Pumpkin Carving

With everyone's busy schedules - that happens when your grands are teens - we settled on Monday evening for our pumpkin carving fest.  We got dinner out of the way early at both houses and Tom and I were on the scene of the orange orb killing ("Oh, I didn't know you were going to kill it!" - It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown) by 6:30, laden with pumpkins, extra knives, cider and donuts. 

Then came the time to contemplate the design. Irene consulted her phone. Phones know everything, you know. 

In the background you can see Tom's already done. He didn't contemplate, he just cut. 

Irene has a HUGE pumpkin, kind of daunting. She wouldn't allow anyone to watch to see what she was creating. 

I dressed for the theme.

Isaac does not appreciate having his photo taken. 

Tom enjoyed the doughnuts while we worked. 

Others had been enjoying them too. Yes, that cider is homemade, from our cider bee. I freeze it in recycled orange juice jugs. 

The BIG reveal!  Big pumpkin, simple face, but strangely cool. 

It was also Mr. Whisker's birthday, so we had to celebrate that too. 

Isaac and his cat were not amused. 

Smiles.

Not smiles. 

Official portraits. 

In order of creator: Jill, Tom, Irene, Isaac, Linda.

Happy Halloween!

Color Update

Our Japanese maples are coloring up fast now. Here we are today, during a sun break between showers. 

 In the front yard, the Full Moon Maple is getting its glow on, accompanied by the Korean Dogwood and the gold of the Witch Hazel,  not to be mistaken for the witch named Hazel. :-) Is she lurking?

 On the other side of the full Moon Maple, a devilish Diablo Nine bark goes purple and a Viburnum burkwoodii is going for gold. 

 

 Those pumpkins will be carved this evening. 

 In the back yard, the two name-unknown maples have turned red almost overnight. 

 Giant mushrooms have emerged from the lawn and the patio. 

Everything is wet and drippy and a bit gooey. Have we been slimed?

Halloween is nigh. 

Saturday Lunch and a Walk

Tom and I joined his sister Jan and two of their cousins, Karen and April, for lunch/brunch at Endolyne Joe's in West Seattle. Located just above the Fauntleroy ferry terminal, this restaurant is named for a long ago conductor on the old trolly line #2, near the end of the line. 

 For us it was sort of the same. Karen and Jan came by ferry. April  and we came from the south. We ate yummy food and had a good visit.

This was the scene underfoot as we walked back to the car.

 Since it was a mild day, a bit cold and foggy, but dry, we decided to go on down the hill to Lincoln Park to walk off some of our breakfast. 

This old city park is adjacent to the ferry dock. 

 We decide to do our walking along the shore, with views of Puget Sound. 

 Big leaf maples added gold, and these shrubs, Arbutus unedo, Strawberry Bush, contributed both flowers and fruit at the same time. 

 A lone fisherman caught a fish as we watched. 

 We walked the shoreline, meeting other walkers along the way. 

 Around the bend and at the end, we retraced our steps. 

 We climbed a stairway and a path created in 1931 by the WPA for a bit of a walk in the trees before returning to the parking lot. Round trip was a little over two miles, just right for me these days. 

 These charming old homes line the other side of the street up on the hillside. 

Light rain began to fall just as we reached the car. Good timing, a good walk, good food and fun with family, all in all, a good day!

This Was Sunday

For the first part of the week, we had cold fog. Today as I publish, it is Thursday, and we have rain. We did have one day of almost clear sky in between.

Color is developing fast now in our yard.  I took these photos on Sunday, in the fog.

The golden hop on the gate.

 The rugosa rose on the driveway wall.

The callicarpa, Beauty Berry, alongside the rose. 

Hydrangea 

Spiders everywhere. 

Spirea

Web draped roses, old and new.

There "alliums" hold their "metallic" color.

Sedum Autumn Joy

Tom has worked hard to get the raised beds put away for the winter. He had to straighten the bulging sides, which required a lot of digging. He rebuilt the hoop houses and has since moved most of his bonsai into them. After letting the rain soak the soil, he will apply the plastic sheeting. 

All that's left is a few zinnias.

Color on the maples comes slowly in the shade. There will be updates. 

A fuchsia acrobat landed safely on a filipendula leaf. 

The kiwi vine is almost bare. 

The deciduous bonsai trees are left out to appreciate their color. The one on the left is old. The other two are new and still in training pots. 

The spider appreciates them too. 

There are lots of berries this year. I wonder how long it will be before the robins come and strip the cotoneasters.  

From the driveway this is how the trees in the front yard looked on Sunday. 

But the best view of them right now is upstairs from our bedroom window, where I do my exercises every morning. This is how they looked today. 

 The Korean Dogwood and the Japanese Full Moon Maple. 

The show will go on. There will be updates here too, maybe between rain showers. It looks like they may stick around for a while.