A fun day at The Elegant Farmer

Yesterday, Mom and I took our annual trip to The Elegant Farmer. It was sunny off and on and that worked great for photos. But get this - We wore winter coats! Yeah, the cold weather has officially hit Wisconsin.

So starting with something yummy...

This one is mine. The girl who was dipping these was mid-slice while asking me if I wanted my apple sliced. When I said I didn't, she said in a surprised way "Oh! A bold move!" So that tells you how many people eat these on a stick.

Mmm... reflective caramel!

Mom had hers sliced:

This is the doorway we walked under to get to these treats. I think it could also work as a good doorway to a haunted house, because I felt like we were walking through a big mouth.

While waiting to get through this giant mouth door, I took some pics of the pumpkins next to me.

Check out this stem!

Of course I have to share a pic of the smilin' barn! This is where you can do some shopping for all kinds of food. There was a super long line just to get in and shop, so we didn't do that.

More shopping could be done in a little building next to the barn. This is the area where I took pics of the chainsaw sculptor doing his thing before. He wasn't there yesterday, but I did find these wagons outside the building.

It's cool to look at three different versions of a red wagon. For those of you who like the rusty and crusty:

There was also an old sled out front:

There are some train tracks behind the barn that you guys will probably remember from past years.

This is possibly my favorite picture of the day. It looked like a ghost train coming toward me in the mist. This is about as close as I'm willing to get to an oncoming train.

A little closer...

I can almost hear the rattling.

I took a few photos of... let's call them train accessories because I don't know what the purpose of the next few are. Maybe you guys can fill me in?

When I got closer, I thought this looked like a creature with a big, open mouth. I'm even seeing an eye now!

Some kind of signal?

Coming around the bend...

To the "Elegant Farmer Station"

A few details on the side of the train:

This shape reminds me of a piece of candy.

I took a few pics on the drive there and back. I'm pretty pleased and surprised with how this one turned out, given that I couldn't see what I was taking a photo of. I was just leaning my arm out the window and taking photos of whatever was behind me. See the little horse?

A few trees were changing.

I'm not entirely sure what this is, but we see it every year on the drive. It's some kind of equipment that's been painted to look like a jack-o-lantern. I'm pleased when I can manage to get a pic of it from the car window.

After the Elegant Farmer, we went to Target and Michaels. I've taken a lot of pics at both those stores this season, but there are a couple more things to share.

I hadn't seen this cool arch at the two previous Targets I'd been to this season.

Mom spotted this whole situation. A terrifying new creature! The Gorilla Spider!

Michaels had a pretty clever mini Halloween town on display. This little building reminded me of something out of the show Grimm. This is the "Monster Hunting Supplies" shop. There are a lot of little details to read on this one.

Hehe. This is one of those things that's funny to me and I'm not really sure why. There's just something silly about bloodsucking gnomes that are only about an inch tall. Note the tombstone: "Gnome Sweet Gnome"

The "Symphony of Screams" was in a little bandstand. Cool bat/skull at the top!

Having a glass of "Full Moon Moonshine"

Skeletons in the well!

Sassy cat napkins giving the side-eye to some cat plates:

Those cat napkins might have to be a part of the After Halloween Haul this year...

So there's yesterday! It was a pretty fun day, wandering from place to place. 🍏

Caramel Apples at The Elegant Farmer 2014

Last weekend, my mom and I had our annual trip to The Elegant Farmer for caramel apples. You might remember this place from previous years.

This is a trip I always look forward to. We had a perfect, sunny day for this outing. We were greeted by the smiley face barn. There's plenty of food for sale inside.

There's a little scarecrow display between the barn and the caramel apple area. As it turned out, the scarecrow and I had matching shirts. I didn't realize at the time that his mouth was dribbling off his face.

The caramel apples were better than ever! I surprised the girl working there by wanting mine on a stick. I guess that's unusual now? It's a little messier, but that's part of the experience.

Mmm.... I swear there was an apple under there somewhere.

My mom's easier to manage caramel apple:

You guys might remember the electric train that is behind the barn:

This train runs on the last electronic tracks in Wisconsin.

You can see the electric connection above the train. That tiny wheel runs along the wire above.

We should take a ride on this train some day. It looks like the riders get to see some neat scenery going through the woods.

I took this last photo on the ride home. It is a little fuzzy, as I was taking it in a moving car. Still I had to include it. It's just such a wholesome, classic pumpkin stand.

Going to The Elegant Farmer always makes me feel like it's truly October! I'm glad we were able to fit in before the party. The annual Witches' Gathering is happening this Saturday, so I should have lots of photos to share!

Speaking of photos, please send those Halloween costumed photos if you'd like to be part of this year's Halloween blog party! You can send them here: contactartgirl@gmail.com