Amazing Pumpkins

I got excited seeing our little girl in patch, so I went to do more research on how to keep our little darlings going, and improve their health. I found a few neat pictures I thought I'd share.

This is just a backyard garden to fill where things were dug out. She's even got grass below...I now think I should do this to my front yard next year.

A larger pumpkin patch...one where they were smart and didn't grow all their other veggies in! Silly me.

I'm sure my husband sees this and just groans at the idea of 1. having our yard produce that many pumpkins 2, the idea of building the structure. But this is tame compared to below...which would be even cooler! (I think I just heard another little piece of him die...)

One little pumpkin sitting in the patch.

This morning I found one little girl in the patch...only she's outside the patch. Right in the way of where my beloved beasts (four and two legged) run.  This is going to be hard as I've seen no more signs of any others. There is a female about to bloom on the same vine...even further into the yard.

Below is our rogue pumpkin plant across the yard.  This is were I dumped the innards from last year.

And last but not least, here is an overall of the garden. The corn is going good. There are a few sunflowers that have been bent and damn near broken in half, but they have resumed regular programming.

The only problem I have is there is lots of mildew, but not terrible and some rot, but that's for tonight. I'm also faced with sacrificing our three big zucchini plants in the front. It's either kill them now to help the pumpkins, or watch them die since the pumpkin vines are going to swallow them.  Chris wanted the zucchini, but unfortunately....I like the color green, in March...October is coming fast.

This just in, the frenzy is beginning.

Thanks to Old Fashion Halloween for reporting that Bath and Body Works has their Halloween items up along with Pottery Barn Kids.  Now, I normally don't shop BBW except perhaps once and year if that, and last year I missed out on the crazy Halloween Scented Hand Sanitizers and Lotions because I decided to wait until September 1st to order....not this year baby.  I will probably give most of them away as Xmas gifts, but hey, Sinful Vanilla can't go wrong.

I'm also in love with lots of items from Pottery Barn Kids, but most of all this tablecloth.

Pumpkin Chaos

The pumpkin garden, despite a few hits is taking off.  At some point I should have 'thinned the herd' but if you live anywhere in the midwest, you know it's just too damn hot even early morning or late night, to be outside.  The zucchini in the front finally took off, but I think they will get strangled and literally pushed out by the pumpkins. I have lots of bees, so I know a lot of pollinating is going on...but I'm still waiting to see some fruit!!!

Somewhere in that mess is a soaker hose that since I'm up early in the mornings now, I can give them a good watering. We haven't had much rain, it will downpour for a few minutes and then nothing again for days. Today is going to be picking leaves that are showing signs of mildew and rot. Sure, the heat index is going towards 100 degrees, but I'm hoping when I can get these smaller little children napping, I may stick a few of the kids perfectly placed to bend over and do the work.


Which is how I've been spending my summer, wrangling children.  Squish is missing from the picture since I was holding her! But this is what 10am at my house is like in the summer now!

My SW Crawler for those who hate Winter....

It's beginning...

Michael's has started putting out their Halloween merchandise (no Martha though). I could get the feeling, but alas, it seems a repeat of the last two years from what I saw. Hopefully Martha will not let me down and come out with great new items. 

Meanwhile, I purchased a new hot knife, Halloween scrapbook paper and some nice ribbons to hand my decor by!!

Everyday is Halloween

Here is Fred all dressed up and no where to go.

Drowning Pumpkins

This is the rainstorm from yesterday.  The garden drained quickly, but we have had so much rain here this year, that our county has met it's yearly quota.



No pumpkins drowned in the making of this video.

I have Crops!!!!

Well, not alot, but the new garden has sprung alive over the weekend.  We left and there were two store bought pumpkins, a donated zucchini plant and a few radishes beginning to spring up.  We came home, and wham.  It apparently had rained all weekend, and everything came alive. 

There are about 30-40 pumpkin plants that have sprung up, and I have a feeling more to come. There are three varieties, mini, GIANT, and normal sized Jacks.    It will be survival of the fittest (until I just dig up the front yard since I will cry having to pull out the weakest.)  I have two rows of corn in the back, mostly for the corn stalks and perhaps to dry some corn for the fall displays. 

I'm excited. I REALLY want this to work. Chris worked so hard to build this for me, and I want to carve at least one of my own pumpkins this year.  Sure, it's a small bed for pumpkins, but I've seen people around here plant one plant in their flower garden and get at least two or three in a three or four foot space. 

Nightmares...

Yesterday morning I awoke in a panic. Not about the idea of having two babies under 8 months in my care, or meeting my friends significant other for the first time. No, it was about Halloween.  Now, I am blaming Pumpkinrot for showing me these beautiful pictures and Disney for showing Halloweentown and Halloweentown High which my daughter insisted on watching.  My restful sleep, was disturbed by my worst nightmare (besides outliving my kids or husband). 

I wasn't ready for Halloween. It was two hours til Trick or Treat.  No costumes for the kids. Not one decoration in place.

In my dream I was in a panic that not even the inside of the house could be decorated to an acceptable level so people could see that I really do celebrate the holiday. I couldn't find all of the bins upon bins of decorations or costumes. My tombstones were still buried and in such bad shape I was trying to slap new paint on them as I walked them to the front yard hoping the glue would hold. The electric cords weren't working. The ground was too hard to stake them down in time. And Fred gave me the only relief before I woke up. She told be she was ok just wearing some of her dress ups as her costume.  I woke up sweating realizing I still have a few months.

So thanks to Pumpkinrot, and whomever this person is, I am using these pictures as this years inspiration IF I don't go with a complete Harry Potter theme. I keep going back and forth. I may only make the tombstones this year for it.