Kicked off a gorgeous, clear morning with breakfast, then went right into taking down the Halloween decorations and putting up what I have for Thanksgiving. I'm glad my October largely went much better than it did last year (nothing was stolen and no one died), but I'm still ready to move on to the quieter fall holidays.
I don't have a ton of Thanksgiving decorations, but I do have a few things. Hung a trio of Indian corn cobs on the wall between my windows in the bedroom. Two cloth-and-wood pilgrims guard my TV. My Webkinz turkeys Plymouth and Mayflower sit together on the DVD shelf. A tiny, cute stuffed pilgrim mouse is doing similar duty in front of my CD player. I have a beautifully carved turkey candle on my dining area table and a scarecrow and my annual pumpkin sitting on the music area table.
Most of the decorations I have for Thanksgiving are cardboard cut-outs. The large turkey and cute wide-eyed pilgrim girl are vintage yard sale finds; also found the Snoopy and Woodstock and pilgrim and Indian kids ones used. Mom made the hand-shaped turkey with the colorful feathers and "Happy Thanksgiving" sign when she worked for one of the elementary schools in Lower Township, which is why it's laminated. The plastic turkey hanging was a dollar store find years ago.
Watched The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters while I worked. Slip and Sach visit the Gravesends in order to convince them to sign over a lot for the local kids to play in. The Gravesends turn out to be a wacky, scary Addams-esque family who are more interested in duo themselves. The male heads of the family want both their brains for their gorilla and robot, the daughter is a vampire who is literally out for their blood, and the aunt just wants to feed them to her man-eating plant. They have to dodge all the Gravesends, and then help Louie and their buddies escape when they go looking for them, if they want to be able to get that lot with their heads intact!
Switched to a spooky episode of The Monkees while finishing up the decorations. The Bowery Boys are hardly the first group of young men who end up dealing with a frightening family. In "Monstrous Monkee Mash," a vampire and his daughter lure Davy, and then the others, to their castle, intending to turn them to monsters and use Peter's brain for their monster! It's up to Mike Nesmith to figure out how release the guys and get them out of that creepy crib.
After the episode ended, I ran out for my first errand of the day. I didn't really need much in the way of groceries. I ate out of the fridge all week. I wanted soup, but they were having a buy two, get four sale on Progresso. I don't need that much soup! I settled for a can of organic Chicken and Wild Rice soup that was on clearance. Restocked while flour, chocolate chips (Nestle's was on a good sale), and peanut butter.
I was really there to get my schedule. Thank goodness after that weird eight-and-a-half-hour day on Wednesday that I have a perfectly normal schedule. Sunday early, Tuesday and Friday off. Only complaint is I'll miss the Farm Market next Saturday. Slightly less hours, but nothing really worth worrying about.
Went straight home and put on Remember WENN while putting everything away and having a quick lunch. "The Ghost of WENN" is haunting the halls of the Pittsburgh radio station during a stormy evening in 1940. He's left a can of cranberry jelly and a stuffed albatross with rope around it laying around, and he seems inordinately interested in diva actress Hilary Booth. After the storm shuts down the power, the rest of the station's staff joins her to help solve the mystery.
I still had a few other things I wanted to do. Took the long way to Westmont across Newton Lake Park. It was a glorious day for it. While much cooler, barely in the 50's, it was also sunny and breezy, with a sky so blue, it hurt my eyes to look at it. I'm surprised the park wasn't busier. I guess everyone's still recovering from yesterday. Too bad. The leaves are finally starting to turn colors here now; the park is awash in gold, lime green, brick red, sienna, and fiery orange.
There wasn't anything going on at the Haddon Township Library, either. I put away the few DVDs that actually fit on the shelves. It was just too nice of a day for libraries. I was in and out in a little over a half-hour.
Made a fast stop at Dollar Tree on the way home. I needed a new notebook to write story ideas in. Picked that up, along with a ginger ale to satisfy my dry throat.
Worked on writing when I got home. Brett is trying to get the chains off Gene's limbs. Not only is the dark magic from the trees making her sick, but they're doing everything they can to shake her off. Charles' lovely ballad calms the trees long enough to get them to release Richard and his men. Brett, however, still isn't moving that fast...
Broke for dinner at quarter after 6. Turned ground turkey meat and leftover Italian shredded cheeses and tomato sauce into Italian Pasta Bake with the addition of tri-colored pasta (all I have at the moment), onion, green pepper, and Parmesan cheese. Not bad, actually. Nice and hearty for a cold day. After I ate, I made "Apples Rolled In Autumn" Cookies (apple-oatmeal cookies) from that cookie cookbook Lauren sent me a few years ago for dessert.
Watched Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost while I ate and baked. Scooby and Mystery Inc are in a small New England town at the invitation of popular horror writer Ben Ravenscroft (Tim Curry). Ravenscroft is trying to find a journal to prove that his ancestor was a Wiccan healer, not an evil witch. When a witch does show up, Velma thinks she's solved this mystery. There's more to this witch than meets the eye, though...and a lot more to Ben's story about his ancestor than what he claims. And what does goth girl band the Hex Girls have to do with it all?
I've watched this around early November for the past few years. It mentions Halloween and Thanksgiving, making it a nice way to transition between the two holidays. The Hex Girls were by far the most popular thing to come out of this one. They had so many fans, they would turn up again in episodes of What's New, Scooby Doo? and Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated, as well as two more direct-to-home-media movies.
Finished the night after a shower with something a little different on YouTube to celebrate the start of the next holiday season. They're currently showing Nutcracker: The Motion Picture free of charge. The real selling point on this one are the whimsical and often creepy pastel set and costume designs by children's book author Maurice Sendak. The Mouse King is downright terrifying here, and even some of the more benign figures, like a strange troll that performs during the China dance, can come off as weird. It's not the most accurate version of this story, but the elaborate designs and costumes alone make it worth a look for ballet and children's books aficionados.
Nutcracker: The Motion Picture
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