Halloween is creeping onto the store shelves!

Now that it's August, Halloween items are making an appearance! A few days ago, I photographed any traces of Halloween I could find at Marshalls, Ross, Kirkland's, and T.J. Maxx. That, or any items that could be construed as Halloween themed.

The first stop was Marshalls. If I'd realized at the time I was taking this picture that I was going to include it on my blog, I might have looked to see what this cat/pumpkin was attached to. I think there was a ghost under the pumpkin. It looks like something white anyway.

In further cute cat items, Marshalls had these towel sets. "Purranormal Cativity"

"Creepin' it Real"

They also had lots of shiny/glittery pumpkins.

These rustic wood or wood-like decorations seem to be pretty hot now. I can imagine something like this on a much larger scale outside a pumpkin patch.

This next item was in the beauty aisle. While not Halloween related, I still think it was the scariest thing in the store!

It kind of reminds me of that sassy stretched piece of skin that was on Doctor Who. It's listed as having gold mica powder in it. Another brand claims to have actual 24K gold in it! I wonder why gold would be in a facial mask? If you really want to get scared, look up gold facial masks on YouTube!

Next up was Ross, which had by far the best deals. Marshalls and T.J. Maxx had some of the same products that were in Ross, only for a dollar or two more!

Ross had awesome prices but no Halloween displays. Luckily, they did have lots of Betsy Johnson stuff and Betsy loves her skulls! So close enough. A turquoise Betsy towel:

Love the trim:

This Betsy blanket reminds me of candy. Bright little skull-shaped candies. Looking at this picture is making me want to go back and get the blanket.

The most creative/wacky skull design on a blanket came from the brand Berkshire Blanket. Yes, that's a skull-shaped pineapple wearing sunglasses. Those were all over the blanket. This is equally summer and Halloween to me.

The most fun surprise of the day came from Kirkland's. I didn't know that Kirkland's was a beautiful housewares store with professional looking displays. For some reason I had it in my head that it was an outdoors store that sold camping supplies!

Kirkland's was definitely in the fall mood. They went so far into fall that they shot right into Thanksgiving! And... they bypassed Halloween on their way there. Although, if you visit Kirkland's web site they have lots of Halloween stuff on it:

Kirkland's Halloween section

The store itself had some nice general autumn decorations and lots of pumpkins.

See those succulents in the pumpkins? I've been seeing a lot of those lately. I think I saw some pics online of a foam Dollar Tree pumpkin hollowed out and filled with some Dollar Tree succulents.

This was my favorite display in Kirkland's. I love this! It's like a little flower shop.

Closing in on a few favorite elements here... I love the way these little flowers are displayed. I took a pic of this mainly so I could replicate it. I think a row of glass vases with a different fall leaf in each would look cool too.

And how cute is this candle label?

I like basically any little wagon I see. Add in that this one is shaped like a pumpkin and it's a real winner! If you collect Halloween figures or dolls, imagine how fun they'd look "riding" along in this.

I like the way they tied the colors together in this display and I like everything on it. Isn't that pillow fun and retro?

I'm including this pic because I like the way the shadows fell on the pumpkin.

Aww...

T.J. Maxx was the last stop. There really wasn't any Halloween there. So I had to stretch things a bit. But either of these two could be a good addition to a Halloween display.

An adorable Betsy Johnson black cat backpack. I want that cat's glasses!

And a classic silver skull along with a matching silver origami cat. The cat is covering its mouth, so maybe it's the "speak no evil" cat in a set? Or it's shocked to see a giant skull in its path?

Are you guys seeing any Halloween stuff on the shelves yet? I'd appreciate any tips on what's out there! Target has previews of their Halloween collection up and that's worth checking out:

Target Halloween Preview 2018

I linked to the indoor decorations, because that's my favorite section. They have outdoor stuff, costumes, etc. on the site too.

More Mat Night

Soooo...while on the other side of town yesterday we ended up with a flat tire. Luckily we had one of those cans of foamy sticky stuff that you can inject into the tire to get you where you're going. Which was home. That meant a change in plans for today. This morning we were up early to get the winter tires out of the shed and into the car. It's about that time here anyway so we figured it was a good time to get the tires changed. Also got us a good deal on a new set of summer tires.

Because of the tire problem and the fact that I forgot hubby has to work this evening, well, we changed up the schedule. Last night we carved the pumpkins and watched the two Tooms X-files episodes. Both episodes made me scream...heeee hee! We also watched two episodes of Stranger Things....cuz hubby can't watch one tonight. By the way, I'm loving Season 2!

That evening walk in the woods is off too. But not just because hubby has to go to work tonight. The weather's looking iffy for this evening -- calling for fog and maybe rain overnight -- but I won't be walking in the woods tonight mostly because of what happened on our last woods walk with the cats.

On Friday we harnessed up the cats and headed out the gate and on up the usual route. But both seemed somewhat reluctant. Sometimes the older one, Cat #1, will be but the younger one, Cat #2, is usually quite keen. By the time we got to our usual little loop both were acting nervous. Cat #1 stopped at the crossroads which is where I left hubby and her. I went on ahead with the Cat #2 who NEEDS the exercise. Well, we need him to get the exercise so he'll nap for a few hours instead of yowling at the door.

Anywho, I was going to take the loop back around and meet hubby and Cat #1 in the usual place a little further up the path from where I left them. But clearly the cats' could smell something. Even Cat #2 started acting nervous and stopped moving forward. At this point it was just quicker to keep going round the loop but to keep moving I actually had to pick him up and carry him part of the way. When I did put him down he went shooting forward at such a clip I actually had to run to keep up!

Hubby and Cat #1 didn't make it to the meet up spot but I could hear him calling. I met them back at where I'd originally left them because Cat #1 had refused to budge. Soon after I left them there my hubby told me something started moving fast through the undergrowth. It was moving away from them but towards where I was with Cat #2. Which explains why I had to pick up my little buddy and carry him. And indeed I could smell something a bit ripe on the air.

We hightailed it back to our place with the cats pulling us the whole way!

Could have been a fox...



So, today is candy prep and a bit more decorating round the front door. If the weather holds, might add some cobwebs to the cemetery out front.

Whaddayamean g-g-g-ghosts?

by me (2015)

Storm or Apocalypse?

So, last Thursday evening we both fell asleep on our respective couches while in front of the tv. Nothing unusual there. But at some point soon after a crazy ass storm hit. It was the thunder, wind, and hail banging on the windows that woke me up.

I immediately looked over to the window sill where I'd last seen one of our cats...not there. Clad only in my pjs I threw myself off the couch and out the back door into our small garden. Trees branches and thorny bougainvillea were whipping around, rain and hail were pelting down (hail...in the Persian Gulf?) and although I could hear one of the cats I couldn't see her. I was in a bit of a blind panic I must admit.

Doha Storm Small from abdullah mumayiz on Vimeo.

As you can imagine, going from a nap on the couch to a scene from the apocalypse was a bit disconcerting. I was out there in that back yard trying to out scream the sounds of wind and thunder! I finally narrowed down the pitiful mewling I was hearing to under the bar-b-que. She poked her head out and I quickly scooped up cat #1 and retreated inside.

I put her down on the floor and raced upstairs to grab some towels. Coming back downstairs I noticed there were drops of blood on the floor...oh my god, she's hurt! I yelled instructions at my husband to figure out where she was bleeding while I then ran out the front door to see if I could find the other cat.

Outside the wind was blowing but not as strong. I could see a large tree branch down across the way and there were torrents of rain water pouring down the street. The rain was cold and by this point so was I as I was soaking wet! I ran back inside and grabbed my bath robe. On my way back downstairs my husband informed me that cat #1 seemed uninjured.

Back outside I finally spied cat #2 wading through ankle deep water towards our neighbours place. I scooped him up and returned inside where I quickly discovered I was the one bleeding. I'd cut my finger on something. The worst of the storm came and went in maybe 15 minutes. Whew! All safe and accounted for.

These are some scenes from around our compound the following morning...

Morning inspection with  cat #1

We know the people who live here.
They couldn't get out the front door at one point.

Lots of downed awnings!

Flooded tennis court