Halloween Over the Years

I LOVE Halloween

Always have.

Donald is fun to play Halloween with.

Annabelle, not so much.

Harley was a pretty good sport about it, but reluctantly so.

Halloween Reads

I have a few favorite books that also happen to be terrific books for Halloween reading.

Scary books!

But the fun, old fashioned kind of scary, not the yucky blood & gore stuff that's passing itself off as scary these days.

I just LOVE these books!

and the "Georgetown Trio" by the incomparable Barbara Michaels:

In the spirit of Halloween, what are your favorite scary books?

More Recommended Reading for Halloween

 

Do you love witches?

Do you wish you were a witch?

ARE you a witch?

Whichever . . .

You might love this book as much as I do.  (it is very timely 😊 ).

Description from Amazon:

A witty, spectacular, and timely tale of modern-day witches waging war on the patriarchy, from fan favorite Kirsten Miller, the author of The Change and Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books.

There are places on earth where nature’s powers gather. Girls raised there are bequeathed strange gifts. A few have powers so dark that they fear to use them. Such a place is Wild Hill, on the tip of Long Island. For centuries, the ghost of a witch murdered by colonists claimed the beautiful and fertile Wild Hill…until a young Scottish woman with strange gifts arrived. Sadie Duncan was allowed to stay.

Five generations of Sadie’s descendants called Wild Hill home, each generation more powerful than the last. Then, in the aftermath of a terrible tragedy, the last of the Duncans, once prophesized to be the most powerful of their kind, abandoned their ancestral home.

One of them, Brigid Laguerre moved to California and turned her dark gift into fame and fortune. Her sister, Phoebe, settled on a ranch in Texas, where women visit in secret for her tonics and cures. Phoebe’s daughter, Sybil, has become a famous chef. Seemingly powerless, Sibyl has never been told of the Duncan bloodline.

Now Brigid, Phoebe, and Sibyl have been brought to Wild Hill to discover their family legacy. The Old One, furious at the path mankind has taken, has chosen three powerful witches to turn the tide. The Duncans will fulfill their destinies—but only if they can set aside their grievances and come together as a family.

Our new real

 And it never seems to be for "our" convenience.

How's your day going so far?

Here's mine.

A bill due tomorrow requested payment via QR Code.

No.

OUR money.

 I think we should be able to choose how we make payments.

This is happening more and more and it's annoying.

THIS company wants you to use . . .

This OTHER company wants you to use . . .

So.

I called and requested they do it my way.

You would have thought I asked them to come paint our house.

In this instance, I needed to use our banking institution debit card.

Which was DECLINED.

Because I didn't get permission to spend this much money in one transaction.

So.

I made the phone call, jumped through security hoops and received the needed permission.

Called back to make the payment and now I'm gonna have a gummie.

And for the record - Fuck QR codes and Data Centers

Voted and Justly Rewarded

It is a gorgeous day in our  mountains

We spent part of the day enjoying the beauty of the day and running errands

First thing on the list -

Voting!!

And then rewarded ourselves with a very late lunch/very early dinner at one of our favorite restaurants - Mike's Inland Seafood.

BEST hushpuppies ever (for real)

Onion rings that bring The Varsity to mind (one of the very few places in Atlanta I miss)

Food that you know you're going to enjoy

In a bright, sparkly clean spot

Cooked and served by a group of people who are always fun while doing a great job

We love going to Mike's

After having a meal at a well known chain spot a few days ago, we were practically giddy about the whole experience.

WHAT a difference!!!

(another story for another day)

And now I think I'll spend a little time looking a paint samples for the downstairs

Have you voted?!

Don't forget to reward yourself after!

Yay!

 All the fans and monster dehumidifiers are gone!

I'd post pics, but there's nothing left down there to take pictures of.

So.

Here's some pretty pictures from our yard instead.

Don't you love October?!

Today

Latest in the saga . . .

The walls are still holding an unacceptable level of moisture, hence the fans now added to the monster dehumidifier.

Estimated time of removal?

A minimum of three days.

Check back . . .

Partita by Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver is, in my opinion, an exceptionally brilliant writer.  "Her work often focuses on topics such as social justice, biodiversity, and the interaction between humans and their communities and environments."

From Amazon, "With razor-sharp acuity and deep affection, Kingsolver’s unforgettable new novel reflects on class barriers, the risks of ambition, and the timeless, life-changing power of art."

This is a passage that resonates with me -

"I will say this for country people, or anyway the ones I know: If you call for a party, you’ll have it. On a week’s notice or two days, I don’t care what it is, a family supper or a cornhole game in the backyard. Give people a reason to get together, and they’ll be there with a covered dish. Mickie remarks on this because she knows people in more places, friends she’s kept up with from her UT days. She says they’re forever whining on Facebook how it takes four months for three people to agree on one day to have lunch together. When she speaks of it, I remember that too, from college. That the only answer to How are you? was Too busy! Now I live among people who might have been up before dawn with a sick calf, or have hay to mow before rain gets here; they might work mornings at the dollar store and nights cleaning floors at the hospital and have to pick up their kids from school in between. Or take somebody to a court date. They might like you a lot or very little. No matter. If you run into each other pushing your groceries to your cars in the Kroger parking lot, they’ll stop and talk to you. Busy is not a boastful thing. It might even be taken for a weakness. It’s not our way to make a show of telling friends we have something better to do. We are each other’s better thing."

And . . . yesterday, today, tomorrow

 

The deconstruction crew arrived yesterday, were here again today, and will be back tomorrow.

Leaving us with this

Hopefully, all the deconstruction a/k/a wrecking will be completed tomorrow.

Then we will move on to the next steps of reconstruction.

For those of you who have asked, and those who are wondering, all the crews have communicated well, worked hard and efficiently, been professional and personable, and (so far) everything has gone smoothly.  Very smoothly!

The invoices submitted (so far) have been 100% covered by our insurance.

We have a ways to go, so continue sending all those positive thoughts.  They've been working great so far!  We appreciate them.

And so do our resident house spirits.  ❤