My Punkin Carvin' Odyssey

Seems every year for the past few I've been challenged to carve a pumpkin. Now I've never claimed sculptor as one of my talents add to that my natural clumsiness and you've got double trouble. Well this year Big Dave, the leader of an artist group to which I belong announced "We gotta have a pumpkin carving contest" and that's all it took to make me go punkin shoppin'. Since this is my first pumpkin I opted for a small one hoping it wouldn't be as big of a mess. Now what to carve on it?

I'm quoting some bad Shakespeare....trying to get to know my punkin.....I named him Gordon for the time being

From this angle he looks like an Angry Bird. Thought about rigging up a catapult and seeing if I can aim him at a pig shaped pumpkin and see what happened.

I bought a pumpkin carving kit and read the instructions..... cut the bottom out and scoop out the insides. Tape a template of the design you want to use on your pumpkin and carve away. Well they add a few more tips but they make it sound so easy. Pumpkins have a HARD exterior!


Finally done!

Now to carve the picture on the side. My first thought was to do a Peter Pumpkin Eater kind of house design but good sense lost out and I chose instead to put Snevel on the side.

Wasn't easy. The tools in the pumpkin carving contest were apparently designed for carving really soft pumpkins or maybe a peeled apple. I finally improvised and started using a good old fashioned steak knife and the point on my compass. I'm lucky to still be typing with my original ten fingers and I'm happy to report that none of them are sporting Band-Aids.



Finally the finished product......rather crude but it sort of looks like a snail....

I looked all over the place for a votive candle to see what it looked like lit up and there's not one in the house. So in the spirit of the old saying, "Poor folks have poor ways" I improvised yet again with my trusty flash light.

This was pretty fun I guess and I'm glad I did it to appease my curiosity but I doubt there will be another carved pumpkin in my future. Not this year anyway.

Good Golly Miss Molly!

Webb's Hill has been dog free for a number of years following the passing of the Late Great Pete and Hunter the dog went to Doggie Heaven not too long afterward.

We'd discussed going to the Animal Shelter and adopting a dog but never got around to it. Then last Friday, August 19,we looked out the back door and saw this:



She was was very skinny, I was wondering how long it had been since she'd had a meal. Her backbone and ribs were sticking out. She looked so bad it broke my heart.





She was also as starved for affection as for food. She seemed to be starved for human contact. She couldn't get enough of being rubbed and scratched. I believe someone could scratch her 24/7 and she wouldn't object.





I posted her pics on my facebook page hoping someone would recognize her. One of my friends told me about one of our neighbors flagging her down asking if anyone had seen her very friendly bulldog. My first thought was "How long had she been missing? She's skin and bones!"

Then a fellow at church the following Sunday told me a story about how he and his buddies were fishing in a community about five to seven miles away from our home when he heard a lady shouting "It's a pit bull! Someone please come shoot it! It's going to kill us all!" (That was a dramatization, not a direct quote) Well he and his buddies loaded up in search of this dangerous beast that was terrorizing the whole village. When they got there the above dog met them and nearly licked them to death. There was no way this was a dangerous dog. They loaded her up and drove around the area asking people if they were missing a dog. Nobody claimed her so they did like any bunch of good-ole-boys would do: they dropped her off in the woods nearby us. (why they didn't take her to the Animal Shelter I have no idea)

Well I was in a quandary....if she was dropped off here by the Fishermen Three, how could she belong to my neighbor? We visited the neighbor a few times and never found her at home.

Meanwhile she was happily living here with us, savoring all the love and attention she could get from us. Try as I might, I couldn't help but get attached.





Well this morning we were able to solve most of the mystery. We were able to speak with our neighbor and discovered the dog she was missing was an English Bulldog. Our girl appears to be an American Bulldog. (lots of difference in height not to mention all other appearance) Her dog has been missing about two weeks and she fears the dog had been stolen. Hers was very friendly as well.

We brought her to a nearby veterinarian who weighed and looked at her. She does not have a microchip implanted. She did not recognize her. (The trip to the Vet would make a humorous post in itself)

Anyway looks like we've got us a dog. We named her Molly B. AKA Miss Molly.

Latest Digi Doodles

Been playing around with Photo Shop and thought I'd share a collection of various "Digi-Dooles" This medium is kind of addictive.

Christmas Without Mom

This was our first Christmas without Mom. Mama Webb, as she was known to most of the community, loved to cook and she loved to garden. She always said that if you’re feeling depressed, go out and dig in the dirt. Plant something, pull weeds… just dig around. You’re bound to be in a better frame of mind.

She was like that about cooking as well. She cooked when she was happy, when she was worried, when she was sad. That was her job and she was a proud cook. For years when we suggested we eat out for dinner she’d take it as a slam against her cooking. “Why go out to eat steak when we have steak in the freezer?” When I moved out into my own place she was insulted when I mentioned I was going to cook my own meals. “What, you don’t like my cooking?”

So it was through the years we’d stand back, let her cook and we’d clean up the kitchen after the meal. Sure, sometimes I’d fix something, like when I learned how to make chicken and dumplings or when I did some Bar B Que ribs she’d allow me to add my contribution to the table, but for the most part the only time she’d let us do the cooking was if she was really sick.

It worried me last Christmas when she let sis and I cook Christmas dinner. And off and on over the past year she’d be too sick and I’d cook supper. I would know when she was getting better when she would come stand over my shoulder and tell me how to boil eggs, or something equally simple. Come July and August I was really wishing she’d run me out of her kitchen again.

Then in September she passed. She was ready to go. Actually, she was growing impatient to go. She went peacefully.

So today was sis and my second time to make Christmas dinner. We had ham, green beans, potato salad, rolls and candied sweet potatoes. Maybe not a super big feast but it was lots more than the three of us could hold and I see plenty of left overs in our future. It wasn’t the same without Mom being there but the three of us had fun collaborating on the meal and hanging out and getting in each other’s way. Maybe we’re starting a new tradition.

Baking Time!

It's that time of year, the weather is getting cooler and it's time to stoke up the old oven for some home made goodies for the holidays. (I like to get a jump start to make sure I have plenty) Well I'm gonna share my favorit holiday recipes here for anyone inerested:

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups Quaker Oats
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy
3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well
4. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon; mix well
5. Stir in oats, raisins and nuts; mix well
6. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet
7. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown
8. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack

Choco-Chip Mini Kisses Cookies*
1 ½ cup (3 sticks) butter, softened
1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
1 ¼ cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla and butternut flavoring
2 eggs
4 cups self-rising flour
1 cup Hershey’s real milk chocolate mini kisses*
1 Cup Nestlé’s semi-sweet morsels
2 cups chopped English walnuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix butter, sugars, flavoring and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in flour. Stir in both kinds of chocolate chips and nuts. Use a strong spoon, this dough is stiff. Using a small ice cream scoop or a serving spoon, drop on cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with a fork. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool slightly; remove from chookie sheet. Cool on wire rack. Makes around 4 dozen cookies.

*This recipe came about when it was possible to find a package of Hershey's Mini Kisses. When I cannot find them I substitue with either a cup of milk chocolate chips of milk chocolate chunks

Old-fashioned Gingersnaps
2 ¾ cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon cloves
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
¾ cup butter
1 egg
¼ cup molasses

Combine first 5 ingredients and set aside. Cream sugars, butter, beat in egg and molasses until fluffy. Stir in flour mixture until just blended. Chill thoroughly (usually overnight). Shape into balls, about the size if a tablespoon and roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

I Have A New Website!

Yep, I bit the bullet and got my own website to show off my artwork and possibly sell some items featuring said artwork. (Mostly Mr Extreme Snail himself, Snevel)

Well anyone interested in checking out the new digs can go to http://snevelandco.com and thanks in advance for checking out the site.

For the Benefit of Our Friends in the Frozen North...

If you look up and see this in the sky, don't panic.



There is no need to call Project Bluebook and report a UFO. It's the SUN. It's not going to hurt you, it's perfectly natural to be up in the sky like that. If you take the time and dig through your memory I'm sure something about a big warm light in the sky giving off heat and maybe even causing a sunburn. Yep, it's supposed to be there.

Anyway we've been blessed with some nice sunny days here in Dixie and I thought I'd bring my camera along with me on my morning jaunt so I could share it with those still frozen.Hope you enjoy.

Some of the woods behind my house:





Mom & Dad's pond...







Finally, my humble abode.