Happy Halloween!!!

And Merry Samhain!!

Hope everyone is having a great Halloween!

Trick-or-treat for our area was last night. Yeah, I know, it's weird to have trick-or-treat on a night that is not Halloween. At least, it's weird to me. When we lived in the south, trick-or-treat started just before dark on Halloween and lasted until 9 or 10. When we moved here, we were surprised to find that trick-or-treat was rarely on Halloween. Different communities hold it at different times, on whatever date they choose.

I'd also never heard of trick-or-treat being limited to a certain amount of time. Most areas near us limit it to about an hour.

We do, however, get to have a Halloween parade, something I'd never seen until I moved to Ohio.

Our area, in particular, is amazing during trick-or-treat. It's like something from an afternoon tv special, or Halloween Town. Kids of all ages, and many of the adults, dress up. The streets are packed with fairy princesses, assorted animals, ghosties, ghoulies, and long leggedy beasties. People sit outside to pass out candy. Everyone is nice. No one is vandalizing anything, or throwing things, or taking candy from the little kids. (Unlike the city, where we actually left the parade because of a gang of thugs wreaking havoc and throwing things, cussing, etc.)

Satan and I dressed up and walked with Little Sis. Big Sis took off with her friends to attempt to beg candy, even though they should've given it up years ago. lol She and her GF were mobsters. Little Sis was a witch, I was death, and Satan was an awesome pirate (eat your heart out, Depp). Our costumes got a lot of compliments, and several people even took pics of us. Little Sis took one of her chihuahuas, dressed in a matching witch costume, and got extra candy because they looked so cute.

The most amazing thing about dressing up for Halloween in full makeup is that no one knew who I was. People I have known for years looked right at me and didn't recognize me. I guess I looked pretty scary, too. At least I knew why people were staring, for a change. I really wish I could dress like that every day.

What is Halloween like in your area?

The cold: she comes!

It's been pretty cold here the past few days. We've even had a few snow flurries. I guess it's not really early, but it seems like it. I'm nowhere near ready for this cold. I don't have enough firewood put up to last the winter, and I don't have my second wood stove installed. I'm in no hurry to see the leaves all on the ground and the heavy winter curtains go up on the windows.

I am, however, starting to feel the holidays approaching. Maybe you think it's weird, or maybe you can feel it, too. Halloween is just a couple of days away, then Thanksgiving, and before you know it, Christmas and the new year.

I've always thought Christmas comes too early in the winter. Wouldn't it be nice if Christmas came in late Jan. or even late Feb.? I'd have all those cold, housebound months to get gifts made and shopping done. *sigh* Oh, well, since no one bothered to consult me before putting the calendar together...

Satan (hubby) is planning to make some wooden toys for the grandkids, and I'll make them a few rag dolls. I'd like to make a few more quilted checkerboards this year, as well. But before Thanksgiving, I need to get some more stockings made (to hang by the chimney with care). We usually put up our Christmas decorations and tree Thanksgiving weekend.

Little Sis plans to make hats and scarves for everyone with her little knitting hoop thingie. I've never used it, but she turns out some gorgeous creations.

What sort of handmade goodies and gifts will you be making this year?

Finally, bathroom pics

The story of our bathroom begins with one word: GROSS!!! I don't have pics from when we first bought the place. My digital camera died about that time, so you'll have to rely on my description.

The bathroom was pink. Pepto Bismol pink. The toilet was this weird, low to the ground and oddly shaped giant pink nightmare, full of..I kid you not..paint chips. No water, just paint chips. The tile by the tub was broken and moisture had ruined the drywall stuff underneath. There was only the concrete floor, which I suppose was nice since we didn't have to scrape up the old floor tile.

We put in a new toilet, gave the room a good scrubbing and a new coat of paint, fixed several water leaks, and then pondered what to do about the missing ceramic tile. By the way, there's just no way for bare concrete flooring to look clean, especially with paint splattered on it.

The light fixtures were old and only half of each one worked. The mirror, which was enormous, was losing the paint from the back, so it had big spots all along the edges. To replace a mirror that size would cost a bloody fortune.

After the most recent paint job. You can see we put up new light fixtures (well, DH did), I installed the new flooring, DH put in the woodwork around the tub after I coated it with marine grade polyurethane.

Instead of trying to replace the old mirror, we put a lovely wood trim along the edges. This framed the mirror, as well as covered the splotches where the reflective paint had worn off. We also replaced the faucets on both sinks.

Now, for the most recent paint job. I started with a light green, which turned out to be neon. Glow in the dark. Ick. I painted over that with a better shade of green, which also turned out just to be too green for the room. I decided to mute that color a bit by color washing over it, and this is what I ended up with. You can also see some of the detail (oak leaves and acorns) in the wood trim around the mirror.



The pic below was taken with additional natural lighting, so the color looks a little different than the one above.

The two under sink cabinets got a crackle finish. It's sort of rustic (read: crappy), but I like it. The groovy boomerang counter top, well, I wanted to replace that, but decided to keep it since it's original to the house and in good shape.



I think this room was the one with the most dramatic transformation. It's so comfy now, and when I look at the 'before' pics, I shudder. No wonder so many people ran screaming from this place when it was on the market. lol

When City People Move to the Country, for real

I get a lot of google hits for 'when city people move to the country'. Most of those hits land on the cute little possum/lost kitty poster. Yeah, it's funny, but not all of us former city people really think a possum is a cat. :P

If you're a regular reader, then you know that I lived in the country before. Ok, it was a loooong time ago; I was just a kid. We had only a kitchen sink as far as indoor plumbing. I hated it. I swore I'd never live in the country again. And yet, here I am, but with full indoor plumbing.


For some reason, DH and I always pictured ourselves in a secluded cabin in the woods. It just suits us. We tried city life. I'd always wanted a Victorian home, so DH bought one for my birthday. Ok, not a turreted Victorian, but still, it was an Arts and Crafts era home, which could be considered late Victorian. I loved it, and it showed. By the time we were done rehabbing, it was perfect.


Our search for the perfect country home took, literally, years. We finally settled here, a place that most people ran screaming from, because we knew it just needed a little love. Oh, and a lot of money, but that epiphany came too late. Remember that movie, "The Money Pit"? Yep. That bad.


I'm not sure what most people are looking for when they google 'when city people move to the country'. Maybe they want to know why we left the convenience of drive by shootings and door to door sales? Maybe they want to know how we can stand the quiet, or the noisy bugs/frogs/birds, or the smell of cow poo? Or maybe, like so many of us, they want to get away from the insanity and find peace in the woods. If you found my blog via a google search of 'city people move to the country' or something similar, leave a comment and let me know.

Our country lifestyle is a bit different than the average farmer. We don't own a tractor. I don't think I really even want one. I enjoy doing things by hand and it keeps me in shape. Sure, there are days I think I'd sell my soul for a four wheeler to haul wood, but then I remember DH already owns my soul, so that doesn't leave anything to trade.

I've mentioned before that country life isn't for everyone. Don't move to the country if you are afraid of the dark and think that the entire neighborhood needs to be lit by your mega watt security light on a 50 ft pole.

Don't move to the country if you are afraid of animals or don't like animal smells. I could go on and on. I actually know people that moved to the country, but didn't like all the noise the frogs in their little pond were making, so they had them exterminated. Sheesh.

I'd planned to list all of the ways that we have changed since moving to the country, but as I typed, I realized that not everyone will live the same way. I have neighbors with far more acreage but less time to spend outside. Living in the country is different for everyone, just like living in the city.

I can tell you that we are stronger, physically, than ever before, thanks to our lifestyle. We are healthier...and happier. We are more complete, spiritually.
To those google hits, I hope this has helped, and I hope you find your place, be it city or country.

Today's project

Some of this is from our garden, and some from a friend's garden. She was sick of canning and had plenty left over. Not a bad trade for a few dozen eggs, huh? lol

The apples aren't very pretty, but there are plenty of them, and plenty more still on the tree. The peeling and cutting up is kind of tedious, but I'm sure we'll appreciate it when we have hot apple pie in the middle of a snowstorm. ;) I've already made a batch of applesauce - my very first!

Today I'll put up the tomatoes, and possibly get a start on the crabapple jelly. I'd better get busy!!!