Tuesday, October 6, 2009

More Birthday and Halloween Fun

Scott isn't the only one who spoiled me on the 10th anniversary of my 21st birthday (do you like that?)...
I got all sorts of other awesome gardening gifts. My mom's best friend Jennifer, who I call Mom #2, gave me a subscription to Garden Gate magazine. My mom bought me some plants at a charity plant sale, including a thyme and the pretty black-and-blue sage and butterfly weed below:

She also gave me a collapsible salad spinner, which will come in handy with the lettuce I'm growing this fall, and a birthday card (below) with about 20 kinds of annual and perennial flower seeds embedded in it!
(Excuse kitty legs in background, please!)
My dear friend Katherine, who I've written about here many times before, gave me this AMAZING (and HUGE -- see picture with me for scale!) bat house:
I am sooooo excited about this, especially since we have a terrible mosquito problem! I've seen bats flying around the neighborhood at night when I take the dog on walks, so it shouldn't be too hard to attract them to our backyard.
If you thought the bat house was a big gift, check out the awesome rain barrel my in-laws sent!
I'm really excited about using this water to refill the pond when needed and water plants!

Enough of the birthday talk.... Q: How do you know when it's approaching Halloween?


A: When you find THIS upon opening the washing machine! (Yes, I screamed a little)
Here is the graveyard in our front yard:
The vampire bat is hanging from a huge branch that recently fell from a tree. We just stuck it in the ground.

The zombie is a new addition this year. Did you notice Scott traded out the skeleton head for a deer skull?
It's extra creepy now, isn't it?
I have tombstones and rats in some of my large flowerpots.
I made these monster-themed cocktail napkins for Katherine for her birthday yesterday (patterns from Sublime Stitching). She loves Halloween, too!
Happy Tuesday!

8 comments:

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

Hi Ginger, what great birthday gifts! One of my kids went to a wedding and at each seat at the reception was a bookmark with bride and groom and date on it, just like your birthday card..embedded with seeds. I think that is really cool.
Looks like you are getting pretty decked out for Halloween, looks great. Not sure about the skeleton in the washing machine. !!!!

Susie said...

Ginger, it looks like you had a wonderful birthday. You got some wonderful gifts. The birthday card is really neat.

Your Halloween decorations are fun. I would have had a stroke if I had opened my washing machine to those hands.

Well did you get your broom to stand up last night?

Lisa Blair said...

Ginger, the rain barrel is awesome! I really want one. Let me know how it works out for you.

The hands in the washing machine are so scary! I might have puked right in with the clean clothes. Did Scott leave those in there for you to find?

Lovin your Halloween decorations. I haven't ventured into the attic to pull mine down yet, but I will be doing it soon.

Ginger said...

Janet and Lisa -- Scott is the culprit behind the washing machine prank!

Susie -- We don't have a flat-bottomed broom so we couldn't get it to work! That was so creepy on your blog!!

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

What great birthday gifts! I love Garden Gate, it's one of my favorite magazines.
I love all of your decorations, the hands in the washer are hilarious!!

Randy Emmitt said...

Ginger,

Wow 21 again you are so lucky! That rain barrel is huge! Sorry to tell you bat houses don't work, at least the one we put on the eases of the shed never got bats. If it works you'll see the mess they make under it. Our pond has bats every night at dusk even during the winter on warm nights.

Dirt Princess said...

I am sooo loving the deer skull! Definitely will have to do that one! AWESOME gifts! I know alot of people who have the bat houses and they really do work! I am loving your decorations! I will be up there November 6th!

Nicole Bradshaw said...

The hands in the washing machine are HI. LA. RI. OUS.

I think I like this guy . . .