New work, WIPs and fungi...

I'm popping in to share a few things, and to remind you all that it's time to get those Halloween trees up! We've decorated our dead tree from the woods, and I'll take some pics to share soon.

I finished one little Halloween skelly dude that is headed to my etsy shop.

I discovered Triple Thick (like I needed a new art supply). It's perfect for making small areas really glossy (lips, eyes, etc.).

I also finished my Haunted House. It used to look like this:

Now it looks like this:

(One side is more Halloween-like, and the other is DOTD-ish. I think this one is staying here because Caity likes it.)
I've started working on two Day of the Dead projects to share.

One painting:
And one that will be more of a shrine (I hope!). Can you see who this is on the right?
No? Well, I don't know what is wrong with you.
I guess it will have to be a surprise.

On to the fungus among us!

This is growing on our garage.

And this is in our front yard.(pics by DH)

I do love them. I'm going to try and get out to the woods and take some more pictures to share.
Happy Fall, all!

And it has three rings...

I think I've joined a circus. The Smallcomb Circus.
I just wish I had a pet elephant to prove it.
We've been busy selling my mom's condo and moving stuff out.
We've been shuffling sons into new bedrooms, now that Alex's is empty for awhile (sob).
We've been purging and staging stuff to donate.
We've been decorating for Halloween, which is no small task at this circus, lemme tell you.
It involves finding a dead tree in the woods (thank you DH!) and dragging it into the house (hopefully without wildlife), and decorating it (thank you, Caity!).
I haven't been blogging, or making art nearly as much as I would like to.
I have been writing every day. Which is a different kind of work. Pleasant work, except when I can't figure out something, or I write a sucky bit. Then it's not as pleasant.
Overall, life is swell, the weather is wonderful, and we can Skype with our son in Madrid when we get homesick for him. ;)

And although I didn't start anything new, I did finish some pieces that have been asking nicely.



I used the one-step crackle at Michael's on this last little guy, and it seems to be working. Just remember to put it on thick, and let it completely dry.
Okay, the circus is calling! I wish these ringmaster pants weren't so darn tight.

Meet Roger

This is Roger. He has been waiting very patiently for me to post his picture.
Wait! What's this? Roger has spotted someone!
Why, it is the lovely Nanette from a billion blog posts ago (she has been waiting patiently for Roger).

After pretending not to notice each other...

I do believe love has finally bloomed.

Life has been full of changes lately, some good, some not-so-good, which is life in a nutshell.
We said good-bye to Alex at the airport last week, and he is now living in Madrid. That's a happy change, even though we will all miss him very much. But he is off on an amazing adventure!

It has been an eventful week, and I for one, intend to sit back, put my feet up and do nothing in particular. I am currently watching my dogs nap, and that's as much excitement as I want.
Roger and Nanette on the other hand, may need some supervision.

Backyard critters...

I don't know if it was the rain, or the hurricane, or what, but Casa Smallcomb has been crawling with critters lately. First, the other night, I opened the front door to let the dogs out, and a big toad jumped inside. Like he had wanted to ring the doorbell, but couldn't quite reach. I would have gotten a picture (he was big and fat!), but I was trying to keep 2 dogs and 3 cats from doing him harm.

Then, the other morning, I reached down to pick up what I thought was black yarn (I really need to clean my glasses, evidently), and it was one of these little guys:Northern ringneck? Southern ringneck? Anyway, he has a ringed neck. I found this pic on the internet.

And guess what? He brought a friend! Two snakes! How fun! Not. Thankfully, the DH was home and he wrangled them on to the deck.

The insects are invading. Stinkbugs are looking for places to hide for the winter. These guys are serious pests, and are giving the farmers headaches. Two different kinds, right? Yikes. And we have these gigantic European hornets that are girdling my poor lilac bush. They aren't completely horrible (rather passive for hornets), and they eat garden pests. Unfortunately they eat the poor bees, too.
Last, but not least, deer. These are pics from my back yard.
Life at the edge of the woods is never dull. One last pic. I have decided not to eat beef (or try not to, anyway - working my way down the food chain to vegetarianism!), but I must have forgotten this a couple of weeks ago when the DH and I went out to lunch.

(all pics taken by the DH. I was too busy screaming, running or eating.)

Chiliburger and iced tea. This just harkens back to my early childhood in Texas. Is there anything better? And I think the knife through the bun is a lovely touch.