Ancient Chinese Secret?

As a haunter, I'm interested in mummies of all sorts. This particular story really intrigues me. Thanks to Tinman of the -L for posting this link: ChinaDaily.com - LadyDaiMummy

This is a really fascinating TWO THOUSAND YEAR OLD mummified body of a Chinese noblewoman.

Spiders

We have a discussion on the Florida Haunters Forum about spiders currently. I figured I'd show off some of my little friends in the yard, so I went out this morning and took some photos with my trusty little Sony Cybershot.

This is an orchard orbweaver, beautiful colorful little spider with a body about the size of a kernel of corn and long spindle legs:

I dipped this house spider out of the pool. She is about the size of a half-dollar including the legs. She was skimming across the top of the water trying to find a way out of the pool.


This beauty is a spiny-backed orbweaver. They're often called crab spiders, but are not the "official" crab spider (which has long front legs and tiny bodies and look reminiscent of scorpions). These orb-weavers make beautiful webs. This particular female is about the size of a dime.
I was hoping to find a big banana spider, but for some reason I don't have any in my yard right now. Maybe I'll head out to the trails later and see if I can find one to add. I love spiders, I think they are fascinating. I am not too fond of the shorter hairy ones, but the ones with long legs and bright colors are fun to look at. I will, however, dance like it's nobody's business if I happen to walk into a web. :)

Oops, forgot one! I took this picture one night while watching this huge yellow orb-weaver work on her web. She has a habit of building it under the oak tree in my next door neighbor's yard, and her web is SO big that it comes down from the oak tree into the grass in the middle of our driveways. Nothing like walking into that at night. She's nocturnal, and can fully build a web within an hour. Mind you, this is a 6 foot tall web, 3 feet across. In the morning, before sunrise, they eat their webs to regain moisture, then go and hide in the trees and bushes during the heat of the day. She is a scary looking thing from underneath. Her body is the size of a nickel.

How far does the apple fall from the tree?

Not far. I'd like to show off some of my son's art work from over the years. He's already surpassed me in talent.

He loves Halo. And yes, his room IS painted black with green trim. Monster Energy, baby.

This one is a little project he did back in 3rd or 4th grade I think. It's been on the wall for a long time. I've always loved the colors of it. Very Halloweenish.



This is a mask he made in 9th grade advanced art class last year.

One of his self-portraits from last year as well.

Origins

As some of you may already know, one of my sisters, Rosie, was born on Halloween. I can't think of a better day to have as a birthday. We always got together with the cousins over at my grandparents' house for cake and trick or treating. My love for the day started way back then. It was always extra special for our family. Even though we don't all do the family thing anymore, those memories still hold a place deep in my heart. My grandma and mom went through some old pictures and sent them to me. I'd like to share those memories with you all. Above and to the left is my sister Rosie and below you can see her assorted birthday cakes over the years.







































Our Grandma always made the birthday cakes. One of the things I remember and love the most about our childhood is helping her in the kitchen. That spawned another love of mine: baking. This is me helping make my own birthday cake one year.







My mom always made our costumes herself. Pictured here is me, Rosie, our cousin Shannon, and in front are cousins Joey and Tommy.








Same suspects, plus some. Me, Joey, Shannon, Babs, Rosie, Stephanie, Justin, Tommy and the baby Ryan. I'm sure I screwed up who is who, but with masks on it's hard to tell.







More of our motley crew. My cousins Shannon Justin and Ryan were not in this picture. I believe this is when they lived in Orlando...










My sister Babs over the years.














More Babs.






















And Rosie the birthday girl.









More of Rosie.






















And little ol' me.












And the man who sat back and gave out the candy like a trooper, my Granddaddy.

Haunt Space

This blog has been moved to another page dedicated to things that are still Haunt related, but that really make me mad so that I'm not gunking up my Halloween blog with drama.

The original post can be found in its entirety here:
http://lividghostess.blogspot.com/

I apologize to anyone who wasted their time reading about the recent drama of Haunt Space. Everyone else, y'all know where it is, and where you can find me.

Face of things to come?

A couple of years ago, I sat with my pencil and book in hand just doodling, trying to come up with the next project. I finished something I was kinda happy with, then I put away my book and didn't think about it until today when I was scratching out some frustrations on paper. Oddly enough, I watched Batman Begins for the first time last night, and there was the ScareCrow. The signs are there that this should be a prop for this year.

I'm hoping to turn this face into a life-sized, full-bodied creation, most likely with monster mud. Of course, right now he kinda reminds me of the Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man in Ghostbusters. :)

Word for today: Livid

It's not entirely Halloween-related... well, kind of, but really more people-related. Today and yesterday I am feeling the negative emotions that are best described by the word "livid".

I was just sketching in my little ol' sketchbook and ended up with what resembles a very angry cartoon version of me. I feel like I probably have an alternating black and red aura about myself today. I won't bother going into it all, but dang it's got me down.

And while I'm thinking about it - if anyone has any negative comments for me, please post them here so that I can actually read them and they not get deleted before I even get the chance to respond.