Pre Decorated

I really love decorating for the season, especially Halloween. I'm gearing up for getting it done this weekend, but I thought I'd show you what is already there, before I even begin. I'll admit it, it has been there all year. So this isn't truly decorating, just part of the normal house decor at this point. First of all is a witch broom. Zach used this as part of his Harry Potter costume years ago, but it has hung around. It was formerly stored in the garage with the Halloween costume box. Ever since we started construction it has been bouncing around the front yard in various places. But it has been in the flag holder bracket for quite a while. I stuck it there to get it out of the way so it wouldn't get busted up too much. And there it has stayed. I like walking under it as I come into my front door.
Here is a cool picture of it against the clouding up sky. It is actually supposed to rain this weekend. Which would be good I guess. I think this picture makes it look like my house is flying on the broom. I suppose it would like that. Maybe not though, not all houses have wanderlust, thank goodness.
The other perma-decoration is the gigantic grapevine wreath my mom made for me from her grape trimmings. It is kind of an oval, pretty loosely woven with lots of spaces to tuck stuff in. Last year I filled it up with bay leaves for the winter holidays, it looked really pretty, but of course has turned brown and decrepit just in time for Halloween. Doesn't it look spooky? I hadn't noticed that until today. The Indian corn is from some Thanksgiving decorations that got ruined by water spillage during construction, so I stuck them in there for more "atmosphere".

I was thinking I'd burn the dried out bay leaves as part of a Samhain fire ritual. If it is safe to have a fire by that point, that is.