T Stands for Happy Halloween

 

Remembering Ink on his birthday with a photo the Young One made for me after she found a picture of Ink on her computer. 

Ink was always up for a cup of tea and something sweet. He was partial to a crumb or two of vanilla cake. Ink would have been 26 years old today.

Our Halloween pumpkin, a cat butt.

Happy Halloween and T Day!

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Inktober 2023

10/25 Challenge prompt: Dangerous

Micron Pigma pen

10/26 Challenge prompt: Remove

Sumi ink, Nikko G nib, Tombow marker

10/27 Challenge prompt: Beast

Micron Pigma Pen

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Not in my garden, but too cool a photo op to miss. When Teague and I were looking for a restaurant called Beyond Full in Hopedale, we passed by this Demon on the lawn of the Unitarian Church!

Almost full moon

That's not schmoo on the window. Some warm weather days brought out the ladybugs.

Winterizing the greenhouse

Another ghostie for the display, but he still needs a face.

How does your garden grow?

Happy, Little, Time Wasters

 

Kinetic Art Installation by world-renowned artist SpY

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. RSVPed to the baby shower for The Niece. Nice chat catching up with her mother.

2. Asked to help teach a Reiki 1 class next Sunday. Looking forward to seeing my Reiki Master of Masters and my "Cousin" another Reiki Master that assists with the class.

3. Breakfast at the Little Coffee Bean with the Eldest and running errands at the mall

4. Royal Blue fingerless gloves arrived. Just in time for the cold snap predicted on Sunday

5. Weekly play date with Teague. It was such a warm day ice cream at the DQ

How was your week?

Inktober 2023

I'm not very inspired by this year's challenge prompts

10/16 Challenge prompt: Angel

Sumi ink, Nikko G nib, Metallic Gold Gelly Roll

10/17 Challenge prompt: Demon

Sumi ink, Nikko G nib, Micron Pigma Pen

10/18 Challenge prompt: Saddle

Another one that looked better in my head

Micron Pigma pen

10/19 Challenge prompt: Plump

Micron Pigma Pen, Tombow markers

10/20 Challenge prompt: Frost

Micron Pigma pen, Tombow markers

10/21 Challenge prompt: Chains

Micron Pigma Pen

10/22 Challenge prompt: scratchy

Micron Pigma pen, Tombow markers

Whatcha Doin?

 

Appointments to make, bills to pay, instructions to read, class to teach...so much to do and so little time. Whatcha doin?

T Stands For Catching Up With Red

 

I think the last time Red and I saw each other was just before the pandemic. Long overdue to change that.

A new coffee shop, The Little Coffee Bean, opened up in my town at the beginning of October. From the reviews around town, it's the perfect spot for a meet-up.

The reviewers were correct. It's a perfect spot and Red and I met there was coffee last week. The Bean is clean, bright, and lively with people dropping in and out or taking a load off.

We met mid-morning figuring the regular breakfast crowd would be done and on their way. There are only a few tables and Red was able to get one for us. We spent a couple of hours catching up. Kids, husbands, illnesses, deaths, gossip, all the fun topics. I had a tea and a French toast bagel with cinnamon sugar cream cheese. Red had a cup of coffee.

The Bean serves a variety of coffees, teas, breakfast sandwiches, and the usual bagels and muffins. They also serve soups, sandwiches, and salads. Pay with cash and you get a discount. Pay with a debit/credit card and a bank fee surcharge is added to your bill. You'll also receive a Bean card. Have it stamped each time you visit. Get a free coffee on your 10th visit.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Happy Mail

I was totally surprised when this fun envelope arrived in the mail.  Look at all the fun stamps! And the postage stamp didn't get cancelled!

Who was it from? None other than the amazing Kathy Milici.  Don't you just love the Ink sticker? Kathy has been owned by a black cat, too.

If that wasn't enough of a fun surprise, inside

was drop dead beautiful! I'm so sorry I couldn't adjust the color correctly on the deep teal green envelope. At least Kathy's gorgeous flourishes and her Modern Storybook Script shine. 

If you'd like to learn Kathy's Modern Storybook Script or learn how to flourish, check out her website, Kathy Milici Creative On-line Classes

It may be a little late to sign up for The  Fall Holiday Flourishes class which begins on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. You might not be able to get supplies in time, but you'll be able to watch Kathy demonstrate live and then will have access to the recorded classes until December 22, 2023.

Add your name to Modern Storybook Script to hear of the amazing class line up Kathy has planned for 2024.

Kathy, thank you so much for making my day. 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Himself's Ghostie

Jack O'Lantern solar lights

Chili pepper or ghost lights depending on your perspective

Yellow in the woods

The Late Leaf Lady's Azaleas

Looking West

Peak color across the street at Prissy's house

and at the end of our rainy driveway through the dirty storm door window

How does your garden grow?

Happy, Little, Time Waster

 

Bach Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on the Glass Harp

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. Himself made some ghost decorations and put them out with Halloween lights

2.  I had breakfast with Red at the new Little Coffee Bean Shop in town. I hadn't seen Red in a long time so it was good to catch up.

3. I had to have some routine bloodwork drawn. The phlebotomist was able to draw blood from me on the first stick!

4. Teague and I went out to breakfast.

5. I came home from my playday with Teague, and the  Eldest had made tacos for dinner.

How was your week?

Inktober 2023

10/12 Challenge prompt: Spicy

Micron Pigma pen, Tombow marker, watercolor pencil

10/13 Challenge prompt: rise

Sumi ink, Nikko G nib

10/14 Challenge prompt: castle

Micron Pigma pen, Sumi ink, Nikko G nib, Tombow markers

10/15 (uninspired) challenge prompt: dagger

It looked better in my head

Micron Pigma pen

Whatcha Doin?

 

I'm going to have lab work for my annual physical, and then Himself will take me out to breakfast. Whatch doin?

T Stands For And Now They Are Mine

The Eldest finally got an appointment to change her driver's license from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts. This was the second appointment because there was an administrative problem the first time around.

Her choices for the appointment were either Nantucket (which would have been nice for a weekend getaway), New Bedford, or Southbridge. No appointments available in Worcester close by. So off to Southbridge.

After taking care of her business at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, we stopped for brunch/lunch at Cracker Barrel.

We were browsing in the gift shop and saw this giant mug. The cup was huge and had to hold at least 16 or 20 oz.

Most of the displays were for Christmas. I liked this grouping of cardinals. I was disappointed there were not more Halloween decorations around.  Behind the Christmas display was one table of Halloween items, mostly from The Nighmare Before Christmas and then I saw

the black cat and Jack O'Lantern salt and pepper shakers

And now they are mine.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Happy Mail

I got some happy mail and Halloween themed to boot. From Deb in Texas. 

Some more candy skulls on the back

A dapper Skelly card that Deb made. I love his gold crown and diamond gem.

Deb also included some fun seasonal facts

 Everyone associates bats with Halloween, but by October 31 most of the little creatures have disappeared into caves to hibernate for the winter.

Horse races were the highlight of the first Oktoberfest, held in Munich to honor the 1810 marriage of Kid Ludwig I. No the day is celebrated worldwide with a feast of sausages and beer.

Some say if you catch the first falling leaf of the season, you won't catch any winter colds.

The first jack-o'-lanterns appeared in Ireland, crafted from hollowed out turnips and potatoes.

Traditionally oysters are eaten seasonally, during months that include the letter r. This actually helps oysters by not disturbing them during their summer mating period.

In China, pumpkins - the royalty of the garden - were once believed to bring good luck.

Thanks, Deb for making my week.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Tuesday night, I went outside to try to capture the Skylink satellites passing over head. You can see a dot in the upper left and another dot diagonally in the center in the clouds.

Saturday, October 14, part of the United States was treated to an annular eclipse of the sun. This happens when the moon passes in front of the sun, but is too far away to cover the sun completely so all that is visible is a ring of fire.

My area was only going to see a fraction of the eclipse. I didn't go out to view as I didn't have safety glasses so a screen capture from NASA's livestream event with a link to watch the video.

NASA Livestream of Annular Solar Eclipse 10/14/2023

I also thought it was a coincidence that the ring of fire occurred at this time. Saturday, October 13, was the 106 anniversary of "The Miracle of the Sun", the last appearance of the Virgin Mary to the three shepherd children, Lucia (now referred as Servant of God Lucia). and (Saints) Jacinta, and Francisco at Fatima.

This morning started out chilly though Harvey was showing the feels like temperature at 98 oF. I was too slow with the camera to capture it.

A brown-eyed Susan

and a bedraggled petunia hanging on

Potato crop

Garden clean up

The new lawn guy showed up.

Windy and leaves falling though I don't think I captured them

All the leaves have fallen from the Swamp Maple

How does your garden grow?