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Saturday, October 27, 2012

En Garde! A Tale Of Two Jack O'Lanterns.



It's been many years since I've hacked out a
Jack O'Lantern from an unsuspecting orange gourd.


BOO!



But last night, daughter Anne and I performed
some skin-and-seed-ectomies on a couple of
plump $5 pumpkins from the local supermarket.


 We cleaned them out.
Anne helped me, as I am sort of slipshod about these things.


Carving pumpkins with my daughter is
very much like coloring Easter Eggs with her.
I take an egg, draw a lopsided bunny in white crayon, and dip it in pink dye.
She takes an egg, and inks in a facsimile of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  In living color.


I was ridiculously proud of my traditional,
goof-ball-faced, gap-toothed Jack O'Lantern.  

And then . . . I saw Anne's.

Yes, it's a raven, and it is quothing "Nevermore."

Complete with quoth marks.

(Apologies to Mr. Poe.  I'm only funning.)

(Want to read The Raven by EdgarAllen Poe?  Click here!)

No stencil.  Free hand.
Her first attempt at pumpkin carving.  

So, while my first pumpkin carving in probably 15 years
isn't exactly  a work of art, guess what?
Pumpkin carving is one of my Favorite Things.

I want to do more of them,
but Shop Rite is sold out!
**************************
We have a few leaves down at That Old House.

Howard and Annie did a lot of leaf removal today, bless their hearts.

I made meatloaf -- Cass

Claudia at Mockingbird Hill Cottage is our hostess for
A Favorite Thing . . . on Saturdays.   Click here!


P. S.   I was going to include a recipe for an apple cake in this post, and I had better pictures of the Jack O'Lanterns, too . . . but after a few pictures loaded, Blogger would not load anymore.  It just stopped.  Dead.  Bad Blogger.  Bad, bad Blogger.  I've been having problems with very slow picture loading, but it's never just refused pictures at all before.  Anyone else have this problem?

9 comments:

  1. Beautiful! Thanks for sharing Joann

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  2. I am sure you two had a great time.
    Wow--your daughter is a super pumpkin carver!

    Mine would look like yours and I would be tickled pink!

    M :)

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  3. I haven't ever stopped carving pumpkins but alas, mine are more simple (like yours) -- I'm still a kid at heart, I guess, for I color Easter eggs, too. I did both before we had Sarah and after she left home. I'm still a kid at heart, I guess!

    But I like your pumpkin as well! And I'm slipshod as well -- make sure it's cleaned out enough to put a candle in!

    That's all I care about!

    Oh, and when Sarah was small we roasted the pumpkin seeds -- she still does -- I don't!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anne is an artist! Mine would look much worse than yours, trust me.

    Blogger has been doing funny things with the photos. When it loads a batch, half of them don't have the blue frame around them, so I have to click them to make sure they are selected and will actually load. And yes, I have had it stall, and refuse to budge -- doing nothing at all.

    The weather news is very worrisome. You all take care!

    ETS

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  5. Cass, I am so happy you joined in this week! Oh my goodness, Annie's pumpkin is stupendous! Free hand? She puts us all to shame. I hope you are all safe and warm inside your home as this storm hits. I don't mind saying I am pretty nervous about the whole thing! Take care.

    xo
    Claudia

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  6. Her pumpkin is beautiful, but yours is also wonderful and very traditional! I have a similar situation in my family. I'm pretty run of the mill with pumpkins and my kids do interesting things.

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  7. Cass, you don't have to do anything but enjoy carving, because you RAISED the artist that will keep you in artsy, elegant jack o'lanterns for the rest of your life! Well done!

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  8. I love BOTH of those pumpkins, Cass! Your daughter's is amazing, but for a good old fashioned Halloween, yours is more my style. :) Did you roast the pumpkin seeds? That's my favorite part!

    ReplyDelete

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