Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Potion Bottles

I have many new witch cabinets to fill due to the move.  More fall within the haunt zones of the house. 



In addition, 2018 is a party year meaning I better start preparations now.  I plan to try as many tutorials for making potion bottles, witch jars, apothecary jars etc. as I can in the future.  Unfortunately, the gap between my pinterest dreams and reality remains as large as ever.

Here are two bottles I tried recently involving paper mache over plastic snakes and spider webs. My results are not that great so these will be at the back of the cabinet. They look nothing like the beautiful examples that inspire me on pinterest.




Sunday, November 26, 2017

Away in Sante Fe

His Lordship and I spent Thanksgiving at the home of my sister in the oldest capital city in the US.  We enjoyed hiking at Bandelier National Monument on the Rio Frijoles trail.  While returning to the car, we spotted this fellow in a cavity.  It is a western screech owl for all my non-birder followers.
We also scampered about downtown Sante Fe and discovered an amazing shop right next door to the store front for Los Alamos sneakiness. 
This store contained so much art work.

Love these jolly gals with their skull shaped breasts.

  The Marty Feldman of pumpkins!
Beautiful folk art.
Lots of wood carving

 and metal work.
Naturally we could not leave such a place without a souvenir. So we got this fun bat - it is made from rusted metal and looks great hanging off of the back deck.  The artist is Henry Dupre and you can see more of his creations here.


Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Product Review

We got these cute little pumpkin pastas from Trader Joes hoping to make a fun pasta dish to serve at a dinner party shortly before Halloween.  They look great in the bag don't they?

However, upon cooking they really disintegrated, with about 50% of the pasta losing a pumpkin shape.  The flavor was ok but the look of my pasta salad did not cry pumpkin in the least.  I would not buy this product in the future.

Sunday, November 12, 2017

Shriekback - Nemesis


Parthenogenesis - that's got to be the coolest word ever incorporated into a song!

The Most Popular Skeleton

The winner of the public popular vote in the skeleton craze was....
 Captain Custard

This did not surprise me because I myself cast a vote for Captain Custard.  Why you may ask?  Mostly due to enthusiasm and love shown by the owner of the Colorado Custard Company.  As my niece and I were taking pictures, he came bounding out to speak to us about his creation.  He was so pumped about  the competition that it was contagious.  Katherine and I both cast a vote for the Good Captain.

It was only later that his Lordship told me who owns the Colorado Custard Company.  None other than Matt Carpenter who holds the world record for running up and down the mountain I view from my front door.  No wonder he is full of boundless energy!


Matt won the Pikes Peak marathon in 1993 setting the world record of 3 hours, 16 minutes and 39 seconds.  He has won the marathon 12 times between 1988 and 2011. Now he is a winner again taking the People's Choice Award for 2017 for Captain Custard.

Captain Custard's eyeball drink

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Dr. Tongue's Evil House of Pancakes



Another one featuring Debra aka Dr. Tongue!  This can still make me belly laugh after 35 years!

A Favorite


A favorite from my high school years when I lived in Toronto. Dedicated to Debra She Who Seeks' late kitty, HRH.

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Results of Skeleton Craze Judging

The skeletons were judged in 4 categories - Most creative, most integrated into the business, scariest, and funniest.

Here are the results:

1. Most creative

Anna's Apothecary


I think this is a beautiful skeleton but as for creativity, Lady M chooses the Common Wheel Art Gallery


2. Most integrated into the business
Won by the Green Horse Gallery for their painting skeleton. He's a cool skeleton.

Lady M personally chooses this Hipster skeleton at Red Dog Coffee House since he actually interacts with the patrons. You can't get more integrated than that.



3. Funniest
This was won by the skeleton at Eagle Dancer.  I did not even get a picture of this skeleton since it was not displayed in the window nor was outside.  I find it hard to believe any business should win when their skeleton is not visible to the meandering public.

My pick for funniest are the 1950's skeletons at the Piazza Novona.  When I first saw this pair they just cracked me up.


4. Scariest
This was won by Swirl Wine Bar. 
My scariest pick is the chef skeleton at the Create Café who had cut off his hand. 

Hope you have enjoyed the Skeleton Craze for this year.  Plan a visit to Manitou Springs, affectionately known as Hippie Mayberry,  and check us out.  It is a fabulous place for a vacation.  We got witches, skeletons, coffin races and hippies!

Saturday, November 4, 2017

Packing it up

I have said that the haunt goes up over the course of weeks and comes down in days and this year is no exception.  My pointy witches hat goes off to those amazing haunters that can set up and remove a display on Halloween Day.  What an attention span and work ethic!  I, unfortunately, lack both.

This year at the Hillybilly Haven, I have a new storage option.  Introducing (drum roll please) the room over the garage!

It is limited to what can fit up the ladder hidey hole.

I have been after his Lordship to fix this ladder.  It is extremely wonky.  Knowing that I go up and down it regularly, I ought to check to see if a new life insurance policy has been obtained.  Perhaps his Lordship is in the market for a younger Lady M.

It even has a work shop where I have set aside all the things I will craft in the coming year. 

 I always like to dream big after Halloween. Check out that retro orange shag carpet!


There is no heat so I will have to restrict crafting to warm days.

In this window, I found a lot of flies, begging the question "where is the body buried?". 


I have moved a lot up here and am thrilled to have this space. Hope your haunts are not giving you storage head aches.







Witch Skeles

This Very cool witch skeleton is hanging in the window of Lane Mitchell Jewelers.  It was hard to do her justice with a daytime picture.



The Cotton Club put this witch in their window.

Hipster Skeles

I will let this guy speak for himself.  He is in Josh and Johns Ice Cream shop.


Here is a hip skeleton hanging at the Red Dog Coffee Shop.  As you can see, he is not hurting for company.

These skeles at the Border Burger Bar like to get high here in Colorado.
He's wearing a very cool hoodie at the Tracy Miller gallery in Manitou Springs
Over at the Wickerbill, the skeletons are enjoying a meal.  They could stand to gain a little weight.

At Swirl Wine Bar, this skeleton enjoys one of their many excellent wines.



At The Keg - another skeleton who enjoys heights and cleaning. 
 
Well I hope you have enjoyed the skeletons this year.  I am sure I missed a couple that were inside businesses.  The results of the judging and voting to come later.  Thanks for reading.

Friday, November 3, 2017

Skeleton Silhouettes

Earlier this year, I went antiquing and found some frames to convert into skeleton silhouettes.

Tonight I finally got around to finding silhouettes online, modifying them with photo shop and printing them.



 My question to you dear readers is - should I paint the frames?  I am inclined to leave them be as they are really nice quality.  But what are your thoughts?  Would they look better black?