Halloween Tricks and Treats in September.....

If you weren't aware that the current month is September, you would swear that Halloween is just days away.  The shops in town are filled with witches and pumpkins and black cats and ghosts, and bales of hay and scarecrows are popping up all over the sidewalk outside most of the stores.          

Last year, the town had a scarecrow contest..... the best-dressed or most creative scarecrow got a prize of some sort..... and these scarecrow creations were in front of nearly all the shops.  My favorite display was in front of one of the many antique shops in town..... two scarecrow ladies, dressed up in hats and gloves, pearls and glasses, having a tea party for two right on the sidewalk in front of the shop. So cute..... those straw ladies just made you smile every time you walked by.

This entire town, no matter where you are, could be dropped back in the 1950s and it wouldn't be out of place at all.  When you go to the bank, as soon as you drive into the parking lot, you can hear American Bandstand-style music coming from the speakers..... not too loud, nothing obnoxious, just very quiet and quaint and nostalgic.  The people in the shops are so friendly, and if you've been into their shop more than once, then they either recognize your face or know your name and you're part of the family.

I went into one of the thrift stores today (always on the look-out for vintage Halloween decorations) and one of the ladies there had a unique fabric purse slung around her neck and shoulder.  I told her that it looked like a little Indian papoose and she showed me what was inside--- a tiny teacup Yorkie puppy that she just adopted.  So tiny.... and so terribly beautifully cute.  Her name is Lucy, and B has already bought her a teeny costume to wear for Halloween. 

Honestly, between Taco Bella down the road (J's off-the-charts cute Chihuahua) and now B's little Lucy, I have to positively control my mind to not want to get a dog, or a puppy, or anything with four little paws that barks and needs to be walked and brushed and trained and fed and loved.  "We don't need to be tied down with a dog now......"   So sayeth my husband, the dog-voice of reason.  And he has got to be the voice of reason on this issue because I just go out of my mind over every little dog that I see.

Now where was I....... looking for Halloween decorations in this sleepy little town that dropped out of the 1950s sky and landed in the Hill Country of Texas..............  One can never have enough puppies.... Pumpkins!  I meant to say pumpkins..... One can never have too many pumpkins.........