The Mystery

My mother's house was broken into while she was out of town. This is very disturbing, because my 79 year old mother was left with a damaged back door, wet leaves tracked in all over the house, and an unflushed toilet stuffed full of toilet paper. There is a humorous side to this story, as well, though. They took many things from her house, but it was a strange list of items.

Ladders

tools

plastic saw horses

Only select DVD's (the rest they set up nicely and held in place with a bookend): a box set of Rock Hutson and Doris Day movies, National Velvet, Sea Biscuit...

All her CD's, which were mostly singers like Bobby Darin and Frank Sinatra, along with ethnic music or novelty songs she had purchased for the theme parties she has every Labor Day.

an old radio-CD player, but no other electronics

5 Decorative, railroad-style, oil lanterns (cheap new ones, not antique)

a pile of extension cords

16 vinyl tablecloths



Although this has been awful for my mother, having to inventory the things that are missing and cleaning up after the thieves, not to mention, the insecurity that one feels after a break-in, but with that list of missing items, it would also make a good writing prompt. What are they going to do with a bunch of "chick flicks", CD's of Frank Sinatra and 12 Girl Band, and 16 vinyl tablecloths?

McIntosh 1890's Festival 2011

Today, we went to the McIntosh 1890's Festival.



McIntosh, Florida is a pretty little town. Most of the year there is not much there, except some big, old, Victorian-style houses and several antique stores, but once a year, the streets are lined with craft and food vendors and filled with tourists.





















We had some wonderful, homemade ice cream, which we ate while sitting on the grass, under an enormous live oak tree, covered with dangling Spanish moss, and listening to live country-rock music.







We stopped at every antique store we passed on the way back to the car, which was quite a few.







"Please, mom! Can we build one in my size? Please!"


Blaze placing a call to the past:

Welcome to the Halloween Party

Welcome! Please come in and make yourself at home. The other guests will be arriving soon. Help yourself to some refreshments, while you wait.

Don't worry, they won't bite (much).

Monster Apples: Apples cut into fourths, slivered almonds, strawberry fruit roll-ups. and a tiny dab of peanut butter used to glue the fruit tongue in place.


http://overthecrescentmoon.blogspot.com/2011/10/vanilla-meringue-bones.html


http://overthecrescentmoon.blogspot.com/2010/10/not-so-sweet-halloween-treats.html


http://overthecrescentmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/spaghetti-and-eyeballs.html


http://overthecrescentmoon.blogspot.com/2009/10/bread-of-dead.html



What other guests? Oh, just a few of the locals who are dying to meet you.

They will rise from the swamp,


skip from the fairy ring,


creep from the dark, moss shrouded forests,


and fly through the moonlit night to get here,



(The University of Florida bat houses)

hungry for your company and so glad to have you for dinner tonight.

Oh, really? Must you be leaving so soon? The other guests will just howl with disappointment when they find they've missed you.

Big Yard Sale for a Good Cause

Noah's Endeavor is a non-profit organization that provides a wide range of recreational activities for children of all abilities. They sponsor soccer, baseball, swimming, arts and crafts days, and dances. Blaze has benefited greatly by being involved in Endeavor sports and special events, because he is able to play with people who encourage his strengths without criticizing his weaknesses. They taught him to swim, good sportsmanship, acceptance, better balance (before starting soccer, he could not stand on his right foot at all), and to never say "I can't".

The Trick or Treat Bag with the Robotic Horse

I had thought about making a stick horse that looked robotic, to go with Blaze's Tesla Ranger costume, but I'm not really sure how to go about it, and I'm sure I don't have time between now and Halloween. So, I asked DH to draw a steam-powered robot horse that I could print out on iron-on transfer paper and use to decorate a trick or treat bag. DH can draw anything.

The first rough sketch:


His sketch of what the inside workings of the horse would look like:


The final drawing:


The completed bag:

The Completed Tesla Ranger Costume

With clear skies and cooler temperatures, This morning was an absolutely perfect time to go out to Morningside Nature Center, a small living history farm and forest preserve, and take pictures of Blaze's completed steampunk cowboy costume.

Free Streampunk Music

If you are curious about what bands or style of music can be considered "steampunk", this free, downloadable, compilation album is a perfect place to start. It contains 13 songs, each by a different group or artist.



http://pegasiamusic.com/2011/10/13/pegasiamusic008-the-lost-journals-volume-i/