Tag Archives: Halloween

Don’t Waste Halloween!

Posted on October 29, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

Hello and welcome to another Waste Not Want Not Wednesday blog post.  My sister the author (Diane E. Young) believes that Wednesday is Wine Day, because of her book Wednesday Wine Club. It’s a good book, and I do not have a problem with anybody drinking wine on a Wednesday.  However, my purpose right now is the make a blog post

I think “or else” is implied, don’t you?

I took a picture of this specifically to use in a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday Post.  I thought it looked creepy and Halloween-y, but maybe that is just because I am kind of a Halloweenie.  If that is so, I do not mind at all, because it adds interest and amusement to my days.

A tree from this year!

I took this picture when out walking yesterday.  I suppose one could have too many pictures of fall colors but do not believe I have reached my limit yet.

THIS is what I’m talking about!

The real pictures I do not want to go to waste, of course, are the ones I took of the Haunted Library at Ilion Free Public Library (perhaps you read my blog post about it yesterday).  I just realized I have to get there today or Saturday or I will miss it!  At least, I have seen it with the lights on and nothing moving or making noise.  I would like to get the full experience if possible.

A very nice set up indeed.

I confess I never really decorated for the holiday this year.  I’m going to call it a rebuilding year, as they do in sports.  In the meantime, I have enjoyed looking at many trees and other people’s decorations.  We’ll call that a win, shall we?  I feel sure you will agree.

Now then, what was I saying about wine?

 

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Breakfast with the Witches

Posted on October 27, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

This morning after swimming, a bunch of us went to the Bridge Street Diner in St. Johnsville, NY for breakfast/lunch.  That is, some of us got breakfast and some of us got lunch.  Was it ever busy!  It was OK that we had to wait, though, because it gave us plenty of opportunity to look around at all the Halloween decorations.  They always do such a nice job of decorating that place.

Gotta get me a wreath like that.

Naturally I took some pictures for a blog post.  The only thing I did not get a picture of was the witch that had a pumpkin for a skirt.  You’ll just have to believe me that she was cute.

“I want a pumpkin skirt!” I said.  I may look for a wide orange skirt at the thrift store and try to make myself one.

There were plenty of witches on hand.

Donna was a little creeped out by the skeleton with the big hair.  It made me think of Marie Antoinette.  I fell in love with the pumpkin slippers on the witch on the right.  I wonder if they make them in my size.

He was pickin’ and grinnin’!

When I took this picture, a lady at a nearby table asked if I wanted her to take the picture so I could be in it.  I declined but thought it was very nice of her to offer.  I suppose the decorations will be down soon.  I’ll have to stop in again to see what they do for Thanksgiving.

Bridge Street Diner is located at 10 Bridge St., St. Johnsville, NY, phone number 315-568-8018.

 

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I’m Just a Little Mixed Up

Posted on October 26, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

I can’t quite decide if this is a Monday post or a late Sunday post.  I think I will go with late Sunday, because I do not have a real post in mind.  For one reason, my phone with the pictures in it is across the room, and you know how far away that can be sometimes (at least, some people are now rolling their eyes and huffing in scorn, but I know others are nodding their heads wisely in sympathy).  The phone is charging, and it really needs it.  When I returned from my far away adventures, I left my charging cords in the car.  Only I didn’t know it and wasted an inordinate amount of time searching again and again in the bags I had brought in.

“I know I brought the cords!  I REMEMBER putting them in a bag,” I wailed to myself.  And I just now realized I was spelling it “chords” like music.  In fact, it was music to my eyes when I found them (I know that is not really that expression, but I had to go with the play on words, you must see that I had to).

He’s saying, “Good grief, it’s almost Halloween!”

I throw in a picture to pep things up.  That vintage Santa Claus resides year round on the landing of my stairs.  Right now he has a Halloween scarf draped around him, after sporting my Kentucky Derby hat for a few months.  It reflects my mixed-up point of view, and life, that certain seasonal decorations adorn my house all year.

And I have babbled on for over 250 words.  Good enough for a placeholder post, I say.  Perhaps one more picture.

I put a spell on you!

The black and gold caftan is one of my go-to costumes.  Here I am being a silly wizard, but not for Halloween.  However, that is a story for a different blog post.

 

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I Do Love Halloween

Posted on September 24, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

I don’t know what my problem is, but it seems I have one.  I was about to forget to make my Thursday blog post.  I think I can manage a Throwback Thursday.  Then I must, I really must at least attempt to do something useful.  I keep telling myself that no life is wasted, because one can always stand as a bad example to others, but that really leave a whole lot of unfilled time in an existence.

This would be a profitable use of my afternoon!

I thowback to October 2016 and a nicely decorated front porch.  Frankentree was not yet out of control.  I am not yet decorated for Halloween, but as it is still September, I shall not beat myself up over that.

I love that scarecrow lady peeking out!

I leap ahead to 2020, which is still a few years ago, and another good decorating year for me.  Will these pictures inspire me to get my Halloween house together?  I can only hope.

I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!

And yet I fear my own lack of oomph.  I am like the half-buried skeleton and the dried up plant in the background.  I never did my container garden this year so do not have any dead plants to decorate with now.  You see how I fail to plan ahead.  However, one cannot change the past; we can only go on from here.  At least I have made a blog post of over 200 words. As always, I thank you for tuning in.

 

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What’s a Ghoul to Do?

Posted on September 23, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

Hello and welcome to another Waste Not Want Not Wednesday blog post.  I was hoping to make this post when I was driving away from Ann Street Deli on Sunday and had occasion to wonder if I am not too obsessed with all things Halloween.  Specifically, do I see decorations where none are intended?  Looking at the picture, I think I could be excused for thinking this is some sort of ghoul.

Is he scary or just unhappy?

If I ever fix my outdoor spigot and get a hose, I am going to look for this sort of doodah to wrap it around.  I wish I could have a whole blog post of things that unintendedly look like spooks, but alas, this was the only one I found.

While taking a walk yesterday, I found only one thing worthy of stopping and taking a picture of, and it is not all that great of a picture.  I saw they had planted grass where they recently tore down a building next to Pete’s Tavern.

I peeked my phone through the chain link fence for the shot.

It is always nice to have more green space in the village.  I made myself take the walk, because I was feeling rather down yesterday.  I think I have mentioned that my depression is really kicking my butt these days.  However, one must persevere (one being me in this case, but I encourage perseverance in others as well).  With that in mind, I shall take myself off to swim this morning: exercise and sociability.  Stand up against that, depression!

In the meantime, I shall keep an eye out for more Halloween-like pictures.

 

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Once Again, Better Lame Than Never

Posted on September 19, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

No, I really did forget to make my Lame Post Friday blog post on Friday.  I thought sure I would make it and be caught up.  Then I forgot.  I think the euphoria engendered by the afternoon cups of coffee I had chased all thoughts of blogging out of my head.  Or I am just old and forgetful.  No, that can’t be, because I have always been forgetful.  Quick, throw in a picture before I get more bogged down in self-recrimination.

Sometimes things do blow up in your face.

This picture ought to remind me I was going to work on my latest murder mystery yesterday.  Instead I did not work on anything, except for a little house cleaning. However, every day is a chance to do better than one did the day before.  Will I do better?  I shall try.

A reward if I do better?

Returning to my Media Library, this caught my eye.  This baker in Little Falls, NY has wonderful bread and is only open on weekends.  I refrained from purchasing anything from them the Saturday of the Garlic Festival, because I already had some good bread from Hannaford’s in-store bakery in my freezer and did not want to get too far ahead of myself.  That bread is gone now, though, so this could be a Preview of Coming Attractions.

My readers, sitting around waiting for me to finish a novel.

I remind myself that I also need to get my house cleaned and decorated for the upcoming holiday.  Will I have a Halloween party?  Will I finish the murder mystery I am working on?  Will I treat myself to artisan bread and if I do will I have earned it as a reward?  For the answers to these and other questions, tune in next time to Mohawk Valley Girl!

 

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Is It Spooky Season Yet?

Posted on September 4, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have been making a few late blog posts lately (see what I did there?), and I am doing it again with a Throwback Thursday made early-ish Friday morning.  My early gets later and later as I go, because I find I love staying in bed.  If I wanted to be really productive, I would get up at 2 or 3 a.m., when I am wide awake, but I say, “No, no, I want another REM cycle!” and do relaxations techniques or count sheep till I sleep again.  Then at five or six,  I want to stay asleep till seven or eight.  Judge me if you are so inclined.

I wonder where I put this little cutie.

I delved in my Media Library back to September 2017 and saw several spooky illustrations.  For me and my late, beloved husband Steven, spooky season began after Labor Day, or on years with a late Labor Day like this one, Sept. 1.  Actually, Halloween for us was less of a season than a lifestyle.  I’m sure real goth and horror buffs would laugh at our idea of the macabre, because we loved cheesy horror movies, not gory slasher flicks, and we had no problem with the cutest of Halloween decorations.

Well, maybe one gory slasher flick.

Then again, we loved Carrie, which you could hardly call cheesy.  Actually, I found Carrie more sad than scary.  She was so happy on prom night!  And everybody was NOT laughing at her, just a few of the mean kids.  The thing I found least believable about Carrie was that there was not one misfit kid in that school to befriend her.  I was a misfit kid in junior high, and I had friends.   We weirdos tend to stick together.  Was her school so small she was the only one?  But I had to suspend my disbelief for dramatic purposes.  And I agree with my husband that the gym teacher did not deserve what she got.

OK, here’s a silly one, not particularly spooky.

I add this one merely to honor the recently passed Tim Curry.  My family has spent many hours happily entertained playing the game Clue.  The movie certainly has a stellar cast.

I see I am over 350 words.  Score!  I guess I had better get to work cleaning my house, so I can start decorating for this year’s spooky season.

 

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Is It Halloween Yet?

Posted on August 23, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yesterday I thought surely I would be able to make a Lame Post Friday Post (I don’t mind it when I call myself Shirley). And here I am, Saturday morning, wondering why I didn’t.  Then again, sometimes “why?” is not a particularly helpful question to ask.  Far better to go ahead and just correct the error to the best of one’s abilities.  At least I have coffee.

A friendly face with a friendly beverage.

I just scrolled through my Media Library till I found a coffee mug.  I am not using this lovely mug today, a favorite of my late husband Steve’s, but I do not scruple to use it year round.  In fact it is almost time to start using Halloween mugs since for me the Halloween season begins immediately after Labor Day.

Speaking of Halloween, I need to start cleaning my house more thoroughly.  My sister Cheryl suggested I throw a Halloween party, as I have been known to do in the past.  That is, Steve and I threw them, but I feel sure I  am capable of hosting a party on my own.

Witchy would be happy to welcome folks to my house.

There are other reasons to get my house cleaned up and my act together. I will not list them here, although they may constitute some half-baked philosophy suitable for a Lame Post Friday post.  However, I see I am over 200 words.  I feel a Lame Post is best kept brief.  I shall strive for Some Sort of a Saturday post later.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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Ghoulish Memories on Monstrous Monday

Posted on July 14, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

I had a problematic weekend, and the upcoming week doesn’t look much better.  And here I sit drinking hot coffee to make matters worse.

“Follow me! To the Graveyard!”

I quick threw in a picture to lighten things up. “Follow me!  To the Graveyard!” followed by an evil laugh is one of the things my Elliott Ghoul likes to say.  My late, dearly missed husband Steve and I picked up Elliott at a garage sale many years ago.  We used to put him in the attic November through September, then Steve used to at least turn him off when it wasn’t the season.  I leave him on year round, just for the sake of hearing a voice other than my own once in a while.

Where was I?  I just spent a ridiculous amount of time looking for a picture of Elliot Ghoul in my Media Library.  He stands in my dining room window, for the amusement of any passers-by who might notice.  He went off once behind me while I was on a video appointment with a VA doctor on the dining-room-table-top (long-time readers may remember it used to be a laptop).  The doctor asked what it was.

“Oh, that’s just my ghoul,” I was happy to explain.

And there’s my late sweetie-pie.

I add a picture of my late husband at a Halloween party, because it seems to fit the mood of today’s post.  I have 400 words of another post saved.  I started it yesterday, realized I did not know where I was going with it but knew it ought to go somewhere.  Will I finish it today?  Or ever?  A little uncertainty adds interest to my Monday.

 

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Silly, Cheesy, Late and Lame!

Posted on June 21, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

Thursday I brought up a bit of half-baked philosophy I deemed suited to Lame Post Friday, and I would like to address it further now.  The question was what difference does it make if a self-declared daily blogger misses a day here and there?  Appropriately (or embarrassingly) enough, it is Saturday morning as I make my Lame Post Friday blog post.  I feel I should throw in a silly picture here.

I think she is cute.

Is it early or late for Halloween decorations?  I don’t feel like looking at a calendar or doing the math.  Anyways, when I started this blog in 2011 (how the time flies!), I made up my mind to post every day for one year and see what happened.  I suppose I thought something magical, but I have gone over this before.  In fact, I believe I have even addressed it as a bit of half-baked philosophy on Lame Post Friday.  Oh dear, I am repeating myself in my old age!  Quick throw in another picture to distract ourselves!

I guess this blog is pretty cheesy.

This is from the sadly closed Herkimer Original Cheese.  I believe another cheese maker is putting out their product so I may still be able to get my beloved Chutter (tastes like cheddar, spreads like butter!).

I always come back to the fact that I love writing a blog.  It is fun for me, and I like the idea that I am entertaining people.  My ambition is to make a Saturday blog post TODAY, on Saturday in which I recount a Mohawk Valley Adventure.  Will I attain my ambition?  A little uncertainty adds interest to my weekend.

 

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