Happy Halloween!

This weekend is going to be a whirlwind of fun--I'll have to give a good update when it is all over.  In the meantime here's a link to a couple Halloween history posts--here and here.
This year The Boy plans to be The Wolverine and The Girl and one of her friends are going to be "Crazy Best Friends" (whatever that means).

At this point the plan is that the kids will trick or treat independently in the neighborhood this year--we're embracing Free Range Parenting with both arms this year.

The other articles I'm really enjoying this week are from Huffington Post--1970's Halloween compared to today and one about Six Foot Tall Trick or Treaters.  My 1970's Halloweens were very different from the one in the article, but it described many of my friends to a t--and it was funny.  Actually the only Halloween I remember with any clarity is the year my neighbor, M, caught his costume on fire trying to put out a leaf fire. (Don't worry, everyone was fine). The Six Foot Trick or Treaters struck a chord...as I have an 8th grader, who although much shorter than six feet, is beginning to seem a little old to be going door to door without her younger brother in tow.

Here's a classic 1970's (maybe early 80's) Halloween Picture--I'm not really sure what's going on here, but there is a lot to look at.  I really liked that nightgown...I kind of wish I had it now..and don't get me started on that chair--it eventually made it to my room, with a different cover--most comfortable chair I've ever owned.  There is a rumor that my brother released toxic fumes into the world by burning it many years later, but that is a story for another day...

Fall Break...

This was my view this morning...very different from a "usual" Monday morning..

After dinner I was wondering why I was so tired...then I realized (as I posted on Facebook)..
"First day of fall break 2014 is nearly done...went to dentist, Walmart (Thanksgiving basket baskets), Kohls (shoes and shawl for Mane Event), Target (random Target crap and Halloween candy), Grocery store. Ordered a freezer of meat, made a couple of appointments for later this week and 3 lasagnas. Brought in the gnomes for the winter. Gave Indy both of  her medicines and let both dogs in and out 30 times...Picked up and fed kids before delivering them to music lessons. ..."

Oh, yeah...no wonder I'm worn out...

For weeks I've been procrastinating on doing certain errands and cleaning (kids' dish cabinet--ack!) because I knew break was coming...somehow I feel like this is another break I may need a vacation to recover from :)  Tomorrow is a much less planned day--an appointment in the morning, pick up kids in the afternoon...so maybe I'll get some of the "home" stuff done.

I also ran out to the garden (or maybe that was last night) and found a few last green tomatoes--

It was 80 most of last week--a very mild October for Colorado--last year (maybe the year before?) we had a snow day during my fall break!  It was much colder today and a little rainy--maybe in the 50's though, seasonally appropriate weather!  It is supposed to warm back up into the 70's for Halloween though--we have big plans to do the downtown trick or treat party on Friday afternoon, so I'm counting on good weather...I mean, how many more Halloweens can I convince the kids to go to the "little kid" party so I can wander downtown, drink coffee and shop while they trick or treat?  

We haven't decorated much this year either--certainly not up to last year's standard, but maybe tomorrow after I pick the kids up we can get pumpkins and do some carving.

Aardvark and his family

After the "rocket launcher" post a few days ago, The Boy and The Girl set out to explain the whole Aardvark family tree thing to me again.

They even made visuals.

Why are some of the animals taped to the wall, you may ask?  The explanation I received is that for various reasons they are "once removed" from the family.  The ones up higher?  They are "twice removed".  What do "once" and "twice removed" mean in my kids' world?  Apparently it means that the animals have been "thrown out of the family for some reason".  (The twice removed were thrown out, forgiven and thrown out again).

Puts a whole new spin on the conversation I had with my cousin's daughter a couple weeks ago about how we are related...

Potatoes in a Bucket...the conclusion

So after our really lame harvest of the potatoes in a bucket , I had high hopes for the potatoes in a trash can.  Looks, promising, right?

 So after dumping out the dirt, onto a tarp, in small batches, picking through it, and then putting the dirt in the garden...

(Oooh, it looks so pretty)

Here is our harvest of potatoes from the trashcan:

Huh.  Well.  That was weird. Maybe we'll try one more time next year.  Or not.  They were tasty little potatoes though--I made them into homemade potato salad--yum!

The Boy's new job?

Just when I was thinking, gee, maybe I'm running out of things to write about, this popped up on my couch.  Yes, on my couch.  Taped to it.  Sigh.

In case you were wondering, it says (incorrect spellings included), "The Boy is the messanger and for only 5 cents! have you ever wanted to give something to someone or deliver some  thing to a room but you just don't have the time.  Well now there is a simpld an fast solution.  The Boy is the messanger, you just drop the iteam off at the couch and The Boy will drop it of to the Right Place in rcord time.  The Boy is the mesagner at the Couch.  Go there today.  Printed by The Girl, inc."

Did I mention they made multiple copies of this and posted it all over the house?  With tape?  I have so many questions...like, um, who is their intended audience?  And when is The Boy ever near the couch?  (It really is the lair of Mr. IM and Indy Dog most of the time).  Hmmm.

Have you ever wondered what your stuffed animals do when you're not looking?

A couple years ago the kids were really into Webkinz and that was an easy gift for everyone to give them every holiday.  Some of the names became quite creative, some on purpose and some accidentally.  The critter featured in this post is Skiper.  Why does he only have one "P" in his name, you may ask?  Because WebKinz would not allow a name with two "P"'s in a row because that would be "inappropriate".   (Ok, I'm laughing again, just thinking about it--"PP"  he, he, he).

Skiper is also interesting because he is the sibling of Aardvark (the Aardvark, who is actually a tree kangaroo, so that actually makes sense) and Aslan, (the Lion), as well as Eddie, the iguana (who is adopted, but the lion is not.  I don't know how that works either). The final siblings are  Jack, a Parrot and Howard who is a gopher or a prairie dog or some other kind of furry rodent.  Skiper is married to Praline, who is a cat, and they have two children, Ducky (a duck) and Grinch  (an elephant). Aardvark is married the Michelle (also a cat).  Their children are Snip (a cat), Woof Woof (a dog), and Nibbles (a dog).  Aslan is married to Fluffy, a cat.  Their children are Monkey, Apey, Chipy, Snowy, Eleopard, and Bunny.  All I know is "if it doesn't have a tail its not a monkey".  The Girl is still trying to explain this whole family to me, and I tried to give up, but now she is in my face.  So here's the rest....

Eddie married Alice (a cat, but not the live one) and they adopted Roosty (a chicken, not a rooster), Nemo, a fish, and Moosey (a Moose, duh).  Jack married Hannah (hey, a cat!)  Their children are Jack Junior (also known as JJ) and Ares (both are parrots).  Howard is married to Hedgy, who is some kind of hedgehog thing, their child is Donkey (do I have to explain it?).  Apparently the children had a great time thinking up this whole weird family tree thing . The Girl offered to draw a family tree for me, bring them all for a family picture, or wake up The Boy to reinforce her story (since most of these critters are his).

Back to my point...

So, I'm sure if you have ever had children and stuffed animals (or any toys for that matter) in your house, you've come across some, um, interesting vignettes.  Take for instance, this one featuring Skiper (1 p, thank you very much)

Do I even want to know why there is a stuffed tree kangaroo with a telescope pointed at my archway? When I asked what was going on with the telescope, I was informed it was actually a rocket launcher.  Oh, well, that explains everything.

It's fall

So, I'm trying to spread the blogging out and have one post every 3 days or so...sorry if you've become accustomed to every other day...I think you'll live.  This school year is kind of brutal...eesh.  I quite often find myself writing these on Sunday night and setting the timer for later in the week..oh well.

The garden, except for the potatoes (which can wait for after the first frost) is done.  I'll keep checking it every few days, there were a few tiny cucumbers and some tomato blossoms that might survive.  I brought two pepper plants in to see if we can grow peppers through part of the winter, although Alice the Cat is doing her best to eat all the leaves and baby peppers right off the plant...grrr.--The tomato pots were too big and bulky to deal with, so they stay outside  Maybe I'll plant one inside later this winter.  I've left the flowers to the mercy of the elements, they are still pretty, but their days are numbered!

As seen on Facebook--green tomatoes and cucumbers, hurriedly picked before a frost threat.

Carrots--not a bad amount...a couple meals worth...and let's be serious, I don't have a garden to survive on, I have one because it is fun---and look at how cute those short, fat carrots are!!!

To celebrate fall, we headed to downtown Castle Rock for Oktoberfest (yes, that is how you spell it, when it is the "Fall Harvest Festival".

Here's my attempt at being artsy--see the flowers growing through the bench?  Oooh, ahh...

Um...don't even know what to say, except that the flamingo is cute :)

We had some tasty brats with sauerkraut...yummy!

and did a little shopping--this cute little trailer is a shop now, behind the antique (junk) store.  IM said he would consider an "RV like that one"  (say it in your head like Cousin Eddie, with a southern drawl and its like you were with us)

And the coolest part of the festival (really) was this Lego display and the "Lego Launcher" that The Boy had a chance to try!

Green Tomato Salsa

Under the threat of a not-so-early frost, I picked all the green tomatoes I could. Since the family won't eat fried green tomatoes, I opted for my old stand-by, Green tomato salsa.

 Here are most of the green tomatoes...I did save about three big ones to make some fried green tomatoes for myself tomorrow  Those little ones mystify me..I don't think I planted them...maybe they are from the compost dirt?

The Girl, who is reading over my shoulder, just pointed out that my blogs aren't very funny any more.  Hmm.  Well, here's a funny story about when I made pickles last year...I chopped up jalapenos and made my hands burn.  Ok, not funny, but I did learn that if you wash your hands in olive oil and Dawn dishsoap it is still possible to take out contacts without dying.

Recipe:

Green Salsa Dressing  from http://www.bostonplus.com/tomato.html#salsadress

A variety of Mexican salsa, this dressing can be used as a topping for beans and rice, or mixed with beans to make a salad. Makes 1 2\3 cups. (The way I made it, I had about 8 cups of finished salsa)

• 1 cup green tomatoes, coarsely chopped

• 1 fresh jalapeno pepper or chili pepper (I used jalapeno)

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

• 2 scallions, green and white parts, cut into l-inch lengths

• 1/3 cup water

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Combine green tomatoes, pepper, garlic, scallions and water in a 4-cup glass measure or small microwave safe mixing bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Microwave at High for two minutes. Let stand one minute. Pick plastic to release steam.

Remove from microwave and uncover carefully. Scape into a blender or food processor. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

So, as you can see from the number of tomatoes in picture one, I had to quadruple the recipe.  I used about 5 jalapenos though and about 8-10 scallions from the garden--the rest was pretty straight forward.  I microwaved it in a big glass bowl, then dumped it into this bigger bowl to mix in the cilantro, etc.  I microwaved it for about four minutes-- I think if I was going to use it for a dip or sauce on something without cooking it more, I'd cook it more on this end.  I also always contemplate cooking it in a pan...but this is so fast I usually give in and use the microwave.

I've never followed their recommendation to put it on beans--I 've made it into a dip (I think once by adding sour cream?) and have used it on baked potatoes and on baked/grilled chicken--very tasty!  I store it in the freezer in about 2 cup portions in tupperware and then thaw in the fridge or a sink of hot water.

The Boy in his natural habitat

So I tried to take pictures of the backyard and here's what I saw through the lens..

 Ah, there are my pretty flowers

 New planter--not quite done yet--more photos to show later

 And....he's back

 Well, I tried...good night, mountains...

Fall nights in the yard

We don't use our yard half as much as we should--the other night we cooked dinner outside (brats) and then had a fire and marshmallows (ok, s,mores)-it reminded us to spend more time on the patio this fall!

 This is what happens when the dog is an idiot and rips the screen (again) and the cat is too dumb to not go out...luckily Alice the Cat has gained weight and won't fit through the baby gate slats anymore.

Ooooh...it looks so pretty (well, if you ignore the pieces of pallet).

 I can't remember if I blogged about this or posted it on Facebook, but in any case, we had a bunch of pallets left from various yard projects.  Mr IM tore up a couple for firewood (that, along with last year's Christmas tree should hold us for a few nights) and built a bar/buffet as well as this project on the left.  We're going to plant in it come spring and probably try to train the roses to climb it--it covers up one of the electrical boxes.  Box #2 will probably get its own fake rock cover some day.

 This shows off not only the new patio, but my wildflowers (not weeds!) and my clearance rack umbrella for the bistro set.  As Mr. IM says, "there were reasons it was in the clearance rack"...but it is pretty here!

 Waiting for dinner...

 Watching the sunset...ahhh...

 Mmmmm...brats and homemade potato salad.  I need to make potato salad more often.  Yum!

 Is it starting to cool off or is she showing off her new GoLite jacket?  Hard to tell...

Indy Dog stayed inside, happily taking a nap.

 Dinner is over, fire going...final bits of sunset in distance, pretty lights on.

 Must be time for S'mores!

Ahhh.....We should do this more often!






In related news, the (Sub) Urban Ranch is currently taking reservations for the Fall/Thanksgiving/Christmas season!

What I read in September

As surprising as it seems, I only read 3 books during September...but I feel like I should get points because they were all LONG...I'm including number of pages this time! All three books were great--I recommend them all, if you have several hours (days?  weeks?) to read each.

1.Monuments Men by Robert Edsel...468 pages.  Bears little resemblance to the film, which was also good, by the way.  The book was well written, entertaining and informative...A "nice" World War II piece, with some art history, biography, geography thrown in.  I kept putting off reading it, afraid it would be dry and it keep me engaged.  Lots of characters though--there is a "guide" in the beginning of the copy I read so I could keep people straight.

2. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowlings)...455 pages.  I think Rowlings' mistake with her first post Harry Potter book was that it wasn't a mystery, it was just a novel and the characters didn't do anything interesting...they just cursed and cheated on each other...I have to admit I never finished it.  I found out about Cuckoo's Calling, the first book in this series, (written under the name "Robert Galbraith") kind of by accident and ordered it from the library...Both Cuckoo and Silkworm are mysteries (as Harry Potter really is) and both are wonderful.  There is more "language" than in Harry, of course, and more gore..but good books.  The main character is an English Afghan War veteran who owns a private detective firm.  His secretary is awesome (she is my favorite character!) and many of the main and secondary characters have complicated personal lives that add to the story.  I really hope she continues with this series!

3.  The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness...564 pages..The first book in this three book series was recommended to me by a friend and I tore through both it and the 2nd book...but there was a gap of about two years between book 2 and 3...so when I saw this one was coming out I read the "free sample" from Amazon right away...and was so confused I didn't buy it.  This series has a ton of characters, who all have complicated back stories...finally, I ordered the book from the library and, surprise, the book doesn't start where the sample did...it has some back story (whew!) so I could get my bearings, so to speak, and jump back into the story.  Once I figured out what was going on I didn't want to put the book down--loved it and it ended the series nicely...while possibly leaving the door open for more books or another linked series.

We've continued with the 39 Clues Series in the car--I think the one we are listening to could be the last one in the series, at least for awhile.  Next up in the car is Moon over Manifest, one of The Girl's required reading books for 8th grade.  I've also picked up some shorter books to read this month...we'll see how far I get with that!