Adventures in Pumpkin Drilling

This year, we brought home five lovely pumpkins, two to carve and three just to look cute. For the first time in several years, Spouse decided to carve his pumpkin. And I was inspired by my friend Connie to use a drill on mine. I'd tried it many years ago and loved the results, although I learned NOT to attempt it indoors!

  Because I waited so late to buy my pumpkins, I had only one evening to do the carving. As it turned out, the night was freezing cold so there was NO WAY I was going to drill a pumpkin outside! Back inside I went, drill in hand.

No matter what you're doing with your pumpkin, you have to scoop out the innards. This is my least favorite part. The pumpkin gunk makes my hands and arms itch!

Next, it was time to break out the drill. WHAT A MESS! Little bits of pumpkin flew all over the entryway, in spite of my attempts to keep things under control. This time, Spouse found the wood drill bits for me, which allowed me to make even bigger holes...and a bigger MESS!

 

  

Tinsel looked on with alarm from above...

 

 And I'll admit that it was pretty alarming.

 Lily thought closer supervision was necessary.

But when all was said and done (and all of the pumpkin bits were mopped up!), I was pleased with the way the pumpkin turned out. 

And Spouse's menacing pumpkin face turned out pretty well, too. All in all, it was a successful evening of pumpkin carving!

Janet

Pumpkin "Patch" Finds

This year I didn't pick up my pumpkins as early as I usually do. When I finally got around to it, it was too late to go to a real pumpkin patch. So on the Sunday afternoon before Halloween, Spouse and I ventured out to buy pumpkins from a vendor who sets up shop in an empty parking lot near us. As it turned out, I was very glad we chose to go there! I had never seen so many varieties of beautiful pumpkins, squash, and gourds!

 If you wanted to make a pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin (not a can), they had wagons full of pie pumpkins. Everyone will be glad to know that I'm not planning on making one from scratch any time soon!

 All the pumpkins were so attractively displayed -- all the stems were up! And they were perfectly shaped.

 
   So many gourds!

 
And squash!

 

And these little guys looked like acorns!

 

More squash!

 

 Wagons full of pumpkins!

 

 

 I loved the little striped ones!

 

 I LOVE white ghost pumpkins and finally bought one this year.

 

More gourds!

Tiny baby pumpkins!

Love these colors!

 

My favorite find of the afternoon was a green "Fairytale Pumpkin", which is cultivated to look like Cinderella's pumpkin/coach. I had to have one!

 

After much pondering, we went home with five pumpkins -- one for the three humans who live in our house (even though one is in Indiana!) and the two kitties.
 

 Even though it wasn't a real pumpkin "patch", I'll definitely be back next year!
Janet

Pumpkin Patches: Not just for kids!

 We recently stopped at a roadside pumpkin patch. I'd much rather pick my own pumpkin than choose one out of a bin at the grocery store!

 As it turned out, we were just about the only people at the patch that afternoon, so we truly had our pick of the lot! There were three large fields of pumpkins to survey. I was convinced that in order to grow pumpkins, you need very sandy soil, but the owner told me that's not the case. Pumpkins grow just fine in any kind of soil. Who knew? Certainly not me!

In addition to pumpkins, they had some really awesome gourds shaped like birds and all kinds of other strange things.

We could have chosen pumpkins from these tidy piles, but we did not!

We ventured into the patch to pick our pumpkins right off the vine!

Look at these adorable gourds! I've bought many of them over the years but have never seen them growing in the wild!

 Awww!

The pumpkins were so perfectly round that I asked the owner if she turned them periodically. Yes, I'm sure she was rolling her eyes at my city girl question. She very kindly told me that no, she does not rotate her pumpkins, as she would be out in the patch from morning until night turning them this way and that!

 

I chose this one. Perfectly round!

Spouse liked the one with a big bump on it. It will make a nice nose.

 

And, although she's not home, we chose a pumpkin for Bailey -- plus two small ones for the kitties -- for a total of five pumpkins in all. Spouse looked pretty outdoorsy cutting our pumpkins right off the vine.

 

 

 It was fun visiting the pumpkin patch. They're not just for kids anymore!

 jp

Feline Friday: Tinsel, Our Christmas Kitty

This Christmas, we will be celebrating 10 years with Tinsel, so I thought it would be fitting to re-post the story my daughter wrote many years ago about how Tinsel came to live at our house. We're awfully glad that Santa chose us to give Tinsel her forever home!

 

 The Cat Who Came for Christmas

As I tickled my cat Tinsel with a long brown feather, I thought about the way she had come to be a part of our family. It all started back in the fourth grade...

      I was eight years old, and my pet fish had just recently died. I had decided that I wanted a new pet, but this time I wanted something soft and furry.

      Christmas was nearing, and I was getting ready to write my annual wish list for Santa. I didn’t really know what I wanted for Christmas, but I sat down to type my letter to the jolly old fellow.

      Then it hit me. I didn’t want books, toys, games, or any other sort of usual Christmas gift. No, I wanted a special companion. So throwing caution to the winds, I told Santa that I wanted a “real live kitty” for Christmas. (Clearly I had wanted to be certain I got a real cat, not a stuffed animal.) I clicked the button to send my letter, and my letter was gone. Gone to the North Pole, where Santa and his elves were in complete control of the situation. Now all I had to do was wait for Christmas.

      As the days passed, I went back to my normal routine, never giving much thought to my letter. Finally Christmas Eve arrived. I went to bed, feeling nervous, but all the same, very excited.

      I awoke early on Christmas Day. As soon as I remembered it was Christmas, I leapt out of bed and dashed into the hall. Immediately I peered over the balcony into our foyer. Amidst the massive green branches I saw a large gray box. After sprinting into my room again to get my glasses, I craned my neck over the railing once more. Could that gift be what I thought it was?

      I raced down the stairs and over to the tree. Underneath it sat the unidentifiable box, complete with a red bow. The box gave a slight “Meow!”, and I looked into what was really an animal carrier. Inside, staring back at me was my own kitty! My wish had come true after all!

      Then my mom spoke, “Why don’t you take her out and meet your new friend?” I turned to see my parents standing with the video camera, filming my reaction to Santa’s gift.

      I opened the squealing door to the carrier and pulled out my own kitty. She was brown with black stripes, small, and ever so sweet. Cuddling her, I said, “She’s perfect.” I decided right then and there to name her Tinsel, because she was a “Christmas kitty”.

      I now think of that Christmas as my best one yet, because I received my first furry friend. Now, as I watch her play, I am reminded of that wonderful morning.

Village Under Construction

Many, many years ago, my mom started buying me houses from the Department 56 Dickens Village. I often received one or two houses for my birthday and for Christmas each year, so my collection grew very large over time (read: I've had a lot of birthdays). As the years passed, I added trees, people, and other accessories. I now have over 35 houses with no more room to expand!

As you might imagine, putting up the village takes many hours. It is such a big job that I sometimes try to talk myself into putting up only a few pieces. But as soon as I start working on it, I can't bring myself to stop until every single house is lit and every village person is perfectly placed. I guess Christmas can't come to our house until the village is up!

This year I was later than ever getting started. Luckily, I had some help from Lily! She did a quick inventory to be sure all the houses were accounted for. Yep! Weer gud to go, mommie!

Suddenly, snow began to fall! It always snows in the Dickens Village, you know.

It's probably no surprise that I am very picky about how my completed village looks. Luckily, I have a great place to display it on the shelves around our fireplace. A few years ago, Spouse drilled a hole in the back of each shelf so that the electrical cords can easily reach the outlets below.

After taking the houses out of their boxes, I first decide where  each one will be placed. I use empty boxes to create a second level. Once the rough structure is in place, I position the houses, attach the cords, and plug them into a large power strip. Things look really messy at this point.

This photo shows a portion of the village with the houses and buildings in place.

Sheesh, dis is hard work, Mommie!

Next, I tear pieces of quilt batting "snow" and begin placing it over the boxes and cords, lifting up the houses as I go and using bits of batting to and add hills. Tearing (rather than cutting) the batting creates softer, more natural-looking snow. Once the snow is in place, the village begins to look more finished.

Next, we inspect all of the trees and place them strategically around the houses and buildings. Trees help cover gaps and add texture and interest to the display.

Then I add the people and small accessories to complete the scenes.

Finally, we add a few houses and accessories to the mantel. Tinsel was a big help with this part of the set-up!

Like the rest of the village, this part of the display looks much better once the snow, trees, and people are in place.

Here is another area of the village after the set-up process is complete.

A close-up shows a small ensemble playing outside of the puppet theatre.

Setting up the village is hard work, but it's well worth the effort! As you can see, it's a big part of Christmas at our house!

What happened to spring?

Wasn't yesterday's post about SPRING? Did I not just share photos of springlike sightings around the neighborhood?

Obviously my timing was poor, because when I woke up at 2am and looked outside, THIS is what I saw.

Snow was falling steadily!

And it clearly wasn't one of the weird dreams I've been having lately.

I WILL say that the snow is rather pretty. It's sticking to tree branches and staying off the road. But it would be a LOT prettier if this were December.

But it's nearly April.

ARGH! So much for my sandals today.