Happy Halloween!

Have a fun, safe and happy Halloween weekend!

It's Pumpkin Time

The hollow winds begin to blow,
The clouds look black, the glass is low;
The soot falls down, the spaniels sleep,
And spiders from their cobwebs peep.

The Halloween custom of carving a jack-o’-lantern dates back to medieval Ireland. The legend involves an Irishman named Jack who was too stingy to go to heaven and too mischievous to go to hell.

Jack had to wander Earth until Judgment Day with a lantern made from a hollowed-out turnip with a live coal inside. Children started making these lanterns on Halloween. In North America they eventually switched from carving turnips to carving pumpkins.

Have you carved your pumpkin yet?

Many thanks to the Old Farmer's Almanac for that info!

Haunted Doll House

I have the opportunity to promote a very talented artist of mine acquaintance, Carmen at Spooky Hollow Folk Art. She currently has her Haunted Dollhouse up for auction and its worth popping over for a look-see. If only to marvel at the amount of detail and sheer whimsy in her creation.

Better get over there before some smart cookie bids the house right off the market!

The Spooky Hollow Dollhouse

This photo (and more on the site) courtesy of Spooky Hollow

Post Share - Another Great Contest!

Gina, the owner of Cat Nap In Primitives, is having a great Halloween giveaway on her blog. All you have to do is follow the link to the post and leave a comment.

You do not have to post a link on your blog, but she makes such gorgeous things I'm happy to spread the word. Please note due to shipping costs, you must be a U.S. resident to qualify for the draw but don't let that stop you from popping over for a look-see!

Cap Nap Inn Primitives

Post Share - Halloween Giveaway!

Pop over to Magical Holiday Artists to participate in this great giveaway. The prizes are beautifully crafted and will make a fine addition to you seasonal display. Click on the link below to read the full post and contest rules:

"All you have to do to enter to win is post a comment on this post, if you want a second chance, post our Give Away on your blog, for third chance get a friend to refer you!!"

Magical Holiday Artists Team

Happy Thanksgiving

To all my family and friends everywhere, have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Movie Review - Zombieland

Hubby and I went to see this today and it was well worth it! Horror comedy isn't easy to get right and its a genre you either love or hate.

Zombieland has you chuckling while at the same time, making you jump. The younger members of the cast may be better known to North American audiences; Jessie Eisenberg (the phobic, computer geek loner), Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin (sisters who make a living from petty crime). Then there's Woody Harrelson (Twinkie obsessed zombie slayer) and surprise, surprise, Bill Murray, who plays himself. Though only for about 20 minutes of the film. After that, old Bill......well, I leave it to you to find out what happens there.


Harrelson's character really makes the film. It's fair to say that without him, this would be just another teen "horror" movie. He's unapologetic and often creative (Zombie Kill Of The Week) in his enjoyment of dispatching the living dead.

Our intrepid survivors make their way by 4x4 vehicle and with lots of fire power to California and an amusement park called Pacific Playland.

You're not told how the Planet turned into Zombieland nor does the ending suggest how or if the living will survive. Killer viruses, military experiment gone horribly wrong, you decide.

Its a good old zombie slaughter-fest that doesn't go overboard in the gore department. It's not sentimental, you're spared the usual gratuitous hormonal teenage sex scenes and the sight gags really are funny. There's a fair bit of bad language, so keep that in mind if the kids want to see it.

Rating: PG15

Hail October!

O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow,
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes' sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—
For the grapes' sake along the wall.

"October" by Robert Frost (1874-1963)