I hope you enjoy some photos from our annual visit to Rombachs Farm for our 2014 family of pumpkins, soon to be jack-o-lanterns (aka “punkinheads”).
And these are the three we adopted. Stay tuned for the jack-o-lantern post coming up, about a week before Halloween! Can’t wait!
My pumpkin before carving. I carved while listening to as many classic Halloween songs as I could find on YouTube. Then I had to clean finger prints off of my phone. It’s funny how I always forget about the smell of a pumpkin. You smell it as soon as you make the first cut. It was instantly nostalgic to me and took me back to a very early memory of probably one of my first jack-o-lanterns at our first house when I was very young. We had an enclosed front porch with an old door with a window , that led to the kitchen. For some reason our jack-o-lantern was inside that front porch, rather than outside. I remember sitting and watching through the window as the jack-o-lantern flickered and glowed.
This year we broke tradition and I carved Joe’s pumpkin as well. I tried to go for something different… something with a sinister look in the eyes and not quite so chipper. (Ahem… this punkin’ head is not meant to be a representation of Joe.)
I like how my punkin’ head on the right seems to be eyeballing Joe’s pumpkin. Don’t look too close. The one on the left is being illuminated by a sparkly Christmas candle.
Once again, the sparkly Christmas candle seems to be highlighted in the photo.
This is usually Meril’s signature jack-o-lantern look. Joe helped him. I think it gets bigger every year.
We have a plethora of various pumpkin carving tools from mostly cheap sets by “Pumpkin Masters”. We purchased a rather expensive set online last year. I found that this $10 set from Target is just as good or better than any of them. I recommend it!
Pumpkins and the Annual Trip to Rombach’s Farm (2013) (Big Séance)
From Pumpkins to Jack-O-Lanterns 2012 (Big Séance)
2012 Family of Pumpkins (Big Séance)
Yesterday Joe and I went with my parents on our annual trip to Rombach’s Farm to choose our family of pumpkins (soon to be jack-o-lanterns, aka “punkin’ heads”) for our front porch. Except for the off and on light rain, it was a perfectly overcast and cool autumn day. It was nice to be able to take my parents. They were here on a rare visit.
Joe took this really awesome picture. I love it because it looks like he would have had to be lying on his belly to get this shot. I don’t think he was, but it would have been a great photo opportunity for me if that was the case.
Rombach’s is huge. Though they give you the option of hunting through the actual patch for your pumpkins, we’ve always enjoyed shopping around in the huge rows of pumpkins that have already been picked and separated by size and price. The above photo shows just one of the many seasonal or spooky displays that they set up every year. They also have animals, a maze, a mini haunted house (that you have to be brave enough to walk through to pay for your goodies), and a play area. At the checkout, I usually grab some apple or pumpkin butter, but this year I grabbed five assorted flavored honey sticks and had them consumed by the time we got to dinner.
These are some of the enormous pumpkins from the patch. I’m not sure how one would lug one of these to the checkout counter. We struggle with our normal sized pumpkins as it is.
In choosing our pumpkins, we like to be drawn to the ones that resemble each of us… our pumpkin family, if you will. Joe’s pumpkin is usually skinnier, my pumpkin is usually short and fat, and Meril’s pumpkin (not yet in the wagon in the photo above) is usually smaller and round, just perfect for his paw to be carved into it in a couple of weeks.
So here is our 2013 family of pumpkins on the front porch. Joe and Meril are on the left and I, because of being so enormous, am on the right by myself. We’ll carve them one week before Halloween. I’ll take plenty of photos.
2012
2011
2010
An Update in Four Photos (Big Séance)
2012 Family of Pumpkins (Big Séance)
From Pumpkins to Jack-O-Lanters 2012 (Big Séance)
This last weekend I made my third visit to the grave sites of Johnny and Clara. It was a beautiful trip, even with the gloomy skies and rain. Through the drops on the window, you can see Clara’s grave and the whole family plot in the distance at the top of the hill and in the center of the photo. Yeah, I’ve got better shots of this hill… but I thought looking through the drops would be cool.
This is the view from behind the first row of Clara’s family plot, looking down the hill at the very modern-day street. Clara’s grave is on the right, along with the fresh flowers that I brought. Such a beautiful place in the middle of all the noise and traffic.
Thanks to my father and his garden, we have three early pumpkins on the front porch. In the first week of October we look forward to our traditional trip to Rombach’s Farm for our official family of pumpkins for 2013.
With the temperatures finally cooler again, Meril has been excited to start wearing his favorite jacket again! His Daddy likes a different and less hip jacket, but Poppy (me) and Meril totally prefer this one.
My 2012 punkin’ head… I decided to go with a classic look this year.
Punkin’ heads on the porch… Joe’s punkin’ head is on the right. He always has to draw attention with his and be avant garde.
Meril’s traditional punkin’ head… He had a bit of help from Joe…
I just love capturing the sniff shots…
Our whole family of 2012 punkin’ heads…
