Happy Halloween!

Since it's Monday and all the festivities were over the weekend, there's not much to do but pass out the candy. That's okay, so far tonight there's been some crazy costumes and horror movie villains are definitely having a moment. There was a dad dressed up as a suicide bomber that made me feel a little uneasy so I had his fairy princess daughter take a candy bar for him, too. Trick or Treating is never dull.

I've had this set of treat buckets since my son was in grade school. (Wow, they might be as old as the McDonald's ones!) Anyway, how did I not notice how cute the inside is? So, I decided it was a thing to share before covering it up with candy bars. 

HM and I took a drive yesterday to check out how our neighbors had done up their houses and to our surprise, they hadn't! In our town, decking out your house for Halloween has never been as popular as putting up Christmas lights but it was definitely a lot spookier last year. Then finally, on a street lined with stately homes - the last place you would expect, we found the Grim Reaper and his friends.

To call this "going all out" seems like an understatement.

Of course, they had to have one of these guys.

 I'm resisting the temptation to order a 12' skeleton by looking at the cost of renting a storage unit. Although, if we got a boat that would justify the having extra storage, but that's probably going too far.

Back at Chez Madness we were making do with more traditional decorations. 

His Madness and Kibitz took the final shift passing out the candy. Will it last until 7:00 pm?

(Like we don't have plenty in reserve, duh!) 

That's all that's left? Good thing we got those two extra boxes!

Kibitz and His Madness have officially declared Trick or Treating to be over until next year. 

As for Halloween, well that's never really over.

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Thanks for stopping by, see you next week.  

Pumpkins

Tomorrow's the big day!

Burt has declared himself to be the King of the Pumpkins.

The weather has been so weird we have had to wait until the very last minute to carve our pumpkins. Now Burt is worried that we may not have enough and will they get them done in time?  Being king is a huge responsibility and it's stressing him out. Good thing Ivy is there to reassure him they can do it.

 

Polly's Pumpkin Patch was fun but for serious carving we usually rely on the ones from our local garden center. They always have a few to choose from.

After all this time, you would think we would remember to ask why the little pumpkins in the orange trailer are so inexpensive. They're probably either too hard to carve or are the edible ones for pie.

These beautifully painted gourds were very tempting but we were there for pumpkins and really didn't need anymore decorations at the time, or probably ever.

Kibitz made the final inspection of the removal of the innards. 

Then he declared them clean and ready to carve.

King Burt put on his crown and declared it pumpkin carving time! Better late than never. 

But first, pie. Hope they get them done in time.

Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow!

Cats in the Kitchen

It's National Cat Day, give your kitty a hug - if they'll let you!

After taking a look around the kitchen, The Skeleton Crew realized there was a lot of cat decor. In fact, compared to cats, skeletons are really under represented in our Halloween decorations! Thanks to their rare cooperation, last year's National Cat Day post was all about our real feline masters roommates. Not wanting to push my luck again, this year, instead of focusing on actual kitties, let's see how much they dominate the seasonal look.  

The original plan was to take a look at all of the black cat decor in the house. Then, while Burt was making himself a cappuccino, he decided we should maybe just stick to one room at a time. Wonder why?

Who knew there was this much? Actually, most of these Halloween decorations were picked up on impulse at clearance sales in November. Apparently, after a decade or so, it starts to add up. The two Bastet figures were originally on the mantle until one Christmas they clashed with the stockings. Looking back, I should've just bought everyone new stockings in black. Santa wouldn't have cared, would he?

Down at the other end of the shelf, Kibitz is keeping an eye on his candy corn. I see the jar is still full.

So he came up with ten black cats on the coffee shelf (one is behind him, in case you're counting). 

A single tray over by the stove has some black cats on it but there's other spooky icons, too.

In the pantry, Burt saw some cats mugs and cats frightening other cats. 

He also found a cute kitty tin that holds the tea bags no one ever uses, along with a tray for serving that tea. They look lonely but in great condition. 

Then there are those functional things that we never find the time to make use of. At least these cookie cutters are in a really cute, slightly damaged box. Somebody must have used it.

Ivy has strict countdown calendar rules. 1. If a new one comes in, an old one has to go to Goodwill, no exceptions. 2. One per room. 3. Burt is not allowed to change them to dates that don't exist.

Kibitz is very good at finding every last cat image, especially ones that could be easily overlooked.

Why is that not a surprise?

Finally, Burt was quick to point out there was also a kitty on the bag he used for his genius solution to the snack overload problem.

Since we picked up a basket to store all the goodies in, he has decided to wear the empty bag as a hat, sort of like an ancient Egyptians pharaoh? Is he under the influence of Bastet or just being Burt?

The Crew eventually became completely overwhelmed and gave up the hunt without coming close to finding all the cats in the kitchen. Honestly, it's not that big a space and they didn't even look in the cupboards! Maybe they will have better luck next year in another room. 

Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow!

Leftover Marshmallows

 

It's Halloween Weekend!

Last month, while shopping for coffee online, I needed to add an extra item to get the free shipping and this cocoa mix brought the order to the right amount. Calling it "Drinking Chocolate" got my attention. As for Bones Coffee, it tastes good, but I buy it mainly because I love their silly names and the fun artwork on the packaging.

Anyway, their hot cocoa is okay but the marshmallows in the mix are barely there. So we added some miniature ones and that brought it to a better level. Then we finished the hot chocolate and ended up with lots of leftover marshmallows. What a vicious circle.

 His Madness decided we needed to make a pumpkin pie to use up all those marshmallows.

What?

  

After he convinced us that topping a pumpkin pie with marshmallows was actually a thing, everyone pitched in to help. Ivy mixed up the filling while Burt beat the eggs. We were still pretty skeptical about how this was all going to come together. 

HM got the crust ready. 

Then theatrically added the gloopy filling and the pie went into the oven for about 40 minutes. 

When it came out of the oven there was a mad scramble to cover the top with tiny marshmallows before putting it under the broiler to turn it golden. Phew!

Much to everyone's surprise it actually worked and better yet, it smelled like toasted marshmallows!

How will we ever be able to wait for it to cool?  

Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow!

 

Decorating the Front Porch

 

Trick or Treating is right around the corner.

It's time to get spooky!

But first, we have to clean up after the squirrels.

Oh look, Burt found one the Halloween wreaths hanging out with Jolly Roger.

I'm sure those guys had some catching up to do.

After another look around he also located the lights and garland and yet another McDonalds Happy Meal Halloween bucket! Who ever thought they would be a thing? We keep running into them in our basement and this whole craze is making me feel really, really old. 

Ivy and Kibitz were also a little confused by what they found but not in the same way. 

Later, they realized they had used the unlit garland as soon as they had finished putting it up, oops! Didn't they make that same mistake last year?

The lights are up and working, for now, ha! It's the same old thing we do every year. The Crew will be carving the pumpkins on Sunday so we are officially ready for Trick or Treating - as soon as we find two more boxes of candy bars!

Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow!

A Candy Situation

It's Trick or Treat Preparedness Week.

Ready or not, Halloween is only four days away!

The Crew went out shopping for candy a couple of days ago and discovered there were only four boxes of full size candy bars left! Now, someone will have to drive around town looking for at least two more boxes. Kibitz seems to be grasping the seriousness of the situation better than Burt.

Ivy at least had the presence of mind to pick up a couple bags of smaller bars in case we can't find any more of the full size ones.

Kibitz went out on his own and found a half dozen Snickers and four very, very strange lollipops. Wonder if he has someone special in mind to give them to?  

He also brought home two bags of candy corn!

Technically,  they're Autumn Mix and Harvest Corn but they all taste the same. 

He doesn't even eat it, he just likes the way it looks in a jar.

It's okay as long as it's just sitting on the coffee shelf like another piece of decor. However, if we run out of candy, some unsuspecting Trick or Treater is getting the other unopened bag.

It's always hard to tell how much candy is enough. One year I ran out and I don't want that to happen again! Usually we have around a hundred Trick or Treaters but this year with Halloween on a Monday, will that make a huge difference? Probably not, ha! I guess it's time to get out there and find some more big candy bars!

Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow!