Halloween

It had been a while since we had that blustery and crisp Halloween Day and Night.

Some late afternoon clouds made for some great picture taking.

I usually wait too long and it gets dark before I have any decent shots.

Had some really good ones but had to scrap them, I hadn't noticed the Horseman's grip on the axe had come undone.

You can make it out in a few shots where he's in the distance as well as the one in the fog.

I used Photoshop for the shot of the entire yard to move the hand and re-attach his grip.

Looking forward to next year...Halloween on a Monday.

It forces the TOT's to come at dusk where there is waaay more atmosphere.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Trick or Trunk - Setup

With the help of my oldest daughter, we did a test run for tomorrow nights 2nd Annual OLPH Trick or Trunk.

New batteries in everything - lights, strobe and candles.

Ipod preset with kiddie classics - Thriller, Scooby-Doo, Ghostbusters, This is Halloween and also to fit the theme....Bing's Crosby's Headless Horseman.

I'm thrilled with how it came out. The pictures really don't do it justice...It looks pretty cool in the dark.

Nearly 300 kids are expected this year.

It was pretty crazy...barely had time to take any decent shots.
Ran out of candy 3 or 4 times and had to keep sending our kids back out treating - just to get us more candy so we could keep handing it out! It was a viscous cycle!

Cauldron

Minus a camera for a few days as we loaned it within our family.

Used a BlackBerry for these.

Standard cheap, small plastic cauldron from Michaels below on a thin board base.

Everything smeared with, no surprise here...Great Stuff and repainted.

Ordered a mini fogger with color changing LED's that uses tap water to place inside.

2010 Yard Display

I finally got around to taking some pictures today...more to come.

BTW....regarding scarecrow setup below...use a bigger post.

The 4ft metal post snapped like a twig in last weeks wind gusts.

I bought a thicker, more heavy duty one thats about 6ft tall from Home Depot.

Looking forward to taking the Horseman on a road trip next week.

Local church is having a Trick or Trunk Friday night.

Should be fun to put a new twist on things.

Some photos of the scarecrow prop redo. In prior versions the post was made from wood and staked down into the ground. The staking portion had to be done minus the head and arms. Wind and rain usually would knock it down a few times prior to Halloween. It had to be taken apart before it could be put back up. A real pain.

The new version outside of the ribs and braches is all pvc. A 4 ft metal post is staked into the ground and the entire assembled prop is slid down over the stake. It can easily be removed if needed.

Great Stuff as usuall with all my props is smeared over everything to give it texture and have it appear rotten. The new scarecrow is much taller and comes in just under 9ft.

Looking at about mid October, the 16th or so for setup. In the meantime enjoying the cornstalks.

Blaze, Legends, and Horseman's Hollow

Tickets are now available to the general public for all Historic Hudson Valley Events.

Grab them while you can ...they sell out fast.


http://www.hudsonvalley.org


I'm in for Blaze as usual and Legends Day this year.

A new attraction has been added, Horseman's Hollow.

Seems like everywhere you go...it's all about the vampires nowadays.

Not sure how I feel about mixing Hessians and Vampires...I'll wait for some reviews on that one.

Still on Vacation

But tempted to pop in that DVD. Not even August yet.

I can't wait for the Fall, in need of some crisp weather.

Some minor updates I'd like to do this year.

Add way more height to the scarecrow, put it on par with those I've seen at Philipsburg Manor.

Have it stand up to October winds as well.

More fog - in the market for a good fogger to run through some irrigation PVC.

Enjoy the rest of your Summer.

Looking forward to our upcoming family vacation week at the Jersey Shore.

My girls....