74 days!

 Time is just ticking closer & closer!  But first, the grandson starts kindergarten next week and my birthday is next Friday! (cash & presents always accepted!)  The Spouse & I are planning to go away for a couple days soon and he's fully planning on hitting the last 10 real Maple Grove cemeteries we need to go to in Michigan!  We've visited 22 already and this will finish them off.  These are all in the SW-ish part of the state so they're somewhat close to each other.   

I was excited to look at my emails this morning and saw one from Dex at Countdown to Halloween - signups are happening for the Countdown Bloghop!  

I've already had a list going of topics I'm going to write about - so the official sign up makes it seem close!

Oh, and signups for the Card Exchange on the HalloweenForum have started, also!  

Since I'm passing on the Secret Reaper (like a secret Santa, but H'weeny), I thought I'd get in the cards.  

Basically everyone posts on the thread that they're participating - and how many cards they want to send out, if they want to keep it in the US or not - and everyone sends messages to exchange addresses.  Some people send really basic cards, others go all out making theirs - mine will be somewhere in the middle. 

I got my Target version of the "disco" skeleton.  I actually like it a lot. 

The body is silver and the JOL head is faceted and not glued on mirrors.  And since the Spawn spent many years in dance, the glitter that's in the eyes, nose & mouth don't bother me.  I can't vouch for the Spouse, but I'm OK with it. 

I've behaved and haven't bought anything else - except this!

I took the screenshot yesterday, but today it was available to ship, so you know I grabbed it up!

I also got a 15% military discount and had a $5 voucher to use.    

And as for my big ol' piggy from HalloweenExpress - my account still says out of stock, but the actual listing just says on backorder - with no other info.  But Oriental Trading has the exact same pig and they say it's shipping on 8/21.  So fingers crossed!  I'm half tempted to cancel the HE order and get it thru OT, since I've ordered from them before and never had a problem - just in case - even tho I'm pretty sure they're the same company....but anyway.   

I better start thinking about when we'll start exhuming the skeletons from the garage and getting things staged out on the patio.. it won't be until next month but we don't want to wait until the last minute to pull weeds from between the bricks and move the grandkid's toys out of the way!

Later, peeps!

Gratuitous backyard selfie - because I don't hate this pic!

Augtober??

I've been seeing a lot of posts & memes about Happy Augtober?  Kinda weird, but I guess it goes along with "Summerween"!  I kind of see what they're getting at with that.   

Anyhoooo.  Check out that tree!  I noticed it a week before I took the pic, too. 

I've been noticing a lot more trees already changing, too.  I wonder if it has something to do with all the haze we're getting from the Canadian wildfires?   We've been getting a lot of days with weird lighting and odd colored skies. 

I was in Ohio the last weekend in July and we stopped at the Cracker Barrel in St. Clairsville on the way home Sunday and saw this across the street!  

OMG.  I went onto HalloweenExpress.com and look at what may have fallen into my basket!

This guy is 36" long x 24" tall x 14" wide!!!

They also show a wide of someone moving its head so the dimensions are accurate. 

And this one!  I have one peeking skeleton similar to this, but mine isn't waving.  

Love it! 

Both things were on backorder when I ordered and gave reasonable estimated delivery dates, but now I'm concerned because the piggy is now showing as out of stock.  I emailed the company and haven't heard back yet.  

OMG - Michaels!

A fox???  Where was this the first year I had my horse skeleton and wanted to do a fox hunt scene?

and ~why~ is it currently unavailable for store pickup AND unavailable to ship to me???

I picked up all my goodies from TSC - they're all absolutely adorable. 

Of course I had to pose the raccoons on the trash can!

If you look close, there are real raccoon footprints on the lid. 

The possums!  LOVE!  

And the babies have hooks on their undersides to hold them onto the mom.  

The Goose!  Love it, too!  It's nice & solid and obviously life-sized.  

He's going to be fun. 

Super cute towels and they feel really nice, too. 

I never saw this on the Cracker Barrel website, but they sure had it in the store!  At least the one I mentioned earlier in St. Clairsville had it.   

Since I had a coupon....and it was the last one!

I'm jumping all around here - when I saw the foxes online at Michael's, I still stopped into the store where I got 2 raccoons from last year, just kind of hoping.  Nothing.  But I did find these guys! 

They're paintable, but still cute even if they're not painted!

So with the exception of the fox skeleton, I think I'm finally done with skeleton purchases this year.  

I think.

My fabulous 3' disco wannabe is due to be delivered today. 

I can't wait to see what he looks like in person - I'm obviously ok with it not being completely covered in little mirrors like the one I got from Party City last year.  Very neat, but there are tiny mirrors all over my house! 

I confess to be mildly guilty when I ordered the disco guy.  Not about the fact that I bought him, I have a 'fun money" account at the bank where a bit of each paycheck goes into just so I can get the H'ween stuff that I want.  But I've kinda gone crazy this year and I do believe that storage is going to be a BIG issue come November.   Currently the horse, pony & unicorn are all neatly stored in the box that the horse came in.  But it's cardboard and wrapped in a lot of duct tape. Something sturdier would be nice.  There is a small loft in the backyard shed - there are a lot of critter skeletons just loose in there - at the mercy of real critters who like to get in there and knock them down.  The smaller skeletons are in a box in the garage.  And the new ones I've acquired so far this year are pretty much just floating around loose in the garage.  

I've mentioned the new giant totes they have at Home Depot to the Spouse.  If they're big enough to hold a 12' skeleton, they're big enough to hold a lot of critter skeletons!  But then again - where to put it?  I'd probably need like 3 anyway.  

Ugh. 

Anyhoo. 

I realized last night that I had a headlight out and just learned that they look like flames! 

They're not usually on when I look at the front of the car. 

I also learned that the fancy headlights that turn when you turn the wheel are very expense to replace.

And you have to go in thru the tire well to replace them.  

This is going to be an adventure!

Double Digits!

First of all - GOOD NEWS!  

Tractor Supply put most of their stuff on sale!  Not ON Sale as in $$ off, but as in available to purchase!

Saw this on IG a couple days ago...

"Halloween hits different in a farmhouse"

LOL!!!

I also noticed the deer skeleton isn't listed anymore.....

I already expected to spend an embarrassing amount of money here, once I saw all the skeletons - but I didn't spend as much as I thought I would!  I also got a whopping 5% off for being a "Hometown Hero" - that's their military "discount" altho on certain days they kick it up to 10%.  And also free shipping since I'll be picking everything up at the local store - that saved a ton of $ right there. 

I couldn't resist these hand towels!  

I've already gotten the text that these are ready to be picked up, but everything else is due on Monday 7/28 so I'll just wait to get everything at once. 

Now onto the skeletons! 

Decided on only one goose.  I have 2 smaller ones from Michael's already. 

I am having feelings about only getting one, kinda wish I'd gotten two.

It's hard to tell scale, but this is the bigger of the possums.  

Only got one of those, too

However - I got 5 baby possums!

I know they show 4 here, but if the last one doesn't fit, I'll figure something out.   I'm not sure just how they have them attached, but I always have zipties around so I'll make it work.

Lastly is the racoon babies!  I got 3 of them because why not?  

I thought about getting another "big" one, but I already have 2 from Michael's and one from Oriental Trading.  And destiny spoke when I went to put it in my cart and it said it wasn't available for pickup OR delivery at this time.  So no more big racoons for me! 

I'll be in Ohio this weekend and as usual, I was looking thru Find A Grave to find some cemeteries to explore.  I found 2 of the coolest little cemeteries!  One has only 30 burials, stone walls, all sorts of cool ambiance.  Noted as being the oldest cemetery in the county.  The other has 56 burials.

But then I see notes that they're both on private property and to get permission first.  

From WHO???  HOW???  WHERE???  

The one appears to be in the woods behind a church, so other than it being Sunday morning when I plan to visit, I don't think that one would be difficult to get permission.  But the other is most definitely on private property.  So I'm not too sure about that one. 

I sent a message to the peeps at Find A Grave, asking how to find out this info. They suggested contacting the county historical society.  OK.  While I was looking for the historical society info, I came across the website for the county recorder (which I get the impression is the Ohio version of the county clerk) Noted, especially after seeing detailed plat maps of veteran's graves at these cemeteries!  The historical society had no idea other than go knock on doors.  Ummm, no thanks!  They also suggested contacting the genealogy department at the local library.  Also noted.  But I opted to contact the county recorder   He sent me a little bit of the backstory on the one behind the church and suggested contacting the church and then basically going to knock on the door for the other.  Ugh.  Anyway, I'm waiting to hear back from the church peoples.  

I also looked up the person on FindAGrave who has taken a lot of the photos at these cemeteries.  His bio says he's doing a lot of family genealogy in the county and since he's been to where I want to go - I messaged him, too!  Fingers crossed. 

Oooo another thing I'm slightly miffed about (not really) I've mentioned before that I volunteer on a search & rescue team (yes - we look for missing people).  Anyway, we to do ton of training and basically jump on any courses that become available to us.   We just found out that 2 very important courses are being offered this fall - one all day on October 25 and the other the whole weekend of November 7-9.  This is besides Halloween Camp that usually happens the first weekend in October. 

That's squeezing into my Halloween time!!  

Dammit.

FYI - Shop Around!

 I find it crazy how there's such a wide range of prices for very similar decorations / props!  I've had to flip back & forth between items on the same website, since it seems like they have things listed multiple times but with different prices.  

For example...

Halloween costumes 5' poseable skeletons - $80

Comes in a large variety of colors..... basic white "realistic" / pink / pastel rainbow / acid green / pastel purple / black / red / dark gray / orange (w/ jol head) / winged

why????

basic white, face & chest lights up red $90

basic white "Georgie" $60 (cheaper looking)

basic white w/ blue eyes ($70 sale)

basic white w/ yellow eyes ($40 sale)

black light ($60)

disco ball - non poseable ($200)

Werewolf ($90)

********

I'm mad about this one....  guess where I bought mine?  

Steer Skeleton 

At Home - $90

Oriental Trading - $50

Tractor Supply - $50

********

Beagle Bonez

Halloween Costumes $40

Oriental Trading $55

I recall seeing these at CVS in the past years - I just don't remember the $$ but they have tons of coupons there.

********

So far one of the best prices I've seen for 5' skeletons has been Target for $35 and they come in a variety of odd colors, like "iridescent" and "champagne" and "pink blush" and "ghoulish green alien" which is a cool metallic grass green, then an orange one with a JOL head, and "silver disco", which not gonna lie - I think I might get one of these - I just don't know what size yet!  It's not like the individual mirrors all glued on, but it's still pretty neat.  I like the glitter eyes/nose/mouth.  It also comes in very reasonably priced 2' and 3' sizes.  

********

And these guys....

Most places I've seen they're $200+, they're $160 at At Home. 

Oh, and 5' pose & stay skeletons are $30 there. 

I guess the point of this post is to NOT grab the first thing you see - it's always good to shop around.  

Of course, quality is always an issue, too.  

Sometimes you HAVE to grab an item as soon as you see it, because there's the possibility that you won't ever find it anywhere else and it'll just ***poof*** be gone.

 

Halloween shopping is such a crap-shoot!

What is your dream Halloween?

Thoughts & ponderings ahead...

I peruse the HalloweenForum quite often and someone recently made a thread about what would your dream Halloween be?  I was only #11 posting so I'm sure there will be more interesting answers afterward. This was my answer....

I'd like the Halloween like you see in (non-horror 😄) movies - groups of happy, costumed kids roaming, colorful fallen / falling leaves, every house with the porch light on and glowing JOLs. That smell of crisp, cool fall air, hay bales and clear skies.

I live in Michigan so if it's not raining/snowing, we're already lucky enough to have perfect temperature weather.   But all the senses get involved.  

*****

Seeing the lights in the cemetery.  The leaves on the ground and still in the trees.  

Hearing the crunch of the leaves and wind thru the trees.  

Smelling the crisp air and toasting pumpkin lids of the JOLs

Feeling the cool air.

Tasting the drink of choice, usually it's Zombie Killer cherry cider on H'ween night. And of the occasional piece of candy stolen out of the bucket...

*****

Quite honestly - 

the only way this scene could be better would be riding down that road on horseback. 

I always enjoy sitting out in the driveway after the tornado sirens go off, signalling the end of ToT and just finishing up my adult beverage and taking in the moment, sadly knowing that 24 hours from then, the whole display would be gone.   

I remember one year when ~ I ~ was little, dressed as a ladybug.  Black turtleneck sweater and black pants with a painted cardboard set of wings (this was the late 70s so homemade was common) and besides hating the black makeup Mom put on my nose, it was pouring rain so my wings were ruined.  Another memory is when the Spawn was little (and dressed as a cow!) it was actually super warm that year and she was miserable in her little fake fur, pull over costume so we had to take it off.  But on the other hand, there have been years when most kids come by trick or treating with winter coats on over their costumes.   

Some favorite costumes that I've seen...  A girl came up my driveway wearing box with her head sticking out of the top - she was a whack-a-mole game!  She also commented that she didn't plan her costume well as she stuck her ToT bag out of her headhole.   Another time, maybe the same girl, on one of those cold H'ween nights - came up wearing a puffy white jacket and a pool ring, carrying a Dunkin Donuts Muchkin box - she was a donut!  Then a young couple came up, both wearing black suits and sunglasses.  One of them was carrying their baby in a carrier on their chest - wrapped in a box with a Presidential Seal - they were Secret Service agents!  Last year, a Dad wearing khakis and a jungle boonie hat came up with a wagon of 3 toddlers and one older child, all dressed like dinosaurs - the sign on the back of the wagon had the Jurassic Park logo! 

This tangent could go on for a while so I better stop! 

It's Summerween Season!

I really meant to actually post this on the 5th, but getting out the laptop seemed too much like work on a 3 day weekend! 

So, how was your 4th?  

Chuck spent some time with his new girlfriend, Penelope.  

Looking at this, she needs her eye sockets filled in and a tutu.

However, she didn't attend the parade in my hometown. 

Dealing with Chuck & 2 grandkids is plenty!

Oakland County's Search & Rescue rig is much fancier than the one we use in Lapeer County (I've been a "professionally trained" volunteer since the team was born back in 2018)

My phone chose to focus on Chuck, but there's a 5' skeleton in the back of that Jeep. 

We had a good laugh at this!

This is advertising for a landscape company - I personally would want them to show up in this!

I think the guy driving this had the most fun!

The people on this float were excited to see Chuck!

We got stickers!

And I just happen to follow @j.a.haunts on YouTube!

The parade always begins with Fire Trucks & Ambulances

and ends with Police. 

The grandkids, of course, had to pose with Chuck.

Oooo, conveniently on the 5th.....

the last of my recent skeleton purchases was delivered!

The dimensions said 17" but for some reason I was thinking ~tall~ and not ~ear to tip of tail~!

But that's OK.  It's still different from the rest of my doggos. 

Oh - and because I'm weak.....

the At Home skeleton wheelbarrow managed to fall into my cart when I went there last.  

And of course, since I've vowed to NOT go back there (after already spending an embarrassing amount of $$) - they sent me an email saying I am now a VIP and here's 15% off my entire purchase! 

Sheesh. 

We didn't do fireworks on the 4th because the granddaughter went home with my sister from the BBQ at Mom's house to spend the night.  She was really looking forward to seeing them so we couldn't let them off without her! 

Chuck was the only one safe from being eaten alive from mosquitos! 

Until later.....

Just waiting on TSC to put their skeletons back online.  This will be an embarrassing amount of $$ that's actually been planned for. And it probably won't even be as much as at At Home! 

TSC keeps doing weird things with their website!  First they had the horse & deer & raccoons & possum, etc all listed, but not yet available to buy.  Then those disappeared and the ones from last year showed up - the 6' rooster & 3' rooster & hen, etc.  Now ALL the plastic skeletons are gone and just the metal animals with the glow in the dark bones painted on them are listed.  Neat, but not what I'm looking for.

Patience.  

ooo, here's a fun (as in horrifying) memory that popped up on Facebook recently.....

Nasty, isn't it?  

That's what happens when you ignore that little warning pic on the side discharge chute of the lawn mower.  Don't try to unclog it while it's running!  

Thankfully it only sliced my nail and fractured the tip of the bone.  

And it healed up nicely - whew!!

Definitely NOT one of my brightest moments!