A Yearbook of Halloween 2007-2008Many of you know, and if you don't you will now,
Halloween is one of my fave time of year, next to my Birthday (LOL) and Christmas. But the reason Halloween is extra special to me is that its also the day
my Grandmom was born, her birthday, two fave things in one. She was my other best friend next to my mom, when my Grandma Yolanda passed away in 1998 it was a devastation for me, til this day I have still not fully got over that, she was a second mother to me, both my Grandmom and Grandpa lived with us, when she died we all felt the loss. I eventually bought a plaque at her favorite shrine:
St.Joseph's in Stirling, NJ to remember her by, she loved that place, and so do I. My Grandfather and Mother, along with myself take rides over there to see the plaque and connect with her, we just were all there a month ago, it was a happy time.
Today
I wish her a Happy Birthday and call upon her to bring me love, luck and Happiness today and always! Another thing about my Grandmother and my Uncle Jimmy, they were the 2 other artists in the family, I believe they passed that on to me. They are my artful idols and like me loved this time of year.
In the
next few pictures are an adventure: Tiffany, Ed, Glenny and I made to a local farm in Chester a few weeks back to go apple and pumpkin picking. Isn't this farm beautiful? Just acres and acres of land waiting for you to discover, after all NJ is the Garden State, believe it or not!
Tiffany and I with our massive apples, Tiffany is the best we met years ago at my fave place: The Book Store and have been friends ever since. Here I am in the pumpkin patch, thanks Ed for taking the picture.
Glenny and me in one of the apple tree rows, Glenny is used to the camera now, I take loads of pictures, poor guy, now he just grins and bares it! LOL! Notice this apple tree, don't they look like giant cherries, and that sky was a perefect blue, such a serene picture, I had to take it.
This picture is one I took at Donaldson's Farm in Hackettstown, near my home, such a cute farm and loads of pumpkins and a hayride.
Some more pictures at Donaldson's, of me sitting down in the pumpkin display and my mom behind one of the pumpkin cutouts! We had a blast. These pictures were taken last Halloween time, right on Halloween too!
The next set of picturesque scenery is taken behind Our(Glenny and Me)House, we took a nice Autumn drive along the back road of our house to nab some pictures of the Autumn scenery!
In these pictures, Glenny and I went Pumpkin picking down the road from our house to Tranquillity Farms to hand out at the petting zoo with our new animal friends and the little Goat who wanted to actually leave with us. Isn't this little goat too cute?
Then we went on our pumpkin mission, scooping out the best pumpkins we could find, I detoured over to these cool white pumpkins, they just looked so vintage chic as if painted that color by a vintage artist.
Some primitive looking sunflowers, almost resembled a sunflower grave yard, kinda of eerie but pretty at the same time.
In the next pictures, I dropped down into the autumn flower patch for a fairy style picture, I just should add some wings and a crown, minus the cap.
Talk about the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, this says it all!
I had to photoshop some of the Donaldson's pictures, I couldn't resist, could you?
These pumpkins were the ones Glenny and I finally bought and carved on Hallows Eve, His is the tree pumpkin and mine is the Sally from Nightmare Before Xmas Pumpkin, took us over an hour to do our pumpkins. The next is a picture of Chris, Jess (my future niece and nephew) in there too cute for words costumes, I glitzed up a bit with a tiny crown, I've had it since I was 7years old. This year Chris is a Sumo Wrestler and Jess a Bee Fairy, Here is my Halloween Costume last year, my altered Queen Costume, The fabric crown is embellished with my vintage buckle necklace and the costume itself loads of
pearls and jewels..This year Im dressing as a gothic Marie Antoinette!
Happy Halloween!
Hugs!
Lisa!
Caldwell College book signing
Many people who don't live in NJ think the whole area is industrial, that's only a quarter of the state along parts of the parkway, rt.'s 1 & 9, rt. 22, etc, and near the airports, instead NJ is actually the GARDEN STATE for a reason, we have a pleathora of land and farms, garden centers, arboretums, national and state parks. I live near so many farms and parks, I could blog about my findings for a year straight.
So before we headed home after the Rummage Sale, Mom and I stopped off at Alstede Farm in Chester, 15 minutes from both our homes. I have 10 fave NJ Farms and this is one of them, with the cutest petting zoo area open all year w/cute pigs/pigletts, goats, cows, rabbits, hares, donkeys, horses, roosters, peacocks and more. There is also what I call the Hay Pyramid, of stacked up hay blocks, which make for fun climbing and perfect farm photos.
There is a huge farm store on the property where you can purchase spice and cider donuts, breads, cakes, pies, fruits, veggies, even ice cream, coffee, cocoa and tea. Lots to buy, during the fall, you'll find an array of different pumpkins, gourds, squash, mums, and other autumn goodies. There are a few little building and carnival style tents set up to buy treats and yummy snacks, perhaps to prep for a hayride or farm adventure.
Of course we left w/a pie and pumpkin bread, a few small pumpkins, apples and NJ heirloom tomatoes, Now we were ready to head home and finish looking at our rummage sale wares, while enjoying a sweet snack.
