I've been to New Orleans a few times. It's connection to Voodoo has always fascinated me. One theory is that Voodoo priestesses use toxins from puffer fish to make zombies. Another is that they use toxins from ground Datura to make zombies. Datura is a beautiful trumpet flower. I grow Datura for my Mom's flower garden every year!

Here is a link that might be useful: The lo-down on Zombies & Voodoo

Oh Man...I just recieved my Halloween Bounty form Becky!!
Man does she know how to spoil a person LOL!

In my box was:
Yummy Chocolate candy (almost gone already)
Assorted gummy body parts
2 Beautiful Harvest themed towels
a Cute little scarecrow magnet
a coffin
a pumpkin carving kit (that I bet my hubby ends up snatching)
a wonderful pumpkin bag
and cute little pumpkin napkins

then there were seeds:
Eggplant 'Casper'
Eggplant 'Cannibal Tomato' (cant wait to try these)Tell them the story Becky, it is awesome!!
Tomato 'Bloody Butcher' Oooo Spooky
Tomato 'Ernies Plump' So cool, and on my wish list
Pumpkin 'Casper'
Pumpkin 'Dill's Atlantic'
Pumpkin 'Amish Pie' Mmmm I love pie
Pumpkin 'Baby Boo'
Pumpkin 'Long Island Cheese'
Pumpkin 'Jarrahdale'(sp)
Pumpkin 'Big Moon' Becky you are going to laugh when you see your goodies
Pumpkin 'Thai Kang Kob' Sounds so cool...cant wait to research them and grow them :)
Squash 'Tromboncino' On my wish list yay!!
Nasturtium 'Jewel Mix' another one off my wish list!!

Hope I didn't forget anything.

I love October :)

Thank You so much for all of the wonderful stuff!!!

I am going to try my best to get your package out by Monday afternoon Tuesday morning at the latest.

Wow that was fast! I was just going to check the tracking. Donna, so glad you like your treats! Just a heads up, Columbus day is Monday. I don't think the PO will be open.

I grew Bloody Butchers this year. This year my tomatoes were hard hit with Early Blight. I've had to rip out most of my tomato plants but those Bloody Butchers are still producing! The Casper eggplants I grew this year too. They did well for me.

Now for the Cannibal Tomato! They are actually an eggplant. The story goes that cannibals used to make a sauce with these to serve with their "meal." They are suppose to be hardy & easy to grow. I'm going to try them next year.

Oh shoot...I forgot about Monday(even tho I have plans with 2 of my girls LOL)
So ok, I am hoping to have them out by Saturday afternoon ideally...but I doubt it LOL...so then change of plans cuz of the Holiday...

I will definitely have the package out by Wednesday afternoon!

Becky...your package just jumped on it's broomstick and is flying your way!!

I will e-mail you your DC# :)

Donna

Sorry I'm behind on my Halloween host duties. My sister-in-law and niece were in a car accident this afternoon. My niece is in serious condition. My sister-in-law is not expected to make it. I'm waiting for phone calls for more details.

My sister-in-law did pass away. My niece should be ok. The thing not to watch while you're waiting for phone calls is "An American Haunting in Connecticut". I think it should be PG-41 instead of PG-13. It was almost too scary for me to watch. It's scary & well done. Worth the rental if you like scary movies.

Oh Becky I am so very sorry. Don't worry about anything here you just take care of yourself and your family and your niece. I dont know how to express how sorry I am for your loss.
((((((HUGE HUGS BECKY))))))

Donna

Becky, sending you an email

Love and Prayers, Christy

My prayers are with you and all your family Becky.

Joan

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. It's still quite a shock. We don't know the details of the accident. My niece doesn't remember. We suspect it was either a mechanical problem with the car or she swerved to keep from hitting an animal. My niece is already blaming herself for the accident.

Christy, I didn't get your email. Could you resend it?

I just realized I got the title of the movie wrong. It's "The Haunting in Connecticut."

Below is a link to the "real" story.

Here is a link that might be useful: The real

Oh Becky, I'm so sorry! Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Take care.

Toni

I'm happy to report my niece is out of the hospital and doing well. She has a gash on her forehead which needed stitches. She's also sore, but no major injuries.

Oh, I am so relieved to hear that your niece is doing better...give her big hugs from all of your friends here, and send her our good thoughts. We are all thinking of her and you and your family during this sad time. If you need anything just e-mail me .

Had some time today to think about more Halloweenie things. The DH & I saw a fox run across the road yesterday. It made me think of my dogs and the lack of doggie instincts they have! For instance, a bunny hopped across our deck yesterday afternoon. One dog sleeps on some pillows near the glass door that leads to the deck. She was oblivious to the bunny. Any other dog would probably be scratching at the door to get to the bunny. Not mine though! So I went outside to check on the pumpkins that I have growing near the deck. I'm still waiting for them to ripen. I'm hoping they ripen by Halloween. Anyway, pumpkins, doggies, Halloween...It got me thinking about werewolves. Here's a neat site all about werewolves

Here is a link that might be useful: Werewolves

LOL Becky...doggies are funny that way. Our doggie will only growl or bark at the deer when he's outside and they dare to set foot on HIS grass. They can walk ALL the way around the house...but don't touch his grass! Well as for the raccoons...it's a different story. He knows they are little bandits (and I say that instead of 4 letter words lol) and get into his food dish any chance they get. We feed Luke outside and usually bring his dish in at night. Well if we forget...the little $^%*# bandits are right there to clean up his dish. He hates them. He knows they go right to the edge of the grass and stop...awaiting his retreat to the house. So he doesn't stop at the grass with the raccoons anymore. He makes sure they run MANY MANY yards beyond the yard lol. Then he retreats to the house lol.

our doggies and their strange habbits lol. Is it instinct or learned behavior?? LOL

Toni

I wonder if it is learned or just been bred out of my dogs. I say the one has the instincts of a Barbie doll. She is very sweet though.

That's too funny about the grass. I guess its literally his turf! How's Luke doing? One quirk, Buca, the girl, has is she won't walk on wet grass! She'll walk up & down the driveway, but not wet grass! The boy, Bear, doesn't care. He's just happy to be outside.

Luke is doing much better. He still has bald spots that the fur is growing back on...so it itches lol. He rubs his chin on the ground to scratch it and if you scratch under his chin, he makes sure to try to manuever your nails to the spot that itches. He's no dummy lol. He sure was a trooper during the situation though.

On his checkup, the vet said, "It's a good thing Luke has a bit of extra padding. Or his organs would have been hit by the attack!" So being an older dog, he's very lucky we feed him well lol.

The pits have now been deemed dangerous dogs and Pierce County has to deal with them. I had to write a declaration about what happened and what I've witnessed out of these animals. We have an ordinance that any dogs deemed dangerous, can only be kept by paying a yearly $500 each, license to keep them. And they cannot be off a leash and MUST be muzzled at all times. IF there are any further attacks...no matter how minor, they will be put down. Depending on how they view the paperwork already in play...they may be put down now.

No way was I going to have the blood of a child on my hands!!! So I made sure EVERYONE knew these dogs were vicious!

And the staff in power is working to ban them from the Island period. These dogs were not registered at all, so there are some reprocussions coming. Not sure what, but we shall see when it happens.

How can anyone have a large family, children around all the time and have these vicious dogs around them? Well I have my opinions, but I'll keep my comments to that.

Anyway...I love hearing about other puppy dog's quirks lol. It's so funny wet grass.

Toni

Well, Since we're having a hAuNtEd HaLlOwEeN pUmPkIn PaRtY, I thought it might be good to find a site to help us plan for the holiday. I got a chance to look at halloweenhowl.com. It's a fun site with lots of great ideas for parties, costumes, etc. Even if you're not planning a party it's still fun to look through the site.

Happy Haunting!

Here is a link that might be useful: Halloween Howl

Whoo-Hoo! No tricks for Donna! I received my treats today. It was tremendously fun to open.

Ok, here's the loot:
Creepy Crawler Bat Fruit flavored gummy candy (he's the size of a small bat too! Too cute!)
A Coffee chocolate lollipop (which won't make it past tonight!)
Gel clings for the windows of pumpkins & spiders
Beautiful pumpkin dish cloth & pot holder

Now for the seeds:
Black Brandywine Tomatoes (in a cute autumn seed envelope!)
Orange Strawberry Tomatoes (I've been eying these!)
Earl of Edgecomb Tomatoes (on my wish list!)
Coyote Tomatoes (can you hear the howls!)
Black Russion Tomatoes
Music Garlic bulbils (to protect me from the vampires!)
Blacktail Watermelon
Orangeglo Watermelon
Round Black Spanish Radishes (I've been eying these too!)
Oriole Swiss Chard (one of my favorites. Grew it for the first time this year)
Kandy Korn Corn (sweet corn is on my list to grow for 2010!)
Burgess Buttercup squash (Yum!)
Adapazari squash (Yum!)
Sweet Meat squash (Yum!)
Sweet Dumpling squash (Yum! can you tell I like winter squash? LOL!)
Pomme d'Or pumpkins (orange size pumpkins!)
Winter Luxury Pumpkin
Baby Bear Pumpkins
Prizewinner Hybrid Pumpkin
Jack be Little Pumpkins
Big Moon Pumpkins (great minds think alike!)

Thank you so much for all the great things Donna! I'm going to treat the carpal tunnel now. LOL!
Orange Tender sweet watermelon

I wrote too fast! The lollipop has a coffin on it (I've been working like a dog the last two days. Thus, I have coffee on the brain!) The Orange Tendersweet watermelons tried to escape my last post!

Thanks again, Donna!

Don't forget everyone, please send your ghoulishly good treats to your partner by feind-day (Oh...I mean friday!)

You know you are too old to Trick or Treat when:

10. You get winded from knocking on the door.

9. You trick or treat with a beer koozy not a pumpkin pail.

8. You ask for high fiber candy only.

7. When someone drops a candy bar in your bag,
you lose your balance and fall over.

6. People say: 'Great Boris Karloff Mask,'
And you're not wearing a mask.

5. When the door opens you yell, 'Trick or...'
And can't remember the rest.

4. By the end of the night,
you have a bag full of restraining orders.

3. You have to carefully choose a costume that won't dislodge your hairpiece.

2. You're the only Power Ranger in the
neighborhood with a walker.

And the number one reason Seniors should not go
Trick Or Treating...
1. You keep having to go home to pee.

Guilty of #9

LOL Love that list!!

I hope you like your treats...cuz I dont want any tricks here(ok that doesn't sound right ROTF)

Oooo only 18 more days til Halloween!!!

What would Halloween be without a few ghost stories? I found a neat site with ghost stories and American folklore. Hope you enjoy it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ghost Stories

I was on a job site today. It was a vacant house & apparently had been vacant for a while. I had to go into the bowels of the basement - no heat - no electricity!!! Anyway, I walked through a LOT of cobwebs. I don't care if they get in my hair or on my clothes (part of the job) but I couldn't see them. They were in my face! YEACH! Anyway, here's a little bit about cobwebs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Whar are Cobwebs?

My house is a haven of cobwebs :( I clean them up...then they come back. Good thing it's the Halloween season and I can leave them up if I want too LOL

I was just looking and my last post. The link should read "What are Cobwebs?" Oops! Anyway, I did a little more searching today and found this site all about ghost haunts - haunted places, people & things.

I hope everyone got their packages out today and are enjoying the Halloweenie sites I've found. Sunday starts the thirteen days before Halloween!

Here is a link that might be useful: Ghost Haunts

Ackk...it feels more like the 12 days of Christmas around here these past few days....I am on the coast ,and even I saw some snow for a few hours last night...sheesh, I hope it warms up a bit for Halloween!

OMG SNOW???????????? Yikes!!!!!! I'm still nursing my tomatoes to ripeish lol...NO SNOW!!!! You poor folks on the East Coast get it so early. Not that I don't like snow, but I like to have my harvest done before it comes lol. Can't we pick and choose when the snow comes? If we could I'd probably end up in March before I wanted snow...then I'd be b&(*ing caues my starts didn't come up yet.

Well, I'm working on Christy's box...Poor girl has been under the weather for so long...and her little one too. Hope you both have recovered well and energy is coming back. I'm so sorry you ended up with this crud.

Take care,

Toni

Isn't there some rule about vulgar language (4 letter words) on this forum?! LOL! Yes, we woke up to SNOW yesterday morning, about an inch. So the garden is definitely done now. The snow all melted and we're suppose to have some more normal temperatures next week.

If I could make it happen, I'd have palm trees out my window, never snow. Always thought I'd make it further southwest than NY! LOL!

I thought we could use something on the silly side for the Halloween topic of the day. A friend of mine had sent me a post of doggies in Halloween costumes. How undignified! I thought it was tremendously silly. Anyway, as it turns out they have parades and contests for best dog costumes. Here's a link to the silly side. At the very least watch the dog parade video.

Here is a link that might be useful: Halloween Dog Parade & Costumes

Cris,
Your package went out today. I THINK this is the conf#
0309 1140 0000 1870 2080
I mailed 2 packages and I could have gotten them mixed up. :)

Joan

13 days left 'til Halloween! I thought it might be fun to look up some superstitions (like why 13 is considered unlucky.) Here's a great site which has LOTS of myths & superstitions - good & bad.

Here is a link that might be useful: Legends, Myths & Superstitions

Hi Joan

I mailed your package out today. Sorry so late!!! Delivery confirmation number 0308690 0002 2019 5425. Let me know when it arrives. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Cris

I received a package from Joan today. It was packed with all kinds of Halloween goodies!I can't wait to try the different veggie & pumpkin seeds! Thanks so much Joan! I loved everything!!!!!

Cris

WOW Cris!!!! I'm feeling guilty, cause I didn't pack your box NEARLY enough compared to what you sent! It was fabulous! Pepper and I have had a ball going thru everything!

Cris sent:
Witches pet costume (eyeing Pepper - I'll try to take her picture in it. :) )
cute little pumpkin votive holder
hold package of tea light votive candles
Halloween themed foam picture frames
sweet little scarecrow pick for decorating
Halloween cookie cutters
Halloween pot holder
Happy Halloween card
TONS of seeds
southern giant curled mustard
early white bush scallop squash
black beauty egg plant
black beauty zucchini squash
derby garden bean
silver queen sweet corn
sugar baby watermelon
pencil pod black wax garden bean
butter & sugar sweet corn
red cored chantenay carrot
golden delicious musk melon
spacemaster cucumber
honey dew cantaloupe
snake gourd
birdhouse gourd
simpson black seeded lettuce
caveman's club gourd
nest egg gourd
mooregold winter squash
squash cocozelle
black beauty eggplant
california blackeye pea #5
jack o lantern pumpkin
golden delicious cantaloupe
speckled roman tomato
Lots of these had handwritten instructions on the cutest little Halloween notepads!
AND..... Cris sent me handwritten recipes for:
Fresh refrigerator pickles
Pasta con cucuzza e fave
stewed cucuzza squash
Everything was wrapped or tucked into Halloween wrapping paper or bags! It was totally generous and personalized!!
Just totally wonderful and sweet! (((BIG HUG))
Thank you soooo much Cris!

Joan

No need to feel guilty Joan. Everything you sent me is perfect! I had a lot of fun packing your box. I got most of the seeds on clearance for .15 a pack. I couldn't use them. I can't pass up a deal like that. I hope you can enjoy them.
Something you didn't list that I packed in your box is the Laffy Taffy. Booberry suggested you might get some grape purple Laffy Taffy to turn your tongue purple. I sent you a rainbow of colors so you can change colors frequently. lol
Thank you for hosting this swap ladies! It was 'frightening' fun!

Wow! What a great haul, Joan. It looks like you got the big bonanza! Cris, great job with the swap.

I have fallen a little behind on my postings. Anyway, in the spirit of Halloween, here's a site that's all about haunted cemeteries. I've been to the one in New Orleans but not at night. Never saw or felt anything odd there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Haunted Cemeteries

Well, I've been watching a lot of Food Network this morning and they seem to be making lots of dishes with garlic. Since it's so close to Halloween I wondered how the whole garlic and vampire thing came into being.

Some people believe that the association of garlic warding off vampires has to do with bug or animal bites. One is rabies. You can get rabies from any animal bite from an animal that has rabies. Remember Cujo (Stephen King) getting rabies from the bat? Anyway, I guess if you have rabies you become fixated on certain scents. One of them being garlic.

Another theory is that of mosquito bites. Since mosquitos suck blood, they fly and can be warded off be garlic, it's not a difficult jump to vampires (if you have a vivid imagination.)

Anyway, here's a little more info!

Here is a link that might be useful: Garlic & Vampires

Hope all you ghouls & goblins are ready for the big day tomorrow! Would you believe I haven't heard "Monster Mash" once on the radio?!

I have to go play a gig with the band tomorrow :(
I want to spend the night with my son. Instead, I will get to share my night with a certain type of ghouls,, just not the "ghostly" type ghouls, but the "drunken" type ghouls, which are even more "SCARY"! LOL!

Oh well, atleast he will get to go out with my mom and dad. And then after tomorrow night, we are leaving right away Sunday. A long weekend, but once it is over, I will get to relax!
Toni and I are swapping after I get back ( and Becky your box too, you know what I mean!) I have an order that is not here yet.

Yoohoo!!!! Cris, this is for you! I laughed till I cried.

Joan

ROFL! Just how many treats did you have to give that dog to get him to wear it? It's very cute!

Oh my, he doesn't look too happy does he? lol How long was it worn? Did you have to hold him to get it on? Too cute! Thanks for the pic.

A BUNCH of treats! :) And my husband had to hold her while I put it on her. That's why she's up on the bar so she couldn't get away. It was hilarious!!! She was soo pi**ed.

Would you believe I did *NOT* hear "Monster Mash" once on the radio for Halloween? However, I've already heard "Snoopy and the Red Barron's Christmas"!!!

We had a local station that played "scary" music all night so I did get to hear while we were trick or treating with my little grandson. And I meant to tell Cris that Pepper ran around about 20 minutes in her costume with my grandson chasing her dressed up as a cowboy. It was a hoot! I saved her costume for next year too. :)