Writing again... hurray! And Halloween decorations!

Got my mojove back... (or possibly the muse that had left due to the pandemic and has finally decided it was time to return?). Anyway, it makes me happy to be 'back in the grove' (and about three-forth of the way finished the sequel to "Time After Time").  

I realize that this may be on no interest to many of you, but to those who write, sketch, paint, sew, or get lost in other crafts - you know how time simply slips away when you are involved in a project. It's as if this dimension doesn't exist... (and you are lost in your own little world). 

Then for whatever reason, the muse/motivation/originality  abruptly disappears. Some call it writer's block... (and I'm sure there are other names for it). Personally at this point I would call it Covid-itis... too many other things on my mind. 

But now it has hesitantly returned. I hope it stays as it gives me pleasant motivation for the day... and a chance to finish something I'd started.  

With the virus ramping up again and the election right around the corner, I really need something to keep my mind occupied. Perhaps the 'powers that be'... sent the muse back to me to save my sanity. Whatever... I'm grateful.

I've actually had a fairly pleasant week; Skyped with my grand daughter (got to see her new puppy up close and personal) Zoomed with a dear friend, and thanks to the technical knowledge of my grandson - was able to visit a friend's island on Animal Crossing... and she was able to fly to mine. We ran around the islands together meeting other islanders and going inside their homes. It was fun.

Unfortunately I don't have any great insights to give to other retirees who may be reading this. This isn't that type of informative  or inspirational blog... although I do enjoy reading those. This is just an occasional insight into my own life that by sharing (for years in  journals and now on a blog) has always been of great benefit to my psychological self. 

And before I close I do have to show you a pic of the Halloween decorations that one of our neighbors did. He does this every year and it's always fabulous. This is the one he's done this year in front of his house.

Halloween castle built in front of neighbor's house 2020

It is amazing... last year it was a Halloween ship that took up the whole front of his lawn. 

Halloween ship 2019

I really hope you are having a good weekend. The weather has gotten cooler here... mornings have been in the 40's and 50's - nice! We've had a little rain, but not much. All in all, we are learning to be content with life as it is. Perhaps this is a good thing. 

Hugs,

Rian

(ps: trying a new recipe for chicken spaghetti today. Will let you know how it turns out.)

Halloween 2014 is approaching...

Happy Halloween 2014!
(almost...)

As most of you know from my blogs, we're very fond of cats here... especially black cats... especially this little black cat! (our youngest grand daughter)

She is also very fond of cats herself as you can see from this video: 

And her mom said that she insisted her toenails be painted for Halloween too! (I am glad that she painted them pink and not black...)

such tiny precious toes...

As Halloween gets closer, I'm getting ready to bake my Pumpkin Custard Pie.  DH has been wanting pie ever since we started this SB diet. It's gone rather well... although with 2 birthdays and Halloween, it has had it's setbacks. But I will make the pie tomorrow as it is tradition here at our house.

And our oldest son just spent a few days down in New Orleans for his birthday. They should be back any day now and I'm anxious to hear of their adventure. I hinted at some of my favorite haunts when I'm there (but it's my home-town so I look at it differently). I recommended Cafe Du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait, Tujaques for po-boys, Central Grocery for Italian seed cookies as well as mufalattas and stuffed artichokes, Jackson Square and the Cathedral, walking along the Mississippi river, the Aquarium, Aunt Sally's, Court of Two Sisters, Pat O'Brien's and Preservation Hall. These should keep them busy in the French Quarter for a few days.

beignets and cafe au lait

Italian sesame seed cookies

* I enlarged my font here also. Do you think it's too big? I can make it back to normal which is this size... what do you think? *

Also our neighborhood has had a rash of *solicitors* (some of whom haven't been very polite) lately. DH and I do not open our front door unless we know the person standing there. We have a camera out front. But listening to some of our neighbors texts lately, we decided to put out a "no soliciting" sign. There are quite a few of them on Etsy, but we chose one that mentioned "to smile at the camera".  Once it arrives, I will post a picture of the one we chose.

And lastly I saw this recently on Pinterest and had a good laugh! This hasn't happened to our black feral mamas yet... that I know of anyway.

An abundance of pumpkins...

Pumpkins at Central Market

Pumpkins at the Mall

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere!  Everywhere we go lately there's a profusion of pumpkins... all sizes and shapes. Luckily I like pumpkins. They aren't scary and they make great pumpkin custard pies!  I was dearly tested when passing these displays in the Mall last week to *pocket* a tiny one or two. Of course I didn't, but when DH and I were walking by, I commented (out loud) "Wow! look at all those tiny pumpkins!  I would love to steal one or two." (And of course I said this just as inadvertently we were passing a uniformed Mall security person. DH and I looked at each other sheepishly and started laughing. But the truth of the matter is that the groceries and nurseries want $1.50 to $2.00 for each tiny pumpkin... and although that doesn't seem like much, it's still too much for me... especially when you can get a good sized one for 3.99.

And this advertisement was in this mornings paper... making little crescent mummies with hot dogs and crescent rolls. I thought this very cute.

Halloween cookies

These were creative also - Halloween cookies using chocolate chip cookies, marshmallows, and almonds!

Last year we found this serpent shaped pumpkin and added it to our outside display. This year we didn't come across any of these. But our front porch display is still a work in progress. We added another smaller pie sized pumpkin this week. It still needs something... but I don't know what. Any suggestions?  Maybe some multi-colored corn to give it some yellow?

...and of course we put our favorite crow in tree that we had last year and left out all year because we liked him there. Of course crow #1 had to be replaced this year as due to the cold winter and rain, he was looking a bit shabby.

We also used to have a sign that said, "black cat crossing"... which is very suitable to our feral sanctuary. Don't know where that sign went. Shall have to look for it.  We do close all the gates to our yard so the outside cats  have a place to stay safe on Halloween. And our inside cats are restricted to one part of the house while treat-or-treating is going on. Our Ghost does not like ringing doorbells.

And last pic of the day is this sign that has been on our kitchen wall for years. One of the kids gave it to us. And of course it is very appropriate... except that it should say "cats" never just "cat" and we're all well trained, not just me.

As I write this, Julie is lying on the trundle bed in the computer room next to me and *snoring* loudly! Do your cats snore?

Have a wonderful weekend!