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| Hallie and Nick |
Friday
night, Hallie asked Mike to pick up a couple of pumpkins while in town so that
they could carve jack-o-lanterns. Unbeknownst to her, I already had a nice one
on hand. My idea was to set a chrysanthemum inside the pumpkin for a porch
decoration, but after buying the pumpkin I couldn’t find a chrysanthemum. Mike brought
a second pumpkin from town.
Nick
is an artist and approaches all projects with an artist’s eye and attention to
detail. Hallie suggested the designs and then Nick painstakingly transferred
them to the pumpkins by hand. Together, they carved the faces. The result was
ghoulishly elegant, worthy of the “Better Homes and Gardens” Halloween
celebration. It’s just that – well – they aren’t going to last, you know. They
took one and I kept one, and I’m afraid mine is already slowly folding into
itself. It might not be available for Halloween. Oh well.
And
now, our autumn celebration is over and suddenly (Egads!) it’s two months until
Christmas. I really must get a move on! A silent auction mid-November pushes me
quickly into Christmas projects, and somehow I just can’t get going. Last night
I made a list of many possible projects. Most of it won’t happen,
but putting on my “thinking cap” and listing my ideas helped me to prioritize.
Nick wants a photo of the pumpkin all lit up before it caves in!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I can comply -- but I'll try. I meant to light it last night, but then I forgot.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, I posted the photo of your pumpkin.
Your lace work turned out perfectly!! And you had Halloween fun just working on your quilt, so that counts. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm so impressed with Hallie and Nick's talents!! What does Hallie use to cut the pumpkin? I always had a horrible time with the cutting and finally gave it up to Dan and kids.
Thank you, Chris. You just can't go wrong with free-standing lace -- no placement issues and it's beautiful when finished. But -- I also think of branching out and learning other techniques. Experimentation takes time and I get frustrated.
ReplyDeleteI finished the center outlining on the Halloween quilt and put it away. It might come out after Christmas --we'll see.
As for pumpkin carving tools, I've been buying templates and tools for years. I think Hallie is using some little saw.
Your comment reminds me of an old family story about Grandpa Portfors. Nina was ready to carve her pumpkin, but Grandpa was afraid she would cut herself and insisted on doing it for her. You guessed it -- he cut himself.