A Texas city girl in a small New England town …
🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲
Stardust
Stardust is a heavenly constellation of bold florals, warm amber, and musky woods.
Top: Green, Lemon, Floral
Mid: Amber, Jasmine, Nutmeg, Orchid
Base: Benzoin, Musky, Oriental, Sandalwood
🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲🎄🌲
🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄
In the Christmas Season of 2006, Kevin, Katelynn, and I visited California. Since we celebrated the 60th Anniversary of Kevin’s grandparents in Anaheim, we stayed an extra day to go to Disneyland.
🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄
In December 2007, Kevin installed his first outdoor Christmas tree made of Christmas light chains. Everything was held up by a PVC pipe.
🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄
… to be continued …
❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃
❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄☃❄
🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁
🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁
Several theories regarding the clarinet. It is said that the clarinet evolved from the ancient woodwind instrument named the ‘chalumeau.’ The chalumeau is also said to be the ancestor of the instrument ‘oboe.’ Even today, a clarinet’s lower register is referred to as chalumeau.
The first clarinet is said to have been developed in the 1700s by German musician Johann Christoph Denner. It was composed in the key of C. Clarinets are typically made in the key of B flat today. Other modifications in the clarinet followed in the 1800s. For example, the mouthpiece was designed to face backward, rather than forward, which allowed clarinetists to play the instrument more smoothly. This prototype was brought forward by German musician Heinrich Baermann.
Later on, thirteen keys were added to the clarinet, giving the clarinetists the ability to play the chromatic scale. Thereafter, many new versions and types of clarinets emerged depending on the key used, the size, or the range of registers. The clarinet was used as the voice for the wolf in the famous composition “Peter and the Wolf.”
The clarinet produces soothing music, which is why it is used in various genres of music, including rock, jazz, and folk. It is said that Mozart loved the sound of clarinets. Clarinets are also used widely in military orchestras. Clarinet Day was established to recognize this remarkable instrument, a favorite among musicians worldwide.
The American Heroes Festival is a FREE weekend celebration honoring America’s heroes with live music, remembrance ceremonies, carnival, fair food, car/truck/bike show, and the best patriotic fireworks display in North Texas! The photos are from the 2015 festival.
In Connecticut, I miss having a Veteran’s Festival close by. Watertown still celebrates our Veterans in the Veterans Memorial Park and at the Green Gazebo. Oakville has a ceremony at the Oakville Town Green. However, we don’t have 5K Runs, carnival, live music from famous artists, and fireworks.
🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁
🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁🍃🍂🍁
In 1993, residents and businesses in The Colony came together to build a playground. There was lots of planning, fundraising, scheduling, and building – all done by volunteers! This little town in Texas made a great effort, and the result was a community-built playground named Kids’ Colony. The years and hot Texas sun took their toll on the expansive wooden structures, and the process of replacing the beloved playground began. In 2011, Phase I of the rebuild of Kids’ Colony was completed, adding a nature-themed play structure, pavilion, picnic tables, and benches.
👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸
Kevin, the girls, and I went to a couple of fun events that season. Finally, we made it to “Boo at the Zoo” at the Fort Worth Zoo. The weather was perfect for some Trick-or-Treat time. And Sara had a Halloween Party at her daycare, where she could play games, have hot dogs, lemonade, and cake. Once in a while, it’s fun to splurge.
👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸
In 2013, we decided we wanted to register for the “Family Fright Night Camp Out” in our city. It’s an annual event on the lake peninsula in Stewart Creek Park. We brought our camping gear, Halloween decorations, and lots of candy. The event has costume competitions, Halloween decoration competitions, scream competition, Trick-or-Treat, Movie Night, etc. The girls loved camping in the park. For the Halloween season, I carved five pumpkins. Three we used for the above event. And then I carved another two for the girls on Halloween.
👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸
… to be continued in October 2026.
👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸
Katelynn loves going to the pumpkin patch because she can jump in the bounce house, go on hay rides, and pick a pumpkin. Sara just enjoyed crawling around between the pumpkins. Every pumpkin had to be tested by giving it a good slap on top. We also went to the Pirate Days. Unfortunately, “Boo at the Zoo” got rained out on the day we went to the Fort Worth Zoo. But it wasn’t the end of the world, either. The girls got out and had fun, anyway.
👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸
Aww! 2011 was one of my favorite Halloween Seasons of all time so far. Katelynn had a crush on “Marvin, the Martian” and wanted to marry him. That’s right. She loved this Looney Tunes character so much that we had to get her a plush Marvin. She said she wanted to become an Astronaut and be the First Woman on Mars. Over the years, her idea of flying to Mars has changed. But she still wants to be a Paleontologist, now.
Sara was the cutest little garden gnome I’ve ever seen. It was her first Halloween, and she could walk to the houses. But she still had a hard time catching up with her older sister. Her little feet were not fast enough. So, she called Katelynn to wait for her: “Kaitin, Kaitin! I want to go T’ick-o’-T’eat with you!” Sara wasn’t scared of any monsters either. Since we always made a big fuss out of Halloween, she must have thought it was normal.
👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸
… to be continued …
👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸
Another Sunday has arrived to show off some of my Jack-o-Lanterns from the years 2013 and 2014. Some I carved for our local “Family Fright Night Campout”. And a couple of pumpkins I carved for Halloween night. The white skull pumpkin is from Courtney. She asked me if I could capture a photo of it. It looked so cool, I had to add it to my Jack-o-Lantern photo collection.
👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸👻🎃🕸
… to be continued …
If someone at a park feeds bread to ducks, there are Mallards in the fray. Perhaps the most familiar of all ducks, Mallards occur throughout North America and Eurasia in ponds, parks, wilder wetlands, and estuaries. The male’s gleaming green head, gray flanks, and black tail curl arguably make it the most easily identified duck. Mallards have long been hunted for the table, and almost all domestic ducks come from this species.
National Raccoon Day was brought to light through the efforts of a young Californian girl in 2002. She spread awareness of the significance of raccoons in the ecosystem. The following year, International Raccoon Appreciation Day became widely accepted among those who share similar dreams.
Raccoons are medium-sized, nocturnal, omnivorous, and furry animals, with dark masks around their eyes. They are highly ubiquitous animals that live in dens, on trees, and wherever food exists. Their original habitat is mixed forests, like in North and Central America, Europe, and Japan. The European Union prohibits transporting, importing, breeding, commercializing, or intentionally releasing them into the environment. They pose no threats to us, though.
We collectively work to clear the misconceptions surrounding these animals and look for practical steps to help save their habitat. Remember, just like all other animals, raccoons have their role in the ecosystem. Without them, the balance we have cannot remain the same.
🌽🌶🌻🌱🍅🥒🌽🌶🌻🌱🍅🥒🌽🌶🌻🌱🍅🥒🌽🌶🌻🌱🍅🥒🌽🌶🌻🌱🍅🥒🌽🌶🌻🌱🍅🥒
Some of my veggies and fruits were potted separately. It was still too cold to plant the tomatoes and peppers in the greenhouse-raised beds. There were nights when I had to cover the crop since I didn’t heat the greenhouse. Two to three weeks later, it was a different story. The soil and the air were warm enough for planting. And I had to keep the greenhouse door and window open during the daytime. It became very warm very quickly in Texas.
🌽🌶🌻🌱🍅🥒🌽🌶🌻🌱🍅🥒🌽🌶🌻🌱🍅🥒🌽🌶🌻🌱🍅🥒🌽🌶🌻🌱🍅🥒🌽🌶🌻🌱🍅🥒
All you bilge rats, Aaaaaarrrrrrgh! As you are out and about on September 19th, don’t be surprised if people are saying, “Ahoy Matie,” “Avast,” “Aye, Aye Capt’n,” “Land ho!” and many other pirate-like phrases, because it’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
While ordering your coffee in the drive-thru, ask if they have a change for gold bullion. Try testing your pirate language out at the library when asking for the location of Moby Dick. The pirate language always fares well in rough seas. Settle a debate with “I’m right or I’ll walk the plank!” To polish your persona, practice a swagger, limp, and squint. Long days at sea give pirates unique qualities.
:https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/international-talk-like-a-pirate-day
With more than 48 acres of natural landscaping consisting of two playground areas, two basketball courts, a pavilion, an amphitheater, a pond, and a newly expanded disc golf course, Bill Allen Memorial Park is perfect for the whole family.
Under The Harvest Moon 