Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all! In our humble opinion, this is one of the best days of the year. We hope you all a enjoy a day that's not-so-spookily fun and festive!

The other day, I did my annual tradition of carving pumpkins. My sweet boy Evan supervised the event. I don't know what I would have done without his expert help.

While Evan did his inspections of the pumpkins, Thimble and Eddy stayed close to their treat basket. They know it'll be filled soon, so they just can't wait.

As for Tonks, she opted for a cozy time on our Halloween cats blanket. Her favorite image on this blanket is, of course, the calico with a witch hat.

While the kitties all worked on their own spooky preparations, last night my mom and I did our annual Halloween tradition of visiting the display of hundreds of jack-o'-lanterns at a pumpkin farm in a neighboring town. It's always my goal to find as many pumpkins carved like cats and dogs as I can. There were a number of kitty pumpkins this year.

My excitement for the below kitty is one that will likely only make sense to me, but even so, let me ramble for a moment. Just as my mom and I finished our umpteenth and what we thought was our final pass through the jack-o'-lantern display, my mom saw one far away, tucked behind some weeds in a spot we hadn't noticed before. She thought it was an owl, and so I zoomed in on my camera. Turns out, it's the kitty character from that fantasy series I've mentioned here many times on our blog. This pumpkin is carved in the likeness of the magical Persian tortie cat named Princess Donut, who wears a tiara.

Now, we did find a couple of dog pumpkins as well. Just as in the past couple of years, someone carved  none other than Scooby Doo himself.

I'm pretty sure this next one is a dog with one ear up and one ear down, and it's pretty darn cute.

And then there was the classic paw print, to represent all the animals.

Now, how about some random pumpkins with designs that stuck out to me?

That there dinosaur reminded me of pup Astrid in her dragon or dinosaur-ish Halloween costume. I was so happy to see it there, as well as all of the other pumpkins above and below.

Most years we see at least one or two pumpkins carved with Christmas trees or even reindeer. We didn't see those this year, but someone did carve Scrooge McDuck.

Glowing pumpkins weren't the only things haunting the woods at the pumpkin farm, though. We got a sighting of a little something else as well.

Talk about a Halloween scare!

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I'm disappointed that I still didn't finish my new Halloween doodles for today's post on the big day itself. I have 9 frightfully festive drawings all nearing completion, but none fully finished. I started the drawings nearly 2 months ago, but I fell a weeks behind on them when my parents' sweet kitty Trapper fell sick in September and then sadly passed last week. I was helping my parents give him injections and fluids at their house every day, not to mention that I often simply lose motivation to pursue my creative endeavors in times like that. Trapper was priority, though, and I'll never regret that.

I intended on finishing at least a couple or a few of the drawings last night, but I somehow failed to remember that my mom and I usually go through the annual pumpkin farm jack-o'-lantern display many times and so are usually there for a couple hours. I got home so late last night that I worked in my sketchbook for only a short time afterwards.

I'm just rambling now. I'm still debating what to do about this year's Halloween doodles, but for today's Halloween bash I do have some festive flashback drawings to share. I have not yet this spooky season shared a few of my favorite Halloween doodles from the past, and those are ones portraying my kind of Halloween night with my furbabies.

Last year I scribbled up this doodle, with all my costumed kitties watching a scary movie starring pup Astrid on Halloween night.

Below is a similar drawing I created a couple years prior to the one above.

And this one below is yet another similar one from quite a few years ago.

I love scribbling up doodles like those above, because they really do portray how I enjoy spending Halloween night. And that would be at home with my furry family, watching scary movies and eating candy.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

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Tip of the Day

Our final Halloween tip is to use this spooky holiday as a chance to spend some quality time with your furbaby. Whether you're already staying tucked inside on Halloween night, or whether you wait until after handing out candy, do consider getting cozy and festive with your kitty or pup. For example, you can cozy up with your kitty or pup on the couch and read a spooky story, if that's your kind of thing. Another option is to of course watch a spooky movie or TV show, if that strikes your fancy. Of course, as we mentioned yesterday, do keep in mind your furbaby's sense of hearing and comfort when selecting a scary movie and volume level. For something more calm yet spookily festive, consider sitting down with your furbaby to watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, or a certain famous orange tabby in Garfield's Halloween Adventure. Halloween night is of course also the perfect time to not only enjoy yourself some treats (of course without sharing anything toxic with your furbaby), but to also give your kitty or pup any festive toys or treats that you got for them.

Halloween may sometimes be considered a night filled with tricks and terrors, but you and your furbaby can instead use it to spend some quality time together in a festive yet safe manner. So, cuddle up on the couch and spend some cozy and festive time with that furbaby. Happy Halloween!