The Jetpack

The "fuel tanks" are two empty bottles from "Smart Water" with the labels removed. We stuck each bottle on the end of a stick, stuck in the ground, so that we could spray paint evenly all around the bottles, including the bottoms.



The copper was thin enough that it could be cut with scissors. It was a piece that I had purchased several years ago at Skycraft, but never used, until now.

The curved shape was marked out by tracing around a dinner plate.



I found two matching belts at a resale store and cut them in half ( at the back middle), then hot glued them to a foam base, cut to the size and shape of the copper.



Next, I hot glued the copper to the foam base and attached the water bottles. I also added a fan cover, switch, and self adhesive LED light ( all from Skycraft).



I added a spooky sound button that I had removed from a pair of Halloween socks (yes, my mother buys me holiday socks that make noise), a gauge, and a coil of copper wire.



The final addition was not at all as I planned. The hole in the top of the copper was supposed to be for a belt buckle size plasma light that I ordered from Woot, but today's mail arrived without the light, again. So, 45 minutes before our first Trick or Treating event, I am waiting for the glue to dry on my last minute substitution, one of the flashing lights from Blaze's toy gas mask.



Ready to fly:

Harvest Muffins

Harvest Muffins

1 Cup packed dark brown sugar

1 Cup canned pumpkin puree

1/2 Cup apple cider

1/2 Cup vegetable oil

1 egg

2 Cups unbleached white flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 Cup chopped nuts or toasted pumpkin seeds (shells removed)

1/2 Cup diced fresh apple

1/2 Cup dried cranberries


Grease 12 muffin cups.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In one bowl combine all the liquid ingredients. Stir well. In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Stir. Add the dry ingredients to the liquids and stir well.

Prepare streusel topping:

2 Tablespoons salted butter, softened

1/4 Cup white sugar

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

5 Tablespoons all purpose flour

2 Tablespoons toasted pumpkin seeds (shells removed)

Combine all the streusel ingredients using your fingers to form a crumb-like consistency.


Divide muffin batter equally between the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle each muffin with the streusel topping and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Our Halloween Decorations

The "greeter" by our front door:



The All-Seasons tree:



I started out with the idea that this warty looking yellow gourd would make a good witch's nose, but once I got it in place on the pumpkin, I decided it looked more like an elephant's trunk, so this year we have an elephant pumpkin.



He has a very cheerful face when the candle is burning inside.

Archeology Project

We have been learning about archeology ( in other words, "why daddy does what he does").

We started off by watching a Magic School Bus Video:

http://www.gamequarium.org/cgi-bin/search/linfo.cgi?id=9662

and then read the book, Archeologist Dig for Clues.



Next we did a project to show how archeologists put broken pots back together.

Before we could put a pot back together, we needed a pot with painted designs. The designs make it much easier to figure out how the pieces fit together (just like a jigsaw puzzle).

We had plenty of help with the painting. As soon as Blaze and I sat down at the picnic table, two of our nicer neighbor boys came over and wanted to help.



Once the paint was dry, it was time to turn the whole pot into a broken pot.
First, the pot was placed inside a paper bag.



The top of the bag was folded over several times, to be sure that none of the pottery pieces would fall out and get lost.

Next, Blaze got to hit the bag several times with a hammer.



The pieces were then removed from the bag and reassembly could begin.



When archeologist put shards of pottery back together, they always use tape, not glue.



Blaze was very proud of his finished product.



As we walked back to the apartment, though, he wanted to make it perfectly clear to me that he does not want to be an archeologist like Daddy when he grows up, he still wants to be a race car driver.

The Pilot Cap

Blaze let me know several months in advance that he wanted to be Ray from the movie Steamboy for Halloween, so I've been trying to figure out how to pull off this costume for awhile. The first thing I made for this costume was the pilot cap. I made the cap out of a black leather mini-skirt that I purchased for $4 at a resale shop, and some left-over brown leather from the messenger bag I sewed.

The cap is reversible, black on one side



and brown on the other.



I don't have a pattern to share. I made the pattern by tracing the profile of Blaze's head.

Autumn Colors, Florida Style

Cold is not the only thing that can trigger leaves to change color and fall from the trees. We've had no cold nights yet, but we are surrounded by autumn colors, caused by the changing amount of daylight and the lack of rain.



Yesterday afternoon, on the way home from McIntosh, Blaze and I stopped at the Paynes Prairie Overlook. For much of the year, the boardwalk at the overlook allows people to walk above a marshy wetland where alligators live. It has been so long since we have had any rain, however, that now it is dry dirt.



It's still pretty, though.





This was the only bit of water that we could see.

The McIntosh 1890's Festival

Normally the small town of McIntosh, Fl. is a quiet place, with about 700 residents, but for this one day each year it fills up with people. The 1890's Festival was started many years ago, as a way to raise money to save the train depot that dates back to the 1890's, but it has turned into a bustling arts and craft fair, with live music, and a large variety of food vendors.







The most disturbing pair of cowboy boots I've ever seen:


DH and his best friend started out with Blaze and I at the festival, but they had an event to go to for the University's Anthropology Department and had to leave after a quick look at all the booths.



Blaze and I stayed for several hours, though.
It was such a beautiful day (sunny and 87 degrees) and McIntosh is so full of big beautiful shade trees, that we weren't really in any hurry to go home.

We had lunch under gigantic trees, draped with Spanish moss, while listening to old time music.







We explored the train depot museum after lunch, and walked through a lot of antique shops.





"Excuse me sir, may I help you with your bags?"






Blaze got his first slingshot as a souvenir. What could possibly go wrong with giving a slingshot to a 9 year old?!