I did get motivated today to spend some time in the garage. The past few nights we have been talking about the Halloween party and looking at some home-made decorations and props. I decided that we needed more headstones for the front yard, so I hit the garage with my jigsaw in hand, attacking the pile of scrap plywood. I managed to make 9 total, mostly smaller 24 incher's or so, but I did make one nice 8 footer just to stand out a bit. I'm thinking of starting to do the front yard next week. It's a lot of work and I hate to just do all of it for a week or 2. I even made a fake cemetary sign that I'll be putting on a couple of posts for people to enter into. Our little graveyard is now officially named "Dark Gardens". I'll put it on posts, and use one of the gates from the neighbors pile with it. Of course it will be off-hinge and look like it's falling apart. I plan on using some other fencing to put in front of the "graveyard", and to mark the path to the front door. I'll have a couple shepards hooks with oil lanterns burning for a bit more effect. Next week (after the next check), I'll paint the headstones and let Lisa come up with some eptiaphs for them. I REALLY wanna get a can of blacklight hair spray for them too, and have a couple lights laying out in front of them. That's all of course going to depend on the budget. I did get Lisa's old sound machine that we had in the bedroom and modify it a bit. I disconnected the tiny 2" speaker and wired it to a 6" from an old bookshelf stereo. It sounds awesome with this creepy heartbeat going through it! I'll hide that out there somewhere too. I *might* work on a mannequin design I saw that used duct tape to mold someone and drywall mud for plaster....still thinkin on that one. Our friend Ben built a full 6 1/2 foot casket for our living room turned funeral parlor, and he's delivering that on Wednsday.
Quick side note: Does anyone know why we call the room the living room???????? In victorian times, there were no funeral homes. People set up the bodies in the "parlor" for all to see and to have the traditional wake. The people of the times thought this was an awful tradition, and started the funeral homes we now know, though at the time they were called Funeral Parlors. The name of the home's parlor was changed to "living room", thus a room for the living. Neat little tidbit, eh? LOL Just think, if that hadn't changed, you could be sitting with a casket in front of that big 'ole flatscreen! Sure would add a whole new creepy level to some of those video games, wouldn't it??
This weekend I'm going to try to can more tomato's, then start on salsa, which is always last for us. We have no set recipe for salsa, it's just made with what's left in the garden. Tomatos, green peppers, jalepenos, wax peppers, onions........all go in the mix in whatever combination we have. (though we can't make it very spicy for the wimps lol) I may let the plants go till we get the first frost, just to milk everything we can out of them, and maybe get a few more things canned up, but that again is going to depend on weather. It's getting colder and colder at night, and it seems like the days got shorter almost overnight. I do love fall, but I sware sometimes it just jumps right in with no warning.
But.....fall brings me into hunting season. I'm really excited about getting out this year, I haven't done much in the past few. It's hard to think about when all of my hunting buddies are gone. Some quit, some I don't speak to anymore, and my oldest hunting buddy just plain refuses to grow up. (not a lotta details, but he's a bad drinker-4 DUI's and 2 wives hasn't taught him a thing) My favorite old squirrel hunting woods have been logged out, and the newer people in the area call the police every time they hear a gunshot. The neighbor tells me he has an excellent place to squirrel hunt, but going out with them makes me kinda nervous. Remember the weddin'?? Yea, those guys. I may venture out and look into some public hunting areas, but they still make me a bit nervous too. Working on the other side of a gun counter will definitly make you think twice about public hunting lands, trust me! Either way though, I plan to get out more this year. I'm still not sure about deer hunting, but only time will tell on that one. I'd be happy for a freezer full of rabbit and squirrel. I guess I should just bite the bullet and research those public places, ughhhhh.
I *SHOULD* be up in Michigan landing more of these babies, but alas, money stops me and my old fishin buddy/roommate grew into a real jackass. Ah well, they sure were fun to catch!
