Photo Walk and Halloween Fun

A friend of mine invited me to a Photo Walk a local camera store was sponsoring. The location was about an hour and a half away. However, we managed to get lost and make it a much longer trip :)  Eventually, we arrived.

Although I was happy with some of the pictures. I was a bit disappointed in broader landscape shots. The area just seemed a bit overwhelming. There were so many things to focus on in one picture I feel like I couldn't do the scenery justice. It actually turned out we were over taking pictures before the actual photo walk group got started. I am actually glad we missed it because there were tons of people. I can't imagine trying to get any decent pics with that many people milling around and trying to navigate the narrow trails.

We left the canyon and found these adorable faces along the way home. Is there anything sweeter than cow faces?

It was fun to celebrate Halloween this year with our little sidekick. On Saturday we made sugar cookies. We used my mom's old tin cookie cutters. The same ones we used when I was her age. We even tried to make the cookies like we she did. She would but the circle out of yellow dough and then cut out a shape and inlay that same shape in a black cookie to make a silhouette against the moon. I think our versions need a little more work :)

Guess who we are??  I couldn't find the color hoodies I wanted to all match, so I bought white hoodies and attempted my first clothes dyeing. It was actually super easy - a washing machine and a bottle of Rit dye. The color was exactly what I wanted.(And I have a bright yellow hoodie for some cool weather walking!)

The feeling you get when you see your heart walking down the street.

Hope everyone had a good Halloween. So far I am doing well on not gorging myself on her candy :)

One final thought...what is the deal with this?  As I have mentioned before I am not into the pumpkin everything, but some of it makes sense. Pumpkin donut Laffy Taffy?? I don't get it.

For research sake, I swiped one from her candy stash and gave it a try. It wasn't as horrible as I imagined it would be, but it was not great either. Stick to the fruity flavors, please. The joke on the package was "What kind of car does a ghost drive? A Ockles.  I don't get it.

If You Walk With Me...

You might notice I take a ton of pictures - even when I don't know I am taking pictures. I didn't even know I took the picture above- total accident, but I like it. Every walk starts with a step out the door, right? 

You might notice I need new shoes. Looks like I will be shopping soon - my little toes are about to fall out on both shoes. Funny how I wear them all the time and didn't notice until today. 

We might walk through this neighborhood at lunchtime. Beautiful historic homes of all styles. I especially love all the mature trees new neighborhoods lack. 

You might spot fun Halloween decorations. 

You might become obsessed with street markings. I don't understand them all, but I found today's particularly colorful.

First time I have seen pink.

You might also notice my obsession with manhole covers. 

You might enjoy the colors of fall flowers and berries. These orange berries make a stunning shrub. 

You might play hide and seek with the squirrels.

I hope you enjoyed our virtual walk. Truth is I feel like I walk with you every time because I am always looking for things to share. I ended up walking 40 minutes at lunch because I was so engrossed.

On an unrelated note I found these trick or treat pails a bit disturbing. What do you think?

We always used grocery bags as kids. I was looking for a pumpkin pail when I spotted these. No pumpkins in sight. Then we went to a party tonight and they gave our small fry a pail she will use :) 

His & Hers

Today was the day. We haven't made homemade pizza in a long time and even longer since we have made grilled pizza. While my husband was working extra hours on Saturday I picked up all the must have ingredients for our homemade pizza. There are two main things I like about making our own pizza - controlling the amount of toppings on the pizza and that we can each customize our own pizza. Our toppings when we order pizza are pretty much locked in depending on where we order from. Our top three pizza places:  1) sausage, pepperoni, green olives  2) sausage, jalapeno and 3) pepperoni, pineapple.

However, when we make it we go crazy with toppings. My husband's homemade pizza must haves.

I am a little less loyal to particular toppings. Today, I was feeling a veggie pizza. There is no chance I am getting spinach, mushrooms or fresh mozzarella on a pizza we would share, much less all three.

 We start with a simple yeast dough. We like this recipe.

To be sure the dough cooks through we pre-cook it on one side. I love watching the crust bubble up on the hot grill.

Grilled side up it is time to load the toppings. I highly recommend being sure that everything is in place so you can move quickly. My husband it trying to decide which crust is bigger ;)

 Loading them up!

 Back on the grill. We precooked the peppers a bit first because it doesn't take long at all for the crust to finish and the cheese to melt...not quite enough time to cook all the veggies if you load the toppings like we tend to do.

 Ready for our pizza feast.

 And a close up of my pizza. They say you eat with your eyes first...definitely!

The pizza was perfect. I can't get enough of the crust - crispy, soft and chewy all at the same time. Sometimes, I worry that I will miss a particular topping or not like the combo. But honestly, that rarely happens. I debated throwing on some pepperoni, but I am SO glad I didn't.

After a post pizza snooze, I managed to get my hiney out for a 45 minute walk. There was some serious debating about taking the shorter route and doubling the loop. I didn't trust myself to not cut it short, so I went the long (with no available shortcuts).

I saw these faces in the window as I left the yard. I think the one on the left was especially disappointed to be left behind.

 Perfect time of day for long shadow legs.

Here comes the color. There are some of the most gorgeous fall trees in our neighborhood.

Of course, there are plenty of fall and Halloween decorations. I particularly liked the slightly see-through ghosts. I might have to do a little Googling to find some of my own :)

I am wondering about this little swing(?)  I wonder how long I could sit in it before being chased off.

 I wonder if he is stuck.

 Someone is enjoying their pavement marking job :)

 A bit of summer is still hanging on. It is actually supposed to be 90 degrees tomorrow...ugh.

When I made the turn for home, I noticed a guy standing in the street.  It looked like he was taking a picture. I will be honest, at first I didn't recognize him...creeper?  I was trying to figure out if he was taking a picture and if so, of what. And then I realized it was my husband. (Confession - I made him pose for me so I could get a picture. I certainly didn't take this while I still thought he was some sort of creeper.)

It was so nice to have my guy come out to meet me and walk me home the last couple of blocks. I am definitely glad I took the walk. I was definitely motivated by this blog. I told my husband I wanted to walk because I wanted to write about something other than the pizza :)

All in all, it was a good Sunday. Millie wasn't the only one relaxing and watching football. Go Lions (or whoever is playing the Rams)!!

On a completely unrelated note...I bought my first Christmas ornament of the 2016 season last weekend. It is hand painted. I like the texture.

I hope you all had a good weekend. What is on your agenda this week?