My son-in-law hosted his annual pumpkin carving event last week for his research group. I am always impressed with the artful carvings the undergraduate/graduate biology students produce – or maybe my son-in-law is an excellent pumpkin carving coach! (click on the image below to see a larger version)
My son-in-law held his annual pumpkin carving event the weekend before Halloween. My daughter doesn’t carve but she does help with buying the carload of pumpkins - one for each person in his research group (almost filling the back of the car).
This year it was raining on the evening the carving was done so the party was moved from outside into their garden room – with a big tarp on the floor to help with clean up later. The students picked the seeds out of the pumpkin guts and roasted them while they carved. The finished carvings were, as usual, spectacular. My son-in-law did the spider one which he later entered in a pumpkin carving contest at the local climbing gym and won a $50 prize!
The student that carved the Yoda pumpkin didn’t have a place to display it, so it stayed with the spider pumpkin through Halloween. A day or so after Halloween, the squirrels started eating the carved pumpkins; the first part to be eaten was one of the Yoda ears.
Meanwhile, there were two uncarved pumpkins left after the carving night. I took one to Carrollton and cooked it the Sunday before Halloween; it was so big I had to cut the top off to fit it into the oven! I made pumpkin soup (topped with pumpkin seeds that I roasted) and then pumpkin cake (made in muffin pans). The pumpkin soup was easy and yummy: pumpkin, picante, canned chicken, arugula…topped with pumpkin seeds and a sprinkle of Everything Bagel seasoning.
I still have a lot of pumpkin puree to use; most of it is in the freezer. The second pumpkin will be cooked in a few days – also will be processed and headed for the freezer. I am enjoying that we have a second refrigerator in our house to store the winter’s supply of pumpkin puree!
My son-in-law always hosts a pumpkin carving party for his research team before Halloween. This year, 10 pumpkins were purchased for the event; it took two carts to get the pumpkins from the store to the car.
My daughter missed getting a group picture of the results…sent pictures of the three they had on their steps for Halloween (with and without the lights inside).
Like last year – the squirrels are enjoying the spoils of Halloween pumpkins! They start with the carved parts…enlarging the eyes and mouth…small bites until there is almost nothing left to go into the compost! They apparently started with the pumpkin on the top step.
Our 4th month in Missouri was calmer than the first 3. There is still a lot to be done but we stopped pushing ourselves to keep the pace we had earlier. There are boxes to be unpacked but they are in the storage area and not things we use frequently.
The kittens got their first visit to the vet and are engaging in all our indoor activities. More about them in an upcoming post.
Our yard is looking much better than it did earlier in the summer when it was so hot and dry. We have a yard service for this season so all I am doing is pulling weeds in the flower beds. I am cutting roses to bring into my office. I am also making big plans to transition caring for the yard to myself (the new lawn mower will be electric!) and putting in more bushes (American Beautyberry and oak leaf hydrangea are at the top of my list).
The morning routine in my office has changed slightly because it is dark when I first get there – no watching the birds at the feeder while I enjoy my 1st breakfast (dark chocolate). It is also cooler. I’m using the halogen lamps to flood the room with light and provide a little heat.
Our thermostats in this house are not as sophisticated as the one we had in Maryland. We’ve stayed on ‘Cool’ so far; it’s chilly in the morning but comes on once or twice in the late afternoon and evening. The wall heater in the main bathroom is wonderful – something we haven’t had in any of our previous houses…another aspect to appreciate about this house.
Travel. I did my monthly trip to Carrollton TX…and we made several local outings. We haven’t started the day trips as quickly as I thought we would but October is a prime month for being outdoors and enjoying the fall. I am anticipating my first travel not associated with the move or family in the coming month.
I got out our Halloween decorations (one of our neighbors has a very elaborate Halloween yard) and discovered that they don’t work very well for the front porch in this house; the front door is a muted red…does not go well with orange…and there is not nail in the door. I may just put the decorations inside. On the plus side – the front door will work very well for our Thanksgiving Indian corn and our Christmas wreath…once we add a nail.
I’ve decided to wait for volunteer activities or in-person classes. I would miss too much since I already am committed to be away from home a week of every month. When I am at home…I need to finish the unpacking and continue the hone everything about this place into the home we want.
Looking back at the pictures from October 1991 – it was a pleasant month. Work was still challenging but not as overwhelming as it had been in the previous months. One of my sisters came to visit with the priority to enjoy activities with my two-year-old daughter. We went on a steam train trip near Gettysburg, visited a toy store in Ellicott City, and bought apples at a local orchard (my daughter ate an apple on the spot to the delight of the owner). I remember the outing to Mount Vernon vividly. We had lunch in the restaurant with my daughter in a highchair (antique style) pushed up to the table; she was thrilled with the arrangement and enjoyed the meal tremendously…charmed the wait staff. Then we opted to not go through the house…enjoying the grounds thoroughly. She hugged a big tree that George Washington had planted!
My sister was moving into a new house and had packed everything before her visit…and then moved almost immediately when she returned to Texas. It was a busy month for her. Another sister was pregnant with her second child and had some difficulties early in the month which were quickly resolved to the relief of the whole family. My parents were still working and trying to help everyone through the flurry of the month.
The leaves started to fall later in the month and my daughter became more enthusiastic than ever about being outdoors. Leaves and acorns are easily picked up and enjoyed. Her favorite movie was ‘Little Mermaid.’ She finally made the connection between saying numbers and counting things; that was the big ‘light bulb’ moment of her development in October 1991.
We borrowed a special costume for my daughter’s Halloween – a flowerpot for the body and headpiece with big yellow petals for around her face. It was very cute but not something she liked very much. At that point in her life, she was not eating candy so there was little joy for her that Halloween!
Great memories from 30 years ago…
October was a great month for getting out and about. The weather cooperated. There were birds and butterflies and colorful leaves…some flowers and frogs…even a sunrise. I had a lot of pictures to choose from for this zooming post! I use the feature on my camera for most of my pictures…to get the image framed the way I want…avoiding the need to crop. Enjoy the October slide show!
And Happy Halloween! A restaurant we went to recently had a clever Halloween decoration in one of their small bushes! I didn’t have to zoom for this picture…just stood on the sidewalk and took the picture with my cell phone!
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Celebrating the whole of life....
Thanks for visiting my blog! Enjoy the photo picks from 2023:
Copyright © 2024, Gwen Morrison. All rights reserved.
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