pumpkins are pretty

I haven't carved a pumpkin in ages and I've missed the boat on it this year, but wow am I inspired to try this next time. Martha Stewart comes up with the craziest things!

(from Raina at If The Lamp Shade Fits)

But I've gotta head over to Connie and Sebastian's next time they do theirs and take a lesson.

Apparently Sebastian always wins in the carving department.

Sebastian on the left and Connie on the right.

But in this case I gotta say ...

Connie for the WIN!

Mad Hatter Marcel

He would like the Dormouse to come for tea!

Halloween!

Perry invited me to a Halloween party at the Spoke Club where he is a member (la di dah!) and people always show up in amazing costumes. But I just really wanted to wear this wig and hat and tried to come up with something to make that stuff work.

He showed up as Bettlejuice only to tell me that there was in fact a theme: Alice in Wonderland / Tim Burton.

Which explained the multitude of Mad Hatters, Jokers and Corpse Brides.

It did not explain the large numbers of sex-pot cops and nurses, but that's the Spoke Club for ya. And I have no idea which movie this is from but I thought the face painting was amazing!

I haven't even seen Alice in Wonderland, but I got lots of lovely compliments on my get up and I sure had fun wearing it and dancing the night away!

Hope you all had a fun Halloween!

my favourite wig

I had incredibly short hair for many many years.

And often as a swing dancing performer I need to look a bit more girly and vintage - so I'd wear a wig.

I think blond works on me, but it never really feels like me. So although I acquired my big blond afro wig a while ago, it sat in the costume closet for years. And then last year I was invited to a Halloween wedding with a circus theme.

(that's Penny - the bride on the left, and Connie in the middle)

And I couldn't find my red clown wig, but I thought this would do the trick.

And now I just want to wear it all the time! So of course I wore it for the disco party ...

which inspired the look for that TV show that I can't tell you about ...

 

and then I was at a loss for what to wear for Halloween because I didn't think I could wear it again, but then I found this little hat!

I'll show you the rest of the get up tomorrow!

Aquamarine for Mom

My mother likes to buy things for me. Actually, she just really loves to shop and often when she sends me something she thinks I would like, it's really something she likes. Woman's got a few issues separating me from her ... ah what can you do?

In this case, she sent me this lovely pendant - in gold. I never wear gold, but she loves it! So for her birthday this week I turned it into a necklace.

Aquamarine and labradorite with gold accents.

This is one of my favourite pairings right now, so I guess I'm letting the cat out of the bag (no that's not where Marcel is) about upcoming gifts!

small swan drama

So I've been learning all kinds of things about swans this summer since I was adopted by big daddy Swanee on my very first visit out to the marina.

Some kinds of swans have white sygnets and some have brown and if one of each becomes a pair they can have a mixed batch of babies and the colour is not related to the sex of the sygnets. But the brown ones in this family are much bigger.

All was well for quite a while after one disappeared a while back. The sygnets are almost grown and have the most beautiful feathers and are learning to fly.

But last weekend something strange was going on. The smallest white one was not with her family. She was still there, but hanging back far away from the rest of the group. Her long neck was tucked back and even though she'd still come up to the boat after the others had moved away she would not eat.

It made me very sad to see her looking so alone and forlorn. I asked the fine fellow what we could do and he said we had to just let nature take its course. I said, we'd take Marcel to the vet, and he said they're not pets. But they are like pets, I love them like pets, they're our swans.

One evening, while we were by the camp fire, she came drifting over all by herself and I went and sat by the edge of the water and just sat there saying to myself "all will be well little swanee, all will be well, please be well".

(he's biting her and chasing her off)

So I was a little afraid at what I would find when I went back a week later. But lookey here - they're all back together! and everybody came for a snack!

I'm so, so glad, and very, very grateful!

new hair style

What do you think?

Maybe the mustache is a bit much?

I thought it looked pretty good on Natasha.

who am I?

A couple of weeks back there was yet another costume party on the island. I was not given sufficient notice for this thing but I can always just wrassle something up. The fine fellow said "the theme is Hollywood, and hurry on up and get here".

He loves any excuse to dress up as Elvis and I love any excuse to wear these shoes.

 

The general consensus was that Tim was Trueman Capote.

And apparently I was Farrah Fawcett.

Not gonna complain about that!

I also got Bernadette Peters - who I LOVE!!

There may have been some dancing on the bar.

There is no photographic evidence.

SO-LID GOLD!

So many different things inspired me to want to be a dancer when I was little: The Nutcracker, Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, and SOLID GOLD. I loooooved those Solid Gold dancers.

And yesterday, I got to be one!

Can't tell you anything about this right now but it will be on TV in about 2 months.

fall is here

The change of season always bring new things with it, but with fall there always seems to be an ending of so many of my favourite joys: summer, sun, swimming in the lake, and now fun times on the island are on a very short count down.

We're all just trying to enjoy the time left and not think about how all this will change in a few weeks.

But little reminders are creeping in. Tim decided to clean out the fridge and he taught me how to make that amazing lobster salad - it was sooo so good to have that treat again.

The fine fellow went on his annual, fall fishing trip.

The last band of the season played at the bar.

Tyler's band, White Cowbell Oklahoma, is going on their fall tour. (He plays the cowbell and the Chainsaw!)

And I'm wearing jeans!!!

I must remember to live in the moment, beacause we're all still having a wonderful time, and I'm very very grateful for that.