It's Starting to get Spooky!

 

The countdown has begun!

It's not like there's a specific date to start a countdown, is there? I just made this one up! Like many other enthusiasts, I've been stalking retail and online stores in search of all things Halloween since July. Of course this year, there were a few extra precautions to take before venturing out into the real world. At least for now, with the cooler air of autumn it's a lot easier to breathe through the face masks than it was during the dog days of summer. 

The masks themselves are a lot more fun, too. Unfortunately, some people just can't seem to figure out how to wear them correctly. He does have it over his nose though.

To be honest I was a little worried, considering all of the supply chain disruptions due to the pandemic, there might not be much of anything new this year. Can you imagine that! Our Target still has a limit on how much toilet paper a person is allowed to buy, so I don't think I was just being paranoid. Fortunately, as it turned out, I was wrong. All of the big chain stores were really well stocked, except my Target! Michael's was fantastic as usual, they had so much variety it was hard to choose. I may have to go back. 

I was tempted to pick up a few of these to mix in with my traditional Christmas nutcrackers. Wouldn't that add a little spookiness to the holidays, ha! 

 With the growing season coming to an end there's lots to do in the garden. Ivy's been stocking up on bulbs, pansies and mums. Hope they get planted before it gets too cold.

She was also on a pumpkin quest!

Will this be enough . . . probably not, ha!

While Burt and Ivy sorted out the pumpkin situation, HM and I continued the search for spooky stuff at Kirklands. Their decor was very cute, fairly unique and well stocked but the overall selection was pretty slim. We will just have to keep looking.

Still, His Madness did find something there  - to wear on his head!

Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow!

Kibitz In Charge

Last Saturday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day and the skeleton crew celebrated (in the only way possible these days) by eating and drinking too much at home! Is Ivy flirting with Jolly Roger?

As usual, Kibitz put himself in charge of the Feast of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. We humor him, even though the menu never changes and everyone already knows what they're supposed to do. 

First, he got HM busy making the spaghetti sauce.

Then put Burt in charge of the meatballs. 

  

He always has a few suggestions on how to improve the flavor.

Next, Ivy and Spenser were given a reminder that they were responsible for setting the table and making the patio shipshape for the celebrating.

Then he was off for some basil.

Ivy immediately got to work on the flowers . . .

. . .  and Spenser went back to sleep.

Finally, it was time celebrate! While looking for a new nautical-themed drink to try this year, Kibitz came across a recipe for the Universal Studios Ocean Attack Cocktail or as it's also known, The Shark Attack. Since the trip we had planned to the parks in Orlando got canceled last April, he thought it might be fun to give it a try by making it at home.

Let's just say it didn't live up to it's hype. It wasn't bad, apart from that . . . unique color but it was way too sweet for my taste. The grenadine did look like blood for awhile before it sank to the bottom and turned purple, ha! This recipe definitely has potential but it needs a lot of work to make it drinkable. Since shopping these days can mean accepting what's available (like a giant plastic bottle of rum) possibly better ingredients would have helped. Seriously, I'd rather settle for bargain rum than cheap toilet paper any day! Then again, we could adopt Mai Tai Mondays to get through all this booze. Sounds like a good excuse for a weekly Facetime/Zoom cocktail party.      

Watch out Burt, you could end up three sheets to the wind!

Here is the recipe Burt followed. It's from Intoxicology.net, which won't open now so it couldn't simply be added as a link!

Universal Studios Ocean Attack Cocktail

or the Shark Attack Drink

2 oz. Coconut Rum (I'd try Malibu if you can find it but any clear rum will do)

1 oz. Blue Curacao

3 oz. pineapple juice (or to taste)

top it off with Sprite

a dash of Grenadine or a cherry garnish for the "blood"  

After that dubious cocktail, we paid homage to the Pastafarians by consuming their supreme deity, the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Although this plate has three meatballs instead of two. Conversation was punctuated with the appropriate number of aarhs, avasts, and ass ryes. Then we made our usual donations to charities because we only want to talk like pirates, not act like them.

The next morning Burt experienced his usual amount of remorse but once again, Kibitz was on hand with the appropriate cure. Blimey! What would we do without him?

Thanks for stopping by, I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Happy Autumnal Equinox!

Spenser's Sofa Situation Part 2

 

Last March, after being in pandemic lockdown for about a week, I decided to fix up the sofa in our sunroom. As is often the case, one thing led to another and soon after starting on the slipcovers, a search was on to replace the rug and find a coffee table. One thing about being trapped at home, it can bring to light all sorts of things that need to be worked on! Then again, who knew how much stuff could be delivered right to your front door?

Spenser spends the most time on this sofa and considers it to be exclusively his.

He will reluctantly share it with the rest of us when he has to. 

Stewart, our other kitty, prefers the sunshine on the bench in front of the windows.

Nobody else ever wants to sit there!

Along with the ottoman and the rug, the sofa really needed to go too, but finding a replacement in the best of times isn't easy, let alone these days. It's still comfortable though, probably because it started out life in a high end furniture store though it was just another floor sample on clearance when I found it. I'd let my mom goad me into taking a look around a store where I never expected to find anything affordable. In the end, a great price on a really comfy sofa was impossible to pass up, even if it was too big, upholstered in off-white and my mother was never going to let me forget it was all her idea in the first place!

 I have had a love-hate relationship with this sofa forever. Here it is in it's "beforetimes" slipcovers. The original upholstery got dirty immediately and after repeated washings it started to fall apart. For the first set of replacement slipcovers I found a fabric the color of coffee stains and cat vomit. My plan to use the same fabric over the whole sofa went completely off the rails when it started looking a little dull. So I decided to add some other fabrics and it ended up looking like a giant, dismembered bumble bee. It was still comfy though and when we were sitting on it, we couldn't see how awful it looked!

Now, after the bumble bee sofa, it's back to off-white in a sturdy, washable cotton, except for this pair of blue shams. I have no idea why I bought them but the other side is plain and sort of off-white so that's two less slipcovers to make, ha! Awhile ago, one of my more contentious relatives asked how I'd describe my home decorating style. This was a trap, of course, I don't have a "style". She just wanted to lecture me on what she thought was the right answer and I wasn't falling for that! It did make me think about it though and I realized that a lot of the time, when I'm shopping for home stuff, I may not know what I'm looking for but I always know when I find it. Though it may take a few years before I figure out what to do with it!

 Spenser seems to like the new rug, apparently he's more than just a sofa kitty after all.

But now, it's on to the spooky stuff.

Thanks for stopping by!

What the Phlox?

It's been so hot and humid it's hard to believe that autumn is just around the corner. While the days may be getting shorter, the crickets and cicadas are definitely getting louder. At least, they are a welcome distraction from the sad reality of the news. My thoughts are with all those affected by the wildfires, the hurricane, Covid-19 and yet again, more heartless shootings that end young lives and change their families forever. Hopefully, in the coming election, we can have an effect on future disasters, maybe even avoid some of them. Things can change if we vote. 

Thank goodness for Mother Nature and the butterfly migration! I'm always amazed by how tough these fragile creatures are. During the day it's mostly Monarchs, Admirals and Yellow Swallowtails. 

At dusk it's the moths, a lot of the ones that look like hummingbirds show up. A few actual hummingbirds are around too, but even if I'm lucky enough to have a camera handy, I still only get blurry photos!

Awhile ago, I started to notice that there were quite a few butterflies in our garden and that they really liked the phlox. Thanks to my neglect this spring, they have taken over. Since they are one of the butterflies favorite treats, does that qualify as a silver lining? Somewhere, among all these phlox are about a dozen peony and hydrangea plants, hopefully they will survive.

It wasn't always this bad. There were a couple medium sized clumps in the backyard when we moved in. I have tried replacing them with fancy hybrids from the garden center. They were dainty little plants with bi-colored flowers and ruffly edges. Unfortunately, they rarely lasted more than a season and what came up in their place was a whole different story. At least they're not the invasive variety. Some of this season's crop is definitely going to be removed and those remaining will be carefully deadheaded. There will still be plenty left for the butterflies, of course.  

They really came up everywhere. 

Even between bricks and cement.

Always photobombing pictures of other flowers.

Yet still attracting the butterflies. Sometimes too much of a good thing is really a good thing.

After all this heat, these cooler summer nights are wonderful!

Now I need to open a new page and donate to the Red Cross and Black Lives Matter.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope everyone is enjoying a lovely summer evening.

Be Careful What You Wish For

It's Crabapple Season! Can you tell?

In May I was bemoaning the fact that due to the extreme temperature swings of this spring, our magnolia tree wasn't the mass of flowers it has been in previous years. Then a few weeks later, at the very opposite end of the garden, our crazy pink and white crabapple started to bloom.    

Like it had never bloomed before!

It rained petals for days.

To be fair, it was a very good year for crabapples all around our area, check out that one across the street! Our lilacs put on a pretty good show, too.

Eventually, all those pretty white flowers became light green crabapples.

While every last one of the fuchsia blooms turned into orange and yellow ones. Now we have lots and lots of crabapples everywhere, in the trees, all over the ground and regularly hitting us on the head!

Incoming! Look out, Burt!

 Ooooh, right between the eyes!

Wow, it got a great bounce off his skull!

Currently, we are focused on getting them out of the tomato bed.

 At this rate, it's going to take awhile.

(Looks like we have a bit of a Creeping Charlie problem to deal with too.)

These crabapples have met a fitting end in the always creepy compost bin. They were beautiful flowers but they came with a price. The cleanup has only just begun and we're probably going to need a shovel. 

Hope everyone had a safe weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!