Found!

As I was walking out the door I noticed that some of the sage's leaves were turning yellow. I decided to see if this was the case on both bushes. I walked around, looked down, and was greeted with a suprise. I found the skull that blew off the door during the wind a couple of days before Halloween.

I though I looked everywhere. Next year I think I am going to add some weight so we don't have this situation again.

R.I.P. Halloween 2009

Saturday I set out the task of taking down all the Halloween decorations in the house and in the yard. It was faster taking them down than putting them up. After I finished I took a few pictures. When it's laid out, there's not really all that much.

Take a look at some photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tryanpa/sets/72157622640813449/

The Manifold Mysteries of Elias Cauphen

As I was going through some papers I found this picture:

It appears to be a group photo of some secret organization. The interesting thing about this ancient, moldy photograph is that Elias Cauphen (the founder of Spooky Acres and world renowned occultist) is pictured standing behind the skull and crossbones. What is this organization? The date on the back of the photo reads “1909.” It is known that Elias Cauphen was deep into occultism by 1909. There are reports that while at University he founded a fraternal organization called “The Order of Northern Wisdom.” The purposes of the organization remain a mystery. This photo, however, seems to be the first tangible link to Elias Cauphen’s early pursuits.

Post Trick or Treating Update

This year we had far fewer ToTs coming to the door. Last year we had hundreds of them, but this year there were far less. We did see a Michael Jackson (Pepsi commercial vintage) and what may have been two Lady Gagas, or at least what we thought might be Lady Gaga.

One of the more interesting costumes was an old-fashioned mummy. It was definitely an economy costume, but it was really well done. The best part was when the young girl turned around to leave I could see that the whole thing was held together with the silver brads that are on sports bandages. I can imagine the scene...Ok, you spin and I'll hold onto the bandage...... Mom, I'm getting sick"

Apart from what I mentioned, Halloween was much slower that it has been in years past. I will probably have to start thinking about taking all of the decorations down.

...

Now that the Trick-or-treaters have trickled down to none, the gates of Spooky Acres creak as they slowly close. The ghosts, goblins, ghoulies, and other ghastly creatures want to start their own Halloween party.

Happy Halloween

Well, the day is here and the ghoulies and goblins are gearing up for some Halloween fun. I hope your festivities are joyous and safe.

Tragedy!

Valerie and I came home from a doctor's appointment and something terrible happened.

I made a cool skull decoration for the front door. I didn't spend too much time on it, but it still looked really neat. It was an extra large version of my skull icon that I have used on other pieces of Spooky Acres. I hung it on the door and it vanished on the wind that blew up this afternoon. If you are driving in central Phoenix and see a large skull made out of styrofoam flitting on the wind, it's mine.

A Door Without a Skull is Unthinkable!

It was a bright Saturday morning in Phoenix. The air was cool (for a change) and the birds were singing and there was the sound of a crazy man carving pieces of styrofoam.

I had a fair ammount of scrap left over from the coffin, so I thought I would craft something for the door. What came to mind is a skull. I felt that the cow skull came out so well that I could replicate it with my "signature" skull graphic. After a flurry of styrofoam snow I had the rough shape. I gave it a coat of paint similar in steps to the cow skull. After several coats and painting the eyes, it was ready to hang.

We have a nice door. I remember paying a lot to have it hung and painted and my wife would never forgive me if I damaged it. The tacky paint on the back edge of the skull would certainly leave a mark on the door. So, I packed myself up and headed over to Michael's. I found a really nice piece of stiff felt (black of course) bought it and brought it home. I cut the felt to the exact shape of the skull and glued it to the back with some Tacky Glue. I added a piece of wire and there you go; a decorative skull to hang on your front door. Martha's jealous I know it!