A Bit of Halloween

Today is my 11^th blogging anniversary. I was bedridden for the most part 11 years ago with the most debilitating case of Bells Palsy I’ve ever heard of from anywhere. I started posting here to see if I could find anyone else that had experience anything similar.

Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!

You registered on WordPress.com 11 years ago.

That Halloween as my grown son and daughter finished decorating and passing out candy, I was here, looking for anyone who, like me, didn’t need a mask to scare the kids. Thankfully, after a few years of help and exercises, it’s not so noticeable or scary.

My Austere halls

Halloween has different significance to different people. We just celebrated a friends Halloween birthday in a small at home gathering. I made a little mug rug for her.

Halloween Birthday Mug Rug

Autumn back

Halloween is also the day in 1999 that my dad chose to make his transition. A day no one would forget.

When I owned my manufactured home, we rarely got a child trick or treating. We were too far down the hill and I was the only one handing out candy. I blamed my weight gain on them. It worked for a while. The bucket full sat there for weeks as I whittled it down.

Candy keeps disappearing. We have gremlins

This year, I put out some of my candy into a small dish on the baker’s rack on Friday. Each night I would put a bit more in as the supply dwindled. Last night I came home from the birthday celebration and saw my dish was almost empty! I peeked through the door early one morning after hearing a noise at the door and saw my neighbor who swears he doesn’t eat sweets, stuff his pockets. I laughed quietly to myself. I know he has help from somewhere but I’m so happy to see that passers by are enjoying a little treat and at the end of the day, I’m absolutely certain, there will not be one piece of candy left for me to indulge in. Thank goodness.

Potted pumkin

My little witcu

Killer dust bunnies. Do they scare you?

My home sweet home

There are a few others that have done a bit of decorating for this holiday but I think one neighbor takes the prize. Peggy goes all out with every season change.

Peggy’s wreath on pole

Peggy’s shelves

So much to see

Peggy’s door wreath

I’ve put the wall hanging that was in my front window in Oregon each year in the hallway to add a little color. My son said he loves to come in the outside doors and see it. It brightens up the place. Wish I could sew faster so I could cover all the walls.

My hall wall hanging

Halloween started for me in Milwaukie, OR when my blogging friend Crystal  and I went to dinner. Main street had quite the display that looked like a scarecrow contest. Even the tombs were so cute. I met Crystal when we both lived in the Portland area and we have been good friends since.

Crystal isn’t a real scarecrow

Is this a banana?

Bride sc

For Rent

Dancing pumpkin

More contestants

Moonbeam

Noah Scape Always felt trapped

Godzilla scarecrow

Be Kind

Orange plaid pot belly

In great shape for the shape he’s in

Scarecrow contest

Jim Wattsisface

Chased a bear into its cave

Rock fell on his head

Ricky D Bones

The day my daughter and I went to the beach, we found an interesting shop that intrigued us. It had quite the eclectic gothic feel and the owner gave permission to take photos. It got us quite in the mood for this haunted holiday.

Femme Fatale

Femme Fetale inside

FF Enter if you dare

Where to start looking?

Do these photos put you in the mood for haunting and do you still decorate or have you given up on Halloween?

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

10 Halloweens

Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!

You registered on WordPress.com 10 years ago.

Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

Definitely Autumn

Happy Halloween Everyone. I’m not doing Halloween at all this year.  Our decorations are all in storage as it looks like the house has sold and we are in the process of moving out. I don’t want to have as much leftover candy as last year. I’m still wearing it around my middle. The kids rarely come this far down the hill and the wind is wild out there. Halloween is another holiday that has fallen victim to Covid.

Coffin it up
My photos of that same house outside of the park

Just hanging out

Since I’m short on time this Halloween, I’ll let my friend and fellow blogger, Crystal entertain and scare you with photos she took on her way home from visiting me. We don’t get to visit often enough. This place on the main road must have access to a warehouse of decorations because the do it up big for every holiday.

Wicked fence

Tilted coffin

How has your celebrating changed this year?

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

Happy Hallowversary

Yes it’s really Halloween and I’m wishing everyone a safe and satisfying day. I was checking my comments late last night and saw this message from WordPress.

Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!You registered on WordPress.com 9 years ago.Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

Made one for us and one for my son

It’s shocking to me that I have been here this long. Is it time to retire now? I’ve given it some thought since so many that I started out with have already done so. I still try to keep in touch with them. I mailed out three more hearts yesterday to former bloggers. I want them to know they may be gone from here but are never forgotten and I miss their input.

• 

  No two come out alike

We weren’t sure Halloween was going to happen around here as it’s a large community of about 550 manufactured homes and many are older and unwilling to open their doors to strangers. There are a few with children and this year a list was started in our community of those giving out candy. I am one of 52 who signed up. I’m a full mile at the bottom of the hill and these kids and parents still have to walk back up those hills. Quite the price to pay for a little candy.

• 

  Turned out bigger than expected

• 

  Fun stitching

• 

  Close up of center

My daughter and I slipped on our latex gloves and put wrapped chocolate into treat bags and twist tied them shut. Then they were placed in the cauldron to put on the porch in front of the door so I can see through the glass screen who comes and goes in their costumes. We never connect and each child can take one bag of candy without touching anything else. I have orange lights strung along the porch so the kids can see where they are going. We have rarely had more than 10-15 children coming this far down. I’m hoping the map list brings more children this year.

Being safe for the kids

Just so you know, I have not learned to manage the new WP block method and do not like it so if you see something odd here it’s because this is a change I haven’t learned to deal with…yet.

Change is Inevitable. Growth is Optional~John Maxwell

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

Big Eyes

BIG EYES are watching you

It’s Halloween again! All that candy in the store has my eyes BIG and wide with anticipation. Of course, I’m trying to abstain. You’ve heard the phrase “my eyes are bigger than my stomach.” That’s not how I lived my life if you remember how I celebrated my birthday. I have discovered that my big eyes affect so many areas of my life. Which is why the purging is so hard. I have big eyes for candy, cookies, great meals, and especially hobbies. Everything I see I want to try. I go overboard on quilting, sewing of all manner of things, decorative painting, crafting, ribbon, hand, and machine embroidery, plus read till my big eyes fall out and write as much as I can squeeze in not to mention gardening.

Witchy Poo comes every year

Franky never dies

When I see the decorations on homes, I see some that do it up BIG and others are basic minimalists. I’m working toward minimalism now. I decorated a little inside but not at all outside.

Bones all over a neighbors yard

They did what they could for Halloween

Minimal always works too

Met the new neighbor while they were putting up decor for Halloween

That’s how I feel about chocolate

I see less well, breathe less well and have so much less energy for the fun things. Even chocolate! Oh, no! Sometimes I’m not as present here as I would like to be but I’m not ready to give up the GHOST yet.

No ghosting out. My heart is in this.

 

Head is ghoulish

It’s the eighth anniversary of my blog. Why would anyone start a blog on Halloween while her adult children were dressing in costume and decorating the outside of the house? Maybe I was feeling particularly ghoulish that day. I know I couldn’t help so I decided to take on a BIG challenge. So far, so good. I’ve learned a lot and made so many wonderful friends here.

Real looking and scary

We are having perfect weather for kids to trick or treat here. It’s colder than a witch’s nose but dry and clear. Since my daughter is living with me this year and dressed in costume for work, we will open the door to the little goblin’s that brave the cold dark night.

Our family witch

What are your plans for scaring the little munchkins out of their wits this year or are you going have big eyes and eating all the candy yourself?  Happy Halloween to all. Boo!

Go A Head. Have a piece

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

A Beginning

---

I missed Halloween. It was my 6-year blogging anniversary and I just couldn’t get caught up enough to do anything about it. So goes the story of my life.

Today is my younger sister’s birthday. She likes low-key celebrations and this year is no exception. We had breakfast yesterday at Bob’s Red Mill after I picked her up from dropping her truck off at the mechanic. Everywhere we went, we saw geese. So many geese taking a rest from their flight to warmer climates.

Too far and too many for a good shot.

They wander on the road here. Everyone stops.

Her birthday would not be something I would ordinarily write about but right now she is mostly all I write about in my personal writing. I have started to recall all the hair-raising episodes of her life and want to quickly compile them into a booklet form. This photo should tell you that as soon as she could walk she was railing at the world and grasping life with both hands loudly and with abandon.

Don’t mess with me.

This year she was diagnosed with Pulmonary Fibrosis. It apparently tends to run in families. Our mother had it so we know what it does. I have cut back on many of my other activities to spend more time with her and to get her stories written and pictures collected and scanned. My sister is what is referred to as a character. I’d like to share some of them with you over time.

Mom, me and sis

 

Everything is changing and everything that ends brings with it a new beginning. The leaves on the trees are changing though many haven’t quite made up their minds. Our weather has the trees so confused. The time is changing this weekend and we fall back an hour. It’s so hard to adjust. My perspective on life has changed as well. I’m examining each moment for hidden treasures.

In full splendor

Undecided about changing

On Halloween afternoon as I was trying to write this, my internet died. When I called my cable company after doing the things I should to check and see if it was something I could fix, I finally got a sweet young woman on the phone. Brianna said she would try to work her magic and see if it could be repaired from there. After several moments she came back on the line and said my modem had sent an “end of life signal”! I laughed at the irony of it. She did get it working again for the time being.

Today, a giant of a man, made his way to the den with plastic booties over his shoes and laid the modem to rest, replacing it with a newer model He was shocked I still had the old model as they had all been brought back last year. How had mine survived? I told Brianna that the gremlins finally got it. There was a lot of treasure in these moments.

Life is a little uncertain right now.

Are you seeing the treasures in the moments? Do you have “characters” in your life you like to tell stories about?

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

 

Happy Halloweeny Anniversary

Why on earth did I pick Halloween to start a blog? Was I on a sugar rush or just enjoying the festivities of the ghoulish decorations at my son’s house while living with him.

Would you have asked her for candy?

Five years ago I was extremely debilitated by many unusual symptoms of Bells Palsy. I could no longer drive and as a passenger, I had to close my eyes, especially at night. I couldn’t sew because seeing the needle move up and down turned my brain into mush with an odd nausea. Television had its own terror. If things moved too fast on the screen, I had to close my eyes and look away. The cane is still necessary to keep me balanced and upright. The symptoms aren’t gone but they are far better.

Standing guard

The symptoms were a reflection of my life. Writing was all I had left to pull the terror of where I was in that moment into a cohesive plan for some kind of a future as a 62 years old freshly divorced and debilitated woman. Social Security advised I qualified for disability. I was not employable. That was scary enough.

The very act of writing helped train my damaged brain to find words again. Mimicking a stroke in many ways, this virus left my brain unable to put full sentences together without long pauses. I couldn’t find words I knew were there. Friends and family started finishing sentences for me. My writing was simpler five years ago. Gradually, I’m making progress, I hope.

This spider is tickling my nose.

In five years, I’ve found an online support community of bloggers. Who knew such a thing existed? Every time I got discouraged, there would be a comment, e-mail or even happy snail mail loaded with lovely things to cheer me on.

Corny wants a book with his treats

I scrounged together enough money after the home I shared with the last husband sold to put a down payment on a small manufactured home for myself, my books, fabric and other crafting tools. Slowly, I’m able to do little bits at a time of my cherished creative endeavors. Making this house my home has taken a lot of energy. Naps are on my daily agenda when tackling any project. It’s the brain that gets tired before the body so I’m exercising my brain as much as my body.

Got the borders, back and binding on the panel to that I quilted enough to hang by the sleeve on the back. It’s said to be glow in the dark.

This Halloween will be different again from the last. Aren’t they all? Not so many outside decorations as we’re having the wettest October on record and today brought high winds. Power has been intermittent. Inside, I’m ready for any brave little goblins that make it past the real bugs and spiders out there. It’s so warm, they have swarmed like an apocalyptic army. They scare me more than zombies any day.

Witchy Poo and her albino pumpkin are inside this year.

I’m curious to see what the next five years will unfold. Heck, I’m curious to see how today will unfold. Thank you all for being on this journey with me and cheering me on. Have a Happy Halloween with lots of sweet treats and no tricks.

No candy in this pumpkin

Is there anything that scares you more than a zombie apocalypse?

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

 

Save

In Search of Five

Happy Halloween. It’s here again. We have the perfect Halloween weather, though not for the kids. It’s windy, raining and spooky. The wind is knocking down decorations right and left whipping them down the street to be recovered later.

Tombstones went flying.

My daughter, son and I have combined our meager collection of decor and put out everything we had here at my place. This is where we will be tonight eating the candy that was intended for the neighbor kids. I don’t think any will brave the rain. Most go to city sponsored functions anyway. We have candy just in case.

What you see going in or out the screen door.

Gruesome waiting for a small fry.

Helping hands to take your treats

Scary books, well maybe not too scary

Snake on the porch

This spider webbing kept the wreath from blowing away and trapped lots of bug too. Ick!

Witchy Poo and her albino pumpkin are inside this year.

We all have skeletons in our closets, don’t we?

The witch lost her shoe

I’ve been trying to race the weather to get my outside work done before the rains came. Guess who won? I had to pay someone to paint the front of my house. My son is not good with ladders and paint buckets. My sister spilled half a bucket of paint trying to do just the trim so I call in help. I did manage to get the porch area painted with 2 coats. It’s hard to see the difference but it feels so much happier to me. The soft yellow is so much better than the dull beige. Got it finished and cleaned up in time for decorating. I know the bugs schedule now and I’ll do the rest of the painting first thing next spring.

 

I put up the metal quilt square to show that this is a quilt friendly home.

Halloween marks my blogging anniversary. I’ve been doing this four years now and wondering about the merits of a fifth. I know I want to reevaluate where I’m going with this. This last year and a half has been challenging in many ways. What am I saying? They are all somewhat challenging. So the weather has brought us inside and that’s where I need to go. Inside for some deep soul-searching. There is that word again. Searching. Do I still have anything of value to offer? Your time is precious. I never have enough time. So I’m going to take a moment to ponder the number five.

Corny wants a book with his treats

I hope you have a festive Halloween with more treats than tricks.

Are you ready to come inside?

 

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

In Search of Something Spooky

It’s Halloween again. I have to admit it has not been my favorite holiday but it’s growing on me thanks to the blogging community, especially the queen of Halloween herself at Gardening Nirvana. She made her own costume and it’s incredible as are her pumpkins and cards. Here is my daughter’s version of pumpkin carving. She had so much fun doing it.

My daughter had a pumpkin carving contest at work. Her’s is spooky…ish

Halloween is my blogging anniversary. This is my third Halloween. I re-read my first blog and it was a sad thing indeed. I’ve learned one or two things since and hope to learn and grow even more with your help of course. Every time I thought I should give it up, one of you cheered me on.

They glow and make noise if you jiggle the battery box. Spooky? eh. Not so much

This year was going to be different. I decorated the outside of my new/old home. My daughter loves Halloween and really gets into it so we made a trek to the Halloween store and picked up many things to put in my yard. It was the first time ever to decorate outside. I got out all the cute things I had for inside the house but they were never put into place.

reaching from the grave. Is it at all spooky?

You know that phrase “make plans and watch God laugh”? Well the heavens opened up with a belly laugh. I’m not home for Halloween this year. I’ll be painting all day on my son’s halls and stairwell. Let me tell you, if I hand out candy after a day of painting, I’ll scare everyone, not just the kids.

We hung orange lights so the skeleton wasn’t scared at night. It’s spooky out there in the dark.

Bedrooms and molding also have to be painted hopefully before the appraiser comes by. I’ve packed a few more boxes and held up lighted mirrors as he screwed them to the wall. I let in the contractors that put in the new counter top and sinks in the master bath taking photos so he could see the process while at work. Someone will have a beautiful master bath that has not been used yet. We are expecting hoping for a flawless escrow and to be out of here by Dec 1.

Those chains on that little fence won’t scare me. How about you?

My son will be at work till late on Halloween. (Not bad for a guy that was just laid off from a job) He’s doing freelance to keep paying the bills and so far it’s working. That’s spooky if you ask me. Having a huge mortgage and no job. Somehow, everything just keeps working out. He’s in escrow without a realtor. Yes, that’s scary too.

Here is something that really spooks me. Especially when I don’t see them ahead of time. Creepy crawlies.

My daughter and sister will be at my house handing out candy to the kids that brave the rain. I’ll be sitting out front with the rest of the neighbors here in the warm dry weather. There has been no significant rain here in the last year. That’s scary but not spooky. My daughter made her costume this year herself. The hat she wears all the time to start conversations was the starting point. You can barely see the earrings hanging from the horns. I’m tickled with the whole look of it.

She’s quite proud of the final look. Me too. Can you tell she’s part Swedish?

She even decorated the backpack she uses every day on the train.

I would never have thought of all this.

Not much really spooks me anymore. How about you? What spooks you?

Happy Spooky Halloween.

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself

In Search of a Happy Halloween

We don’t get trick or treaters here at the apartment complex. There are mostly elderly and college kids living here. An odd mix I’d say but the few children that live here go to churches or parks that have arranged entertainment for them. It’s a different world than when my kids were little. The mothers in our neighborhood walked together with the kids for safety and we knew our neighbors. I do imagine that is still true in many places.

My daughter made a great witch. Almost no movement until the kids got real close.

Last year I decorated, hoping that a few stray children would find their way here. Now I know better. This year I put up the few decorations I have and had all but written Halloween off as a lost cause. It can happen as you age. Bummer.

web shooting squirt gun got the porch ready for Halloween

Then comes the announcement in my writing groups. Our leader is a sugar junky too and looks for reasons to get us connected and having some fun while struggling to bring stories to paper. We are having a Halloween party in both creative writing and memoir classes so I have to bring some kind of treat both days. I’m off sugar again so it will be something relatively healthy. I’m not a kid anymore and the treats stay around way too long…on my hips. It will give a new twist to a day that has brought some tough times. I wrote about some of it in last year’s post. This week, I wrote about my most memorable Halloween for my memoir class. There weren’t many to choose from. I may post it as creative non-fiction after giving it some careful thought.

They are writers, really! Great imaginations.

October 31 is also my two-year blogging anniversary. The reason for blogging was to connect with someone who could give me insight into why I still had Bells and how to get rid of it. Well, the Bells Palsy is still here but my reason for blogging has little to do with it. I am still on the search for the best way to move through life with as much fun and joy as possible in spite of the small hitch called Bells. I have learned so much from each person who reads my blog and those that I follow. I’m trying to read more because you are all so varied and wise in different ways. So this Halloween is the start of happy and different Halloweens. I’ve included pictures of my creative writing class party as we read, write and eat. What fun it was. Also a few of the Halloween at my son’s house two years ago. He has a great neighborhood for trick or treating.

They take their holiday seriously like their writing

I wish you all a very happy Halloween and a lack of extra girth to your mid-sections. Have your Halloween’s changed over the years?

We have a couple in their 90’s all the way to the 30’s
An eclectic group

From my heart to yours
Marlene Herself

In Search of a Cheery Halloween – Addendum

Just wanted to let you know I finally got it done. It wasn’t easy since the dizziness was full tilt this week for some unfathomable reason, so concentrating or seeing what I was sewing was extra hard. Not one to ever give in, I finished it yesterday and went in search of a ribbon to hang it from the dowel. I walked all the way to the quilt store, really only a half mile each way, only to find they were closed on Mondays. Why did I not remember that? So I trudged back to my second floor apartment with the groceries I figured I may as well get while I was out. Are you feeling sorry for me yet? No need. The sun was out and the leaves were blowing in the breeze. It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day.

So this morning I went through my stash knowing full well I had neither black nor orange ribbon. But low and behold, I found something that would work. I’ve made this little design before for a friend with a Halloween birthday. I’m learning something each time I make it. I have one ready to finish for another friend but it will have to wait a bit. Nothing fancy but festive for the season. Machine embroidery is so much quicker than hand embroidery and I got to do a bit of stitching in the ditch to quilt it. I’m now officially ready for the trick or treaters.

Home Sweet Home, Bats and all

You gotta love ric-rac

Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. ~Josh Billings

From my heart to yours,
Marlene