Thursday, November 5, 2015

Halloween Leftovers

October was such a busy month for me, as I'm sure it was for all of you! Now that Halloween is over, I find that I still haven't shared a lot of what happened during that month with you guys. So these leftovers are the bits of fun I didn't quite get a chance to blog about until now.

Starting with our annual trip to The Elegant Farmer to get a caramel apple!


The guy who was dipping the apples did a very careful job, meaning that the caramel was nearly dry by the time I got to the table of sprinkles. So my caramel apple was sitting in a bowl of little jimmies and nuts. Still tasted great!


My mom had the more sensible cut up apples:



The happy face barn


The electric train I've shared photos of in the past. You can see the wiring above it.




A few photos from the trip out there. I loved that these people decorated their crane for Halloween.



I managed to get some pics of those elusive crows I seem to have trouble photographing. I often hear them but can't see them, or once I do they move pretty fast and I can't get to my camera in time. So it was nice of this group to hang around a while.


I got a few quick photos of a cemetery while riding by (in the passenger seat). I was pleased with how these turned out, considering the speed we were moving at. I think the autumn trees look cool with the tombstones.


 

Those cemetery photos were taken on the way to The Irish Cultural and Heritage Center. The center is in an old church, which as you can see has an amazingly huge pipe organ.


Naturally, one of the things that comes to mind with an organ like this is The Phantom of the Opera and that's just what we heard! This generous free concert featured a few spooky old Halloween songs, like "Funeral March of a Marionette". The organist glided in wearing a black cloak and carrying a lantern. He made his way over to the organ and flung his cloak to the side with a flourish as he sat down. It was really pretty cool!



They did a great job decorating the church. Look at this neat floral display, complete with crows! And they probably had all these cool floral and candle holders already for other church purposes.


After the organ introduction, these two sang through the Phantom of the Opera song list. They were so talented and I got emotional like I usually do when listening to this music. I'd moved over to the side of the church and was more or less alone, and that might have been why I was feeling the music in such a direct way. I felt like they were singing it straight to me! Maybe it was that or it could have been the emotional way they were singing it, but I had an actual tear in my eye!


Those candle holders I mentioned:


I loved this - a Phantom mask, complete with big rat and spider crawling around. This was at the front of the stage.


This window in the church isn't spooky, but it's too beautiful not to include.


On the way home, I managed to get a close up shot of the front of The Rave/Eagles Club. It was all decked out with various critters. If you click on this picture you'll maybe see the pumpkins, skeleton, and part of a ghoul. The Rave is rumored to be haunted and I believe it from a brief experience I had there!


Some beautiful fall foliage from "The Autumn Blaze Maple"






A spirited man in a pumpkin hat at our local farmers' market. Some people dressed up on this day and some of the vendors were giving out candy.

 

Me as a scarecrow. Really slimming, right? ;)





A sunny field near the market.


There's an old cabin from the 1800s that is near the farmers' market. It used to be on another side of town and was moved here.


A newer (although not that new) house also stands nearby.


That Norman Rockwell statue in our town was decked out with a few crows.




A particularly Halloweeny shot of the moon
 


Trick-or-treat was actually held on Halloween night around here. I like this pic because it looks like the jack-o-lantern is going to eat the candy.


The skull that is normally in pirate mode was a witch this year. We had our matching net veils on.


I waited for the kids in my outfit, under many layers. It was a cold night, but at least it had stopped raining by that point. It had been storming all day and I wondered if anyone would come by. Turns out more kids came by than maybe ever!
 

I had a lot of little characters drop by. They were for the most part not afraid of me and downright chatty. The standout experience was when a couple of the kids actually scared me. Two actual twin girls who were probably five or six years old wandered slowly up the sidewalk toward me holding hands and outfitted as complete Grady girls. They looked me dead in the eye the whole time and slowly muttered "Come and play with us... Forever and ever and ever..." I was in front of my chair at this point, crouched down as I usually am when I see little kids coming up to me. So these girls were eye to eye with me. They got close. I actually stumbled back into the chair and said "Oh my god. You're so scary." And I meant it! They could see it in my eyes I think.

They got their candy and slowly turned around, still hand in hand. I heard them giggling on the way back and the other kids told them to stop because they weren't supposed to giggle at any point. This was clearly well planned out and rehearsed! The girls got back to the street and I could see them telling their dad what happened and him kind of jumping up like "Yes!" And then I heard him say with satisfaction "OK. I'm good to go home now!" Mission accomplished.


Then there were a few boys who came up dressed in those black spandex suits, you know where they just look like a shadow with no face. The first one I asked what he was and he says "You know, actually I have no idea". Then like a half hour later the second one drops by and I ask what he is. This scary voice creeps out... "I am the darkness". Oooh, these kids were good!

Another interesting moment was when this little boy dressed like Darth Vader came to the door and his dad is behind him holding an iphone playing "The Imperial March" dum dum da dum dum da dum. And the dad tells me that Darth had to have his own soundtrack. :) Then the kid went back to the street and rode down it in a little electric car. No lie.

These biscuits were cut out with Halloween cookie cutters. And that squiggly one is a "snake". (Leftover dough)
 

The annual candy corn parfait:


A nearby neighborhood had a lot of neat Halloween decorations out.



I wish more of this yard would show up. It's really something in the daylight. These people have set up a massive cemetery in their front yard, complete with black fencing. There are so many gross details, like zombies crawling about. But unfortunately, they didn't light up much of it at night.


All that was lit was this super creepy clown at the peak of their roof. There was some sort of moving light going under it.


Yikes!


I've been out hauling at Target, Michaels, and Walgreens, so that After Halloween Haul post will be up soon!

17 comments:

  1. Wow, that looks like a great adventure. Thanks for sharing that with us! Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris ~ You're welcome! Which part? Or do you mean the entire month?

      Delete
  2. Excellent shots .Especially of the moon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DJ Trish ~ Thank you! I was so surprised at how that one pic came out with the orange light reflected off the branches and grass. It really fit the Halloween mood!

      Delete
  3. Haw, it's always a good Halloween if you get to spook a few adults!

    Looks like you had a happy October!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mantan ~ Yeah, I guess that's what the kids thought. :) I have to wonder how many other adults they got to spook that night. A lot of people seemed to be doing that trusting leave the candy on the porch routine. It was a fun and unexpected thing for me to genuinely be scared by a couple of kids.

      I did have a happy October! I hope you did too. I'm sure you were busy with all sorts of fun Halloween activities.

      Delete
  4. Fun photos! What a fantastic capture of the moon!

    It's funny, I have my annual "Halloween Leftovers" photo post going up today, too! Great minds! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah ~ Nice to see you here! Thank you! I was super happy with those moon shots.

      You do a "Halloween Leftovers" post each year? I wasn't even aware of that. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for it! Yeah, great minds!

      Delete
  5. I want to live in your neighborhood! By the sound of it, you have THE best trick or treaters. All of the kiddos at my parents house this year were SO little, and you had to prompt almost every one to say "trick or treat".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Miranda ~ Haha, Thanks. :) I have to say, I was really surprised by the kids this year. The first surprise was getting any kids at all, because of the lousy weather. But then to have such a mix of bold, chatty, joking kids! I guess the spirited ones came out at night in misty weather. I really appreciated their spirit!

      Ah, so you had some shy little kids. There have been some of those in the past here, so I know what you mean. The kind that stand there peering up at you with their mouths agape. Then it's just awkward! I sometimes wonder if it's because I'm out there in costume, if maybe they're just really easily frightened. But I always say it's funny how people teach their kids to be afraid of strangers for the whole year and not talk to them or take candy from them, and then at Halloween they send them up to an adult stranger's door to get candy. :) I can get how that might confuse a kid!

      I hope you at least got to see some cute costumes on the kids!

      Delete
  6. Justine - There is a lot of great stuff here! I especially like the environment around The Elegant Farmer and your witches costume! The veil really adds some spookiness. Sounds like you enjoyed having more kids this year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Matt ~ Thank you! I thought you might like that country landscape around The Elegant Farmer. Speaking of land like that, I was in the country again today on the way to an estate sale. I took some pics of barns and old farm houses that I think you'll like. I'll email you some of those tonight.

      I was happy with how that witch costume came together, especially since it came down to layering on tons of stuff for warmth! It always feels like an accomplishment if you can be warm in a Halloween costume and not have to put the dreaded coat on over the top of it. :)

      The veil is lots of fun to wear, because I get to feel mysterious. It cuts down on my sight a bit and between that and getting my hat caught in a string of lights when I got out of my chair, I think I might have amused a few kids. I did enjoy having more trick-or-treaters this year! I like the whole interaction as they come by telling me what they're dressed as or talking about what I have on. It's something I look forward to each year!

      Delete
    2. Justine - sounds good, I like collecting pictures of old houses :)

      Delete
  7. Those Grady twins sound awesome!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lady M ~ They were! I only wish I had their performance on video for you all to see. I just couldn't believe the effort and execution. It was appreciated!

      Delete
  8. I loved every minute of this! Your candy apple made me hungry and the colors on the trees is just perfect! Great way to extend Halloween a few more days Justine ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melody ~ Thank you! :) My candy apple pics are making me hungry for one too! Mmmm.... I love the colors we get around here on the trees. I bet you've seen some pretty trees this autumn too. I know you are surrounded by a lot of nature. Haha, Thanks! Yeah, I'm not ready for Halloween to be over. I try to stretch it out as long as possible. You won't see me putting out snowman decorations for some time. ;)

      Delete