Happy Halloween!

...no, I did not wear a costume to work. I did wear some skeleton earrings...that's about all I can handle these days.

The more important thing was to open the bags of candy and get them ready for tonight.  I don't get home until 7pm, so it's up to the Husband to hand out the candy until then. Out decorations are minimal--a skeleton on the door, a metal luminaria (with ghost silhouettes) to light the top of the driveway, and we're good. We didn't even get around to buying a pumpkin this year, much less carving one!

Today's eye candy is the sunrise. When I got back from the gym this morning, the sky was just lightening up:

A few minutes later, everything had an orange glow:

By the time I was ready to leave for work, it had started raining. Hooray! Our plants have been doing pretty well between the drip irrigation and using the water that we catch while the showers warm up. However, there are some plants that just haven't gotten enough water, and of course the reservoirs need a ton of water.

Up this weekend: I'm hoping for a bit more rain! And then there's the time change on Sunday. And as always, as many crafts as I can cram into a weekend! I do have a quilt that I need to finish...

With tomorrow being the start of November (November!), I have one month before Cookie Time. I haven't seen as many magazines about cookie recipes as last year or the year before. I did finally find my favorite magazine, Christmas Cookies from BHG, but it was a disappointment. BHG has been recycling a lot of their cookie recipes and even some of the photos, so I didn't see anything that was a fresh take on Christmas cookies. I know there are only so many cookie recipes, but there are lots of ways to decorate or present them. I'm just not seeing anything that catches my eye.

So, I might not have any new cookies this year, unless I find something in the next 30 days--I'll start looking this weekend. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. The cookies must not require refrigeration because I don't have any room for that. They also must be able to hold up well in the mail. I leave the chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies to the Daughter as she makes awesome versions of each. I'm not fond of snickerdoodles, so I don't make those either.

Here's what I made last year:

1. Biscotti, 8 kinds: chocolate, coconut, Espresso, Grand Marnier, gingerbread, fruitcake, pistachio-cranberry, peppermint
2. Cherry kisses
3. Chocolate Coffee ribbons
4. Christmas Spritz
5. Cut-out sugar cookies
6. Cut-out chocolate sugar cookies
7. Gingerbread cookies
8. Mexican Weddings cookies (I think I made a chocolate version, too, but I need to check)
9. Pistachio pinwheels
10. Polvorones
11. Spumoni slices

The items in bold are either cookies that are family tradition or cookies that I plan to make again this year. As for the rest, I think it might be time to cycle out some of them out. I hope I find some substitutes!
.