Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Aspens are peaking

His Lordship and I are camping in Conejos County where the Aspen trees are really putting on a show.  Here is the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad winding through the fall color.



My pictures don't do the landscape justice.  

I just love walking through the trees in the fall.  The shimmering golden light bringing up memories of father-daughter cookouts, girl scout camp trips and of course, Halloween.  Crisp cool evenings and morning with glorious orange, red and yellow sun-filled days.  No wonder I exult Autumn above all over seasons.

Sunday, September 16, 2018

The good, the bad and the ugly

The first crop of  pumpkin squash are ready to harvest - I call this the ugly bunch as they endured the worst of the hail.  These bad boys have the scars of many battles.  They grew as volunteers from my compost so I have no idea what cultivar they are - perhaps you could help me out here Old Fashioned Halloween (as I deleted your last comment in which you told me).



His Lordship admires the crop.
The plants are resilient and will not be outdone by a few hailstorms.  I have a whole new batch coming.



 The one pictured below is clever enough to grow under the deck, as if taunting the hail "can't get me".
Last time I tried to take a picture of this fellow, I disturb a sleeping skunk, who then ran into our garage.  I had to stealthily wait for it to come out  and use my remotes to shut the door.

Alas, I might yet get something to carve - just have to wait and see what this crazy changing climate throws my way.  Right now we are getting ridiculously hot summer weather.

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Sigh - It is happening again

Every so often, the number one referring site to my blog is a porn site.  I just wanted to say to all those hopeful folks who pop over to the Haunted Parlor hoping to find some leather clad Madam  sporting a corset and a cat o' nine tails, you are sadly mistaking.  Lady M's Haunted Parlor is not and never will be fodder for your sado-masochistic fantasies.  What my blog is about is Halloween - decorating, cooking, gardening, and events around town.  I also like Creepmas.  So unless you get your jollys looking at glue guns and paper mache' projects, this is not the site for you.  Upcycled Halloween crafts don't float your boat?  Than go elsewhere.  Not that I don't appreciate the referrals but I am not and will never be a porn blog.

Forgot to feed the Bird

This is a little prop is fashioned from a cage acquired years ago at JoAnns Fabric and Crafts in after Halloween sales. The bird skeleton is available right at the Dollar Tree.  Through the magic of a mini hot glue gun, I got it to stay on the perch.






 I like to give my cheap skeletons a paint job as I think it makes them look a little more upscale.

Best Thrift Store Find

I love to thrift and upcycle - I like to say "saving the planet one Halloween craft at a time".  So when we cleaned out the Tajin Alami back in April and I acquired these pre-owned beauties, I knew I had to find a way to light them.

Enter the Arc Thrift Store with an amazing bag of three remote controlled LED candles for $6.99!!!  I can now hang these from my high beams without climbing a ladder to turn them on and off!  They have 15 color choices and a flicker option.  Plus, I got them half price with 55 and older discount.  Yes I failed to mention that I was only 54 and 4 months but they didn't ask.  Just one of the benefits of being prematurely gray.  



Sunday, September 9, 2018

I was warned

Last year, Donut, over at the PotionSmith did a group of postings based around the perils of over planting Zucchini and naturally, I failed to get it.  Fast forward to 2018, when I planted not 1, not 2 but 3 whole rows of the stuff. Now I see her point.
Earlier in the summer, the hail kept these bad boys down.  But we have been hail free for almost 4 weeks and  I am up to my eyeballs in zucchini and am happily giving it away to friends, enemies and anyone who breathes.

We have added it to everything we cook - spaghetti, ratatouille, eggplant Parmesan, soup, brownies, as side dish in white and red sauce, and sauteed with basil. It goes in salad, smoothies, and is eaten raw with hummus.  But I can't keep up.  So please, send me your best zucchini recipe, especially any Halloween ideas I can add to my spooky spread.  I am heading out to the garden to pick another 10 of these.

Friday, September 7, 2018

Crafts to sell at the Beer Festival

The Manitou Springs Heritage Brew festival is a great time to sample local craft beer.  Many brewers from Colorado Springs and the surrounding area will bring samples to share.  We even have Melvin coming from Jackson Hole, Wy., which is exciting because that is his Lordships favorite.  I will be selling Lady M merch to benefit the Heritage Center.  Here is my latest craft project for sale - switch plate covers. They feature vintage postcards and a vintage graphic from the Colorado Springs gazette circa 1926.  I printed them off of the computer and decoupaged them onto plate covers from Habitat for Humanity's Restore.  I am chuff with how they look and love that they are upcycled!




Monday, September 3, 2018

Deleted my comments by mistake

Sorry if you don't see your comments.  I was cleaning up the comments page.  I deleted hundreds. I had no idea that they would come of off the blog too.  So they are gone, all the way back to a year ago.  I am glad I got bored or I would have deleted them back to 2011.  So you will have to forgive me - I still want you all to comment and I still like you.  I checked with blogger - no recovery system at all.

Now I understand what Emma knew

I remember reading once that Charles Darwin often boiled carcasses of animals in his house so that he could compare skeletons.  His wife Emma did not like the smell.  Well, now that I have experienced such, I can totally agree with Emma.

Back in June, we had one of our tenants go AWOL.  He left our rental full of stuff and disappeared.  We had to pack, move and store his things and now are in the process of getting rid of them.  He left a cool deer skull I have decided to keep.

The only problem was there were still a few bits of hide and flesh on it.  I left it outside hoping nature would do its job.  But that takes a long time so his Lordship suggested I boil it.  It worked great as all the fleshy bits fell off but holy guacamole - the smell.  I still gag just thinking about it.

It will look great in the Haunted Parlor this year.

It will be displayed with this fake one I bought on sale last year from Spirit Halloween Superstore.  




Saturday, September 1, 2018

Bauhaus - Lagartija Nick (1982)



This is for the folks over at the Highbury Cemetery because one good song deserves another.

Fine Feathered Friends

His Lordship and I chose to move the haunted parlor last year for a few reasons.  One of which was to have a garden.  If you have been following recent posts, you know how that is working out given the occurance of  hail 3 times this year.

 The other reason we moved here was to enjoy the birds.  And oh, what birds we have.  We have kept the feeders stocked and the birds have come.  My favorites, being a fall person, are the crows.  Every day I throw some seed and a handful of freeze dried meal worms into the grass.  A scout flies in, caws, and the whole family group arrives.  Here are some pictures of them enjoying their morning ritual:









We also get Black Headed Grosbeaks, Lesser Goldfinches,Turkeys, Hummingbirds and many others.  So far, my yard list is up to 69 species.
These vultures fly over but I never get them to land.
Perhaps I need one of these.

 

 
I was amazed at the online instructions detailing how to build a vulture feeder using road kill.  Some day maybe...one can only dream.