The Giant Pumpkins in their lair

Whole Foods had some amazing pumpkins on display recently. I'd guess that big one weighs fifty pounds.

Fall Display

Whole Foods is showing a nice display of fall pumpkins and gourds now. Yesterday we showed a gnarly detail for the theme day of 'mystery objects.'

40 years of muddy concerts - pumpkin-style

I couldn't resist posting this shot of the 1st place winner in the props category at the pumpkin carving contest we attended Sunday afternoon. Woodstock (1969) vs. Austin City Limits (2009). They actually used real mud from their yard in the pumpkin halves. I love Austin. (Tip: click on the photo to see all the detail.)

Carving Madison Avenue

We went to a pumpkin carving contest at a magnificent home in the hills overlooking Lake Austin yesterday afternoon. Here is my entry, based on the character Don Draper in "Mad Men." I didn't win, but I did see some people writing mine down as one of their choices. Frankly, the competition was really intense. If we get invited back for next year, I'll have to step it up a notch. The 1st place winners in the "prop" category halved a large pumpkin--one half was filled with mud and little dolls playing in it. That half was labeled Woodstock. The other half was labeled ACL and had modern day concert-goers playing in, yep, mud. You get the picture. The 2nd place entry featured a play on "balloon boy" with a bunch of smaller pumpkins as the family, plus a silvery, filmy contraption suspended from a bent coat hanger. Great fun.

Celebrate Spooky Times

These gigantic (and expensive) pumpkins were on sale at Whole Foods the other day. I started to post something else and I'd already shown pumpkins here and here (fake ones in this case). But before I post I glance at the other blogs recently updated and, well, Halloween is a sort of unintended theme day, isn't it? Meanwhile, I have to prepare for tomorrow which is the first of the month and so has an actual theme. (It is 'Books.')