Happy Halloween! We got about 60 trick or treaters this year. Less than last year but there were some winners. A Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and a veteranarian that was using a pet carrier as her candy carrier - she was expecting a LOT of candy!
Now it's time to take down the Halloween decorations. Bummer.
But now I've got Christmas on the brain... with some Thanksgiving thrown in! It's amazing how the second the last trick or treater walks down the path, I'm onto Christmas.
I decided to make poison bottles as place setting/favors for our Halloween dinner party. I found these orange bottles with stickers already on them at Christmas Tree Shops for 99 cents each.
I tried peeling off the stickers but it peeled the orange off, so I taped around the stickers and sprayed chalkboard paint over the stickers.
Then I put glue on the tops and sprinkled on glow-in-the-dark glitter. I tried coating the inside of the bottles with glitter, but then the glitter coldn't charge up with light and didn't glow. I sprayed sealer over the glitter so it wouldn't get all over the place.
I wrote each guest's name on a bottle with XXX for POISON, and placed them at each place setting at the dinner table. I need to try and get a pic of the glow-in-the-dark action.
Today is National Cat Day! This picture cracks me up.
"National Cat Day was founded in 2005 by Pet Lifestyle Expert & Animal Welfare Advocate Colleen Paige to help galvanize the public to recognize the number of cats that need to be rescued each year and also to encourage cat lovers to celebrate the cat(s) in their life for the unconditional love and companionship they bestow upon us."
At Rochester Animal Services all black, orange, or tortoiseshell cats have been 50% off their regular adoption fee for October. Check them out at http://bit.ly/RAScats There are still three days of October left!
Pork, the Rochester Animal Services In-House-Kitty has a special message about black cat myths that go around this time of year.
I hate to leave the pooches out of it too... October is also Adopt a Dog month!
This evening we had our Halloween dinner party. It's become big enough that we moved the dinner table into the living room.
Each place setting was marked with a poison bottle I made with chalkboard paint & glow-in-the-dark glitter.
Eyeball anyone?
The dinner was potluck and the food was so good! Even zombies have to eat.
Dinner by firelight.
It was nice to sit down and catch up over dinner.
Aaron and I were American Gothic Zombies.
I got this idea from Martha Stewart Living Magazine.
It's just a branch painted black with paper bats hanging from it.
Looks great over the mantle!
It isn't everyday you get a package from your parents... a package full of eyeballs.
Must be getting close to Halloween.
It is a glitter Halloween at our house.
My collection is made up of bought objects and ones I glittered myself.
Sparkly!
I found these little skulls at the craft store and they were just begging for glitter.
Some glue and a lot of Martha Stewart glitter in Halloween colors.
Then I wrapped a skull with some votives as favors for our Pumpkin Carving Party. Funny thing is, from my Instagram photo, Tina thought they were full sized skulls. Boy, was she surprised when she saw they were just mini-skulls.
Today we had our annual Pumpkin Picking and Carving Party.
At the patch everyone was convinced the best and biggest pumpkins were at the bottom of the bins.
Drea & Matt
Lauren & Tina
This one looks big enough.
Look who showed up in matchy, matchy witchy-poo t-shirts.
Pumpkin carving time.
Stabbity. I do love the new Williams Sonoma pumpkin carving tools.
Carving by the fire.
My pumpkin and Aaron's pumpkin with toothy grins.
Senior of the week! : )
Don't let that white face fool you! Ten year old, 41 pound Toby is still full of life. He loves his walks with the volunteers who also say he's pretty mellow. Toby came to Lollypop Farm to find a new home when his owner died. He's available through our Seniors-for-Seniors program where approved adopters, age 60 and over, can bring him home free of charge. It's also still Adopt-A-Dog month so other approved adopters can bring him home with a 50% discount on his adoption fee. Come meet Toby at Lollypop Farm!
I have been thinking about spam musubi since we were in Hawaii. It didn't seem to hard to make but we never got around to it.
I even ordered a spam musubi mold online. It's just the right size for a slice of spam. It worked really well, making perfect blocks of rice. Other than cooking the rice, this recipe is really quick and easy to make. I just turned on the rice cooker and we took the pugs for a walk and when we got back I was ready to roll.
Fall is one of my favorite seasons but it's felt like a long time coming this season. Maybe it was all the travel, or the headcold with vertigo... or maybe the lack of apple picking. There have been a few things that have made it finally feel like Autumn is here.
I came home from Chicago to find these Helliemae's Apple Caramels from Ellen. I wasn't able to pick apples but I have been popping these delights down the hatch. They are a seaonsal flavor, only available until the end of October so if you want to try them you better hop on it. I hadn't had a the flavored caramels before, but now I'm hooked.
Our chalkboard still hung with beach photos and summer to-do lists, until I got these This Good World posters. They are bright, and solid and even feel meaty in your hands. Suddenly it seems as though all the leaves have changes over night and pumpkins are ready to be picked.
I am geting serious about pumpkin carving this year. I ordered these clay carving tools to do some of the surface carving like this... well maybe not exactly like that.
I even broke down and got the Williams Sonoma Pumpkin Carving Tools. I mean business people!
Last year Aaron was gone for Hugo's first birthday. Last month I was in Germany for Oscar's tenth birthday.
Today is Hugo's second birthday and we didn't want to miss it again. Oscar was owed a birthday, so we made them both a big pooch birthday carrot cake.
The cake looked pretty darn tasty... even in dog bowls!
These are pics of Hugo and his siblings when they were wee puppies!
