Halloween decorations

Background: Last Saturday as I took a walk, I noticed all kinds of fun Halloween decorations. I came home, got the camera and took a second walk--boy, was the dog happy! She whimpers with joy whenever the leash is brought out. Since then, I tried many times to upload the pictures so I could blog. The Upload screen would appear and say "Done" but the pictures didn't appear! Very frustrating!!!

And so you have my excuse for no recent blogs.

On my walks I have discovered that some people really get excited about Halloween. It seems that this year there are a lot more yards with orange mini-lights in their bushes, or lighted rows of pumpkins (plastic) or other things. I prefer yard decorations that are real, not plastic, such as straw, corn stalks, jack-o-lanterns and so on. And I like saving the lights for Christmas, to celebrate the Light of the world.

I have always enjoyed Halloween. It is the holiday in the middle of Fall, my favorite season of the year. It comes right after my birthday ( so my birthday cake was always an orange one, decorated like a jack-o-lantern). You get lots of candy, and you get to dress up in costumes. If the weather is nice, people actually get to see your costume. If it is cold (which happens about two out of three times), you try to incorporate a heavy coat into the theme you are trying to achieve. (It doesn't usually work). So the kids end up having to tell what they are supposed to be when they go to each door and announce "trick or treat!" We've had Halloweens where even with earmuffs, gloves and coats, we were tired of the chilly wind after about 20 minutes. Those little Snicker bars didn't seem to be worth it. Other times we have been able to run from house to house, for the entire 2 hours (6-8 pm) for the weather was so nice--even balmy--that we had no desire to go home yet. (I am included with the kids in that desire).

Then there was the night that Alice arrived at home after trick-or-treating, and found that she had a hole in her bag. There were only about 5 items remaining. Boy, was she sad! If it were a Hansel and Gretel situation, we could have followed her trail of candy.

Pulse of the Neighborhood

The other day as I walked on the treadmill, I happened to look down at Lily, who was sitting looking rather mournfully at me. I realized that as long as the weather is nice I should be doing my exercising outside, and giving her exercise as well--thus, long walks through the neighborhood!


It is fun to see what is going on--and right now, there is a lot.


First, all the political yard signs. (Democrat ones outnumber Republican ones in our area--hey, I thought the affluent were always Republicans!)


Second, there are the sidewalks--some neatly edged, others with grass growing ever closer to meeting in the middle (must make it nice when shoveling snow--hardly any area to shovel!)

One thing I hate is when people have their lawns aerated and then the little dirt plugs are all over the sidewalk--they look like someone didn't clean up after their dog. Fortunately, in our neighborhood, people are pretty careful about their dogs.


Third, there are all the fall leaves. Oranges, gold, red, brown, and even still some green. With a recent frost, the leaves just tumbled off and carpeted the area around the tree. Fun to scuffle through!


















(The view from our back yard)









I love maple leaves with their vibrant color!

Soon to come--Halloween decorations!

Trunk or Treat

This evening, a "trunk or treat" was held at the church parking lot. We were told that since it was raining, it would be indoors. By the time we got there, the rain had stopped, so it was held outdoors--43 degrees, and we had dressed for indoors! Oh well, it was all over in 45 minutes--all the candy given away, as kids came around 2 or 3 times (at least the more greedy ones). (Then we got in the car, turned on the heat and warmed our fingers and toes!) Alice and her friend Kelly, who was dressed as a cat.

Sister Bailey --the evil church janitor. Better keep your kids under control, folks!

Perhaps Justin will recognize his lab coat. I said hello to all my little nursery kids, and not one of them recognized me. Even when their moms would say, "Look, it's your teacher!" they would look at me like somebody was not telling the truth. Finally, I whipped off the wig, and then a big smile would appear. NOW I was their teacher!

Elizabeth and Alice, our princesses!

Fortunately, the dress turned out well. Now Elizabeth wants one just like it. The skirt is a full circle (took 2 hours to hem by hand!). It reminds me of a dress Ginger Rodgers would dance in with Fred Astaire--all flowing and full. Gosh, now I want one too!

It's baaack!

We have been thoroughly enjoying having green drink back on the menu these past few days! I missed it, but never knew how much until I took my first sips of a new batch. Wow! I love that stuff! Elizabeth and Alice have been drinking tall glasses of it as well--in multiples.

You know, having the recent "difficulties" in the spinach supply makes me think I should be more serious about planting my own. I could even plant it 2 or 3 times in succession, so I had fresh baby spinach all summer long. It seemed so sad that in August and September, the best harvest months for a summer garden, that I had NO spinach! I have been getting too dependent on the easy greens from the grocery store! Maybe this is a reason the prophet said we should be planting gardens... Not because food wouldn't be available, but because we couldn't depend on it (or it might actually make us sick?)

Annoying Appliances

We have had our share of annoying appliances lately, including
1) an oven that suddenly took twice as long to bake things,
2) a dishwasher that quit spraying water, and
3) a freezer that either was on all the time or off all the time.


Now the oven problem was fixed quite easily (if it really is fixed, that is). The problem began when I was baking a pair of apple crisps--one for a family in the ward, and one for us. I was using a foil pan to be given away, and didn't know it had a tiny hole in it which allowed that sugary apple juice to drip into the oven. Soon came the burning smell and smoke. I cleaned up what I could in the hot oven, but then the oven took twice as long to bake anything. I finally put in an oven thermometer to test the temperature, and it was only getting up to 250 degrees, even though it thought it was heating to 350. It is a self-cleaning oven, so I tried that. It worked. (So the heating elements were okay). Then I tried baking something again. Again, it said it was fully heated for 350 when it was only reading 230 on the thermometer. I turned it off and tried again. Same thing. I turned it off and this time set it to 400. It continued heating past 250, and upwards. Then I set it at 350 and it worked perfectly. My conjecture: some water got in the thermostat when I did the "hurry clean" and hopefully now it is all cleaned out. We'll see! Otherwise, we'll have to change the thermostat.


2) We were without a dishwasher for nearly two months as Kevin tried to fix the old one (well, it wasn't quite 7 years old, so it wasn't old.) There was a small plastic part in the water pump that had broken. He called around--that part wasn't available. You had to order the entire pump/motor for $250. So over a couple of weeks, he tried different things--gluing it with Monster glue, etc. It would work for about half the cycle, then, kaput! Finally, we just got a new dishwasher--not the same brand, but it is the same dishwasher (apparently, one company makes them for several brands, Amana, Kenmore, and so on). Cost? $275. So for just $25 more, we have new racks and everything. Our old racks were beginning to get rusty tips. It fit the spot well, and for those of you who have used our old one, this one has a handle that actually works well. And the pump has been redesigned so it doesn't have that little plastic part to break.


This did have its positive side though. Alice and Elizabeth got to have the experience of doing dishes by hand. And now that the dishwasher is working again, I find that I liked having all the dishes done and put away. It is a longer process now when if I need a certain pot or bowl, I look first in its normal place, then I look in the dishwasher (because somehow, they never get put away until the next day).



3) The freezer story goes like this. One Saturday morning as Kevin and I went out into the garage to leave for the Nauvoo Temple, we found the freezer door had swung open (the night before) and ice cream goo was oozing across the floor along with other melted waters. We had to leave, so all we could do was do a 5-minute clean-up, close the door, and defrost it another time.
A week later, Alice helped me with the unloading of all the frozen items. It was a nice day, so we used the garden hose to spray water and cut through the built-up ice. That is MUCH faster than any other method for getting rid of the ice (this is a 30-year-old freezer). Then we dried it out, organized everything as we put it back, and congratulated ourselves on the fastest-ever defrosting job! The only problem was, for the next several days, it seemed that the freezer was always running, and the ice cream was rock-hard. The control was frozen! So I used a blow-dryer on the control, and within a minute, it was free and moveable. But then, after a day or two, I realized I never heard it running. Sure enough, it was getting warmer inside! Again, the control was frozen. Out came the blow-dryer, and this time, I used it long enough to dry the water out of the control, not just thaw it. So now it is working properly again, and we always lock the door to avoid the unintended thaws. (I guess there is a lot to be said for a chest-type freezer!)

A job that was really fun at first, but now I don't think it's that cool any more, so I dropped it by: Elle Bailey

Ok, here's the deal. I liked flower arranging for 37 hours. Now, it's not that fun, but that doesn't mean I'm not good at it, because I am. Here's proof.

These are all extra snap dragons from a reception.
Here's our table's center-piece.
This one's a head-turner!
Gotta add beauty to the books! Here are the last roses!
FYI, all of these pictures were taken by me!

Congrats Justin and Darcy! -Elle

I know you have all been waiting for this day, and here is the answer to contest #2....drum roll........................................ Justin and Darcy you were exactly right! 52 a's in the post about my birthday!!!! You will be recieving $15 by mail shortly!

Bailey Contest Log: 2 contests

Jamie Bailey- $20

Justin Bailey- $15

My Favorite Time... Halloween!

Hello it's me A.B. In a previos post, Elle put a picture of Halloween accidentally so I'm going to finish up what she started.

First I shoud start with why I love Halloween , candy,candy,candy,and... CANDY.

Second I love dressing up.This Halloween I'm going to be an elegant lady from Virginia in the Colonial Period. I love it!

I'm going to a friend's house on Halloween. I hope that it will be really fun. On comments I want to see funny stories of Halloween. I can't wait to read them .

Seeya A.B.(Alice Bailey)

Happy Birthday to me- 5 weeks ago!!!! -Elle

Soooooooo, here's the update of my birthday at home-I've finally caught up, and it's not random!!!
Here is my birthday cake- or cookie. This year, I had a "random" idea about a mint white-chocolate chip giant cookie. Plus, Mom was happy because it'd be easy to bake.
Here's a picture to compare the size of the cookie, to the size of our heads! We didn't just stay home and eat a cookie, we went to Texas Roadhouse, and of course there were presents! Okkkkk, this picture won't delete.................................
I don't know if you can see this, but here are the presents: 3 pairs of earings, pain killer for my braces, a wallet, $40, some roses, plus lots of cards. Oh, yeah! some Japenese pineapple gummies, and a shirt from Ryan and Jamie! And there's the extra rasperry cheese cake, the rasberries from our garden!

"Inspector Detective Foyle"

At our house, playing with costumes is a regular occurrence. We've had pirates, princesses, and other assorted visitors come from the costume box. After we had watched all the available episodes of "Foyle's War", suddenly we had our own "Mr. Foyle"!

Here's a mystery for Foyle to solve--how to get the cucumber out of its prison...

One mystery we did solve--I purchased some locally-grown apples at the grocery store, "Harla Red" is the variety. They looked like the kind we made applesauce from, and when I got home we did the taste test. Yup! They are the ones! So if you ever want to plant an apple tree, that would be a good variety to plant.

Lily, Lily, and Lily!!!! By Elle

EVERY PICTURE, EXCEPT THE FIRST ONE, WAS TAKEN BY ME!!!!!!!!
Wooly-bear Lily before we dicovered the cute way to cut her hair. And the bottom-half of Connor............
Guess what's really fun.............. dressing up Lily!!!! I crocheted the leg warmers and headband- and Deborah- that's the necklace you gave Alice and Me!!! Lily in Raspberry Prison................................ Just Lily being Lily.................. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww, isn't she cute!!!!

My Braces and I -by Elle

Family photos- no braces here...................................

A summer ago, notice the long bangs, and NO braces!!!
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, acident......................
Curly hair, no braces

Stopping to smell the roses...................
Close-up..........
Surprisingly, this picture was taken by me!! I have a tequnique, of putting the camera in front of the mirrior, so I can see the picture on the little screen, so I know how the picture looks!

THE END

Ah! Autumn in Cedar Falls (by Mom Bailey)

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the smell of fallen leaves and I love to shuffle through them. I used to love the smell of burning leaves, but as that has been banned, I'll just have to remember that from my younger years. And our trees aren't big enough to put down enough leaves to rake, so sometimes, we "borrow" a tree at the state park, raking up huge piles of leaves, then running through them or burying one another.

I love the blazing colors of the maples--color that seems to be too brilliant to be natural, yet it is.
I love the clear blue skies of autumn. I love the crisp, light air after the heavy, humid air of summer.
Then of course, there is the harvest--the culmination of a summer of labor.

Alice, on a field trip a year ago, picking pumpkins.
So, for those of you who live in lands where autumn doesn't happen, these pictures are for you!