It's been cooling off a bit around here, but that didn't stop Bruce and I from going to Movies Under the Stars at the Clubhouse. Everyone brought lawn chairs and/or blankets (though most people were using the blankets to cover up with after the sun went down). We saw Planes, Trains, and Automobiles with Steve Martin and John Candy - always hysterical no matter how many times I see it.
When we go on hikes, I always see a ton of wildflowers, so I decided to pick some of the dead flower heads and spread them around the public space behind our house. Right now it's mostly dirt with a bit of scrub grass that's managed to flourish in the summer heat. Hopefully next year, some of the seeds will sprout and we will have wildflowers to look at off our back deck.
I went back to Hudson Gardens to do some more biking and sketching. The place looks totally different with all the pumpkins and Halloween decorations. The Cat-in-the-Hat and the Pumpkin Grinch are now installed at the entrance. They make a great photo op - so much so, that I had to wait quite a while for people to move away so I could get a clear shot.
One of my favorite spots was the parade of famous celebrities carved into pumpkins. The one of Tim Burton seemed to fit in well, since he is known for producing horror films like Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and Corpse Bride. But I wasn't quite sure what Bradley Cooper or Sonny & Cher had to do with Halloween. Maybe the artist just liked them, though you had to have a good imagination (or read the name tag) to know which pumpkin was Bradley Cooper.
In a nod to the upcoming winter season, they had a field of pumpkins and penguins covered in glittery snow. I bet at night, these would really sparkle. This would have been fun to draw in my sketchbook, but it's a little hard to paint white with watercolor.
In family news, Janet sold her house. It was only on the market for about 10 hours before she got an offer $15,000 over the asking price. That was quite an accomplishment since her realtor set the initial price $35,000 higher than a house that sold on her street last month. Guess she's going to have to pitch a tent at her new house, because they still haven't given her a definite completion date yet.
