hare rabid? Who lays the eggs? The Halloween Hen? Is she the chicken who runs around with her head cut off? Is she rabid? My head hurts. I think I need an aspirin.

5. I saw a purple Halloween Jack O'Lantern  bucket. Suppose that goes hand in hand with sparkly vampires.

Is there anything you don't like about Halloween?

The Friday Five

The best holiday season is upon us. Send everyone out of the house so you are alone, curl up in your favorite chair, and cuddle with your favorite pumpkin. Five of my favorite books to send a chill up your spine and make your blood run cold.

1. Dracula by Bram Stoker. Sparkly vampires can't hold a candle to the Count.  Prefer graphic novels? Check out artist, Andy Fish's Dracula The Dead Travel Fast. Andy's also working on a new retelling of the classic. Even if you're not into graphic novels, go look at Andy's amazing work in progress

2. The Shining by Stephen King. This is my favorite King novel. Kept me up at night for two weeks. Don't bother with the schlocky  Stanley Kubrick film version. The real star of the book is the little boy, Danny.

3. IT by Stephen King. If you're afraid of it, it's in the book. Clowns, spiders, drains, bullies...

4. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. A tale of murder at the hands of the supernatural. Or was it?

5. Beowulf the  epic of the Geat hero's triumph over the monster, Grendel, and later, Beowulf's fate. Don't want to read the poem in Anglo-Saxon? Seamus Heaney has given the tale a brilliant translation.

What's your favorite book that sends your heart pounding in your ears?

The Friday Five

Five surprises that happened this week:

1.  The red high tops I ordered arrived earlier than expected.

2. The company I hired to do the final cleanout of the old homestead, said the job would take three days to complete. They finished in two.

3. Because the cleanout went so quickly, the real estate agent was able to list the house earlier than expected.

4. Minutes after the listing went live, an offer was made on the old homestead.

5. The Eldest gave me and her sister a gift. No reason. Just because. The Young One received a cool, bat cuff bracelet. The Eldest gave me this fun shelf sitter.

How was your week?

Greetings and Salutations!

I bid you a Happy Halloween, a good Reformation Day, Blessed Samhain, a great Monday, and if you share your birthday with Ink (he's 14), a very Happy Birthday.

However you roll, make it a good day.

The Friday Five

I whine a lot about the snow and cold weather. Can't help it. I like the heat and humidity. I love hanging out in the sun room, but in the interest of accentuating the positive, five things I like about Fall.

1. The leaves, minus the snow, look pretty when they turn colors. I especially like the vivid reds of the swamp maples. Too bad the fallen leaves can't melt like the snow so they don't have to be raked.

2. In the olden days, I loved the smell of burning leavings. Burning season in my town runs from 1. Jan to 1. April. Leaf burning at this time of year is verboten.

3. The grackles return or maybe they are starlings. They are black birds with shiny, midnight blue heads. Whatever they are, hundreds of them land in the backyard picking and poking the grass for whatever goodies are hidden in the leaves. If something startles them, they lift en masse, their wings beating the air. My house must be in the middle of their migration path though I never see the hordes in the Spring.

4. Halloween, my favorite holiday. I thought it would be cool to have a birthday on Halloween. Too bad my birthday is in July. Still I look forward to the Halloween decorations, costumes, and

5. Candy.

What do you love about Fall or October?

Samhain

From the Working Stiff and The Ninja, have a Happy Halloween. Oh, and wish Ink a happy birthday. He's 13 years old today.

The Friday Five

I love Halloween. It's my favorite holiday. I love the spooky decorations, the costumes, and of course, the candy.  Five Halloween memories:

1. My ma was a seamstress. When I was six, she made me an Indian princess costume. She sewed a fringed dress out of suede. The suede was pink. I wanted to wear The Brother's Robin Hood costume which he had outgrown. I didn't win the argument.

2. One year, The Brother decided he was going to go trick or treating across the entire town. He had a pillowcase, and he wasn't going home until the pillowcase was full. It was pouring buckets that year, as it did most Halloweens I remember. Ma must have made Dad drive us around trick or treating. We were on Bacon Street, about 1/4 mile from the house. The Brother with his pillowcase and me with a brown paper shopping bag. Crossing the street the bottom of my soggy shopping bag let go. All my treats ended in a wet mound on the street. I remember wailing like a bansidhe (banshee), Dad speaking in tongues as I was hauled into the car sans candy. That was the end of Dad taking us trick or treating.

3. We had a costume parade in the lower grades (1-4) of my parochial school. Only rule, everyone had to dress up as a saint since the holiday was All Hallow's Eve followed by All Saints Day (a holy day of obligation and a day off for us kids after attending Mass) Anywho, there were only two costumes. All the little girls dressed up as The Virgin Mary and all the boys dressed up as St. Joseph. Except the twin boys in my class. They came as Sts. Peter and Paul because their names were Peter and Paul.

4.  After the Halloween in the Rain fiasco, I went trick or treating ( in the rain) with Himself and his siblings. His mother walked us around the neighborhood. I can still see her in her tan trenchcoat, her giant mushroom of an umbrella, a kerchief on her head, and her flashlight. Most of the time we had winter jackets on because it was so cold.

5.  The scariest Halloween was when I was five years old. The Brother was eleven. I was dressed as a gypsy. Ma bought the costume for a buck or two at the Five and Ten Cent store. The Brother was wearing the Robin Hood costume I coveted. My costume was made of cheap nylon. A green bodice with a gold skirt that fell to my ankles. I wore my winter jacket over this. There was also a plastic mask of a gypsy face with red lips, black hair, and painted hoop earrings. The Brother took my hand and we trick or treated to the six neighbor's houses on our street. The most popular house on the street was the Hunter's because they always invited all the children into their home. Yes, this was in the real olden days when Halloween was first celebrated. At some houses you would be invited in for doughnuts and cider or candy apples, and a small Halloween party. Even though the Hunter's children were all grown, they still invited kids in for doughnuts and cider. Mr. Hunter was kind of a big kid himself. He loved to dress up. We climbed up the Hunter's front steps. The Brother rang the doorbell.  We could hear the Halloween party noises inside. I was very excited as this was probably the first time I was allowed out to go trick or treating. The door opened very slowly. A huge green ghastly hand was pulling the door open.  A hideous ghouish face peered around the door. The Brother let go of my hand and crossed the threshhold. The ghoul was making hideous moaning sounds at me, beckoned me to come in and then reached to take my hand. The whole time this was going on, my mouth was frozen in a wordless O. As the ghoul's hand came closer to mine, I recovered my wits along with a heaping lung full of air. I flipped off my mask and let out a blood curdling scream that to this day is still echoing in the frozen voids of space. I leaped off the front steps. My trick or treat bag went flying. The skirt of my costume tore with a loud rrrriiiiiiiiiiiiippp as my feet tangled in the hem.  Finding my footing, I went screaching up the street to my house waving my arms over my head to give me speed. The ghoul was close on my heels calling to me.

"Wait! It's me! Mr. Hunter!..."

I wasn't falling for that old trick.

Do you have any Halloween memories?

Happy Halloween. Blessed Samhain.

The Friday Five

Five things I like about this time of year.

1.  I love blue. It's my favorite color and the sky always seems to be an impossible shade of blue.

2. It's apple season. Apple pie. Mulled cider. When my girlies were little we had an annual trek to the local apple orchard. We'd spend an afternoon picking and eating tart, crisp apples in the orchard. Afterward, we'd get a handful of corn to feed the animals in the petting zoo. The Young One would patiently stand in line for a ride on Peanut Butter, a very patient and very large gelding. No little pony for the Young One.

3. It's jacket season. My jacket has inside and outside pockets so I don't have to carry a purse. I'm not big on pockabooks. Don't carry that much with me to warrant lugging around the steamer trunk my ma carries. Wallet, phone, keys fit nicely in my pockets.

4. There's still time to enjoy the sun room. And if it's a little chilly in the evening, the little space heater and my down throw are just right.

5. Samhain. Halloween, my favorite holiday is just around the corner.

What do you like about this time of year?

Seven on Samhain

Out of all the holidays, I think as an adult Halloween is my favorite. A holiday based around candy can't be bad. Dressing up in costume is fun. The biggest appeal is no expectations beyond a bit of candy for this holiday. No huge preparations. And most important no shopping and wrapping of gifts or trying to cope with a gift list that gets bigger and bigger each year.

The only challenge, besides not eating all the Halloween candy before the holiday, is making the costumes. I don't sew. I can do embroidery, cross stitch, needlepoint, and I can sew on buttons. Anything out of that realm is beyond me. Costumes for my girls began with a sweatsuit base. (it's usually cold here on Halloween so a winter jacket could be worn under or over if need be.) and then makeup and the odd accessory made or bought.

In honor of Samhain, seven costumes I put together for my girlies.

At four years old, The Eldest fell in love with Thomas the Tank Engine. I had seen a Thomas apron in a catalog and it was ridiculously expensive. Sewing the apron was beyond me, but not beyond my mother who was a seamstress. I showed her the apron. I embroidered the Thomas face, and she did the rest. I found an engineer's cap and I had a blue bandana. Grandpa found the railroad lantern. A ghostie costume for the three month old Young One was easy, a white nighties, a white bonnet and tiny Halloween socks, a baby gift from a friend.

Kindergarten brought us Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The Eldest just loved those dwarves. Sweatpants, my turtleneck with giant buttons, a belt to blouson the jersey, and a stocking hat courtesy of Grandma. The Young One wore hand me down pumpkin pjs.

Killer bees started with black sweatsuits and bee wings and hats from Oriental Trading Company. Glow sticks were pinned to their backsides for a stinger.

The Eldest wanted to be a fairy. We had a leotard and fairy wings, crown and wand from Oriental Trading. The Young One wore the bee costume again.

While doing some shopping in Wallyworld, The Eldest spotted a pumpkin princess costume and she fell in love with it. Her school was having a costume parade and party. The costume was ridiculously expensive, but how often would The Eldest be 8 years old. I bought it. The expression on her face said it all. Now, at 20 yrs old, she still has fond memories of that costume.

The Young One dressed as our kitty, Mitty. Hooded sweatshirt, sweatpants, mittens and kitty ears, tail and a makeup kit from CVS.

The Eldest wanted to be a hula dancer. A trip to I-party garnered the grass skirt and lei. And so she wouldn't freeze off her coconut mcguffies, a warm sweatsuit in her favorite color.

My piece de resistance was the year The Young One wanted to go as Hedwig the owl from Harry Potter. A children's craft book furnished the pattern for an owl mask which was cut from foam and decorated. A white felt chest plate of feathers for a bit of realism. The hardest thing to find that year was the white sweatsuit.

Any Halloween memories for you? Have a blessed Samhain and a Happy Birthday to Ink.