Halloween wrap-up: Aladin and other matters

The comely little feller in the center is my infamous, after-1,000-odd-pumpkin-blossoms-later, Aladin. No, he is not orange and, no, he is not 35 pounds as promised. And, yes, I used Peeps for his eyes and nose. And, yes, that's a sun-dried tomato masquerading as a mouth.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

***

I always enjoy walking the neighborhood the morning after Halloween. The quality and quantity of All Hallow's detritus can be truly amazing. However, apparently it was a pretty quiet Halloween Night in the 'hood -- very few candy wrappers shivering on frosty lawns. And NO smashed pumpkins on the streets!

The youth of today. What slackers.

Someone WAS giving these out:



Brought to you by the fine folks from Faithful Word Publications who also wrote "The Shocking Truth about Christmas" and "Rabbits, Eggs and and Other Errors about Easter."

Why, thank you very much, but, umm, could I have the Necco wafers instead?

This is. . .

Quinn Parker (and her lovely Gramma Shelley)

Quinn is our new grand-niece who we met last weekend. She's lovely. A girl with a beautiful smile who already knows how to let people know when she. is. not. amused.

I like that in a woman.

Kingston

Kingston is our neighbor's cat. I first made his acquaintance about a month ago as he was perched precariously on a branch in our cherry tree trying to snag birds feeding on our seed socks. An enterprising feline, that Kingston.

He's a house cat in that if there's a house, he's its cat. We learned that a couple of weeks ago as he nonchalantly strolled through the kitchen from the dining room as the WPS and I looked on, only slightly perplexed since we assumed with the passing of our two cats, Toby and KC, we were living in cat-free zone.

I think you'll be hearing more about Kingston.

Alladin

No, he's not 25 to 30 pounds. Hardly. But he's the only pumpkin I have after watching this plant throw off easily 50 blossoms this summer. Welcome to Bermtopia. Now we're in a race to see if he'll color up in time for Halloween.

Go, Alladin.

Autumn

I admit it. It's here.