Welcome To The Haunted Pines!

The past week went by faster than a witch on a broom!  I'm so behind in blogging and visiting but I will get to all that fun later..except the blogging part because obviously I'm doing that now!  After all the planning, dreaming, working, setting up, and wondering what I was thinking when I put this together....it was over by 9pm on Saturday...the Starkey's Halloween Bash!

The crowds started assembling around 5pm.  I couldn't believe how lucky we were with the weather. After a cold, wet week, Saturday was  72de and sunny. Even though the winds were crazy during the day, it calmed down for the party.  We had some time for photo ops.

King Cameron and Life handing out lemons Anthony.

Sir Jackie and his lovely Lady Evelyn.

Who are these goofballs?

Someone was all tied up the whole day.  I ran myself ragged on Saturday and totally didn't get any pics of the crazy haunted cemetery.  It turned out really fun.  Here's a few shots taken the next day after some of the graves had disappeared until next year.

Lost souls were abounding in the dark that night.  However, all guests were spared and returned home safely!

Except this poor guy.

This sign gave the directions...Before the cemetery experience we had to party a bit with some games.

Mummy making took speed and agility.

We had some real winners!

All these mummies were yummy!

But not as yummy as the doughnut contest.  I think Cameron was up to the task!  We had lots of folks come dressed for the night.

A Scotsman?

This young lady had an announcement to make...you win a spider ring if you can guess what it was!

Who's that gal behind the lens?  It was a fun gathering.  I think we had around 80 people.  The kids really seem to enjoy the day and those who went to the haunted cemetery had a few laughs and surprises.  I was sad I didn't get more pics of that area but I was spread pretty thin making sure all was going on schedule.  Jack said I needed atleast 3 more of me to get it all done!  Although we were done partying for the weekend, today was trick or treat in Creston where our son Jack lives.  So we headed up there to help hand out candy and see the kids.

And there were TONS of kids!  The costumes were super cute...

This one made me laugh out loud!

Chubbs was a hit with the little ones.  He's such a good pup!

Witch selfie!  Hope your Halloween was fun and full of:

Done till next year...Happy Haunting everyone!

The Big Finish

This past weekend was probably the last one to see some good color on the trees.  The winds blew like crazy yesterday and I'm sure many leaves were blown away.  Well, I was "blown away" by some lovely trees right in my own neighborhood.

This one down the road from us always turns early and it's size is ginormous and it's so lovely.

Driving by my next door neighbors had me admiring this tree in their front yard.

I think my own yard has some nice color too...like this dogwood on the corner of our deck.  I have lights in it for the party on Saturday but it lights it's own self up with the reds on the leaves.   One tree did have me shaking my head though.

This crabapple in our front yard has been leafless for a while now.  However, looking closely you see a tiny bit of color...can you spot it?

I guess it just wanted one last chance for a "BIG FINISH" and gave us a tiny pink blossom.  The month is flying by and of course I'm getting ready for the big day..the "BIG FINISH" to this month.

It's Halloween week and of course you must remember to carve some pumpkins!

Here's a BIG FINISH from last night.  It out shines even the trees.  Night all!

Goodbye Sweet Eddy Dog

The hardest day in the life of a dog owner is when you know it's time to say goodbye.  This has been a difficult Summer and Fall for our sweet Eddy.  Jordan had to make the hard decision to get him free of pain and go to the Rainbow Bridge.  This morning our Eddy made that trip.  He was Jordan's best friend and in many ways was a life saver for him.  We welcomed Eddy into our lives in October of 2008 when Jordan came home with him.  We loved that boxer face!  He was such a smart and obedient dog.  Jordan did a fantastic job of training him.  We  had lots of fun times and laughs with his antics!  He was the star of many of my blog posts.  Dearest Eddy, you were so loved and will be terribly missed by all of us.  RIP.

When Eddy was still small enough to hold!

Good buddies till the end.

I will miss my many walks in the Creepy Woods with Ed..he loved it there.

Everyone was his friend!

He loved it when the kiddos read to him.

He always knew which Christmas stocking was his!

Snow was fun too!

But a cozy day on the couch wasn't so bad either!

He loved to torment Squeak and sit in her bed...he was a rascal!

Truly loved by all the Grandkiddos.

Hose water was his favorite thing to drink!

My last pic of him in September....so thin...so white in the face.

Jordan will miss him forever.

Easy Peasy Sunday

After a last weekend's fun family gathering, we settled for a more quiet weekend this week.  Saturday had us on our usual errands.  It was the last Saturday of the Farmer's Market and the pickings were slim.  We did score some more cool pumpkins and a beautiful mum plant.  A trip the orchard had us bringing home apples for eating and baking.   After finding and exploring a new store with good bargains, we stopped and picked up some Chinese chow for lunch and headed on home.  The rest of the day was spent in the yard.  Trees were trimmed, flower gardens cleaned out.  We did some burning of branches from some trees we had removed and then worked on the haunted cemetery for the Halloween party in 2 weeks.  (You are all invited!)  When I hit the hay I felt like I was actually hit by a bale of hay!  Today we just rested after Church.

This pie had the house smelling like apples and cinnamon.  The day turned dreary as rain came in and gave us a lovely soaking.  Great time to take a nap!  Afterwards I wanted to go to the real cemetery in town and put some new flowers on Jack's parents grave site.

The trees in the cemetery are almost all in fall color...so pretty.

The days are getting dark earlier so we took off for home.   All in all it's been a nice weekend.  I feel like we accomplished lots of outdoor work and also had time to just chill and enjoy this Fall day.  It will pass quickly.   So take time to do some leaf peeping or apple baking! Catching a cool sunset is good too.

Night all!

Let My Favorite Month Begin!

The beginning of October found me in Chicago but thankfully Mom is doing great and this weekend it was about gathering the kiddos here and having some pre-Halloween fun.  To put this mix together we start with some food...of course we do!

Monster Munch?  Yep, we all decided this new recipe was a keeper! (not to mention additive!)

The yearly standby of Witches fingers...thanks to all who donated a digit for this special day!

Fall means apples which translates into apple pie. Can you find the ghosts on the crust?  After the food the atmosphere needs some ramping up!

Kitchen fireplace mantel ready to go but don't put a fire in there.....

These dudes just might have a surprise for you!  With the food and decorations in place all that's needed are the humans!  We had a lovely, very cool, Fall day to gather around the fire pit, play games, eat and do lots of laughing.

Badminton with Cameron will have me running for some ibuprofen tonight!

Looks like Jack got photo bombed by a crazed gourd...and Jord!

The brothers three....missing our Portland crew with brother four.  Always nice to see them have a good time together.

Jack and Evelyn....so sweet.

Addy?

The whole gang gone nutty? Fun bags filled with crazy things and candy was a hit!

Some old friends stopped by the fire pit...Addy loves them!  Yes, all the ingredients for a fun bash....love, food, family, friends....on to the rest of the month!