Happy Halloween!

I haven't had time this year to post a new ghost story in honor of halloween, but if you go here , you can read last years with a link to the year before. (The two stories are related).
Check out Lacy's ghost story here and Stacey's here.
Happy Haunting!

Grandma's In the Kitchen

Grandma's in the kitchen
acting kinda strange.
She's dressed in black
from head to toe
and wearing a pointy hat.

There's something boiling
on the stove.
Grandma's stirring it
with a great big spoon.
She's mumbling things
I can't quite hear
about eye of cod
and bloody chicken bones.

I'm peeking at her
from behind the door,
hoping she won't see.
Grandma's acting mighty weird.
I hope that stew's not for me.

A black cat I've never seen
is sitting beside her feet;
bats are circling outside the door,
a dog is howling down the street.

I think there's something I don't know
about my Grandma-Sweet.
She's getting ready for Halloween
and it's NOT just trick-or-treat!
~Paula

Harvest Time on the Oregon Coast

Seems that it's been eons since I've posted and even longer since I've done any serious visiting of my favorite blogs and I'm sorry. I'll be back around to visit you all soon, I promise! We're in the middle of inventory at work and the days are loooong~ It's been my job to get our huge store and warehouse ready to actually count the inventory, so I've spent the last two months mapping the store and getting all the product locations in the computer. Panicky at the end...Am I going to get done? There is no NOT getting done, it's a must, so long hours and weekends until I got it to where we needed it to be. Now we're counting, but by Sunday night should be all done and life will get back to a bit of normalcy. Maybe...


Riff, like a good pilgrim, has been bringing in the bounty of our wonderful Oregon Coast. We already had salmon and sturgeon in the freezer, now recently he's been crabbing and clamming, so our coffers are filling with dungeness crab and razor clams. We are feasting like royalty. Mr. Thomas O'Malley is only wishing he was. Watch out Thomas. That old crab may just latch onto your nose if you're not careful!

If you want to see some recent pictures of my Noah Bean, pop over to my sister Stacey's blog for a fun day of cleaning. I'm really glad that he has a stand-in Grandma in Wyoming. He has even started calling her "Enma". We do sound alike and look a bit enough alike that it's a good adjustment for him. Riff and I talk to him every couple of days so that he won't forget our voices and he has a little photo album with all of our pictures in it. What a sweet boy!

Doe, A Deer...

"A female deer. Ray- A drop of golden sun."
Deer are something we see here a lot. Drops of golden sun, not so much.

This beautiful fawn lives somewhere here in our neighborhood. Shilo spotted her when she was brand new and came home all excited because she'd seen the prettiest little fawn ever. I've seen her several times, but only from a distance, never able to get a picture of her. I was coming home from the grocery store the other day and there she was, having a snack by the side of the road. Of course I didn't have my camera with me so I screamed home, tore in the house and back down the road I went. She was still there and graciously agreed to pose for me before wandering off in search of rosebuds for dessert. She's this springs fawn and a precious tiny little thing. Don't know where her mama was. I do know that in old legends, she would be a sign of magic and blessings and I thank her for gracing our neighborhood with her beauty.
She can be seen here as the picture of the day!

May you all be blessed with a little bit of legendary magic...

Field of Screams

October just isn't October without sloshing through the mud in the corn maze, riding the tractor out to the field for the perfect pumpkin and chowing down on the best caramel apples ever, so without further adieu ~ Welcome to the Field of Screams!

Before we get started with our day, I need to introduce you to Dinny. Dinny is a very close friend of our little grandson Noah, but was lost in our suburban when we helped Brittany and Noah move back to Wyoming. We found this little blue dinosaur hunkered down in between the console and Riff's chair when we were on our way back to Oregon. (Shh, don't say anything, but I think Dinny was a little scared to be moving so far from home, so choose to stay in the car instead of getting out when he was supposed to.) Anyway, just looking at him made us a little sad and lonely for our baby, so Riff stuck Dinny up in the window of the Suburban and vowed to leave him there until he could give him to our Noah Bean in person. Dinny has enjoyed his road trips and insisted on getting out with us when we went to Sauvie Island. You can't argue with a dinosaur, they'll just eat you, so we took him along. He was really excited about the animal barn and just had to pose with the duck. Mr. Duck didn't care...


Here we are in the Field of Screams. Good thing it's daylight and harder for the ghosties to sneak up on you. Dinny is pointing out to Riff which way he thinks we should go. I tried to look unconcerned at his bad choices, since it was his first time in a corn maze. After taking several wrong turns and running into a few dead ends, we finally made our way out of the patch. Whew! We could have been lost forever. The family that never returned...


Dinny had a hard time picking just the right pumpkin in the humongous pumpkin patch. He finally climbed onto a tall pumpkin for a better vantage point and from here spied just the right pumpkin. Unfortunately, it was waaaaay across the field and took him hours to get there. Those little blue legs take itty-bitty steps you know! He did ask Riff for help after a bit, so we were able to get the pumpkin and get out of there before the goblins and ghouls started screeching. Yikes!


Then this made me scream - with laughter!! I choose...clothing (or you all would be screaming with fright!) I really did hoot and holler over this sign. I think Riff thought I was a little bit koo-koo for cocoa-puffs! And Dinny, he just shook his head and didn't say a word. I'm thinking that this actually made him aware that he didn't wear any clothes at all that day.

May you all be blessed with little blue dinosaurs and a frightfully good time....

Photo of the Day

I'm so excited! I had a flickr email from KMUN radio that my picture A Storm Moving In is going to be featured on their website as the picture of the day tomorrow, October 13th. I've had a couple others featured in the past, but haven't been quick enough reading my email to be able to see them on their site the correct day.

This picture was taken last December in a little coastal town called Wheeler. It's a tiny little place, absolutely gorgeous, that Riff and I like to stop at whenever we head down the coast. They have great antique shops and a fabulous fabric shop. When we first moved to the coast, we went down for their annual crab feed. Mmmm.... I'm thinking that Wheeler would make a great Small Town America post one of these days...

UPDATE::: My Dad just told me that my great-grandma Coleman lived in Wheeler as a young woman. They lived in a tent with a dirt floor. Brrr...must have been chilly!
I never knew Grandma Coleman but do remember stories of her sweeping her dirt floor until it was polished and shiny. She was quite the woman.

Knock, Knock, Knock

Thumping, bumping and knocking sounds were coming from the attic early Saturday morning. I was startled from a peaceful slumber by some muffled screeching, cackling and rattling of chains. I couldn't imagine what was happening and who or what could have possibly been stuck in that dark, dusty attic. With some trepidation and quite a bit of trembling knee's, I slowly pulled on the string to bring the attic trapdoor ladder down. Imagine my surprise to find these creatures standing on the precipice looking back at me. I'm a bit behind on my fall decorating, but they must have a calendar up there. Poor dears were not at all happy that it was already October 5th and they were still stuck in that dreary attic. They are creatures of the night, so don't generally mind that they spend 11 months of the year in the dark, but from what I was told ~ Enough is Enough! I let these guys out, but do know there are still others up there who will soon be putting up a ruckus as well...

Have your ghosts and goblins come out to play yet?

Reading Adventures and The Winner Is...

We are having a little storm today, the tail-end of someone else's typhoon, I hear. It's the perfect blustery, rainy day to curl up by the fire with a good book and jump into another world. My reading adventure this week has taken me to Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1600's where I'm getting to know Judge Samuel Sewall, one of the harsh Puritan judges who sentenced so many "witches" to their death. This book is factual history written by Richard Francis and entitled "Judge Sewall's Apology - A Biography - The Salem Witch Trials and the Forming of an American Conscience. I'm not far into it yet, at this point Sam Sewall is a young, newly married man living in Boston with his young wife, trying to make the difficult decision whether to enter the ministry or become a man of public works. (I think we know which path he choose.) The book is written well, with substance, not dry or reading like a textbook. Very very fascinating and horrible time in our countries young life.
Where has your reading taken you this week?

On this blustery day, I have also finished up a couple of sewing projects ~ Belfry Bat Softie, Belfry Bat and Ghostie trick or treat bags can be found in my etsy shop.


And the winner of my fall birthday giveaway is ~ Tipper from Blind Pig and Acorn! Thank you all for stopping by, entering and letting me know why you all love autumn. Seems that consensus has a lot to do with beautiful colors, crackling fires, warm sweaters and hot drinks among many many other reasons to love this time of the year.

Don't forget to let me know where reading is taking you this week...