Happy Hallowe'en

I hope you all had a safe and fun Hallowe'en.  The kids, now 11 and 9, decided not to go out trick-or-treating this year.  So they opened the door and gave out candies to the few (much less than previous years, even though it was a clear evening - perhaps since the forecast was for rain).

We carved a pumpkin as a family, and my son also carved one at school.  Enjoy!

The puppet of my daughter, which we never quite finished, became our greeter on the porch this evening.

Dried Flower Arrangements

A few weeks ago, I made a dried flower arrangement for our master bathroom, from lavender and dried grasses:

I think it turned out quite well. Since then, I have added some dried purple sage along the front, which filled the arrangement in nicely, and hides the green oasis.  I'll try for another photo when we have a bright day, so that the colours will show better.

Anyhow, that intial success encouraged me to try again, with some Nigella from my mother-in-law, and dried Lamb's Ear, also for our bathroom (which may now be the most decorated room in the house!):

Today, I decided to make a more ambitious arrangement for the dining room, from a variety of dried flowers in the garden, picked before it rains tonight.  I found a small basket in the garage which matches the colours of the dining room as well as the colours of the fall arrangement:

I'll try again for a better photo when it is bright enough not to need the flash, but this photo gives some idea of the result.  My daughter thought I bought the arrangement, not made it myself, so I take that as a very nice compliment.  Among the variety of dried flowers are: poppies and nigella seed pods from my mother-in-law, coneflower centers, bright red rose hips, iris seed pods (the dark ones), lavender, crocosmia, allium, and a few stars (bright green, but I suspect they will fade nicely into the arrangement) of umbrella sedge (Cyperus alternifolius).  I am also drying some more stems of purple sage, and may add a few to fill in the arrangement.  We'll see.

I am very pleased with the outcomes, and may make some attempt next year to dry even more flowers.  For example, my globe thistle should make a wonderful cut flower if I cut and dried it before it blooms.  At this point in the year, the little globes are crumbling apart.

9Oct2010: Here's perhaps a better photo of that last arrangement, with some purple sage also added in: