Category Archives: Halloween

Early snow and pumpkin carving!

On Thursday, the forecast called for some snow, but I think everyone was expecting a light dusting and that would be it. Well, it started falling fairly heavy and wet and by late afternoon, this is what it looked like!

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Then it started to ice up after it got dark.  I heard what I thought was a snow slide off of our slate roof (sounds like rumbling) and didn’t think much about it until 15 minutes later when our neighbor came knocking on the door that some big branches fell across the sidewalk and a little into the road. She helped me drag them onto our lawn.  All night you could hear branches and debris thumping on the roof and such.  A lot of the snow melted during the night, but so many branches had come down.

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What a mess!  John was out of town, so I did most of the clean up with our loppers and put  all the debris at the curb for the city to pick up.  There was one big one that had to be cut with a chain saw, which I left for John 😀   Unfortunately, a lot of trees in town suffered damage and falling branches knocked out the power for some people, luckily not us.  The city work crew is going to be really busy this week.

Halloween is coming, so it was time for our annual pumpkin carving party!

Carvers busy, except for a couple missing people.

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My niece had what had to be a 30 pound pumpkin!

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My design was Oogie Boogie from Nightmare Before Christmas.

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John did Jack Skellington 😀

Of course, snacks were had and for dessert, we made a pumpkin monkey bread with chai glaze:

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Recipe here for the bread. The chai glaze was just heating up a little milk, steeping chai tea bags and then adding powder sugar to make a glaze (removing tea bags). Delicious!

We had carved, painted with bling and sticker pumpkins this year:

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Boo!

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Happy Halloween everyone!!

Pumpkin Party!

We got a chance to christen our dining room and kitchen with a pumpkin carving party on Monday night!  It’s a little early to be carving, but the only chance we had where all of us were free to do it. Look out newly done dining room and kitchen – the pumpkins have arrived!

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We all got busy carving:

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Pumpkin guts everywhere.  Thank goodness we don’t have carpet. It’s easy to clean pumpkin guts off the hardwood floor 😀

I am usually the fastest carver, but I kept running out to the kitchen getting snacks and stuff ready. I still finished near the front, though.

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The nieces went freestyle on their pumpkins and decorated with some bling.

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As each pumpkin got finished, we set them on the inside stairs before going outside:

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Then we took them outside and admired our handiwork.

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I have one big pumpkin to carve on Thursday or Friday as it is starting to get soft on top and I didn’t want to cut it open until closer to Halloween so it doesn’t get mushy.

As my dad proclaimed “Another successful pumpkin party!”  😀  I didn’t even freak out over the mess everywhere in the house, either LOL!

Happy Halloween and October Wrap Up!

Happy Halloween!  It’s rainy and drizzly here, which I think is keeping some kids from coming out, although they are drifting in as I type this.

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I did the mummy pumpkin on Wednesday night.  I really do like carving 😀

I did a more subtle version of candy corn with my nails doing a watercolor technique.  I really like how this looks. Excuse my cuticles. They are a bit of a mess.

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I actually just removed this polish today since it got chipped with my guitar playing, but it lasted since Saturday. I’ll definitely be doing this again with other colors.

So anyway, here were the goals I set for myself for October and how I did:

  1. Try at least one new recipe a week.  I actually did a few new recipes. Some not as healthy as others. A couple that I posted on the blog were grilled coconut chicken and the crockpot jambalaya. I also did the pumpkin crunch cake, a dip and I made some pumpkin muffins from Ellie Krieger.
  2. Make a list of all the things to do around the house and actually do some of them.  The list is made. Not a lot crossed off of it, but at least the list is there. We have both chipped away at it.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
  3. Curb snacking.  I really struggled with this one. Work stress got pretty bad there for a while and I responded poorly to it.
  4. The return of the Pink Picture!  Done and done!

The snacking was the goal that kind of irritated me. Like I said before, I am not an emotional eater except for stress. And it doesn’t have to be junk food, either. You can overeat nuts or nut butter or pretzels or even dried cranberries. I had put the kibosh on candy corn for a couple weeks just because I knew that I was stressed and I would have eaten all of it had it been in the house earlier in the month, so at least there was that.

Now to come up with November goals!  There is one I am pulling John into doing 😀

Last pink picture of the month.  This is the pink that does all the photos!

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The Breast Cancer Site

Pumpkin Party!

We spent part of Saturday taking down anything that might blow around from when Sandy gets here.  Not sure how bad the effects will be up here.  Certainly not what is expected at the coast, but it can’t hurt to be prepared on the safe side for high winds and lots of rain.   We are prepared for power loss.

We also got in a bike ride.  That will be the last ride until at least Saturday as rain is coming in for about 5 days.  Ugh.

Sunday started out with a bagel.

Then I came home, got some chowder started and did a run.  30 minutes of running at a nice slow pace.  It seems to take for*ever to run when you normally bike.

Then it was time for a pumpkin carving party!  I found the perfect pumpkin – it still has the curlicues on the stem!

Carving pumpkins is a great way to break in the new laminate floors  :mrgreen:

We had some free form pumpkins and some from Pumpkin Masters.  I chose a Pumpkin Masters pattern.

This pattern was hard and a lot of meticulous cutting  – especially the little fingers at the top.

Lots of scooping and cutting!

When most of the pumpkins were done, we took a dinner break.  Cheese and crackers and fruit.

Those are some baked pumpkin donuts that John made using a mini bundt pan.

I also made a potato and corn chowder in the crock pot (recipe to come).

This soup was really good!

Finished pumpkins on the porch:

When it was dark, it was time to test them out!

 

I like how mine came out, but man was it a lot of work!

John’s looked good.

I love to carve pumpkins.  I actually have another small one to do.  I guess if we lose power on Tuesday, I can carve it 😀

Now to settle in for the night and watch the Broncos play the Saints.  My two favorites teams!

 

Stay safe everyone!  Heed all advice given out, better to be safe than sorry.

Happy Halloween and October Wrap Up!

Happy Halloween!  Meet the Candy Corn Vampire!

John and I started off the day different and went out for a bagel.  I woke up yesterday not feeling well, so we didn’t get our normal Sunday breakfast out.  We decided to go on Monday instead.  Nice treat!

We just didn’t get to spend as long yakking and talking as we do on Sunday mornings because there was work to be done.

Plus shipping out the big soap order.

That took up some time to do.  This is the only person I make soap for and I think she sells it at craft shows.

Lunch time! John made up clam chowder yesterday, so that was on the menu with some mango.

On to the monthly goal wrap up and how I did.

1.  Water conservation.  I am going to get wet, wash my face, then turn off the water to soap up the rest of me and my hair.  Then turn the water on and rinse.  This did not last long.  It was cold and I realized that my daydreaming in the shower doesn’t usually occur when I am soaping up, but while rinsing off.  Instead, we converted our upstairs toilet to a low-flow one with a kit.  Good enough!

2. Post a pink picture each day! I did just about every day (I forgot yesterday). Don’t forget to click on the last day!

3. Keep going with Pilates 2x a week.  I did a mix of Pilates and straight up stretching. Feels good.

4.  Try 4 new recipes this month and post them.  I did 3.  Stupid work getting in the way.

5. Be conscious of wheat.  I did not do too well on this one.  I did have some GF days, but I also ate my share of wheat!

Not a lot of progress on those goals.  C’est la vie!  I’ll have a new set to implement tomorrow 😀

Break time!  Almond milk latte.

I also decided to go out for a walk during the warmest part of the day.  I did 3 miles.

I was hungry for dinner later – must have been the walk.  I cooked up turkey burgers tonight, which I put on an oopsie roll (recipe and technique coming this week).

Tasty!

Now the kids are coming and loving our pumpkins!

I think they get more excited about seeing the pumpkins than the treats 😀

John and I also are anticipating the football game tonight.  We are down to the wire. The winner of tonight’s game gets to pick this week’s dinner!  Come on, Chiefs!  I have dried pineapple just waiting for my game snack, too!

Last pink item of October. This is a basket made as part of the Ubumwe Basket Project, which helps   poor women in Rwanda earn money. They make the baskets and get all of the proceeds from the sale of them.

The Breast Cancer Site

Pumpkins galore!

We narrowly escaped the snow for the Northeast!  We were predicted for a lot of snow, but it just skirted us and we only had a dusting.  Thank goodness because twice in 1 week for October would have been too much to handle.   I feel for the people a little south and east of us that were pounded.

It was a more quiet weekend around here.  What better thing to do than to carve pumpkins right before Halloween?

We use the Pumpkin Master patterns and bought a new booklet this year for a change.

 

Pumpkin carving tip:  Photocopy the pattern and reduce or enlarge to the size of your pumpkin so the pattern fits.

You put the pattern on the pumpkin and poke little holes through the pattern to transfer it to the pumpkin.

 

Then you can open the top and clean out the guts.

Thick pumpkin!!! I am saying right here and now that pumpkins stink when you open them up. I love pumpkins, love looking at pumpkins, love eating pumpkin,  but they smell when raw.

We don’t save the seeds.  I remember toasting pumpkin seeds and then never really liking them.  The seeds aren’t the same as the pepitas anyway.  Too fibrous.

Pumpkin carving tip: After you have transferred the pattern, wipe it with cornstarch so you can see the pattern.

Then cut out the pattern, making reference to the paper pattern so you don’t cut the wrong stuff.  Not that I have ever done that!

You can take a break from the carving with some homemade kettle corn, too!  Use oil to pop your corn (coconut is best!). When you put the kernels in to the hot oil, add 3 tablespoons of sugar to the kernels and pop as usual. Sprinkle with salt when it is done.  Voila, homemade kettle corn super easy!

Optional, but tasty!

Pumpkin carving tip:  Scrape the inner wall of the pumpkin thinner behind your pattern.  This will make it easier to carve and easier to see when back lit.

This one is one of my new favorite patterns, it came out so cool!

This witch is stirring a pot, but John said she looks like she is rocking out with a guitar.

John did an ad lib with his pattern and added a couple things. He made the RIP headstone and added a crescent moon. He is such a rebel!

Who says kids get all the fun on Halloween?

Goblin Gallop roundup.

Happy Halloween! I was up way too early for my Goblin Gallop on Saturday. Finally a race that is about 4 miles from home, so I can sleep in, and I woke up too early. Sigh…

Last pink item of the month! My jammies 😀

The Breast Cancer Site

I made up a pre-race breakfast of banana custard oats topped with PB and blueberry jam.

With a couple cups of coffee.  It was nice to sit and relax before going out for the race.  I dressed up as a bumble bee again this year!

It was cold, you can see my clenched fists.  38 degrees at race start.

I was going along pretty well and finally got warmed up.  This is the same exact route as last year.  I felt really slow.  Know how that happens?  Same thing with this race last year, and we think the course is a little long because they do 2 loops in the neighborhood and how could that be exactly 3.1 miles?  Anyway – I really pushed it for the last 1/2 mile or so.  I finished in 31:33!  I was so not expecting that time.  Slower than last year, but more than a minute faster than my last 5K.  Yippee!!

Happy finishers:

John finished in 27 something.  So fast!

My mom came out and supported us today:

There were a ton of snacks afterwards.  I took a picture, but it was totally fogged up because my camera was cold from being outside:

I could not resist the candy corn cupcake!

Since today was my only full day off of the week, we decided to go out to Starbucks and have a sit and just chill out:

I just get one of these a week (days off, not coffee)!

We wanted to get some apples at a local orchard, so off to Saratoga after lunch:

We were going to go picking, but it was $6 per person and we did not need $12 worth of apples (we already have some).   But we did get a few.  Check out the giant bins of apples!

Some huge apples, too.  This was in John’s hand:

I like my apples smaller, so I went for the macintosh.  We also had to have a small cider donut:

Delicious and fresh.  Dunkin Donuts has nothing on these! Some man saw me taking a picture of this and said “Taking a picture so you can remember how good it was?”  LOL.  Something like that, I guess.

We bought some local honey:

And then browsed around:

Goose neck squash gave me a laugh.

Then it was home.  I did win the football picks last week, so John took me out to dinner.  I chose Wholey Crepe.  I had a crepe with egg, feta cheese, and bacon:

Very good!  John had a salmon crepe with dill/wasabi sauce, which he did not like at all.  Poor guy.

I like crepes because they don’t make you stuffed, which leaves room for splitting dessert!

Yes, it was that good.  A scoop of chocolate mousse on top of the crepe.  They didn’t charge us for the dessert crepe because John didn’t like his meal.  That was very nice of them!  This place is so tucked away of the main drag that I fear they won’t make it, which would be a real shame.

Saturday night also included pumpkin carving!

We don’t have children, but we do love doing the carving and handing out the candy.  It’ s messy, but fun.

The results?

Hope the treaters enjoy!

Can you believe this was all in 1 day?  I was beat after all that LOL!

Happy Halloween!

Boo!

Today was the last rest day before our home duathlon tomorrow!  We decided to have a bagel today since we wouldn’t be tomorrow.  Off to Panera by car.

I actually have 2 days off.  I took Sunday off from job 1, so I actually have a whole weekend!

We hit the grocery store (making it really feel like Sunday) and stocked up on some favorites for lunch!

Yogurt berry mash:

Without a bike ride today, we were free to explore whatever.  Stopped at a fall festival at a farm and tack shop.

$5 pumpkins!  They were enormous, so we bought a couple for carving.

Cuteness overload with some baby alpacas:

I wanted to hug both of them!

I asked John if he wanted to start an alpaca farm, but he said no.

We decided to head to the lake to get some coffee and do a little carb loading. :mrgreen:

Pretty church off the main drag:

Stopped for a latte:

plus a maple cinnamon roll:

Then we stopped at one of those giant Halloween superstores.  It was almost like going to a haunted house for free!

And who doesn’t need some of this on hand?

Boo!

You could drop a mint decorating for Halloween!

Home for dinner.  Baked buffalo shrimp with brussels:

Nice relaxing day just doing stuff.  Don’t you like days like that? Going to get all my stuff ready for tomorrow’s ‘race.’  John and I decided to go ahead and go full out.  He will probably finish before I do, as he has the running speed.  I don’t think I can catch him during the bike ride.  I am actually going to wear my bib number from last year’s duathlon!

Snack time:

And some DVD watching of the Simpsons Treehouse of Terror to get in the Halloween mood!

Pink item of the day!  This is a bath fizzie shaped like a cupcake:


The Breast Cancer Site

NROLW, omelets, and pumpkins, oh my!

Packed a lot into today!  I tried to sleep in a little later and managed to sleep until about 7, which was good.  I needed to wait until it was light enough outside to bike to the gym.  Temps were upper 40s this morning, so definitely doable.

NROLW Stage 6 A:  last workout!

  • Negative chinups:  3 sets of 1
  • Wide grip lat pulldown with slow release:  1o sets of 2 at 70 pounds
  • Barbell split squats:  3 sets of 6 at 70 pounds
  • Pushups:  3 sets of 6 with feet elevated.

I was encouraged on the chinups today.  The first one I hopped up to the bar and held myself up for quite a while, much longer than when I first started.  The other 2 were the usual length.   I think given a few months, I could progress to actual chinups.

John met me at the gym and we biked 5 miles to Maude’s Kitchen for my football meal!

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This place is cute as a button inside!  It’s like from the 50s:

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The breakfast menu is made up of dishes that Maude’s children loved.  I think she had something like 9 kids.  I got the biggest kick out of this one:

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I had an omelet with home fries, and John had oatmeal with a side of ham and toast.  Switcheroo for us!

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A most excellent breakfast and I could watch them cook it at the griddle, so it was all fresh!  This spread for the 2 of us was $13.  Can’t beat that!  I was so hungry after the workout and bike ride and ate all but about 1/2 the potatoes.

Pink item of the day at our table:

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Pumpkin shopping time at the garden center after I got home (and showered 😀  )

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They also had Christmas lawn stuff out for sale.  Looks like the reindeer got into Santa’s eggnog again:

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I spent about 5 minutes giggling over this outside. 😀

Lunch was pretty delayed and just a Zone bar because of the big breakfast.  I so have Maude’s on my list to revisit.  I spent a good deal of time picking out my pumpkin pattern and contemplating a new career in dentistry 😉

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I used a pattern for a scary clown:

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John did a free form, sort of alien thing:

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Dinner was almost pizza, but then we decided we could cook up shrimp and grits really quickly and it was delicious!

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We just sauteed a bit of lean bacon with some chopped onion, sprinkled flour over it and some vegetable broth, then added the shrimp.  Served over grits. Yum!

We are running a 5K tomorrow on Halloween!  Provided it isn’t pouring rain, but weather looks okay for now.  I am going to try to dress as a bee using yellow duct tape over a black outfit.  I have the antennae made with a headband (which Pixie found to be quite fascinating). It should be interesting at any rate.

Question:  Do you have your pumpkins carved before Halloween?