Happy Halloween And Carving Pumpkins

Happy Halloween! On Halloween there is something special having a freshly carved pumpkin.  I think it is a combination of my childhood and my childrens.  I do remember carving pumpkins as kids but it was mostly my brothers carving the pumpkins and Pam and I watched.  I think the first time I ever carved a pumpkin by myself  was when I was in college.  After that I carved one almost every year.  When my kids were little we would carve three pumpkins.  One for Carrie, one for Jenny and one for the whole family.  As they grew they eventually got to carve their own pumpkins.  I missed a few Halloweens while Tim and I were on the road traveling.  My kids now get their own pumpkins and carve them which makes me happy that the tradition stays alive.  The best part of carving pumpkins is to get the pumpkin seeds.  I love to roast the seeds and eat them. 
Yesterday I took a step further in my carving and I carved two bats in one of the pumpkins I was carving and then my traditional pumpkin face in the other pumpkin and carving two pumpkins gave me even more pumpkin seeds! 
Here is my public service announcement, Don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour when you go to bed tonight.  Daylight savings time has come to an end.  So here's to an extra hour of sleep and getting dark at 5:00 pm.  Happy Halloween!!!

High Tides Equals Coastal Flooding

The San Diego area has been hit with exceptionally high tides combined with higher-that-average surf that has caused minor flooding in the low lying areas along streets and parking lots at the beach.  In Oceanside a restaurant that sits right on the waterline is getting hammered by the waves.  A high tide of about 7 feet aka the "spring tide" caused when the sun and the moon line up makes the usual surf that is usually 3 to 5 feet to increase the surf to 6 to 7 feet.  The beaches in Oceanside, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, La Jolla and Imperial Beach have been getting particularly hit hard.  It does make for some great wave watching and getting soaked just standing on the roads near the ocean. The tides will be going back down to normal starting today and due to the Santa Ana that is moving in on the area this week end.  Just in time for Halloween!

A Sweet 16 Birthday Party & A Rainbow

Last night I help celebrate a friend's son 16th Birthday.  We did kid him about his "Sweet 16" but he took it well.  He had a pretty good Birthday.  His Dad let him skip school and the two of them drove up to Temecula to play a round of Golf and have lunch.  We celebrated his birthday last night at King's Fish House. Now if you anything about me you know I don't care for fish of any kind so let's also through in seafood too!  So I enjoyed a nice burger while everyone else enjoyed their fish and seafood.  H got some nice presents and we all got to enjoy the cake too!
Meanwhile back at the farm Tim got to see a beautiful Rainbow today.  After a day long of rain and gloom the sun broke through just before it got dark and Tim took some great pictures of the Rainbow.  As an added bonus the changing colors of the leaves make the picture even better.

Being Creative For Halloween

I was looking at Facebook last week and came across a picture of a young lady and behind her hanging on the wall was a Halloween decoration of pumpkins.  I kind of liked the decoration but knew I could make and make it look cuter.  So I got busy and created one.  I knew I needed some burlap ribbon for the pumpkins to hang from and found it at Dollar Tree.  I then picked out the color paper I wanted to use (I used cardstock) and then found an oval die cut that would cut the ovals I needed to make the pumpkin.  Each pumpkin needed three ovals to make the pumpkin.  I cut the stem from some brown card stock and used a flower punch to create the leaves.  I then used black glitter paper to make the eyes, nose and mouth. After cutting and punching enough paper to make three hangings I got busy and started my design. It took me about 20 to 30 minutes to complete the project.  It was an easy project and it ended up really cute.  I sent one to Jenny and Nate and I sent one to Carrie and Daniel.  The third one I gave to my sister.  It was just another way I could say Happy Halloween!

A Movie Weekend

I saw two great movies over the week end.  On Saturday night Pam and I went to Cinepolis, like I did last Sunday, to see the movie 'The Intern' starring Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro.  It was really good and we both enjoyed the movie very much.  It is a comedy about a retired man working in a fast growing company. 
On Sunday night we went back to Cinepolis and saw the movie "The Martian" starring Matt Damon.  It also was very good.  I really enjoyed the movie and we all wondered what it would be like to be so smart that you could figure anything.  Okay maybe my brother in law Brian is that smart since he helped with the Mars Rover computer programming. 
Both movies were great and if you have not seen them I would highly recommend them both. Thanks Pam and Brian for treating me to two great movies at Cinepolis.  I hope I can get use to our little Theater at home.  Of course I will, they only charge $5 for first run movies!

More Halloween Fun

With Halloween only a week away Pam and I spent most of the day on Saturday doing a little more shopping.  In the subdivision Pam and Brian live in the neighbors like to "ghost" each other which means that they give a little Halloween gift to a neighbor and place a ghost on their door.  That shows other neighbors that they have been ghosted.  The ghosting gifts can be candy, baked goods or decorations.  Pam usually ghosts a couple of neighbors each year and she wanted to get the neighbors she was ghosting a little nicer gift.  We headed over to Hobby Lobby and found a couple of cute things.  When we got back to the house Pam went and "ghosted" her neighbors.  When she got back we got busy doing a little more decorating.  We added some decorations to some Mums that we purchased and then decorated some fake pumpkins with some pumpkin face stickers.  It was a nice day and the house looks even more festive.

The Witches Party

On Friday night Pam and I went to a Witches party hosted by a neighbor and friend, Lorraine.  She holds the event every year and I was once again invited to attend since I was in town.  Lorraine's home here in Carlsbad is a second home that she comes to stay at twice a year for a few months.  She lives in Long Island.  Her daughter's birthday is Oct. 31 and so she is use to making Halloween extra special.  Since her daughter is grown up now and living in the Chicago she has gone from throwing parties for her daughter to hosting an annual Witches Party.  Lorraine goes all out from decorating her home inside and out to making all the food and desserts.  Lorraine owned a successful bakery in Long Island and so her desserts are the best.  She also is a great cook and all I can say is you do not leave Lorraine's home hungry.  This year there were 10 of us including Lorraine's son who came in for a visit from Australia.  To attend the Witches party there are two requirements you have to wear a Witches had and heels.  The hats that are worn a very elaborate and so are the heels.  I managed to avoid having to wear heels since I am here visiting and do not have any heels.  We all had a wonderful time and Lorraine is a marvelous hostess.  At the end of the evening Lorraine had a wonderful surprise, her husband flew in from New York for the weekend.  I am so glad we were there when he arrived because her face was priceless when the she answered the door.  Thank you Lorraine for including me in this year's Witches party.  I had a wonderful time and it was good to see all who attended.  What a fun annual event!