Happy Halloween

Welcome Kittens & Dawgs! On the first Wednesday of this month, I shared a sky view shot from Water Rock Knob on the Blue Ridge Parkway. My good friend, Tom from SPMM, commented that I should transform it into a spooky night sky for Halloween.  I just want y’all to know I take suggestion when inspired and run with it; using Pixelmator and borrowed resources from Brusheezy I created an eerie scene.

What are your plans for Halloween? Nothing exciting here, other than we’re going to enjoy the home-made caramels to dip apple slices into after I melt it. Yummy good! We might even watch a fun spooky flix. 🙂 Moving along to this week’s art challenge.

Art prompt ‘JOLT’

I decided to give a try at sketching a rainy, stormy night sky using my iPad, Apple pencil, and Procreate drawing app for Scribble Picnic. I remember many Halloween nights when it rained but it never stopped us from going door-to-door. Oh, the fun we had!

Jolt of lightning

This makes me think of the Peanuts comics with Snoopy plugging away at his story on an old vintage typewriter.  I feel the wannabe novelist in me stirring, screaming “GIVE ME LIFE! GIVE ME LIFE!”

Letter prompt “Q”

Today, I will attempt that quest of pulling out the novelist buried inside for the ABC Wednesday challenge. I heard that no snickers please… unless it’s the chocolate kind. 🙂

It was a dark, stormy night.  The empty room filled Quintessa with a queasiness as the last quivering tear dropped off her cheek with thoughts of the quarrel that took place between Quinton and her.  Had she been too quick to accuse Quinn regarding the evidence of the lipstick stain on his shirt collar clutched in her hand? Quinn’s quirky personality to brush off her discovery only made her quake with rage followed with a series of angry words no sooner spoken regretted.  Her mama always warned her ugly words can’t easily be taken back but that didn’t stop her. Quinn never gave her cause to doubt him, so why the sudden insecurities? Coolheadedly, he walked away without saying a thing to avoid allowing his inflamed emotions get the better of him. A quality Quintessa didn’t possess. At least one of them knew how to restrain from using the mouth as a weapon. “Dang, will I not ever learn to not let my Irish temper get the best of me?” Dropping the shirt to the floor, she quietly went after him to repair the quandary.

Thanks Mary for hosting the month long daily song challenge!

The next two days DH is using comp time, so I won’t be around. I know y’all are getting tired of me disappearing in Blogosphere but it’s DH folks. I wanna spend time with him. Of course, I hope you’ll still join me tomorrow for BoTB! Now,  y’all have a spooktacular evening and be safe! 

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48 comments

  1. Loved your art work, Cathy! It was so spooky!! Out here, the kids had a great time scaring everyone and going around gathering sweets and playing their favourite tricks. I hope you had a great time over Halloween and enjoyed some quality time with the DH. Thank you for hosting #WW and wish you a wonderful weekend. 🙂

  2. Hi Cathy,
    I like your JOLT! and that Halloween creating is wonderfully done. Your story was a quirky, quick read that I also enjoyed. Have a wonderful weekend.

    1. Elizabeth,

      Why thank you, dear! I appreciate reading that you enjoyed this post. I do so love getting creative and this week was a good time to present a double dose of it. Hey, that work for Michael’s other theme ‘double’ choice, no? I’m glad you stopped by for a visit. Have a good weekend!

    1. Serena,

      Thanks! It was an interesting word choice and loads of fun creating a dark and stormy night sketch. 🙂 BTW, your gravatar profile does not list your site. Assuming you have a blog, you may want to update it so folks can find you easier.

    1. Roger,

      Thanks for visiting. You may not know it but your gravatar does not list your website for me to find my way back to you. 🙁 I hope you subscribed to my comments and see this but hopefully, I will accidentally figure out how to get to you. 126 trick or treaters is a lot. We never get them but that’s fine by us. I don’t think it’s safe for kids to be out after dark and sometimes people want to harm kids. You don’t hear about it often but it happens and one time is way too many times. Have a good day/evening!

      PS: All it took was going to Google and I found you by using part of your email address. I think I could be the next Nancy Drew. lol

    1. Meldy,

      Thank you for the opportunity to put my quasar…my brain to use in this challenge. 🙂 It was fun creating a scene through words using the Q-letter prompt.

  7. Ha, good to see someone else interpret “jolt” as lightning, I see! 🙂 Procreate is a great app – you will love it more as you use it as it a fabulous way to draw boldly, knowing that one can always erase and redraw. I suggest it actually makes on a less timid, more confident draftsman so keep at it. This is looking good. Thanks so much for playing along.

    no storm in the end but as the near by town thought there would be one most kids already did their trick or treating last night and the streets in town are empty. As it is, we are 9 miles out in the country so nothing at all going on here. I am just happily taking a class online and looking at all your pieces for this picnic! 🙂

    1. Michael,

      DH bought the Procreate app for my iPad Air years ago but I didn’t enjoy using it without the pencil, then last year DH got me an iPad Pro for our anniversary and I hinted frequently how I’d love to have the pencil. He took the strong hinting and got one for my birthday. One of the main reasons I wanted to use these digital tools is so I could erase and manipulate my designs with more ease to strengthen my skills. This minimizes frustrations typically associated with the mechanical process. It’s good that you see the value of such a device for someone like me.

      We didn’t get any rain Halloween night but it did move into our area this afternoon and will leave sometime tomorrow. I’m ready for the sun to return. Thanks for visiting!

    1. Rain,

      I’m delighted you liked my spooky night sky for this week’s theme. I need to spend more time drawing anything that captures my imagination. I just love seeing what others such as you come up with, now it’s time to head your way. Thanks for dropping by!

  9. Halloween is my favorite holiday!
    Thanks for sharing yours with us!

    Lisa

    1. Lisa,

      I know many people who regard Halloween as their favorite holiday. I liked it more when I was a kid. These days it’s just like any other day. I do like the candy that we buy and never hand out. lol

  10. Great Halloween post today! I really like that stormy sketch. The lightning patterns in my area are so different from when I lived down south in Texas. Here the lightning usually streaks across the sky in harmless flash of brightness, rather than jolting down toward the earth. In Texas, that stuff comes down in crashing/crackling walls! It’s quite scary and fascinating at the same time.

    Like most people from my generation, the first time I ever heard this song was the popular cover sung by Reba McEntire. It wasn’t until I got older that I was introduced to the original, but I really like both versions and can’t choose a favorite. Great pick! 😀

    1. Melody,

      We get flashes of lightning to the ground here in East Tennessee. It is scary. Thankfully, we don’t see a lot of it doing that. Usually, when we get really bad lightning storms they often occur at night. I found Reba’s cover in recent years but I don’t actually remember releasing it in 1991. I guess I had my mind on being a busy mommy of two toddlers. 🙂 She does a good job, but Vicki does it better. Did you know that Vicki’s husband (Bobby Russell) wrote the song but didn’t like it and decided to not record it? Vicki felt differently about the song and used it on her 1973 album with the same name. It was a one-hit wonderful for Lawrence. I bet her husband hated his decision to not use it.

    1. Michael,

      Oh that’s good! You know I thought about using ‘quagmire’ but couldn’t figure out how to write it. However, you saw the value in the story’s ending as such which I hadn’t thought of. 🙂

  12. You did come up with a scary scene, and the storm drawing looks like it was taken from real life.

    Nice story, and played out too often. Many of us have a difficult time controlling our tongues.

    Hope you and your DH have a fabulous time the next few days!

  15. TRICK OR TREAT Girlfriend! I’m so happy you enjoyed my pics of Halloween past! I thought it would be fun to post! Dave’s been a sweetheart helping me so much, and the next thing is a shot in my back. Should’ve had it the other day, but they decided to give me one where they have to knock me out. Guess it’s pretty painful which is fine with me. I still have trouble walking for my leg is still numb by the knee and thigh area and swollen there too a lot. I just don’t understand it, but right now I just want the pain to go away & I can deal with the rest. Well enough of that.. time to get movin’ a bit. I walk around the house every hour on the hour.. We get a few treaters these days, but not many… I like to see the little ones climbing up my stairs to try to say Trick or Treat. I keep the porch light on until it gets really dark and then it goes off hoping all will get the hint. Besides Charlie makes the big ones go away hahaha… Love you girl! HUGS

  16. Hi Cathy; Fabulous Halloween graphics! We stopped participating years ago, because it’s way too chaotic with dogs in residence. Clever “Q” paragraph as well. Your talents know no bounds! 😀 Enjoy your time off with DH. and have a Happy Halloween!

  18. It’s been 20 years since I’ve lived in this sleepy area. I suspect that most have participated in the various trunk or treats, but I have some goodies on hand, just in case a few stragglers stop by. Thanks for joining me for RocktoberMusicFest this year. Looking forward to next year!

  19. Yummy to melted caramel. That sounds like a good time. Happy Halloween and love the spooky image you created especially that creepy face in the upper right hand corner. I love your dark and stormy night. You created a grea5 look with he outlines as well. Your story is a good one especially using all the Q letters

    1. Jacqui,

      You haven’t gotten your iPad yet? Girl, do get one! You’ll love playing with it. It’s such a versatile device. I love mine!! Thanks for your sweet remarks on my sketch!

  21. I always worry about the kids getting fed something awful. People can be so evil at times. If you don’t like Halloween and trick or treat then hide like we do. Don’t hurt the kids.

    We’re going to hide on our boat tonight. There won’t we a trick or treater anywhere.

    Love your spooky artwork.

    Have a good time with DH. I know you will.

    Have a fabulous Wordless Wednesday and Halloween. Love you. ♥

  23. I love your sketch, Cathy! Hey, great job on your endeavor using the letter “Q”! Have a spooktacular Halloween. 🎃 👻

    1. Eugenia,

      I’m glad you liked the “Q” attempt. Let me hop over to visit you before I forget. It’s been a wild week and it’s not even over yet.

  30. Hi, Cathy!

    Happy Halloween and ABC Wednesday, dear friend! Wowie, I am so glad you took me up on my suggestion to tweak that picture of the mysterious cloudy sky. As I predicted, you were able to transform it into a delightfully spooky H-ween scene. Way to go!

    It has been decades since I even thought about melted caramels as a dip, a treat from my youth. The thought of apple slices coated in caramel is making my mouth water. This is our first Halloween living at a different residence, and our neighbors have informed us that only a handful of tricker-or-treaters will come calling tonight. That astounds me because, at our old address, upwards of 300 kids showed up at our door every Oct. 31.

    I like your sketch of jolts from lightning bolts. Like you, I went out on trick-or-treat night in all kinds of weather. Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stayed this trick-or-treater from the swift completion of his appointed rounds. 🙂

    I enjoyed the scene you created with the “Q” prompt, dear friend. I can relate to the lovers’ spat between Quintessa and Quinton. Mrs. Shady is part Irish and has an Irish temper. The only way to end a dispute with her is to withdraw. 🙂

    I always liked that Vicki Lawrence hit single. I have been seeing promos for her new TV sitcom The Cool Kids. Do you watch that show?

    I hope you and DH enjoy your time together. I will surely be here tamale for your next band battle. Thanks for the shout out and have a safe and happy Halloween, dear friend Cathy!

    1. Tom,

      There are subdivisions in town that get a hoard of trick or treaters. First off I don’t think it’s a good idea for parents to let their kids go door-to-door to just anyone’s house. We read last night of a kid who ate some crack (I think that’s what it was anyhow) in his/her candy. There are too many evil people in the world who are bent on hurting the innocent. Kids are easy targets. Second off, I wouldn’t want to hand out candy all night long furthermore why would I want hundreds of people on my property? Call me a Halloween Scrooge but I just don’t like it.

      Maybe, you can talk Mrs. Shady into making the home-made caramels for you. 🙂 It’s an easy recipe. I did bump the cooking time until the candy thermometer read 246º before removing it from the burner. That helped to make the caramel a bit more chewy but I think it still needs to go just a wee longer. Next time I may go for 250º.

      I don’t know if we ever had snow for Halloween but it sure was cold enough sometimes. However, I do recall rain vividly on a number of times. I do remember it snowing when our kids were small. I think it was 1994 the year DS was born. We drove across town to take them to see their auntie & uncle and later, we went to only a handful of our closest neighbors. We were very selective. It pays to be extra careful.

      No, I have not seen Vicki Lawrence’s new sitcom. I do recall seeing a promo for something and I thought the actress looked like Vicki but I didn’t catch the name of the show or stars. I’ll check it out, though. Thanks!

      Well…I’m running late and have some catching up to do before I vanish in Blogosphere for a few days. Have a safe and fun Halloween, my friend!

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