Caramel Apples and Chainsaw Art

I have another wholesome, sunny fall day for you guys! So in a way it's a continuation of my last blog post. Every year I look forward to our trip out through the country to the Elegant Farmer. This year, I spotted something fun before we had our caramel apples. There was an artist in front of a shop there, carving figures with his chainsaw.

How fun is his pumpkin man creation? Look at those toenails. There was also this spooky witch. She'll stare right through you!

So here is the carver at work:

I had to get a pic of his t-shirt. I love this.

Some of his previous creations were out on the lawn. It looked like he was making a gnome or Santa figure while I was photographing him.

I just checked out his web site after looking at the company name on this trailer. I got a kick out of the beaver with the chainsaw here:

Younger's Woodery

Across from the chainsaw artist, was the smiley face barn. I'm sure you remember this friendly face!

Time for the caramel apples! This year, we had some massive Granny Smiths.

I lucked into a lot of caramel, because my apple slipped while the girl was coating it. So it got a second go round. Mmm... Look at that reflection in the caramel. As usual, I ended up with a pile of random sprinkles/nuts in the dish.

Mom had the more sensible/easier to eat, pre-cut caramel apple.

You can see the wind was really blowing that day!

We had good timing and saw the electric trains coming in as we left.

You can see the wires there, above the train.

See the face in the light?

Has anyone heard of that "Storck" beer? Looking at the $2.79 a case part, we can assume that's an older brand.

For Pep, Drink Zep! 5¢ for a bottle Zep. That must be older than the Storck beer.

How cool is this window? It's like the window on a boat.

I love these old painted signs, like something you'd see on a building.

And should you forget this is an electric train...

Again, some cool graphics. I could see this on a t-shirt.

This sign was up near the tracks. How appropriate is this for Halloween?

Here are a few pics from our time driving there. I was actually trying to take  pics of the little pumpkins that were decorating that fence, and didn't even notice the big one! How funny is that? Looks like that jack-o-lantern is hanging off a crane?

I think they had a pumpkin patch or orchard. It's hard to tell from here. Cool spooky tree, anyway!

A gravel quarry:

We passed a Target on the way back where we saw this guy. This pumpkin creature is massive! I love his reaching hands.

We bought these cute little velvet pumpkins while there:

Hope you enjoyed the virtual trip to The Elegant Farmer! It's always a fun day for us and we had some awesome weather for it. I'll have some Halloween antiques coming up in the next blog post!

Caramel Apples at The Elegant Farmer 2014

Last weekend, my mom and I had our annual trip to The Elegant Farmer for caramel apples. You might remember this place from previous years.

This is a trip I always look forward to. We had a perfect, sunny day for this outing. We were greeted by the smiley face barn. There's plenty of food for sale inside.

There's a little scarecrow display between the barn and the caramel apple area. As it turned out, the scarecrow and I had matching shirts. I didn't realize at the time that his mouth was dribbling off his face.

The caramel apples were better than ever! I surprised the girl working there by wanting mine on a stick. I guess that's unusual now? It's a little messier, but that's part of the experience.

Mmm.... I swear there was an apple under there somewhere.

My mom's easier to manage caramel apple:

You guys might remember the electric train that is behind the barn:

This train runs on the last electronic tracks in Wisconsin.

You can see the electric connection above the train. That tiny wheel runs along the wire above.

We should take a ride on this train some day. It looks like the riders get to see some neat scenery going through the woods.

I took this last photo on the ride home. It is a little fuzzy, as I was taking it in a moving car. Still I had to include it. It's just such a wholesome, classic pumpkin stand.

Going to The Elegant Farmer always makes me feel like it's truly October! I'm glad we were able to fit in before the party. The annual Witches' Gathering is happening this Saturday, so I should have lots of photos to share!

Speaking of photos, please send those Halloween costumed photos if you'd like to be part of this year's Halloween blog party! You can send them here: contactartgirl@gmail.com

Mysterious Tales from Haunted Ireland

YouTube is filled with wonderful paranormal videos. I can easily get hooked on the many historical videos about haunted places. Lately, I've found some YouTube videos about haunted European castles, hotels, and pubs. I thought now would be the perfect time to share some ghost stories that take place in Ireland, because I like to post something Irish around St. Patrick's Day.

Here are a few of my favorite stories! For those of you who are reading my blog in email form, you might not see the videos. So please go to my actual blog to watch these.

First up, Charleville Castle! I found several videos about this place, but I liked this one best. It has a great introduction and nice storytelling.

Part one



Part two



The second half of this story finishes with a New Orleans haunted hotel story. I'm not including more about that beautiful place, since it doesn't fit with the Irish theme. If you'd like to see the rest of this program on YouTube, here's Part 3 and Part 4.

I found these videos on the GhostWatching YouTube channel. I love just about every video this person has collected. If you're not afraid of getting addicted to watching great ghost videos, here's the channel:

GhostWatching

Many of the places in these videos are beautiful. I think one of my reasons for being interested in haunted houses is the wonderful old architecture.

Charleville Castle staircase

Cool as the architecture is, I wouldn't go out of my way to stay in Charleville Castle. Would you?

County Wicklow

This next story concerns an Irish farm that stands on haunted land. The story starts off almost charmingly, as ghost stories go, and then gets not so cute. I thought this video was really well done and I enjoyed listening to the story tellers' accents. Watching this, I felt like I was sitting down with a friend, hearing their personal story.  



What did you think of the last story that happened in the trailer? I'd be interested to hear your opinions on what could have caused that phenomenon! 

Leap Castle

Some people say that Leap Castle is the most haunted castle in Ireland. The castle has a troubled history, filled with murder, a dungeon, and even a little "elemental" creature. This is a video from the Most Haunted show. Even if you're not into watching their overnight stay in the castle, I still recommend the history filled introduction and personal accounts. That would be about the first 10 minutes of this show.



I know it gets a little goofy by the time the men are arguing over whether to have a seance. So if you're not into that night vision, everyone is green with glowing eyes, while waiting for something to happen stuff, you might want to stop watching there. You need to be in the mood to imagine what's happening, since you're taking their word for cold spots, weird noises, etc. Watching other people wait for something to happen can get a bit tiresome for me, but I am really fascinated by the psychic on this show. The highlight of this episode for me is when he interacts with the "elemental" spirit. This was the first time I heard of that sort of thing.

I also have to share the Celtic Animal Signs I ran across recently! They're a lot like regular zodiac signs. In fact my "Swan" sign sounds an awful lot like my regular Libra description. I'm sure all you Libras will like that one! Take a peek: What's Your Celtic Animal Sign?

Autumn Apple Traditions

 
Some of you may remember this caramel apple from my Halloween blog party a few weeks ago. Although it was served as a virtual snack, I actually made this at a "caramel apple bar" days earlier. Every year, my mom and I take part in the tradition of going out to the country and making custom caramel apples. This year we went to the Elegant Farmer in Mukwonago, WI.

As you drive up to the Elegant Farmer, you are greeted by the smiley face barn. There are lots of treats for sale inside the barn. There are plenty of pies, as well as cookies, cheeses, and frozen fruits.

Next to the barn is the tent where caramel apples are made. You start by choosing the type of apple you want.

Then you bring it over to a guy who either cuts it up or sticks a stick in it. The guy then dips the apple in hot caramel and hands it to you to decorate. You can roll the apple in peanuts and various jimmies. The caramel dries quite fast, so I was desperately rolling my apple in anything that would stick to it!

I wasn't trying to be a massive Packers fan with those green and gold jimmies - those are just the ones that would stay on!

Further fun ensued when I tried to eat the apple and got my hands all sticky. For some reason, the caramel wouldn't stick to the jimmies and peanuts, but it really stuck to me! I ended up with hay covered hands, from touching my caramel covered hands to the hay bale I was sitting on. Ah, the challenges of eating a caramel apple...

We discovered an old train caboose behind the barn. The paint was peeling off parts of it. I know that some of you are into old, abandoned buildings and machines, so I'm including a few photos of it:

The worn down lettering spells "The Milwaukee Road"

 

There was also a working train for the kids to ride:

Back to the apples... Lately, I've been discussing caramel apples with my blog friends who live outside of America. It turns out that candy/toffee apples are more likely to be found in other countries, than caramel apples. Candy apples are associated with celebrations and holidays in Europe and South America, the way caramel apples are associated with Autumn and Halloween in The United States.

One of these holidays is Guy Fawkes Day. I hadn't heard of Guy Fawkes until researching candy apples a week ago. Imagine my surprise to hear him referenced again and again this past weekend! One of my blog friends wrote a descriptive blog post about Guy Fawkes. This will teach you a little about him and the November 5th holiday: Voodoo Ghoul's Bonfire Night

Guy Fawkes

I always thought that candy apples were pretty, but I'm afraid of breaking a tooth on one! Maybe the coating isn't as hard as it looks. So, I have to ask those of you who have tried a candy apple, are they good? They probably aren't as messy as caramel apples!