Can Ye Believe It? We Are On the Way to Thanksgiving. Penniwig's Is Up!

The days fly by, fly by, the older I get.

And now we are heading into another season I love: Winter. It is an underappreciated time of year, I do believe.

Please stop by my new blog, Penniwig's, where I will be posting not only vintage and original graphics for Thanksgiving, Winter, Christmas, and more, but will also be sharing recipes, folklore, nearly lost crafts, and attempting to resurrect the old-time art of elocution. Tonight I recited Poe's The Raven from memory to much applause (my husband and son clapped), and I'm determined to make all of you suffer with me as we learn, together me dearies, Longfellow's lovely poem I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.

My first graphic is already up over there, waiting for ye!

And perhaps ye will be so kind as to continue to hold a good thought for my little cat Hadji as he fights to recover, and for me, as I try to get a new teaching position. Many thanks.

Please tell your friends about olde Penniwig's!

Oh! It's A Halloween Party!

Consider yourself invited to my Virtual Party! A Merry Hallowe'en to Ye!

I don't know who made the above animation, but it sure is cute!

I'm serving hot cider and sherbet island punch (which I am naive enough to believe is very elegant) for the drinks...I have vintage "Vaseline" glasses and tin cups both, take your pick...it's your little party favor, so choose one you'd like to take home with you...

Enjoy your choice of cheeses arranged on my very best but severely mismatched old china plates...

Salad with champagne dressing and THREE KINDS of croutons (now we're living!)...

By the way, I just LOVE your costume! If you get a chance, tell our readers what you're wearing! I'm a Rose Witch, of course...

Help yourself to a big bowl of hot and sour spooky soup...with whole boiled eggs floating in it for the "ghosts"...

Of course you're saving room for the pumpkin and pecan pies, aren't you?

What??? You didn't see the chips and dips? There is a GALLON of guacamole and French Onion, dears!

And who can't fit in a few meringues or a bit of fudge?

I have pumpkins for everyone to carve, and a little party game using Venn Diagrams...yes, let's get some math into the party! Aren't teachers irritating?!

Shall we sit by the outdoor fireplace and enjoy the flickering of candles in our jack o'lantern creations? Good! A bit more cider?

Thank you for coming, dear blog readers...come back by the blog tomorrow and see the new Winter Graphics address...Fare Thee Well till then, from me, Holly Rose!



And click the thumbnail for the larger game you can print...once the bigger image loads, you can click again on most browsers to see it full size, or just save it or print it out...it fits on a regular piece of paper.

Another Hadji Update, & A Job & Halloween Remark

Stopped by the vets' again to see Hadji, he is now very much awake and he is heartbreakingly miserable. I wonder what he thought, for me to show up and then leave again; it felt like a knife in my heart. His eyes are dilated with pain, and he was crouched in the litter box, hiding. He let me pet his little head, but when I had to go, he just looked like he was in despair. I love these vets, but their clinic is a rather dilapidated old house, and my poor Hadji was in a little cage right across from some barking dogs, argh. We have dogs here at the house, but he knows them. These were strange barking dogs, not his friend-dogs. Hadji was feral and he really only wants to be around me, my husband, and my son. Everyone else terrifies him.

The vet told me to be of good cheer, as it looks better for Hadji than it did, and that he's got a good chance, and that he will forget all this and be happy again soon. I hope this is true.

Today was my last day at work. Tomorrow was supposed to be it but they got extra-sick of me and told me to just leave. And this is after my principal tried to shake me down for books that are missing out of my class. These books were stolen (including 2 of my own and a calculator) while I was 600 MILES AWAY FOR TRAINING and she's trying to pin the blame on me. It's just a crazy-making place.

For the send-off, the kids were super mean and nuts. If I got called horrible names once, I got called names a thousand times. Told to F-off, to shut up, to go away, all the usual love, LOL. But the sweet kids there were crying, poor things. Why their parents send them to that awful place is beyond me. Now, those sweet kids, I will surely miss them and I do worry, as they have not hired another teacher in my place, but merely elevated the front office clerk into an Insty Teacher. Why? Well, fake teachers are cheaper than real ones, and also, they could not find another certified teacher in a city of 200,000 to work there. Wonder why...

As to Halloween, I really should have saved those vintage witches for the big send-off. Instead, I'll be posting something I drew, and the comparison between the vintage stuff and my own feeble attempts is painful! But it's all been done for the love of Halloween and the love of sharing with you, my readers.

Another Pretty Witch from Long Ago

Here is the sister of the previous graphic. I wish I knew the identity of the artist who did this lovely depiction. I love the vintage stuff.

Right-click to save. Hope you enjoy.

HADJI UPDATE: He is resting at the vets' clinic and they say they have great hope for him. He was out of it when I visited and didn't seem to know me, but I think on some level he did know it was me. I am going again tomorrow and I just love him so much. He is so brave. This little kitty will get up on your leg if you kneel with one knee up, and he will just give you tons of kisses right on the lips! He has a loving heart. Truly, he is one of the most precious kitties I have ever rescued, and those who came to see him and didn't want to adopt him because his face is "ugly" really missed out on a great cat and I'm so glad he's mine forever.

DOTD Festive Skull Free Graphic, With Pretty Witch

Here is a Day of the Dead skull. I usually make some of these sugar skulls each year, but this year, with all the mishmash at work, I didn't.

Also included is a vintage image of a lovely witch that I tried to clean up a bit and make all shiny and nice. I just love those roses behind her ears and the petticoats peeking out of her pretty dress. No one can beat these artists of yesteryear.

Don't forget to watch for my new blog. I'm trying to finish up the design and it will "launch" on November 1st!!!