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The Halloween Decor in the Cottage

 

I finished decorating my porch this Halloween really, really late like on the day of Halloween! It underwent several changes this season as I brought in items such as the big pumpkins and lots of fall colored plants, it was like I couldn't make up my mind or something. My black feathered wreath has orange lights on it, but it is hard so see them in the photo. It looks good at  night and gives the porch a nice halloweeny glow.

I had to rearrange my broom parking area due to the addition of our GIGANTIC pumpkins Mr. Incredible grew this year.  Mr. Incredible also brought home these old milk crates from a job, see he complains about my hoarding issues but feeds it all the time!  Whose fault is that!? The galvanized luminaria is from Homegoods, I thought it was too cute to pass up so in the cart it went. It's been dangerous having Homegoods so close to home.

Here is the other crate, in September I planted some beautiful purple colored plants in it, but at the end of the month and in October we have had some scorcher temps over 100 degrees and the plants did not make it so I plopped a skull in it to fill the hole.  The Coleus is hanging in there and I hope it makes it as we are getting some cooler weather lately.

Here is a spooky view of our pumpkins...I like the spider webs I added this year with my black crows.  Of course my witches hats came back since I do a Witchy theme every year.

My witch broom sign came back too that I made last year as inspired by Michael over at Inspired by Charm.  It's one of my favorite pieces I've created. As you can see we grew some humongous pumpkins this year....but they rotted out before Halloween so we never got to carve Jack O' Lanterns out of them. Boo! We had three of them, but gave one to a school for their pumpkin science project.

Here is what all of them looked like in early October.  I named them...I know I'm a dork.  The big one is Goliath, the one in the back with warts is Mr. Lumps and Junior out in front.  Mr. Incredible was successful growing them but he planted them too early.  We had so many people ask about them as the walked by and asked where they could get one.  Mr. Incredible bought one at the local grocery store last year. Remember?

 
Here is the picture from last year and he harvested the seeds and planted them in February as an experiment, way too soon but we had fun watching them grow.  He plans on buying seeds next year and planting them later so we can carve them into the funny little faces. 

This was how the Halloween décor evolved this year in our cottage like I said it took on many different looks for the season. But lets take a look inside the cottage even though I didn't do a whole lot inside just a few small spooky touches here and there.

Come on in the witch is in.....

If only you could hear my cackle, I think I need to addition for the local playhouse for the part of the Wicked Witch. Yep, this is me in my Halloween costume at the first annual Truck or Treat...gosh I scared myself looking in the mirror this year along with a few other trunk or treaters.  Had some cry....even a few parents jumped at my scariness. I'm really good or am I really bad?

This was my Halloween mantel this year I had some ideas to make a banner but never got around to it, wanted to use some burlap and stencil Hocus Pocus on it, there is always next year.  I also wanted to make a Witch Inn sign with the old wood but as you can see that never came to fruition.  It seems I never have a enough time to create all the ideas in my head or maybe it's time management.  Yes, I'm sure Mr. Incredible would say the latter. Next year....

My sideboard got a little spooky too with some witch candles and some skulls, some glitter green ones in the lantern and the one in the center from World Market. The wreath I copy-catted from the Williams-Sonoma website.  I made the reused the Beware sign from another project. I added the striped ribbon to hang the wreath and the moss runner I borrowed from my neighbor.

The last few years I have planted succulents in Skully the skull but this year I used it was a serving piece for Spaghetti Salad brains at a Halloween party and then as a candle holder on Halloween night.

In my dining room I put a hairy spider to watch over a basket of white pumpkins.  I didn't do a whole lot of spooky in this room, the living/dining room area.  It's decorated more for fall then Halloween. With lots of white pumpkins.

Here are my li'l spooks, Minnie has on her Bat Wings but Snickers doesn't have a costume (poor baby, I don't think she minds much though)....but speaking of costumes I'll share one last picture of Mr. Incredible, myself, my daughter and her friend Dylan.

I think I'd make a good Warden....so if I don't get a full time teaching gig....

I've now put all the Halloween décor away and ready to pull out all things Thanksgiving.  But as I see all over the internet everyone is already putting up their Christmas trees and decorated their mantels with holiday garland...I'm sorry but I have to enjoy each holiday as they come I guess I'm "old school".  What school of thought are you?  Are you itching to put up your Christmas décor or waiting until after Thanksgiving?  I usually wait until December 1st but I think I'll start the day after Thanksgiving. 

Happy May Day!

We've had some really hot weather here and high powerful winds so Mr. Incredible and I took the doggies to the beach. It was their first time at dog beach, they were not to sure about it. I shared a couple of pictures on Instagram. Flowers have me thinking of Mothers Day and I've been putting together a Wishlist I will share on my next post. Happy May Day!

Enjoying the California Climate.....

with  Minnie {aka Critter} and

and Snickers.  While Mr. Incredible is recooperating from surgery we have been going on lots of Nature Walks.  Snickers loves sitting in the back seat like she is a human, she looks out the window and barks at all dogs she passess. When we tell themwe are going on  a walk, Minnie goes cRaZy, the whole time we are driving up to the nature walk she cries and whines.....finally when we get there {it's only 3 minutes away} they are so happy, I think this place is Disneyland for Dogs. Minnie is such a lap dog, when were are at home she is always in your lap or snuggling with you under the covers, so it so weird to see her get so excited about the nature walks.

When my girls start running Minnie {aka Critter, that's what Mr. Incredible calls her since he found her under his work  trailer at the construction site scrounging around for food}  takes off after them. She is going blind {cataracts}  so sometimes she'll run into things but really stays right behind them.

We can let her off the leash because she comes to us when we call.  Now, Snickers is a Jack Russel Terrorist and I think if she spotted a rabbit in the brush she'd take off like a shot and we would never see her again until she caught that rabbit.  Jack Russels are like that...bred for hunting vermin.

Lots of open fields with animal life and lots and lots of Coyotes.  There are  beautiful homes that all back up to the nature trail.  You have to watch your small dogs and cats very closely living here.  Lately the coyotes have been spotted jumping over chain link fences and the news did a report on that a few weeks ago.  

Isn't she sweet...all tuckered out from her nature walk?  

Time for going "under the covers"....that is what we tell them and they jump up on the bed and go under the covers and go to sleep between Mr. Incredible and I.  Yes, yes we know how spoiled they are.   They are family....and we LOVE them very much, Snickers and Minnie...

Cathy

This is was our beautiful, fluffy, fat Cat Cathy..yep her name is Cathy.  Madison got her when she was about two years old.  She had the best desposition of any animal I have ever owned.  She was sooo mellow....

And boy did she LOVE to eat!!!  One of her favorite past times besides easting was being petted..she loved to get her backside scratched. 

Yes...Cathy...we will miss you very much.  I know the dogs didn't have so much fun with you like they do Mudge {our male cat} they chase him like a wild banshees around the house, but you they just lick your face and you roll over to stop the incessent barage of the tongue.  Love you FAT CAT, you will be missed!

Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint and a Very, Happy Birthday Dog!

Miss Mustard Seed aka Marion Parsons has a fabulous blog, where she shows you all kinds of painting techniques, she is a big fan of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint which I mentioned on this post.  Well....Li'l Miss Mustard Seed has now come out with her very own line of MILK PAINT.  Now I'm dying to try it.....I have a few things lying around here in my cottage that could use a swipe of some paint and her colors are sooooo YUMMY!

Now this blogger/painter/artist/magazine contributor/mom/wife/ is now coming out with a book called Inspired You.  It is exactly like her blog and since I've been following her blog for sometime now and find I'm completely inspired by her creative talent this book is a no brainer, I'll be looking for it on the shelf at Barnes and Nobles.  I especially come to LOVE her labels, logos and her ingenious packaging...

Isn't her logo so darling?  This is her sample paint, that she put in mini mason jars.  CUTE!!  She sells her MMS MILK paint line in a shop called Lucketts but it's all across the other side of the nation in Pennsylvania..

Darn it!! Well...don't get all pouty on me because I have some good news, you don't have to take a road trip to Pennslyvania but that would be fun, wouldnt it!!  Yes...we can have a chance to win samples of MMS MILK Paint and some other goodies in this giveaway or  you can go here for another chance to win.  Now I'm sure you can find something that needs a good ol' swipe of some of MMS MILK paint with all those vibrant colors to choose from.  I have a small serving tray that I think needs a pop of color or maybe the Ironstone White would be perfect....good luck to all who enter.

 

In other news{it has nothing to do with paint} Today is Snickers Barbara's Birthday!!  Yep...she is 3 years old...Remember this post when we celebrated her First Birthday..our Li'l Jack Russel Terrorist as I like to call her...

 

 

 Yes..she is full of energy and personality.  We love her inquistive nature and her friendly manner. I especially love her polka-dotted belly which she loves to get rubbed on, and will instanty calm her down, and as I say put her in a "comatose state"....she'll chase anything that runs, crawls, flies or hops. Happy Birthday, you spoiled Dog, WE LOVE YOU!

 

 

 

 

Wild Parrots

In the city I live in there is a "humongous" flock of wild parrots that inhabit the area.  I have an apple tree in my back yard and at this time of the year.....they swarm upon the apple tree.

They are quite noisey and chatter up a storm which attracts my....doggies.

As you can see my "Jack Russel Terriost"...Snickers Barbara gets air borne trying to reach the parrots.  Critter {the Chihuahua} doesn't know what quite to think about all this action.  When I saw the apples appear last year I told myself I'd attempt to make an apple pie but yet again the Wild Green Parrots beat me to it.  Hopefully next year I'm a bit faster at picking them. 

Many Firsts...

Yep....off with her best friend on a new adventure, I know these next fours years will pass in a blink of an eye.  I'm excited and nervous for her all at the same time.  I know it can be difficult at times, as at this age they become more "hormonal" which results in hurt feelings and as they start to to become more independent as the aprons strings are become more tethered...I won't go there or else I'll start to tear up.  We don't want that do we?

Her first time as a Frosh Volleyball player {she made the team in July, haven't had time to post on that}....she is loving it. Some of the girls on the team also played with her at the Middle School so that is sweet.  We have had 3 games this week, won two and lost one.  We, Mr. Incredible and I are looking forward to watching more as the season unfolds...it is quite exciting to watch.  Also my youngest is practicing with them and hope to make her 7th Grade team....yep I'll be hearing a lot of "Spike It, Dig It and Bump It".....by the way Madison feels a bit strange in her Buns....those are what you call the volleyball "booty" shorts....I'd wear them around the house to clean if I could get away with it...Ok..do NOT picture that in you mind..not a pretty picture...

These two girls are like "two peas in a pod", like "ketchup and mustard", like "Beevus and Butthead"Oh you get the idea.  I'm so grateful they have each other to confide in and experience what life my bring to their young lives in the next four years. It really, really helps to have a GREAT friend. 

Here is my Li'l One...all looking sassy and cute for her FIRST day of 7th grade. Too bad those darn Toms gave her blisters at the end of the day.  I guess she needed to break those puppies in.  Ouch!

Off they go to Middle School.....excited to be back after having a couple of months off! 

So I'm enjoying the quiet of the home during the day with just me and my "girls".

We will be back on schedule with our morning walks...and I'll be ready to tackle some more projects around this old Cottage. Lots to paint, bathrooms to renovate and kitchen cabinets to spruce up,  Garage to clean up and reorganize, Now...what should I tackle FIRST?

Fruit and wine or Wine and Fruit...they just go together..."like peas and carrots"..

I picked up this Sea Glass Riesling at World Market the other day when I finally decided that I needed to pick up ...

 

... this Paisleyish {i think i made that up?} green coir rug to keep the hardwood floors from getting too dirty.  I LUUUUUV me floors but they do track in grass and dirt if the peeps in the Cottage on Cullen don't wipe their feet or my hands will be permanently gripped on my broom. 

 
Oh, she thinks we got it for her....I think I may need to apply sunscreen on her, do you see she is turning a bit pink?  Don't you just love her Polka-dotted belly?

But back to my Sea Glass vino...yes I'm Guilty as charged for picking up a bottle of wine because of a label, I've posted before of picking up the Cupcake one, have you had that one? 

 

they sell it at Target.  And in this case it was not only the label but the Cobalt blue of the bottle color that had me interested too.  It is a sweet wine and I'm not a big sweet wine drinker, I have a few friends that rave about Moscato wine but I'm not a big fan..way to sweet. I'm much more of a Chard kind of gal. 

 
But sweet wine go with dessert, right? And this wine went perfectly with this Summer Fruit tart....yum!  What is one of your favorite dessert wines?  Do you like Moscato?  Inquiry minds want to know.....

 

and what is your favorite summer fruit?  Mine are raspberries...

Look who turned One!!

 

Snickers had a Birthday Party on Friday with a "few" of her closest buddies!

 
yes....a "few"....the dogs all got along great and I thought I'd have to break up some fights but they were on their very best canine behaviour...

 
We had doggie snacks for all the guests...

 
Not only snacks but we also made "pupcakes"...

 
 
Some of the guests {Eddie} came back for seconds...I got the Pupcakes Recipe from here....

 
Yummers!  Snickers loved hers too!  

 
Opening all the gifts, she could hardly wait!    She got a new collar, a new outfit, lots of toys and treats.  She LOVES her treats...absolutely loves them.  Everyone had a great time!  

 

What a Weekend, full of rats, cake bombs and more...

You never heard of a cake bomb? Well do you live under a rock or somting? A cake bomb went off in my kitchen this weekend.  It started like this.  With all my success of Cake making these days I was feeling like "I was all that"!!  The birthday cake for Kenzie birthday got big raves from the guests, the Rainbow Cake  was hailed by the crowds.  So I tell my friend who is hosting a baby shower {for our fearless Girl Scout Leader} I can make the cake...I'm down with that.  Have you seen my cakes lately..."I'm the bomb Chickca" I tell her.  Well check out this mess.................

well it turns out "I" was not the bomb making cakes but the Cake was a bomb and not in a good way.  I have the book Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, which I love and has the greatest ideas in there for cute cupcakes. {you can see the cover in the top left hand corner of above picture}

 
I come across the Baby cupcakes I see inside the book and decide I can do that and then while I'm at the Cake Decor store I come across the Giant Cupcake from Wilton's {i know my neighbor has one I can borrow} and I decide to make a Giant baby instead of cupcakes.  I buy a fake bottle and a diaper pin so I don't have to make that and that will cut down on the time to make them/it. Plus making a giant baby cake is easier then frosting 15 to 30 cupcakes and decorating them.  While I'm there I see some Bavarian Creme...ahh yes..let's put Bavarian Creme in the middle...then I get another brainstorm, she is having a Safari Theme in her nursery so why don't I do a Giant Monkey..they look sort of like babies.  I can use some big wafer cookies for ears and brown frosting.for the fur and wa-la a Baby Monkey Cake.  On Friday I start making my 9 in cakes and my Giant Cupcake {for the monkey head} Everything is going good.  I wait for them to cool a good long time.  Pop the first layer out and put it on my cake stand. This is were the fun starts!   I add the Bavarian cream and then plop the second layer on top...it starts to crack and break apart into three pieces.  I yell at Mr. Incredible to come get the bamboo skewers to stab it.  It is no use, it starts to slide off the top. I scrap the top layer off and I decide to make another layer, maybe I did not cook it long enough and it's too soft.  I put that layer on top...it does the same exact thing. 

      here is the first layer

I feel like I'm in an I Love Lucy episode, where she is on the conveyor belt and eating all the candy because she can't wrap them fast enough.  I was trying to cover it up with butter cream frosting to stick it together, it just made it heavier, then I put the Giant cupcake on top and that did it...it slid off the top and on the counter..

I was now without a cake and I have a soccer game first thing in the morning and I hope...Cost-Co will save my butt and have a cake.  In the end, they do save my butt along with Martha Stewart.  I get a Chocolate Cake and add some Safari Stickers {Martha's line at Michael's} and call it "good".  A cake that I should of cost me about $20.00 to make, cost almost $70.00 bucks!!

Meanwhile....while I'm trying to "decorate" this cake my daughter comes in to tell me there is a rat climbing the wall....we have a brick wall in the back with and Orange tree so I assume she is talking about that wall behind the Orange Tree.  I go outside in my towel  {flashing the neighbors as this itty bitty towel doesn't cover all of me} and the bugger is not climbing the wall by the Orange Tree but climbing the wall of our house next to the back door.

"Mom, mom he is shaking!!" she is very upset. {the lover of all creatures great and small} The dog  and the cat, who by the way can't stand each other are at the bottom of the wall in cahoots in catching this creature.  Mr. Incredible finally comes home and rescues it and lets it go near the Orange Tree and we bring all the "killers" in the house.  The next day comes and I need to wash uniforms for the afternoon soccer games {since my daughter has pizza all over it from the night before from the Galaxy game we went to}I go to grab the tide and SCREAM!!  Mr. Incredible thought I was having a heart attack and walks to the garage.

 
I guess since It was my Birthday, Mudge {the cat} did not want me to feel left out and brought me a gift.  OH, ain't he thoughtful!   If you are still reading this Kudos to you.   What a crazy weekend.   Glad it is Monday so I can have some peace!! Want some cake?