Happy Halloween

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Second Pumpkin

This was my second pumpkin this year. I particulary like the forehead and the lips.

Pumpkin sculpting

This is my first attempt for this year.  I found it to be a particularly tough one to carve; it was coarse-grained and fibrous.  I also ended up going too deep on the eyes. I had no intention at the outset of going all the way through.  Overall, though, I think he looks pretty decent.

Last tomatoes, and stealing daffodil bulbs

Last night was taco night at home.  In preparation of this meal, I was able to pick a handful of cherry tomatoes from our bushes in the yard.  I am eating the last three of those with my lunch today.  I seems very probable to me that these are the last three until next year, but there are still some green ones and the weather is warm, so maybe I’ll get a few more.

One evening last week, as I was running some errands, I found myself with a few minutes to kill in the Springhurst area.  I remembered that there was a spot nearby where I had seen lots of daffodils in the spring.  This spot is pretty neglected; it is near the base of a telephone pole on the border of a vacant lot and a small strip mall, where a house stood until a few years ago.  I had made a mental note of it in the spring, because I had the idea of slipping over there and swiping a few bulbs.  I don’t know who owns the property, but I find it hard to believe that they cared one tiny bit if some daffodil bulbs were heisted.

So that’s what I did.  I happened to have my metal detecting gear, including my hand spade, in the trunk.

I wasn’t exactly sure where to dig, because the spring vegetation is completely gone after summer sets in.  So I dug one test hole…nothing.  A second hole…nothing.  I thought I’d try one more, and give up if it was still non-productive.  The third hole had a big clump of daffodil bulbs.

I hosed them off when I got home, and now they are in the garage.  I’ll plant them soon, but I still need to figure out where.

Jack-o'-lantern turnip

Before our European ancestors discovered pumpkins growing in the New World, they were carving faces in turnips and putting candles inside them.  It’s a holiday tradition that dates back thousands of years.  In recent decades, pumpkins have supplanted turnips in almost all corners of turnip-carving Europe, but it still hangs on, in spots.

I’d never carved a turnip, and decided it was time to give it a try.  I used X-acto blades for the cutting, and a clay working tool to hollow out the turnip.

It’s certainly more challenging than carving a pumpkin, but a turnip jack-o’-lantern comes out looking about the same, just on a smaller scale.

Cherokee Cottage, Jekyll Island

 Walnut ink on paper, 11 x 15 inches.  This was a bit of a rush job. I finished it last night around 12:45. I've been staying up late all week.

In the Paddock - pen & ink

 

I finished this pen and ink drawing a few weeks ago, but refrained from posting photos until I had delivered it to its recipients, which I finally did last night.  This is 10 x 15 inches.