Why I Oughta...

This morning, I put up the three scarecrows that we had up last year.  This will be the third year for the two 'big ones' but only the second for the first little one. I think our neighbors (and my wife!) would think I was crazy if I didn't come up with a second 'child' scarecrow to match our two kids.  I cut the lumber for the arms and body.  I also carved up the Funkin, but we didn't have time to get to the Goodwill store to buy the clothes. For the 'girl' scarecrows, I like to go with a dress that has 'buckles' on the shoulder straps like suspenders.  Makes it very easy to dress them.    Hopefully this week, we'll get to the store so we can get the other little scarecrow up before the weekend.

We hosted a fundraiser for our good friend Todd Scalzo - who is a current City Councilman for the City of Wheaton .  He's up for re-election in the spring, so he has to get his campaign started.  We were fortunate to have pretty amazing weather and a great collection of friends and supporters. This photo was taken about noon.  And...as you can see, the Babe still has her pj's on!  We had to drag her out of the thing to change and to take a not-so-productive nap. If any of our neighbors read my blog...I hope you guys don't think we're crazy.  Yes...this is the second bouncehouse that we've gotten in a month.  And...yes....that is crazy.  But....at least this one wasn't Disney Princess themed.  That's something, right?

Put down the first coat of a few colors on one of the witches.   I'm certainly not very artistic, so this is a tricky experience for me.  I'm trying to use some color but trying to keep it away from being too much like the cartoon Jesus that was re-painted recently .  

The carved apple head continues to shrivel up.  Just two days later , we're getting the eyes to skrunch up a bit.

We were sitting in my in-laws' backyard a few days ago when this bird of prey landed on their fence and had a look around.  Pretty big wingspan and HUGE talons.  We had Maisy on a leash sitting on a chair most of the afternoon.  Wonder if this hawk was checking her out as potential prey?

Just six days after I peeled and carved a little apple into a head shape , we're starting to see a little bit of 'shrunkeness'.  The rice teeth turned out pretty great, but the eyeballs aren't skrunch-ing up enough for my tastes.

The lot at the end of our block had some construction fencing erected late last week.  Looks like a new house is about to go up.  That makes the 2nd new construction home on our block in the past year.  Seems like - at least part of - the housing sector is coming around?

I was at El Pollo Vagabundo a while back and saw this on the back of the menu.  Didn't really ever think that "Like us on Facebook" would be translated to "Me Gusta en Facebook", but it makes perfect sense, I suppose.

We went down to the Illini game with my sisters and a their boys.  Unfortunately, the Illini got stomped by a WAC team.  But, all wasn't lost.  We did get the two boys (and the Babe!) down on the field for pre-game for a bit.  I was able to participate in the "Legacy Tunnel" as the team came out on the field - which is always fun.

I came home from my trip to see that our tree had been rodded and cabled.  There's 2 rods.  See the other one up in the crook of the tree?  The wound is healing nicely and hopefully these rods and the associated cables will keep this big thing up for many years to come! The guys tell me that as the tree grows - which will take years - the tree bark will sort of 'knuckle' over those washers/bolts/end of the rods, so they might disappear somewhat?

In a little bit more than a week, we've gone from one water putty witch on our mantle to four!  There's a lot of Dremel work left to be done to grind the seams - and bottoms - down to make them smooth.  Then the painting/decorating will begin.   Maybe I can send one of these home with my brother-in-law when he goes back to Denver this weekend?  He's the real artist and would likely be able to do the best job.

I carved this guy into an apple, stuck some rice teeth in his mouth and dipped him a lemon juice/salt wash.  Now we wait a few weeks for him to dry up and shrink.  Hopefully we'll have something creepy looking just in time for Halloween.

I was in DC this week and on the cab ride to my hotel, we drove past the Washington Monument.    That's the only 'sight' I had time to 'see' while I was there.

I spent a few hours yesterday pulling together some pieces of my outdoor Halloween project.  With the help of my father-in-law (and his workshop!), I was able to get the wood cut.  With the help of my mother-in-law (and her craft supplies), I was able to get the sign painted. I'm going to put a layer or two of polyurethane on top of it so the sign lasts and then figure out how it will attach to posts before getting it set up in the front yard.

This Santa face would look really great hanging off the top of the pavilion in our backyard, wouldn't it? I'm planning on adding another reindeer to our front yard blowmold collection this year, so maybe I'll splurge and get both.  

Menards is nothing if not predictable.   A year ago this weekend , I first spotted the Enchanted Forest getting set up.  Today, I took both of my girls there to pick up some water putty for the 'witch' project and we came across Santa and his sleigh.  Along with thousands of little twinkling lights. The Enchanted Forest isn't quite complete.  It is still about half patio furniture, but in the coming weeks, they'll bring in the trees and we'll be all holiday'd up.  Can't wait.

For most people the weather turning cooler means sweaters and leaf raking and the like.  But, here in the Parrillo household, that means a return to pizza making.  Putting together skins, cheese, meats and sauce is something we do from September through April.  Besides the whole 'firing up the oven' part that heats up the house, we just aren't inside enough on Friday/Saturday nights during the warmer months to make pizza-making practical. This first set of skins is Buddy's of Detroit clone and has been proofing since last night.  Had a 12 hour cold rise and will spend most of the rest of the day rising on the countertop.

I was in the Jewel a few days ago buying garbage can stickers (so we can throw away more than the one can we are allotted for the week) and during my purchase, the cashier (yes, I went through the manned lines because that's the only place you can buy the stickers.) asks if I want my free 2 liter of Dr. Pepper 10.  "Sure", I say!  And...off I went with it. Turns out, this is a weird soda.  I like soda.  But...this one isn't quite Diet Dr. Pepper.  And it isn't quite regular Dr. Pepper. It is in between.  Who's it for?   Apparently....dudes . Seems some guys have trouble ordering a "Diet Coke".  Really?  Having a diet soda isn't manly?  Guess I'm not thinking my beverage choice though enough.

That is the 2012 witch freshly pressed from the mold.  I made her with the help of the Babe and after a bit of grinding/dremeling, we'll have something we can paint.  If you look closely, you can see a void on the witch's face right where her right eyeball would be.  I'd rather be lucky than good, I suppose.

Took a few days, but we finally got the rooted hydrangea "Incrediball" cutting in the ground .  Have to stay on it water-wise to make sure it establishes itself properly.  I give it a 1 in 10 shot.

Don't mind if I do....

It looked a lot better that it tasted, unfortunately.

Looks a bit different today , doesn't it?

That ghostie is pretty cute.  And so is the pumpkin totem pole!

Took a few months, but we finally have some real roots on a hydrangea cutting I took earlier this summer.  I clipped off the big leaves and am going to plant it outside in the next few days and watch it closely....

I was driving by the Football Field @ York High School recently and noticed some nice new banners directing people to the home/away gate.  The problem?  See that big black space between the 'r' and 's' in "Visitors"? Looks like someone didn't get A's in grammar because they've used some tape to black out the apostrophe. And these folks are teaching our youth!  Ha! (I should note...that if you read this blog a lot, I often-times make typos/mistakes....so....you might be thinking that maybe I shouldn't be calling them out? Too bad for you!)

Yesterday, we walked past the Heavenly Cupcake Shop on York Street to see this letter posted in the front window.  Having opened in late January 2010, they're now closed.  For good. That's the second bakery to close this month following the closure of our Elmhurst location of Bleeding Heart Bakery. But....baked good fans....all is not lost!  As we noted last week, a new place called Courageous Bakery is opening on Park Avenue just across the tracks.   Based on a comment on that post, they're trying to get the place open within the next week and a half .

Talk about a mild winter?  These are Mums that we bought last fall for our front porch.  After the fall, I stuck them in the ground real quick and guess what?  They came back this spring.  So I transplanted them to a different spot and they're doing really well!

Welp....it was time to get an overgrip.

Back in the Spring, when I was ordering this year's new bunny mold , I also picked up this witch.  I cut down the white plastic molding on the sides last night to get room for the binder clips to grab hold.  I picked up the water putty last weekend, so now it is just a matter of finding time to make the witch(es). Have to get going on it early so they'll dry out in time to get painted and (maybe?) antiqued.