They Took One Piece and Ran!

51 degrees - Nice, sunny, cold, dry with old cobwebs to be collected.

It was a bit of a panic toward the end of the project as hurricane Sandy departed the area and devastated those unfortunate folks living north of us - we are thinking of you.  Sandy only gave me one full day of sun to setup the fake pillars, iron work, entry sign, dead branches, gravestones and markers, and all of the props that go along with Halloween.  I'll let the pictures from the last couple days do the talking.

The previous day of painting in the garage and out of the rain.

The only tombstone that I made from the foam material - need more time. 

I used a total of four paint colors that I mixed to create the faux effect on the pillars.

Bought this small skull and matched the tombstone colors.

The completed painting - tried to make them look real but aged.

Then, Nanna and Bobcat come down to scare the girls with their morning hair and to help setup on Halloween.  It was Bobcat's birthday too!

Happy birthday Bobcat.

Halloween morning happened too soon - yikes.  Time to set things up.

Leveling out the pillars and aligning them in case the city needs to do an inspection.

On the strait and level.

Nanna checking to see if she is out of film.

Okay, I've been asked several times over the past two weeks when is it going to be done and when am I going to finish decorating the playhouse.  I was then told that my daughters were planning to have friends over and everything needs to be done in time.  No pressure Dad.  Later on Halloween day I received a call from Devon saying that I need to pick her and her friends up from school because they are not all allowed to take the bus to our house.  A lot of running around ensued and finally they were back home helping with the bats and cobwebs.

Kids setting the candles in the grave glasses and spiders all around.

There's the old grey raven and even a crow sitting on the cross.

A very shallow grave.

Happy bats!

Getting ready for the first trick'or.

Yes, it got to be a little cold.

We are freezing!

Kids take their places to scare the little ones.

The plant even looks a little scary.

Greetings...come on in.

The kids did all of this.

Took the ladder away - don't want kids running up there during the evening.

Ahhhh...relaxing a little before it gets busy.

I think they saw this in a movie.

Snacks next to my picture...back when I smoked.

A little AB negative for those that don't scream or cry.

Great actors from the day.

Looking back it was obviously a fun day and I regret not taking any pictures of the many visitors that we had in our little cemetery.  I'll finish up this blog with a few pictures from the day of cleanup when the morning sun made things a little less frightening.

The morning after with the fire pit that kept us warm.

Still standing after the kids marched through.

Ready for the city inspection.

Now you can see the entry and the walk up the steps.

The Grey Raven Cemetery with lantern.

And now I look forward to next year when it will be 2013 and super scary.  Today we packed up the pillars and other items and moved everything up to the attic where it will sit and hopefully acquire a few new cobwebs over the next year.

Kate, Devon, Cece, Adriana, Lulu, Slim, Lauren and Frank.

And Athena who spent much of the evening in the tree - scary on a new level.

Thanks to all the little helpers...