Season of Shadows

God bless you on your journey John Wolfe.

Please give a moment of prayer or reflection as you feel appropriate to haunter John Wolfe at A Season of Shadows. Several bloggers have directed us to his final blog today. He is dealing with a terrible condition which appears no be terminal. I am inspired by his bravery.

So You Think You Can Paper Mache'!

Been seeing some posts on the paper mache' "Tree Troll" by Kim Graham on FB lately, and today Grimlock Manor did a post about Kim and how this enormous character was created. Check out Grimlock's blog for more info.  Anyways,it reminded me I had got to see it at the Bellagio in Las Vegas a year or two ago. Thought I'd share a photo. The whole Fall harvest arrangement they had there was spectacular. I don't know who all the artisits were but all the trees and structures were hand made except the little flowers.

I Got "Tagged"

 So there I was minding my own business when suddenly there was a drive-by tagging and I got tagged... Suspect is believed to be Marilyn J. Girling of Art Bliss. She is to be considered armed and dangerous...

Okay.. maybe not but she does tag people when shes not creating some pretty amazing art.

Rules:
1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post.
4. Create 3 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog and tell them that you have tagged them.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about ‘you are tagged if you are reading this.’ blah blah blah, you legitimately have to tag 3 people!

Ok so here it is I guess, 11 Random things about me

1. I've been in law enforcement my whole life...until recently. Almost four years ago I retired at a relatively young age from being a cop. Now I look to travel different roads,  like working on our yard haunt.

2. I love to watch feature length cartoons at the movies. Mostly Pixar and Dreamworks cartoons are my favorites and I'm pretty sure I've seen every Disney Cartoon ever made. Even as a grown adult its not uncommon to see me sitting alone in the theater, enjoying a good dose of cartoon non-reality.

 3. Speaking of movies, I'm somewhat of an addict. Not DVD's and TV movies but watching movies on the big screen in a theater is one of my favorite past times. Oh, and I have to be there early enough to see the coming attractions, If I miss the coming attractions it doesn't matter if I saw the movie, we were late.

4. People that are good at what they do intrigue me. Musicians, artists, career people, doesn't matter,  I admire them for their passion and in some cases their obsession for what they do, and the focus of so much energy on it. I myself have to work very hard to keep focused on a single task and I procrastinate something terrible.

5. I enjoy guitar. Alone in my studio I am a guitar virtuoso, playing rock, blues, classical, slow or at blinding fast speeds and never missing a note. 

Outside my studio or when someone else is listening... not so much.

6. I like to travel, especially abroad because things are so much older everywhere than in U.S.  Although I've seen a lot of U.S. too.

7. One of my most fun discoveries recently. If you don't know what this is, read "The Davinci Code" or watch the movie. Oh and they are not that easy to find in real life.  Damn that Tom Hanks, following them across Paris in the dark without even a flashlight, yeah right!

8. One of my most surreal life experiences was visiting the Louvre at night in Paris.

 9. I like to explore old cemeteries, old buildings, old anything pretty much. I hope one of our next travels back to Europe include the Catacombs of Paris and  Highgate Cemetery in London.

10. I don't believe in Ghosts. Isn't that sad....

11.  I like to do wood working and my goal for the last few years has been to get really good at unique furniture. I am currently working on a piece that I hope people with a passion for Halloween will enjoy. It has occupied most of my spare time since the New Year and I am pretty excited about finishing it and showing it.

Now for Marilyn's Questions:

1. What did you do growing up that got you into trouble? 

Hmmm.... I did a lot that should have got me in trouble but I can't remember really getting into trouble. Maybe I've blocked them from my memory!

2. What sound do you love?

If you live in the North where the snow falls heavy at times you will know this sound, otherwise you probably won't.  - Late at night, after a fresh snow, with no wind, or man made noise, usually in a quiet rural area. The heavy snow absorbs all noises. I like that sound of absolute quiet and stillness those conditions cause. Oh and that squeaky crunching noise snow makes under your feet in the silence. I hate the cold but I love that sound of silence.

3. If you could witness any event past, present or future, what would it be?

Wow, I can think of many but I'm going to say... the birth of Christ. I think that would answer so many questions.

I finished!!! Thanks for reading. Who thinks this stuff up anyways???

I'm tagging:

Emma from Little Gothic Horrors
Lisa from Maple Grove Cemetery
P.E. Coristine from Halloween Holler

My 3 Questions are:

What is your greatest passion?

What is the single thing you love most about Halloween or the Fall?

Of all the movie monsters, demons etc. what was the one created that caused you to lose the most sleep?

Zombie Family - Monster Family

Never really understood the family sticker in the rear window craze ( maybe you have to own a mini van?), but these things gave me chuckle!

Winter Projects

I recently noticed the blast of arctic air on our friends to the North and was thinking it would definitely be a good time for indoor kind of activities! Good time for interior renovations and decorating perhaps? I enjoyed reading a post not too long a go by by Chris Davis "Frog on a Pumpkin" where she and her husband re-decorated her work office with a very Gothic-ish look. I personally thought the old style wood valances and the small chandelier were a nice touch. Check out the Davis House Blog or Frog on a Pumpkin blog if you'd like, they have some photos posted.

Anyways, I'm always on the look out for unusual wood working projects and came across this corner shelf unit made from an old door that I personally thought was pretty ingenious. So if your in the redecorating mood such as the Davis's and you can find the right door you might want to give it a try. Really wouldn't require any tools except a table saw, and if your careful you might even be able to use a hand held power saw. Finish it off with one of those antique door knobs you can still find here and there, and maybe some antique hinges, and you have a very unique corner shelf. I know I personally will pay a little closer attention to the old homes being torn down for a four or six panel style door being discarded! This project was designed by a gentleman by the name of Steve Holder. Nice job Steve!

300!

Courtesy "Evil Bob"

300 days until Halloween.... Do you think its too early to start planning and building?! I'm getting lots of early inspiration! I've always wanted one of these horse drawn hearses ever since we built our first tombstone. If we started building now we MIGHT have it done by Halloween... then again I'm guessing the Home Owners Association would object to it as a year-round yard decoration {sigh}. Being a  novice wood worker I do have to appreciate the time and talents of the people who build these just to use as a prop. This one was built by Evil Bob, "Nice job Bob!"