Counting down ...
... as the October 31 frenzy continues. These pumpkins are stacked outside one of our neighbourhood supermarkets. California, I read in a mag, with Ohio and Pennsylvania, produced more than 9000 lbs (4000 kg) of pumpkins in 2005.

They're not exactly cheap, are they? Considering you hollow them out, chuck all the guts away (you can dry and eat the seeds), and eventually throw the carved shell away.
You have to time it right, too, because after all your hard work, the hollowed pumpkin soon starts to go mouldy and rot, especially on Santa Ana days here when it's very warm and sunny. So you try to do it early enough to take part in the pre-Halloween fun, but no so early that you greet your trick-or-treaters with a mess of blue fur and slime at the front door.

:: You can get creamy white versions of these golden pumpkins this year - a real decorator touch.

:: These are play-tombstones, from Target, that you can erect in your front garden ...

:: Must fly! Work to be done!