#CountdownToHalloween2023 This & that part 2

Random posts are kind of fun!

Chuck got a new friend! 

I'm not sure why Target felt the need to carry rainbow skeletons this year, but I'm digging it! 

The lighting is coming along nicely.

I really really like the orange rope lights in front of the picket fence!  

I've added some more since I took this, like an amber flood on the horse on the right side of the house.  I have a campfire that'll go between Marvin (the big guy in front) and the shack.  

We went to go check out Tillson St in Romeo with the grandkids & didn't even take any pics of the houses!   There will be another trip.

However, I took this for inspiration.  That would be handy to block the floods from the street better than a headstone does and also direct the light.  

Project #1 for 2024!

This was in the sidewalk on Tillson St!  

This skeleton initially was standing with his hands up in the air, like he threw or dropped his end of the coffin.  But then we had some wind and he began to lean.  

And lean.

and finally his feet came off the ground!

So here he's giving the grandkids flying lessons. 

and I still haven't fixed him!

So my manager sent this in a group text on Tuesday.

Wednesday, when it was calling for partly sunny & low 60s, I went into work and told her I think I was going to go home healthy that day.  And she was good with that!  I had painting I wanted to do and it's been so cool & damp lately, the thought of wasting such a nice day when we probably won't get that many more killed me!   I think she was surprised that I didn't turn around and walk right back out - but I stuck it out until almost 1pm since I had stuff I needed to get done. 

Orange pool noodles cut to size, scraped with scissors & hit with spray paint to make logs for my campfire.  I just have to string them on some orange lights and put them out in the cemetery.   I might even just dump them in a pile with the orange lights and work with that! 

This is what I've been wanting to do for a long time!  The shack was just a big brown box, so I got out the gray paint I used on the newest headstones and painted some areas of "plaster" and then found some more oops paint at Lowe's in a light brown that made for some perfect bricks!  

And there's some toddler sized handprints on the inside....

It's been 2 days since I last looked and what is that I see on 11/1???

A SNOWFLAKE!!!!

Maple Grove Cemetery, Findlay OH

 One of the things I love to do is explore cemeteries.  Usually I prefer older, smaller ones, but I couldn't resist stopping here while on a short trip with my sisters this past summer. 

Disclaimer - I am simply a tourist.  This cemetery is hours away from my house and I did minimal research before going.  I don't know who is buried there.  It's a HUGE cemetery - there are over 50,000 graves!   

When we pulled into the driveway, my sister who was driving didn't know where to start - so I suggested finding the military section.  

We were not disappointed. 

The artwork on the giant black marble slabs was incredible. 

Shelby Township's Seven Historical Cemeteries.

I live in Shelby Township in SE Michigan and we have seven historical cemeteries here. 

I've visited all of them and enjoyed them all. 

Conner-Price

I just realized I never wrote a post about this one!  I'll have to remedy that.  

This was a hard place to find, since it's in the middle of a residential area and back behind houses far off the street.

Also known as Disco Road Cemetery, this is the resting place of some of the township’s earliest settlers. All 17 memorials belong to members of the Conner and Price families. The oldest monument dates back to Oct. 1, 1838.

Curtis

I have written about this cemetery, but it was in a post with 5 other cemeteries.  

I think it deserves it's own post one day. 

Curtis Cemetery is home a variety of early settlers and also a veteran of the War of 1812. It's also home of the official Shelby Township tree, a 250-year-old white oak. The last burial took place in 1931.

This is the official Shelby Twp tree, a 250+ year old white oak.

I took this picture May 2019. 

If if would let me use the snip tool, I'd copy the township logo here - it's pretty cool right now. 

Ewell

Ewell Cemetery was only active for 39 years. This is a very small cemetery with 20 markers in what looks like someone's side yard and is on a somewhat busy intersection. The oldest marker belongs to one of the original settlers of the area and the last burial was in 1874.

Prestonville

The first burial was in 1828 and the cemetery is still active today.  My VFW post "adopted" it and regularly has ceremonies and puts out flags and wreaths in the veteran's section where there are 32 Civil War vets.

This is how you know there are 2 cemeteries here.  Prestonville has the green fence and St. John's has the black.  

St. John's

A lot of early German and Prussian settlers were buried here. 

St. Lawrence

St. Lawrence dates back to 1878 and is still active today.  It's affiliated with St. Lawrence Catholic Church that originally served the Irish Catholic settlers in the area. 

Utica 

This is a large and still active cemetery that has a Revolutionary War vet buried here. 

In the pamphlet I was sent from the Historical Society, there are also 2 "lost" cemeteries.  One is only noted on an 1859 plat map and then there are no other records of this cemetery.  The other was first noted on an 1875 plat map.  While there are no records of any burials here, that area is still maintained by the apartment complex that now owns the land.