It doesn't seem possible that the summer is gone and fall is here, to say the least its been a strange summer weather wise. Now with fall upon us, its a sure sign of the upcoming holidays with Halloween leading the way. A few years ago I was introduced to the strange but unique gourd. After doing research on them as to how to grow, dry, and clean them, I've come along way in the decorating part of them. In my research I have found ways to decorate them not just with paints but with beads and even carving them out like I would sawing wood with a scroll saw. I still have quite a few gourds left to clean up and decorate into what ever my imagination can come up with. The gourd to the right below is one of my halloween specials. This was done freehand but the idea was gotten from one of my garden catalougs advertising gourd seeds. I just happen to have the right gourd and was pretty pleased with the outcome. You could go so far as to carve out a gourd and make an access hole in the back to put in a small lite to give it an illuminating effect. I've done many gourds over time and some of them can be seen on my craft web site at www.geocities.com/onelovnhart, including this one. I've had freinds and neighbors suggest things to make and have had lots of fun trying to accomplish them. Another gourd I did up was one of an alien. Yes my friends tend to come up with some off beat ideas but they always seem to make a big hit when I have the project finished. Below is my alien, this too could have a hole cut in the back and a lite inserted to give it an errie look. Gourds are really easy to grow and also have such a huge variety of shapes, sizes and species (for lack of better terminology). I do hope to be able to grow some more next year providing the weather doesn't take out my whole garden again with a hail/thunderstorm.