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Tag Archives: pumpkins

“moo” said the dalmation

10 / 31 / 12

So it’s Halloween.  A day for lttle kids (and sometimes full grown adults!) to test their inner “ying & yang”.  All of the sweet little angels want to be devils, and the crazy little terrors want to be Cinderella.  It is a day that evokes so very many memories for me, somehow.  As a kid, myself, we had a big family and there were no “costumes” like some of the elaborate productions that you see today.  Basically, your choices were vast, and limited only by your imagination.  That is “code” for “find some stuff in the house and put it on; we’re leaving in five minutes”.  Well, let me just say that this was a system that worked just fine for me.  My mom’s suggestion for me…? A gypsy.  A what???  OK – Once I discovered that this costume involved lots of baby blue eye shadow and lipstick, my mom’s chiffon scarf tied around my head and lots and lots of her jewelry – especially that coveted gold coin bracelet/necklace… well, I was hooked.  So a gypsy it was… every single year.  Such a smart Mama…!

Fast forward about a hundred years – and our kids are now the “trick-or-treaters”.   Oh my gosh, they loved figuring out their Halloween costumes, but the rules were (kinda sorta) the same. We basically tried to create a costume out of things that we already had – we just gave it a month or so; rather than the traditional “five minute warning”.  There were lots of alterations… but the creative process was the fun of it!!  When they were just a couple of months old, they were tiny twin pumpkins – so cute; but store bought!  The next year, however, I was feeling really adventuresome.  I went to a fabric store and bought patterns and material to make their costumes from scratch.  Yep.  From scratch.   A bumblebee and a dalmation.  OK – let me explain something here.  I feel that sewing is kind of like math.  You either “get it/like it”… or you don’t.  Let’s just say that a sense of reality washed over me about “mid-project”.  I get math.  I don’t sew.  Too late.  So I finished it, and was feeling really proud of myself for pushing through.  I dressed the kids in their costumes and brought them out, beaming with pride, to show their daddy.  “Awww… How cute… Daddy’s got a little bumblebee and a baby cow”.  Did he say – a COW???  Oh my gosh, it was, so obviously, a DALMATION… “Just look at the ears”, I screamed!  “Those are dalmation ears!!!”  Suffice it to say, that this was the “one and only” year that I made a costume from scratch.  Any sewing from that point on was a straight seam or a needle and thread.  Period.

The years rolled on; so many memories.  An angel & a devil; a cowboy & an Indian Princess (still giggling about that pic… as you can see!), Santa & a bride; Batman & the Snow Princess…  Wow.  I remember the year of the pouring rain where we literally ran, carrying them, from house to house covered in rain ponchos; or the year that my daughter was sick and had to spend Halloween on the couch – so her brother took her treat bag and gathered candy for her at each and every house.

When my son got a little  older, we would have to bring Uncle Patrick over to carve a legit “scary” pumpkin, because Mom wasn’t very good at that.  My scary pumpkins were still kinda “happy/scary” – Like a creepy clown.

So fast forward another hundred years.  I’m gonna have to say that Halloween just isn’t the same when you’re kids are in college.  As much as I love the amazing adults they are today, and I really do,  there is still that inner mommy voice that silently wishes to go back in time just for a moment… to re-live the memory, to capture that feeling…  But I can’t.  So I make Halloween coffee/tea and drink it out of my Halloween mug (from when they were little) one more day.  The neighbor kids will be out in full force tonight and I love seeing all of them!!  Time permitting, our little nephew will stop by for a quick pic and a dip into our Halloween bucket.  I will, however, have to keep his mom away from my display of Halloween photos from years past.  She was over the other day, and was gazing admiringly, at all of the pics.  She is one of those people who DOES sew, so the fact that she was fixated on the pic of my “bumblebee and dalmation” was particularly impressive.  She obviously recognized the quality and workmanship that went into those costumes.  “Awww… How cute!” she exclaimed.  “A bumblebee and a cow!”.  Right.  I give.  “Mooo….”, said the dalmation.

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falling into fall

10 / 18 / 12

This past Sunday was a glorious fall day.  Perfection really.  Cool sunshine and the trees ablaze with color.  The rumor, this year, was that the drought was going to rob us of a beautiful autumn… but, oh my, I beg to differ.

I love fall.  Crunchy leaves, brilliant, glowing color, pumpkins and hot apple cider, sweaters and cozy blankets, soup and comfort food, sipping wine by an outdoor fire…  If there has to be a downfall to autumn, it is the fact that it is never, EVER long enough.  Winter just isn’t my thing. At all.  Let me say that again.  AT ALL.  I considered this on Sunday.  As beautiful as the trees were that day, I knew that it was only a matter of time, and a little wind, before our trees were naked and primed for (gulp!) the inevitable….  With that in mind, I grabbed my camera and started exploring, in a desperate attempt to somehow capture, and retain, the moment.

Today was a blustery “Winnie-the-Pooh” kinda day – and COLD!  The wind howled outside, blowing huge gusts of crunchy leaves in circles outside my windows.  Looking out, it was impossible NOT to think about Sunday.  Glorious Sunday; when the trees were lush and full and saturated in brilliant color.  No longer.  The grass was now a carpet of fresh fall foliage.

Lucky for me, today I had a stay-at-home “things to do list” that only seemed to multiply as the day went on!  You know the kind – Cross one thing off, add three more!  So I threw another load of laundry in, gathered my IPAD, laptop, phone and my “to-do pile” and parked myself on our glassed in porch.  Warmed up some apple cider and started the fire while the wind continued to howl outside.  Looking out at my half naked trees, I closed my eyes and hit the rewind button.  Yes.  I remember.  It was Sunday.  Glorious Sunday…

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Hello, friends!!

I love mismatched chairs and organized closets; springtime thunderstorms and Sunday morning coffee; pearls and puppy breath; welcome home hugs and walking the beach; fresh flowers and flea markets; autumn leaves and afternoon tea.

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