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!

The perfect autumn day for a caramel apple

Last weekend, Mom and I took our yearly trek to The Elegant Farmer for caramel apples. It was a beautiful, sunny autumn day.

I took a few quick photos of the trains on the way in.

Now, here's something spooky I noticed while looking at the photos on my computer. If you enlarge this and look at the fourth window down, there's this big cone-shaped form.

Now it's in the fifth window, so it's not some funky shadow. I guess it could be a tall, conical person with no discernible arms. A veiled woman with a pointy head? A caped man in a hood? Not that I saw anyone fitting that description. Let's think of this as a classic ghost shape, making an appearance for October. :)

Here's my caramel apple, resting in its usual pile of jimmies and peanuts. That caramel dries fast, but I managed to stick a few goodies in it. Still, it's fun eating sporksfull of the dry jimmies at the bottom.

Mmmm....

Mom's more controlled, cut apple slices.

After eating our caramel apples, we went out back to take a closer look at the trains.

Well, it's good that I got a few photos when we first arrived, because the trains were gone!

Oh well. I decided to get some pictures of the train tracks instead.

I've always felt brave when taking a picture like this one, which is funny since the trains were miles away. Still, it feels mildly dangerous.

While taking these pictures I was reminded of a Screamin' Jay Hawkins song, Whistlin' Past The Graveyard. If I'd been taking these pictures at night I really would have been thinking about it. 

Whistlin' Past The Graveyard

Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Coming on the night train
With an arm full of box cars
On the wings of a magpie
Cross a hooligan night
Busted up a chifforobe
Way out by the cocomo
Cooked up a mess a mulligan
And got into a fight

Whistlin' past the graveyard
Steppin' on a crack
I'm a mean motherhubbard
Papa one eyes jack

You probably seen me sleepin'
Out by the railroad tracks
Ask the prince of darkness
About all the smoke
Come from the stack
Sometimes I kill a jackal
And suck out all the blood
Steal myself a station-wagon
Drivin' through the mud

Whistlin' past the graveyard
Steppin' on a crack
I'm a mean motherhubbard
Papa one eyed jack

I know you've seen my headlights
And the honkin' of my horn
I'm callin' out my bloodhounds
Chase the devil out the corn
Last night I chugged the Mississippi
Now it's dry as a bone
I was born in a taxi cab
I ain't never goin' home

Whistlin' past the graveyard
Steppin' on a crack
I'm a mean motherhubbard
Papa one eyed jack

My eyes have seen the glory
Of the drainin' of the ditch
I'm comin' to baton rouge
To find myself a witch
I'm gonna switch me up a
Couple of 'em every time it rains
You gotta see a locomotive
Probably thinkin' it's a train

Whistlin' past the graveyard
Steppin' on a crack
I'm a mean motherhubbard
Papa one eyed jack

What you think is sunshine
Is just a twinkle in my eye
I got a ring around my fingers
Called the 4th of July
When I get lonesome
And a tear falls from my cheek
There's gonna be an ocean in
The middle of the week

Whistlin' past the graveyard
Steppin' on a crack
Mean motherhubbard
Papa one eyed jack

I come in on the night train
With an arm full of box cars
On the wings of a magpie
Cross a hooligan night
I'm gonna tear off a rainbow
And wear it for a tie
I never told the truth
So how in the hell can I tell a lie

Whistlin' past the graveyard
Steppin' on a crack
I'm a mean motherhubbard
Papa one eyed jack

You know, it's good I looked up these lyrics because I've been singing it incorrectly for a few years. I didn't know he said he "busted up a chifforobe" Don't know what a chifforobe is? I didn't either. Thankfully, there's a Wikipedia page for it: Chifforobe explanation

So, he beat up a piece of furniture for some reason. All this time I thought he was saying "busted up a chaperone" 

One of the lyrics pages I found has something interesting at the bottom. Scan down there and you'll see a list of some of the old terms in this song and their meanings:

Whistlin' Past The Graveyard Vocabulary

Some words are different on this page, and they're from different versions of the Tom Waits original. I'm always going to love the Screamin' Jay Hawkins version more, but the Tom Waits one might be scarier. He sounds the part. 

Back by where the car was parked, there was this awesome old tree. I wonder how old it is?

Well, I'm very busy now, preparing for next weekend. October 15th is our annual Witch Party! If I magically have time during the week, I'll post some pics of the Halloween crafts I've been working on. How's everyone's Halloween planning going? Any crafting, constructing, party planning, or scary movie watching going on?