'Tis The Season

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My Little Boy just had his first birthday recently! By recently, i mean within the last couple of months. I have come to realize that my intentions and executions are not so timely. I intended to have my Halloween post and pumpkin carving tradition posted, at least, close to the actual time of doing such activities. I had hoped it would become a tradition.

Last year, I carved a pumpkin with my boys' name on there! It was a super cool experience. However, this year things didn't turn out so well and proficiently. Things went abnormally well last time around!

_Hmmmm

I had my regular helpers... the boy and the cat. I have been meaning to take more photos and share more in personal posts about both of their developments. But, life has a way of taking on it's own domineering control. And surely, this event was no exception! hahaha

I think she approved of the pumpkin...?

First, we started out with our perfectly approved pumpkin. I actually bought two! (which you will see in the photos) The night I went to go buy a pumpkin to carve when the timing was perfect... they were all sold out. So, I came home on the night planned to get this event done empty handed. Then a friend of the family bought one for us on the same day I found a behemoth of our own!

Of course, no pumpkin would do if my underling disapproved! So, she smelled and stood around and on top of the pumpkin we got started with! I tried to just follow the success from last year... but I have to admit, I didn't remember all the stuff exactly. I thought I would be fine just 'wingin' it! However, I was wrong. hahaha

She even had to smell the knife. If I had paid more attention to her management... i would have noticed I was using the wrong knife from last year.

Now the process get really started! This is/was my favorite time of year! I would also be lying if I didn't admit that I used some freeze dried chicken bits to get some more interest into my work area for photo-ops! hahaha So, Welcome to the holiday machine!

_Welcome

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This IS Halloween

Halloween used to be my favorite holiday. I really enjoyed the whole experience and motif from a very superficial perspective. The whole season and color scheme plus topical interests made it very enticing to me from very early on... especially with my upbringing.

So, I did all the things right... in my mind. I cut the top off. I started to carve out the guts and seeds. I tired to follow my successful pattern from last year but found myself to have hit a wall.

I had planned to save and roast the seeds since they were so good last year. I hate for things to go to waste when it's not necessary. I realized that as that process went on that it wasn't going to go as smoothly as last year. Last year my boy was sleeping for long periods of time and fairly immobile whilst sleeping and growing out of the super-baby stage.

This afforded me more opportunity and time to get ANYTHING done.

Now, with an active helper of the most rambuncious style... i don't get much time to do ANYTHING!

I am not ungrateful for the updates in reality and the progress of growth.... but it sure was nice to have any time to do ANY THING.

Hey, but with a look like that... who could get too mad if the help isn't as helpful as one may desire?! I would say he gets an A for effort... hahaha

_{Leap of Faith}

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Christmas is Coming

The irony of this post is that I made these experiences in October.. yet I am just now sharing the experiences here in early December. I had hoped for some success that I could share. Unfortunately, I failed in my carving... hence the lack of photos furthermore.

I got everything perfectly ready. I put the seeds in a bowl.... had the guts in another bowl. I took some photos that showed the process without going into too much detail.

I had a trashbag underneath for cleanup security, the guts and seeds in separate bowls, the top off to the side, and my hand to show the scale and size of things. I added a glove for my internal cleaning and scooping of guts and seeds.

In the end, my efforts went to no avail. I failed miserably at carving the boy's name into the pumpkin. I messed up on the first letter. That is as about as shitty as things could possibly get. So, I added one last photo of my boy that is totally beautiful and distracting from my epic fails!

I had made the first letter and not even gotten half way through before I realized my mistake. I adjusted and tried to recarve that letter for a better outcome. I mildly succeeded... but by the time i got a chance to carve some more the cut had eroded to the point of spoiling the pumpkin.

Maybe it would have worked and maybe not. I can barely keep up with the scammers and farmers in the Alien Art Hive and Photography Lovers Communities that I barely ever get time to share my own personal stuff. I don't feel too bad with this one but it's nice to share my experience with others that might appreciate the craziness!

_{Winter Came}

Winter is always coming ... but it's never as near as now. My real birthday is coming and we are travelling for Christmas this year. Hopefully, I won't get too far behind in the curation and sharing. I still have the biggest pumpkin to carve for later (possibly) but the seeds went to the birds. Maybe we should start a Chrismas pumpkin carving to celebrate the holidays! I loved the Nightmare Before Christmas and the remix of how holidays go according to the lore. Either way, thanks for taking the time to check out my post and get updated on the process of life.