LESS THAN A WEEK UNTIL HALLOWEEN

Violette Spice Blythe is already waiting at her door, in case the Kellys show up early. She's wishing I'd make her an outfit for the ocassion, but... Maybe I will and maybe I won't. I should look through my rubbermaid bins for some appropriate fabric today.
Poor Wynona died. She is the hen on the right in this not-so-great photo taken a month ago. She was a black laced Wyandotte. Henrietta and Egglantine are Auracanas...which I have probably spelled incorrectly, but I am too rushed to look it up. I asked around on all my permaculture/homesteading/back-to-basics types of yahoo groups and got lots of opinions, guesses and ideas as to what might have happened, but no definate conclusions. I brought them in from the chicken tractor one evening, tucked them safely into their house with fresh food and water, but the next morning Wynona was stiff and dead with no marks on her. As you can see in the photo, even when they were younger, she was noticeably smaller than the others. They were all hatched the same day, so are the exact same age. As someone on one of the groups said, Auracanas are normally quite a bit smaller than Wyandottes, so maybe she had something genetically wrong with her to make her smaller than them, instead of vice-versa.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: MY NIECE WANTS TO KNOW, "WHAT ARE SOME HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL TYPE GAMES THAT WOULD BE GOOD TO HAVE AT A CHURCH PARTY?" (Good luck, Laura!)

CROC CHARMS AND DOLL DWELLINGS...AND A HUGE MESS

Aren't these just too cute?! I've been wanting some croc charms ever since I found out there were such things. Monday, when Amy and I went to Corpus Christi, one of the stores we stopped in had them, so I stocked up on these Halloween ones, and got some Christmas ones for December. Each charm cost as much as the pair of shoes. Too much, but not as bad as it sounds, I guess, since these are Walmart fake crocs.
This is what came in today's mail - the pink bedding, pillows and night stand. Isn't it cute?! This was from Vee in a Swap-Bot Dollhouse Handmade Miniature swap. I don't have a bed yet, but I'll make one eventually.
This is Violette (Violette Spice Blythe, if you remember.) in her other new room box. I bought the two boxes at Hobby Lobby, to be her home. The wonderful metal furniture, I got at Codi's. The other items in the room are the ones I got from enakitty recently.
Right now, the boxes are just plain, but I do plan to put in changeable wallpaper and decorate for Halloween very soon.
I am soooo tired this evening. I managed to get the HEAVY treadmill moved from the computer/art room to the back closet this afternoon, with Amy's help. I am SORE all over. Since it is so big and cumbersome, even when folded, that involved moving other furniture and boxes and debris that was in the long path to it's final destination. Then I emptied Shabree's bookcase, and moved it into the place where the treadmill was, since it is wider than the other one that I have in this room. I am trying to organize and declutter this place - or at least parts of it. This house has very, very little storage space at all. Anyway, things are a bigger mess right now that when I started, with displaced shelves and boxes and stuff moved into the hallway and living room. *sigh* BUT - progress is being made.

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE...

HALLOWEEN!
Zachary, Mathieu and I managed to get three scarecrows up today. They are going to need some additional work, but for now, it's okay. It's already the 14th, so they are two weeks late from when I really wanted them to be up. Would you believe, we started on it right after we got home from Mass and class, about noon, and didn't finish until around 6pm?! Of course, we weren't at it the whole time, and part of the work was done in the house, but goodness it was HOT outside. I feel roasted.

Here is a gorgeous decoration I got from RaspberryRoses in a Swap-Bot Tussie Mussie swap. I love it. It was absolutely stuffed to overflowing with really great things. I only photographed it with what would easily fit inside.

Then here is the pinata and a LOT of extra gifts I got from SheCooks in the Swap-Bot Pinata Madness swap. I love the black cat pinata. It's hanging in my kitchen.

And last but certainly not least is my new Petite Blythe doll (Thank goodness for eBay!) showing off her new things from the Handmade Dollhouse Miniatures swap...also via Swap-Bot. I named my doll Violette Spice Blythe. I am totally crazy about the items enakitty sent her - a Harvey movie poster, an abstract painting, two throw pillows, a sketch book, a package of stickers, a brush, two skeins of yarn, a pet dog, and a blue teddy bear - all in tiny 1:12 scale!
That's it for now, I guess.

STEWART WAS HOME

Stewart, our oldest son, was home on vacation for 10 days. This is a photo of him and Reagan (second oldest son) that I hastily took last night. He just left earlier today, to return to Baghdad. See you in 4-6 months, he said. *sigh* I had asked him if he had met any more well-known people lately, and he said he had run into (literally) General Petraes twice the week before he left. The palace/embassy has a lot of busy, blind corners and that's where they 'met'.

While he was here, Chuck took a few days off and flew in from Amarillo. We had a bbq over at Reagan's. Stewart got everyone motivated to form a crew to help Chuck with the mowing and fence building over there, too.