6/16/2006 - And the Countdown Begins...

Well - it seems the time has come to start counting down to the Hallowed Day.  LOL  I'm still planning - any ideas?  Anybody? Anybody? 

I've noticed that there are a few folks who have decided not to hold parties this year - I'm so sorry that your last experience was a rough one.  I - on the other hand - am still planning to hold my annual gathering.  So, any recipes, ideas for decorating or props would be most welcome!  This year I will not have the ex to poopoo on any ideas and can pretty much do as I please.  I loved the post from HH and the links to the haunt up there.  Thanks HH! 

Let's hear from you all - I still have Haunted Fountains to make this year as well as more cemetery fencing since I'll have a bigger area to use it this year!  More ideas!!! 

Unpleasant Dreams...

4/21/2006 - Planning...planning...planning

11/15/2005 - More pics

My Barfing Bucky fountain - sadly, I'd already disassembled it when I realized the pic hadn't come out - but you get the idea - an odd mauve colored liquid came out of his mouth and there was fog from dry ice in the punch!  LOL

Below is my sis in her Annuhaphserat costume.  This is a cat goddess character she made up for her gaming.  She takes her costumes seriously, can ya tell?  LOL

PICS REMOVED FOR BETTER VIEWING.  lol

11/15/2005 - Party Pics

As promised - the party pics.  Some didn't come out too well.  This would be my model of your namesake HH!  LOL  Like him?  LOL

AGAIN - I REMOVED THE PICS BECAUSE THEY WERE SO HUGE.  I'LL DO BETTER NEXT TIME.  lol

A few of the deocrations - sorry there aren't more.  I'll add pics of some of the guests shortly.  LOL

11/4/2005 - After the party's over...

Okay, am I the only one suffering from postparty depression?  LOL  It's so sad to have to pack all the decorations away for a whole year!  Then again - I have to remember that it's about time for me to pull out the Christmas decorations as well.  So, this time of year I'm really just swapping out decorations for the rest of the year!  LOL  I host a cookie swap every year the first Sunday in December so I must have my decorations up and my cookies done by that time.  Baking and cooking (I feed the ladies as well) all day on Saturday will certainly leave no time for decorating.  So that must be done even earlier.  We have Thanksgiving dinner at our house each year so I usually have the tree up and at least the lights on it for Thanksgiving. I generally have my garlands all up as well.  Sssshhhhhhh - don't tell anyone but, I love the upcoming holidays even more than Halloween!  Keep that close to the vest though, okay?  If you're interested in hosting  your own cookie swap and would like some ideas - just yell at me and I'll be happy to help out as best I can.  Everybody have a great weekend and I promise - I'll post the pics soon.  Really.  LOL

Unpleasant dreams...

10/24/2005 - Enough of this...

Well, I'm not sure about you guys, but I've looked at my mug quite enough for now!  LOL  I've tried my best and between family stuff and hurricanes - I haven't met my goals but will be working through the winter on some swell stuff for next year!  I did get my fountain, fencing, and my batcave and good scarecrow gone bad action done this year.  I'll get the rest done this week or this winter.  I hope to have many more haunting years in me!  LOL  Again, I thank all those who've contributed your knowledge and encouragement!  You're the best!  I'll get some pics posted after the party - perhaps while I'm recouping on Sunday.  LOL  Not sure if I'll have any time to post again between now and then - but - we shall see. 

Unpleasant dreams...

10/17/2005 - Well - you asked for it!

Well, here I am in all my glory - you asked for pics - now ya gotta deal with it!  LOL  This is my costume for this year - I am HallowQueen!  LOL  Like my one and only faithful subject?  It doesn't pay to mess with the HQ!  Muhuwhahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Unpleasant Dreams...

10/17/2005 - What a Difference a Weekend Makes!

I'm certainly feeling better about things now that I've put in a fairly full weekend of Halloweening!  Things will be finished, it will all be fine and life is good!  LOL  I got my fencing done and ready to go out next weekend.  I hung lights, put finishing touches on a few things and made a couple of others.  I am now very confident that all will be well come the end of this week.  I just have to run some power chords and I'll be set with all the electrical stuff.  I have to load everything up with batteries for this year.  After I finish up these things and complete my pitiful tombstones this weekend - hey, next week is all about the cooking!  I'll be able to do my usual schedule of prep next week.  I make things every evening (of the things that can be made ahead) and Friday is the big night for all that.  That night I make potato soup, salsa, cookies, fix up my trays of breads, meats and sammich fixins and fix several things like pickles and olives so that they are ready to set out Saturday evening.  I might even be assembling the Kitty Litter cake that night.  Well, I have my work cut out for me these next several days - but I will try to update as much as possible.  This is the week to get down in the trenches and get it all done folks!  Good luck with yours and don't forget the pictures!  I'll add mine soon - I promise!  LOL 

Unpleasant dreams...

10/14/2005 - Like Sands Through the Hourglass...

Where the heck have all those little grains gone?!?!  I'm now almost in panic mode to get finished.  I know I can do it but I want to get it done ASAP to allow more time for more creativity in my party preparations.  LOL  I know everything will be fine on the one hand - the other hand is - frighteningly enough - sending me the universal message.  Hmmmmm.  Oh well, I'll get my split personality together and we'll come up with something good.  Even if it ain't right!  LOL  Everybody have a great weekend and finish up all your Halloweenin' - get your ghoulrags ready and wait for the big night! 

Unpleasant dreams...

10/10/2005 - A Haunting We Will Go

Well, my house is almost ready for the season!  I lack the fencing and tombstones - and those will go out the week of Halloween so they don't get pinched!  My Barfing Bucky drink fountain has turned out really well - I'll put up pics soon.  I have a few adjustments to the placement of some decorations and I will be done with the inside.  I know it's taken me a while to get it done but - I admit it - I have a lot of decorations.  LOL  I've now started food prep for the party - Zombie Eyeballs are made and in the freezer ready to be pulled out and thrust into the oven.   Most of the ingredients have been purchased for all the food - except for the fresh veggie items.  Now - if I can only keep it all together till the 29th!  LOL  I have a paper mache pumpkin I'm playing around with and thinking of making a wicked scarecrow out of - How ya keep em from going south out in the elements?  What do ya put on em HH?  If I don't get it done - ce' la vie.  If I do - woohoo!!!!!  I have the fabric for the scarecrow - I have miles to go before I rest.  Thank goodness the weather has finally broken and it's acting like fall here.  So much so that I'm having a bit of trouble staying warm now - go figure.  LOL  Have a great week - HH - hang in there man - it'll come together.  Ya got friends to help and that is a beautiful thing!  Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Unpleasant dreams...

10/3/2005 - The Faceoff

I put out some decorations this weekend - the neighbors put out a few more decorations.  I wonder what will happen when I start bringing out the other stuff.  LOL  But then, their stuff is all cute - so far, mine is all fall-oriented.  Just wait till this weekend!  Muhuwhahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaa!!!  The inside of my house is beginning to look a lot like Halloween!  The mantle is going to look excellent this year.  Mirror, skull candle holders, probably a snake or two - very goth.  LOL  I'll update more as I put more out!

Unpleasant dreams...

10/1/2005 - Do You Know the Pumpkin Man?

I went out gallavanting today and returned home victorious!  I purchased not one, but three fabulous pumpkins!  Mr. Williams has a bumper crop of lovelies this year and 2 of them will hold court on the front porch of our house!  LOL  One is a large, dark orange fellow with all the perfect ridges and lines you could want.  The other is a slightly more pale shade and is more tall and stately.    At a small vegetable stand I found one very cute small pumpkin.  Not the mini variety, but a small round Charlie Brown kinda pumpkin.  I couldn't leave it there.  So, I brought it home and will love it and make it part of my fall display.  LOL  Ya gotta love living in the country!  So, I'm off to the storage unit to free my decorations from their 11 month exile and show the new neighbors what decorating for the season is all about!  LOL

Unpleasant dreams...

9/29/2005 - Beauty and Happiness

Well, fall appears to have finally made its arrival here in the south!  We are experiencing a lovely cool front complete with threatening skies.  It's a grey day but it's filled with the great promise of cool, crisp air and the joy of decorating.  I've been putting things out inside the house and will begin my assault outside this weekend.  I call it an assault because the neighbors next door put out a couple of Halloween items for decoration this week.  My hubby looked over, saw them, and pronounced, "there's gonna be trouble".  He knew - as I knew when he said it - that I take these things as a personal challenge.  Oh yes, the gauntlet has been thrown and I shall pick it up.  Pick it up and smack 'em with it!  LOL  We're calling it "Operation Death from Above" since we're north of them and death will be in our yard.  My house is the most decorated on the whole street - and it runs about 5 miles.  I always have more out for every holiday than anyone else.  And still, we have so few TOTs.  Hmmm.  This year they shall try - again - to steal things from me - and they shall fail.  I am waiting for them this time.  Waiting and watching.  I'm going scare the heck outta them and if they get away with anything they will have paid for it in terror and shame!  LOL  Yes, I'm a teeny bit evil but, ya just don't take a gal's Halloween decorations.  I guess it's better to ask forgiveness than permission, right? 

Unpleasant dreams...

9/24/2005 - I got my mu-ums - I got my mu-u-ums!

I went, I saw, I conquered!  I have returned victorious from the field of battle with 3 captives - one bronze, one yellow and one burgundy with yellow center daisy type!  LOL  They shall grace my front porch and serve me well throughout the coming season!  It was a wild and harried day but so worth it!  Tomorrow I go to Home Depot to gather the rest of my supplies.  Muhuhwahahaha! 

Danke Schoen - dahhling dake schoen!  LOL  It is sooo gonna be Halloween in my house this week!!!!!  And next weekend it can begin to sprout outside as well! 

Will post some pics of my new friend soon along with instructions - trust me he's simple to make!  More later folks!

Unpleasant dreams...

9/23/2005 - Mums the Word

Well, tomorrow is the famed and fabled Frontier Days Celebration in the big city of Eva, Alabama!  What?  You've never heard of it?!?!  I can't believe it!  Have you been living under a rock someplace?  LOL  Actually, the art guild of the tiny community surrounding a 4-way stop has hosted the event for over 10 years.  Events include a Hog Calling Contest, Greased Pig Chase and a Frog Jumping Contest!  There are hundreds of vendors showing their wares and the most important thing of all - the Mum Lady.  She has been there every year for the event.  She brings the most amazing potted mums I have ever seen in my life!  They are like blooming shrubs!!!  She babies and feeds these plants herself every year!  They're HUGE!!!  I can only fit 4 or 5 of them into my GMC Jimmy!  They come in a wide variety of colors to suit your fancy or your color scheme.  Bronze, lavender, white, yellow, burgundy, rust, gold, orange - both the daisy and pompom varieties!  Needless to say - my pathetic tired summer color pots received a farewell salute this morning and joined the compost pile!  I've gotten mums from this lady as long as there has been a festival.  You have to get there early and get your name scribbled onto a ripped piece of paper and placed into the foliage of your treasured choices so they won't be purchased while you're off going through the many booths the festival has to offer.  There's an art and competition to it - you're looking through all the pots to find the right ones in the right colors - and your eyes meet some other huntress for a moment before one of you moves in quickly to claim her prize.  LOL 

So, now you know where I will be tomorrow - hurrying to capture my favorites and retreat prior to the parade that includes more antique and vintage tractors than you can shake a stick at!  LOL  I hope you have as much fun and that you won't do what I inevitably will - forget the sunscreen!  Have a great weekend and enjoy the fall events that seem to be in full swing this time of year. 

Unpleasant dreams...

9/19/2005 - Everything is Beautiful

It was a gorgeous weekend - as promised.  I enjoyed as much of it as I could!  I ran around most of the day Saturday and cleaned out my garage yesterday so nothing much was done with the props.  I did work with the Barfing Bucky fountain a bit. And I have put some of my decorations out.  I started on the village last evening as well!  Woohoo!!!  Never fear - I shall have things finished by Halloween - and the things that I don't get finished will be on top of the list for next year.  I should be able to work on them during the winter when I long to do something creative.  Things are moving along and that is good! 

Have a lovely evening folks - I'll be cleaning windows and/or carpets in preparation to decorate!  Can't wait! 

Unpleasant dreams...

9/15/2005 - Another weekend in paradise

Okay - here we go again!  It's supposed to be beautiful this weekend with highs in the mid 80s.  Let's hope I can get some more done on my props!  On the upside, I do have my invitations ready for the party and I have my list made for the menu and groceries.  I even have some of it purchased already!  So, that part is all fine.  Remember the list?  Well, I should be able to mark some things off and put up some pics soon.  I feel like I'm way behind but then, I guess I was a bit aggressive in my expectations for my first year of prop making! 

Things are out at the Walmart now - some really cool goblets that have double walled section like beer mugs you can freeze.  These are white plastic and the liquid is red!  The also have the cutest candy dish with a skull in the middle that talks!  As always with them, the prices are reasonable. 

Guess I should go for now - if you have any info as to what kind of black fabric would be best to use for an outdoor prop please let me know!

Unpleasant dreams...

9/12/2005 - Well, blow me down!

I have to tell ya - you coulda knocked me over with a feather!  My hubby asked me yesterday morning if it wasn't time for me to start putting out my Halloween decorations!!!!  I looked at him like he was crazy and asked for that in writing!  So folks, the gloves are off and the decorations are coming out of storage!  It'll be much easier to work on some things since it will all be out in the open, so to speak!  Woohoo!!!!!  So, I can drag out my favorite things to be inspirational!!!  And I don't have to hide the new stuff anymore!  Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!  I'm free!!!!  Oh yes - it's gonna be Halloween now!

Unpleasant dreams...

9/6/2005 - Sweet September - Finally!

I'm very pleased to announce that the temps have settled down a bit - as they should this time of year.  I'm thrilled to be able to be outdoors without feeling icky and to be able to breathe without gills!    The humidity outside is currently 37% with a temp of 84. The low tonight is supposed to be 60.  Gotta love the fall! 

I found my small bucky and he should arrive tomorrow.  I will get my pump this week as well as my tubing and should have a working drink fountain by the weekend!  Woohoo!!!  That will be one project down, at least. 

As I mentioned earlier, it is September now.  That means full speed ahead on the prop making.  I'll add some pics as I get things done.  It's almost time to start on some tombstones as well!  Can't wait! 

Guess I should stop rambling for now - as my daddy used to say - less jawin' - more workin'!  LOL 

Unpleasant dreams...

8/30/2005 - Kat Trees

Okay - we survived!  LOL  We have a couple of trees down and the tops out of a couple more - the yard is covered with branches, limbs and sweet gum balls.  Other than the mess everything is good.  At least we will have a fallish weekend in which to clean up!  So, guess I'll be working in the yard rather than building Halloween stuff.  It is a long weekend so some magic could happen.  LOL  We shall see what we shall see.  I'm so happy to be off work on Monday!  I can hardly wait!  I'm hoping my to have some more supplies in by then to be able to work on the props!  Woohoo!  We have a cool new camera so I can take some pics as well.  I should go for now - more updates later on in the week.

Unpleasant dreams...