My few Halloween touches will come down tomorrow. Always a dachshund and corgi family, this Halloween card from Zack years ago seemed to be the exact image of our dear Penelope who we lost not long after I started blogging in 2012. She comes out every October along with treasured hand-painted cards from daughter-in-law Wallace.
Zack recently had a birthday and as always he requested his birthday pie, a peanut butter cream. I used to make a homemade graham cracker crust for it but lately just buy one from Keebler. This year it shattered but Zack still loved it.
He also asked for deviled eggs so I sent him some of those, using my old standby recipe from a Mary Emerling cookbook.
And from the freezer a tuna fish casserole I'd put away for him when I made one for our own supper one night.
Can you tell I'm a paprika kind of girl here?
Here's another old Halloween card that comes out each year, one from our daughter Christy.
I meant to show a picture of a beautiful vase of flowers Christy brought us when she was here earlier.
I loved those gorgeous purples! And kept enjoying her flowers as time went by and I broke them up into little arrangements all over the house. Here's a little one I put in my bedroom.
And naturally I had to save the roses to dry.
In the morning I'll change that cute October page on the calendar my daughter gives me each Christmas. Even though I look forward to my favorite month of the year, November, I'll miss my cute pumpkin and bats on my bedside table.
Down will also come the bat hanging in my kitchen, part of a Halloween card Christy sent us many years ago.
Can you spot him?
Here's one new gift that will come out each autumn to be enjoyed, a Fresh Cut Paper bouquet from my sister Deb that arrived during supper of our 62nd wedding anniversary!
It was such a fun surprise and we have enjoyed it at every meal!
Halloween is a little tame at our house these years but I do take a childish pleasure in it. Maybe because I have so many memories of fun Halloweens growing up and then of those with our children when they were still at home. We even had two grandsons growing up next door to us at Valley View who visited us in their costumes.
I've enjoyed seeing pictures online of our two granddaughters in their costumes today, one as the Mouse Scout and her big sister as, of all things, a Starbucks drink created by their mother Wallace, including silky whipped cream on top!
I've needed these sweet tugs on my heart this week, in a time when hearts are so heavy with the news, in addition to having another daughter-in-law lose her father this week. She and her four sisters and their mother are grieving at this unexpected loss.
So I'll take a little Halloween cuteness gladly and look forward to the holiday season coming up, every minute of it. And I'm very glad to report that I followed the advice of a blog friend and tried switching my browser to Chrome and like magic all my sign-in problems on my blogs were fixed! I can even comment on my own blogs now and imagine that I will be able to on others as well.
Please be well and safe!
Love to all,
Dewena
Dear Dewena,
ReplyDeleteI'm reading blogposts in between answering the door for trick or treaters. Three grands made it by, a knight, a lion, and a T-rex. All so cute. I like the cute innocent costumes rather than the scary ones. There's enough scary in the world these days.
So glad your blog comments are working now.
I don't have any Halloween decorations other than a pumpkin that never got carved sitting on the porch. Your paper bouquet is beautiful and perfect for November decor, too.
I bet your three special trick or treaters were darling, Lorie, and were rewarded amply. We've never had a single trick or treater come up our driveway here but I always buy candy just in case. Good excuse to buy candy, right? I will keep my beautiful paper bouquet of flowers up in November! It's so cheerful.
DeleteHowdy and happy November!....your favorite month! Enjoyed seeing all the yummy food, oh my goodness I love deviled eggs too and I am ALSO very liberal with paprika! Loved seeing all the cute cards too. I save all my cards as well, I'm sentimental that way. Was good seeing what you've been up to. I think I tried to leave a comment on your last post, I think it erased or something. Not sure. Happy Fall!
ReplyDeleteHowdy Debbi, I do hope your comment won't disappear anymore. That's happened to me too and it is frustrating. I'm glad there's another paprika lover out there! And a friend who also saves cards. I can't bear to throw away cards from loved ones although when we downsized almost eight years ago I did let go decades of old ones--and then started saving them again. Happy Fall to you!
DeleteI save cards, too, decorating with them each season. My aunt made some that are so beautiful, and I especially enjoy displaying them. I'm glad you figured out your computer woes.
ReplyDeleteMy Halloween decorations are few, so it won't take but minutes to put them all away. I'll wait until after Thanksgiving weekend to put away Fall -- my favorite time -- and bring out the yuletide decor.
Handmade cards are so special! My few Halloween things came down today and now I'll be spreading around some Thanksgiving things but this year I'm starting Christmas decorating in a few days as I have Mohs surgery on my forehead coming up in early December and won't be able to lift or bend over for a couple of weeks. Must get as much done as possible in November due to this.
DeleteKaren, continued prayers for your husband to keep on recovering well from his surgery!
I love reading your blog posts and seeing photos of all the lovely and sentimental things in your home. And I'm so glad to hear you can now comment on blogs, including your own!
ReplyDeleteI have never had peanut butter cream pie, but I bet I would like it, as I love PB. I'm sure Zach didn't care one bit that the crust got a little broken! I'm also right there with him on deviled eggs - love them. And lots of paprika, too.
I spied a tin of TJ's finishing salt on your shelf. I have the same tin in my cupboard of spices, and as I was using it this past week as a finishing touch on chocolate chip cookies, I see that it's going to expire soon. Problem is - my TJ's no longer carries this. Does yours? I guess I will have to get this special salt in a spice store or maybe Penzey's online has it.
I have good memories of Halloween, too - both as a child and when my boys were growing up. This Halloween was disappointing to us, as we had a snowstorm, so only one knock on the door. I gave the two girls tons of candy and then sent the rest with Brian to work today.
Happy anniversary to you and your husband - you are very blessed to have 62 years together, so far! And I'm so sorry to hear about the passing of your DIL's father.
Thank you, Melanie! That tin is from two Thanksgivings ago but last November our TJ's didn't carry it. I probably need to use it up too and had not thought of putting it on cookies. Only use it sparingly on top of leaf salads but the Bible does speak of salt that has lost its savor, doesn't it, so maybe I need to be more generous before this does.
DeleteI saw your pretty snow in your front yard on Halloween night. Did you get lots more?
Happy Birthday to Zack! He's got great taste: tuna fish casserole, devilled eggs and peanut butter cream pie for dessert - each dish looks and sounds delicious! I'm sure he enjoyed them very much!
ReplyDeleteDewena, I love all the fall colours and textures in your home, the real and faux flowers, the festive cards and touches of Halloween fun; they all blend in so beautifully to cozily decorate your home for the season.
I'm sorry to hear about your daughter-in-law's dad. And with regards to the news...I have no words, but my heart, too, is heavy.
Hoping and praying for peace!
Poppy xx
Thank you, Poppy! Birthdays fill my calendar at this time of year with my mother's sandwiched between two sons and a great-grandson's. It is a lovely time of year for them but also a sad time of year for those having suffered loss. Even more important to make our homes cozy then so little seasonal touches do help. A blessed autumn to you, Poppy!
DeleteI can't use my blog on Safari, only on Chrome, and yet I know someone who can only use Safari. The internet is so weird, and so incomprehensible.
ReplyDeleteYour decorations are so delightful. And I love that you do them. They are very cheering.
I cannot, cannot read the news, except for a local newspaper, but even in our small towns there are troubles. As I wrote on your other blog, I think I have a harder time coping with things than I did when I was younger.
I am sorry about your daughter-in-law's father.
Thank you, Nan, and I just read your comment on my other blog and visited you at yours. I know that the world news lately has hurt so much to make anything else seem trivial. And that's no counting personal worries and those of our loved ones. Nan, I know that often we have loved the same authors so was D. E. Stevenson one of yours too? I think I have all of her books and I keep remembering one of hers where a shepherd in Scotland tells someone who is worried something like, "Shoulder the world and drink your ale." There are times in life when, no matter how much you pray, that's all you can do.
DeleteI think it was "Shoulder the sky and drink your ale." Not bad, right?
DeleteI do like her! I almost think she has a book called Shoulder the Sky. Wait, I'll go search.....Yes! 1951. I don't think I've read it. That quote is great. Why alcohol can be a good thing. hahaha
DeleteOf course! I think it was in a trilogy. I'll look on my Stevenson shelf! (Robert Louis Stevenson's cousin, I think?)
DeleteThat paper bouquet is brilliant! And it seems to fit right in with your warm and welcoming decor. You're ready for colder weather, I'd say. I didn't remember that your favorite month is November. I would think that's unusual...? I will try to focus on the joys of this month, because I feel that I didn't pay proper attention to October and whoosh! it's gone....
ReplyDeleteI am loving the bouquet, Gretchen, and I'm glad that my sister Deb, being a faithful reader here, will know what a big hit it was. Yes, November replaced October as my favorite month a few years ago. It's such a beautiful month here in Tennessee and most years now the color is better than in October. I think too that the weeks leading to Thanksgiving here in the U.S. seem more special than the weeks leading to Halloween.
DeleteYou're right, October vanished all too quickly so let's live November to the fullest!