It's a Contest

There was a pumpkin carving contest last weekend.

 The word 'contest' makes it all matter SOOOOO much more for those of us 

who lean toward the more competitive edge of life. 

It must be so difficult to live over there!

You would imagine that setting your pumpkin aflame with 

blue fire would make you the sure winner.

You would be wrong.

 It might seem like an easy YES vote on the Mummy Pumpkin with the realistic blue eyes.

Wrong again.

Here they all are - which one would you have voted for?

Deer Hunting

Can you find the deer in this photo?

I was actually trying to get a morning photo of those beautiful leaves
 ( = delaying treadmill as long as possible) 
when the deer moved and I could see it, right there in the viewfinder!

It went on to run crazily across the yard, almost jump the fence into our backyard, slow traffic on a blind curve, thrill a busload of schoolchildren ("A Deer!") and finally cross the road into a field and safety.
That deer leads an exciting life!

Dahlia Devotion

Hydrangeas  are my Garden True Love.

But I've almost lost my heart to something else -  DAHLIAS

Oh. My. Word.

The crazy luxuriousness of this fistful of blooms! 

so nice on the lips

And the name woos me, too - Galileo's Compass.

I'm going to dig the tubers up before they freeze and have them again next year.

I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am I am

Maybe I can convince myself to actually save a plant from the freeze - one that requires digging up!

Never have managed it before, though.

Oh, I can yank geraniums out of their pots, beat their bottoms on the ground to get the dirt off and ram them in a paper bag for over wintering, 

but to get out there with shovel, hose and knife???

I find I don't have much heart for that sort of thing here at the end of October. 

Watched this short video and learned exactly what to do. 

Looks like I can get MORE of this plant for free by dividing!

And FREE is my favorite, so maybe I actually will do it...