Portly pumpkins

I stopped at the farm stand down the road the other day and saw this wagon-load of biggies. I just love pumpkins and the whole New England Fall scene. I remember, back in my childhood days in southern California, the only place to find a Halloween pumpkin was in the grocery store produce department. That was back before pumpkin patches were invented. Now I'm sure they have real pumpkin patches out there--you know, where a truck drops off a load in the Walmart parking lot.

A few years ago a local guy here in Connecticut grew jumbo pumpkins to enter in a competition for the biggest one in New England. One time he and another fellow each hollowed out a huge pumpkin, climbed inside, and used oars to paddle across the town lake. It was front-page news. As you might expect, lots of his pumpkins didn't quite make the weight for the big competition, so he invited local art students to carve them into spooky and intricate designs. On Halloween night he lit them and lined them up along his winding driveway. It was quite a spectacle. A policeman had to direct traffic.

Meanwhile, I've been working diligently on my dolls for the big craft show. Here's the latest one.

And, as per my usual, I've decided to squeeze in one more witch before the weekend.

At the moment she is bodyless and hiding in the curio thingie because she's embarrassed about her hair. Frankly, I'm a little embarrassed about my hair too--but there are no more vacancies in the curio thingie. I guess it's time to call my hairdresser.