Halloween Spooks

Creeps!  We hosted a murder-mystery dinner party this year for the neighborhood and had a fantastic time.  Everyone really got into character and the costumes were fantastic.  Here are a few pictures....

Marie Anntoinette and her "ghostly ghoul"Marie A. and the "Kitchen Witch"...the ghost hosts for the evening...
"May Cup" and "Gore Underfoot"- they were the Makeup Artist and the Special Effects Supervisor from the Mystery.
Putting the excavator to good use...we dug a grave and had the ghost running the machine, ready to bury "Hal O'ween"- part of the party...
This picture cracked me up.. Vil was fixing up the grave.. with the ghost behind him...
All of us Halloween Creeps...

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Dracu-pumpkin is dying, but I think he'll hang on through Halloween night.  Witchy Witch and Ghost Friend, are our latest creations.  

Just wanted to wish everyone a safe, warm and happy Halloween night!

Cool Stuff! Leaves and Mums.

Fall is so gorgeous this year!  We haven't had the wind like normal to blow the leaves away, so they continue to stay on the trees and turn fantastic autumn shades.  I've really been enjoying my walks and hikes with the leaves in full swing.

Also- our neighbor has been enjoying his latest hobby of growing really crazy crysanthemums. Nothing about these flowers is "normal"- they are huge, wild, weird and meticulously pampered.  Some of them look like curly hair, some look like fireworks- the list goes on and on of interesting shapes, colors and designs.  It's amazing that nature could grow something so

 perfect and intricate.  He just returned from a flower show where he cleaned up on blue ribbons.  

Sunday evening he had all the neighbors over, showed off his ribbons and gave the flowers away.  Lucky for us, we now have some gorgeous arrangements of giant colorful mums!  

Dracu-pumpkin

Here he is.. last night's creation!  Isn't he scary-cute?  Happy "early" Halloween everyone!

The Goodness of Life

Does anyone else out there find it easier to be pessimistic than optimistic?  Nature itself causes us to question, doubt and produces fear for various reasons.  Instead of dealing with something, it's easier to scowl, grunt and brush it under the carpet- keeping that bitterness to fester.  I think as I get older, it's easier to do that.  I've had more practice, I guess.  

Lately, I've felt like I've let too many of those small things fester into a much larger ball of stress. Seems like work "noise" keeps my mind busy and serious with too many details and frustrations (at times) to stop and laugh a little during my day.  Election year- whew.. what's to come?  Poachers in the neighborhood, killing our protected wildlife.  Short days up ahead with darkness at both ends.  

Don't get me wrong.  There are a MILLION more things that are good.  Halloween costumes and happy kids, sunny crisp fall days, Maui vacation in just over a month, progress on house projects, etc.  It's just that sometimes, the bad are "heavier" on the scale than the good.

One way to fight this giant ball of stress and grunts, I've found... is to take a few minutes out of your day and look for something of beauty.  Maybe it's something simple- leaves changing colors, or a phrase or poem that brings warmth.  Sometimes it's kindness that reminds me of how good it feels putting someone else first- letting someone with a fussy infant go in front of you in the line- or a simple courtesy wave when driving.  

The internet is packed with wonderful pick-me-ups and I have a few sites that I visit that put my smile on straight and put some welcome weight on the good things.   I thought I'd share a link to a neat presentation.  It's about 5 minutes, so only click it if you TRULY have 5 minutes to do nothing.. but breathe and enjoy.  Life is an amazing gift.  

Click here for "The Goodness of Life" presentation

Sad Day for Elk...

Imagine my surprise on my walk this morning to come across three elk hooves complete with leg from the last knuckle down in the middle of the road.  First thought "where is the cougar?".

Upon closer inspection, it was a poacher- cleanly cut and purposefully left behind.  The legs were fresh and wet from a passing rain this morning.  I suspect this happened last night.  Hunting is illegal in our area- it's a neighborhood and a protected reserve.

There had been a cow and her calf hanging out near where I found the feet, and I suspect the poacher took one or both.  For the last couple years, the elk hunters can't seem to leave this neighborhood alone.  It's just too tempting for them.  The elk up here are used to seeing people and while they aren't "tame" they are very comfortable looking up from their grass, then continuing to graze when you drive by.  Several of the neighbors have named them, and there are few we have come to know.  I was so saddened by this and all I could hope was that it was done humanely and perhaps the person who took it really needed food.

This morning I had taken my camera on the walk to snap some pictures of the changing trees- luckily I was able to document the situation and report it to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.  After the photos, I gently kicked the legs off the road.  The feel of the hooves bending at the joint as they moved and the weight of the leg made me realize how strong it was, and how healthy this elk had been.  Again, a sigh of sadness.   This had been a magnificent creature. 

As I suspected, writing about this is therapeutic and one of the great things about keeping a blog. Hopefully next spring we will again see a healthy elk population.  I'll spare you the graphic pictures- they are hard to look at.

Annette Lake

This last weekend was cold, crisp and beautiful- a perfect October day.  We took advantage of the afternoon by heading up this beautiful valley to Annette Lake.  There was frost on the ground in places, so despite the sunshine, nature kept reminding us that winter isn't too far away. These photos are a bit out of order as they didn't want to load- then I couldn't seem to move them into order. Anyway, here they are! Enjoy.

This was taken when we arrived back home.  The evening sky was beautiful.



An amazing old log- now used as a bridge...

Need a sunshade, but still a neat picture...