grey day, and bombs away!

I love getting outside when there's a light, chilly rain.  If you're properly bundled up, it's easy to ignore the wet and just enjoy the brisk air.

We were almost completely alone at the nature preserve this weekend.  It was quiet except for the gentle pattering of rain and the chorus of tree frogs in the background. 

Since there weren't any other people around, we saw many more birds, including a snowy egret...

...and, of course, the omnipresent geese.

I was so excited to see that every single heron nest in the center of the preserve was occupied!

I had a macro lens, not my zoom, so I just couldn't get a close shot.  But at least you can see their silhouettes.

I love how rain brings out the fungus...

...and the flowers!  Since it's regularly dipping into the 70s now (75 by mid-week!), the bulbs are all coming up.

Hellebores are unfurling.

The camellia shrubs are either bud-laden...

...or drooping with blooms!

Perfect timing, because it's almost VALENTINE'S DAY!  💗  I don't really think of myself as a romantic person...I think I'm too analytical/logical for that.  I don't feel like I need a special day to appreciate my loved ones and look a bit askance at the commercialism of it.  But I do love holidays and any excuse to be festive.  Thanks to my handy dandy planner, I knew that February 12th was the day to pull out decorations.  I've already had my advent calendar up!  I've done one every year for a while, re-using the same background sheet but doing different "themes" with the days. This year is funny pictures from the past decade that combined to make a long, rambling Valentine's sentence.

Garlands MUST go up.  They were all waiting in my HOLIDAYS!!! box, so it only took about 15 minutes to festoon the rooms in which we spend the most time.

And camellias are pink/red, so every room is bursting with bouquets.

I normally bake treats to send out, but lack of time coupled with a desire to decrease my sugar consumption resulted in me cribbing an idea from Pinterest.  I ordered a case of Rolos, wrapped them in red paper, and printed out tags.  Tied together, they looked like dynamite...

You're the BOMB, Valentine!  And no leftover cookies to make us feel sick.  Hooray!  I sent out cards to people abstaining from junk food and "bombs" to those who make an exception for holidays.  I'm preparing to make a special two-person dessert tomorrow, which I'll post about next week. 

Otherwise, we've had a series of sleepy days here...

Looking forward to experiencing more chilly hikes and cozy, sleepy days - as much as we can before the heat and humidity set in.

Have a great week!

The Halloween Queen

I love all holidays...not just Halloween. But because I've really started building up my craft collection lately, it just seems like I've got more Halloween supplies.

I've got my spider web punch, for making stationery...

...or just long garlands of spider webs.

My bat punch, which works for paper corners...

...or across the top of a page.

I've got my cheap Walmart punches...

...which makes nice, tiny punch-outs.

The nicest part, though, is that you can save the paper shapes that are left over. Maybe for use on a spider web garland?

I've got my pumpkin stamp and punch, which allows you to custom-stamp a jack-o-lantern, and then precisely punch out the shape.

You can't forget the dripping blood!

It's easy to find inexpensive Halloween stamps. With the exception of the hand, these all cost $1 each.

I've even got Halloween stationery.

Halloween rats, Halloween bat corners for photos...check!

I bought several $2 candy molds for decorations. These are skulls. Just melt your candy melts in the microwave and spoon into the molds! Tap lightly to eliminate bubbles and refrigerate for about an hour.

You can also spoon the melted chocolate into a baggie or a frosting bottle to write out names. These chocolate names are written on wax paper and harden quickly in the refrigerator. Perfect for putting on cupcakes!

I bought a bat mold, too. I couldn't resist!

I included witches' fingers in my Halloween line up. Just take a walnut-sized ball of sugar cookie dough, roll it out into a general "finger" shape, and bake. I used a knife to make knuckles and slivered almonds for fingernails (attached with a dab of frosting). A bit of cocoa completes the picture!

I made monster eyes, but because I was too impatient to use royal frosting, they aren't very convincing. Good thing they're so tasty!

A friend sent me this...

...so I had to make these!

It was quite a spread!

Even then, I still wasn't done. I made one more trip to Jo Ann Fabrics to hit the clearance section. Halloween linzer cookie cutouts: $3.

More Halloween stamps: $1 each!

And, a bit of a splurge: the Martha Stewart Halloween craft paper set. Full price was $16, and I got it for $9. Still a bit more than I wanted to spend, but I know I'll get years of stickers, tags, and cards out of this:

There are several pages of each design, including a few pages of thick black glittery cardstock that I can't wait to experiment with.

I love Martha's Halloween products! But my bank account is probably relieved that the season has passed.

We haven't just been celebrating because Halloween was near. Last week, my husband and I made the trek to Indiana University for his dissertation defense.


According to his cake...he passed!

Now Dr. Chamberlain and I can settle down and enjoy the cool fall days together. It sure is nice to have things back to normal!

Have a great week!