It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

“Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He's gotta pick this one. He's got to. I don't see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there's not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see. On Halloween Night, the Great Pumpkin rises out of his pumpkin patch and flies through the air with his bag of toys for all the children!”

It's just not Halloween without Linus anxiously waiting for The Great Pumpkin. So... I couldn't resist this flag when I saw it!! It's my $8.00 bargain of the week.

I wonder if The Great Pumpkin will come to Linus this year. Stay tuned.....

Mrs. Beasley

I LOVE Mrs. Beasley. Who remembers her?

When I was a little girl, I loved the show Family Affair and the little girl Buffy had a doll she called Mrs. Beasley. (which Buffy claimed talked to her, often making very funny comments)

Growing up, we didn’t have a lot of money and it was a big deal to be able to go to the city to a department store. Once while shopping - I spotted waaaay up on the top shelf - a Mrs. Beasley doll. I could hardly contain my excitement and I asked my dad if he could reach her down for me. I couldn’t believe my eyes; a Real Mrs. Beasley! I said, “ohhhh, Can we buy her?” My mom replied, “No… I’m afraid we can’t, she’s too much money.” Then I heard my mother quietly exclaim to my father, ‘It’s $30!”

“I know. I'll ask Santa!!”. My parents just looked at each other.

Closer to Christmas my mom would ask me, “What do you want from Santa?”

“Mrs. Beasley”

Well, what else do you want?

“Nothing. Just Mrs. Beasley.”

“Well, you must want something else.”

“Nope. Just Mrs. Beasley.”

"Come on, there must be something else."

"Nope. Just Mrs. Beasley."

In hindsight, I remember my mom getting others to ask me what I wanted. I only ever replied, “Mrs. Beasley”. No matter how many times anyone asked, that was the ONLY answer they got.

I woke up Christmas morning and Mrs. Beasley was sitting in a little wooden rocking chair. She was waiting just for me. I couldn’t wait to pull her string to listen to her many sayings:

Do you want to play?,

Gracious me, you’re getting to be such a big girl!,

If you could have three wishes, what would you wish for?,

I do think you’re the nicest friend I ever had!,

Would you like to try on my glasses?

You may if you wish, It would be such fun to play jump rope, don’t you think?,

If you were a little smaller, I could rock you to sleep,

Do you want to hear a secret? I know one!,

Speak a little louder dear, so Mrs. Beasley can hear you,

You may call me Mrs. Beasley, would you like to play?,

Long ago, I was a little girl, just like you!

Last year I was shopping one day at a fabric store and saw blue material with white polka dots. I knew EXACTLY what my Halloween costume would be. It was a hit.

This year, I entered the Mrs. Beasley costume in the fair. I took a photo of Mrs. Beasley's face and enlarged it to fit on a cardboard cut out and hung everything together on a hanger to display. Much to my dismay though, when they displayed Mrs. Beasley they didn't actually hang her up, they just sort of flopped her in the corner as if they were propping her up like a doll. However, all you really got to see was a clump of blue material with white polka dots with a face sticking out the top and two huge yellow feet. Poor Mrs. Beasley got ripped off of her coming out debut. Oh well.... The costume still won 2^nd place.

I can’t imagine, nor do I even want to think about what my Christmas would have been like if Mrs. Beasley wasn’t under the tree that morning. $30 was a lot of money in 1967 for my parents to come up with, but they somehow managed, and I am forever grateful. I still have my Mrs. Beasley. She lost her glasses and she can’t talk anymore.

My kids think she is one of the scariest things they have ever seen, but I can’t even imagine ever parting with her.

ooooooo Scareyyyyyyy

While Tracey was out walking the dog one night, she was thrilled when she walked by the local flower shop and noticed their Halloween display. The next time she went for a walk she took her camera. (Click on the photos to enlarge.)

Warning: this page contains frightening images, some scenes contain subject matter for adults only, content may not be suitable for all viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.

I don't think I even want to know what the guy on the top

is doing to the guy on the bottom.

Hence the warning: Viewer Discretion is Advised!

Posted for Tracey, by Bonnie

Greetings Autumn Lovers

How welcoming is this? We arrived at Jody's this month for our cross stitch meeting to be greeted by this lovely autumn display. Jody always has a theme going on... and it amazes me where she finds the time to do it!

Stepping into the entryway, we were greeted by the Scarecrow....

Upon entering the living room, we were greeted by the best theme ever....!

If my suspicions are correct, Jody prepared this feast of candy for us to indulge in so that we would leave the candy we bought for Halloween ALONE.

Who else will admit that they break into the goodies before the goblins arrive?

.......Traceeeeeeyyy....????

Bonnie

Forest Fall Fair

Each year I enter craft items in our local agricultural fair, the Forest Fall Fair. This year I entered cross stitch, sewing, photography and scrap booking and I received three 1^st Place Specials, two 1^st Place and three 2^nd Place ribbons.

Cross stitch items are always the first on my list of entries and there are three categories.

Picture over 12 inches (framed), Picture under 12 inches (framed) and an article.

The article I entered was a cross stitched bookmark.

I bought self sticking magnetic pages at the dollar store and I cut them the size of the bookmark. I stuck one magnet to the bookmark and left the other magnet with the paper backing still on it, and placed it on the back.I displayed it on a piece of paper to show that the bookmark was magnetic. It won 1^st Place Special.

The picture under 12 inches was from a kit that I bought 24 years ago and didn’t realize when I bought it that it was ‘counted’ cross stitch.

It sat in a drawer for several years, then when I learned how to do counted cross stitch, I dug it back out and whipped it up.

This picture won 1^st Place Special.

The picture over 12 inches …. Also sat in a drawer for several years. These patterns were all found in a magazine series. Each month another pattern would appear and Tracey would scream at the delight of how I always seem to find patterns representing three girls. I love this picture because it represents my family; three girls, mother stitching and a cat at her feet. In real life, my cat insists on sitting on my lap while I try to stitch. She loves following the thread with her eyes as it travels up and down, in and out and she always surprises me when she lunges at my work to catch the thread. I wish she would just learn how to stitch and finish some of my WIPs.

The first daughter (to the left) in the picture seemed to represent my oldest daughter Niki who, while not at all shy, seemed to be so when it came to going to school. The middle picture reminded me of Holly who loved to play with dolls and the gift in the photo has Holly on it. The picture of the little girl riding the pogo pony reminded me of Paige always bouncing around the house. It was uncanny how the hair on each little girl was the same as my daughters growing up. Two with shoulder length brown hair and one short bouncy blonde. NOTE: my hair does not look like the mothers, although it is now blonde.

Each picture has a charm placed on it: a ruler for Niki, a reindeer on the Holly gift, a ‘Cinderella’ key (her favourite Princess) around Paige’s neck and scissors for Mom. This picture won 1^st Place Special.

The sewing category took Second Place: I’ll show THAT one closer to Halloween!!

I am challenging my cross-stitch group to enter their works of art next year. When I enter my items in the fair, while it’s lovely getting the ribbons, I enter more for the ‘show’. It’s a small fair, and people come just to see the exhibits in the building, but the exhibits seem to be getting smaller each year. I want my group to show this town what we can do. And more than anything: I want to give those judges a run for their money! They will have a heck of a challenge deciding winners next year. It’s ok, it’s my group – I’m allowed to brag about them.

Bonnie