Carving capers completed

Carving it up - lots of background encouragement

Fail. Fail. Fail. Admitting that we didn't quite understand the task at hand but feel we would be much better in the future. There can be no excuses - we had all the tools, the fairy lights, Hocis Pocus movie in the background, books for templates and of course Dr Google. But when all was said and done, we literally couldn't cut it!

In a no holds barred analysis I can see where we went wrong. First mistake for me, undoubtedly, is the realisation this was a carving NOT a diorama. I went simple and cut out one rectangle, created myself a prison space, added two prisoners, completed with hand crocheted beanies, stuck in my LED light and poked in some bars. Interesting, but hardly a carving. Substitute my pumpkin for a shoe box and I was in the diorama classification! Boo hoo. 

Diorama rather than a carving

@Mac got much closer with his rendition of the apparently "classic" vomiting head. Rumour has it that everyone gives this a bash at some stage in their lives. Had to give @Mac extra kudos here because he delicately, or should that be indelicately, had some of the "vomit" coming out of the nose orifice of his pumpkin. But the honest assessment was that the holes were too small and light was not escaping to give a decent view of his efforts. Any suggestion that he change any aspect was shrugged off. Based on prior experience no doubt, he had a clear vision of a pumpkin definition of "hungover. " Mind you, I think I should had spotted him some red paint - because my last memory of him hungover was a post @Tony Barber party some 38 years ago where he came home with a red wine stain above his top lip and I literally had to carry him up the stairs.

Loved @Mac's attention to detail - squinty hung over eyes, tussled hair and vomit 🤢 coming from nostrils

As novices, what we totally missed was the importance of that original scoop. We were done and dusted and sitting back enjoying drinks and were patting ourselves on the back wondering what was taking the others so long. It was the scooping that was both the hold up and part of the reason for their success at the end. The more flesh of the pumpkin you can remove, the more translucent the skin and the more your design "pops." Oops, missed that finesse  by about 4 cms of pumpkin pulp! 

Pumpkin focus

@Josephine and @Johnny arrived with what I thought was a little mini go-bag because @Josephine was pregnant and you do have to be prepared a little ahead of time. How about this as the real story -  they unzipped it to reveal an electric drill, complete with a selection of bits and a cake beater. Battery operated, they plunged that sucker into the bowels of the pumpkin and ground away that slimy flesh leaving a thin, workable skin. Genius.

Not a traditional go-bag - a battery operated drill

The pumpkins came in all shapes and sizes and the resulting designs were all incredibly unique and as the evening progressed (and we were still sitting back sipping wine and munching on pizza) the concentration and intensity of everyone else actually amped up!

There were delicate and cute creations that were gently worked that featured intricate carving or detailed accessories and decorations.

Intricate work for cute finished products

Recognisable characters and/or scary faces from nightmares emerged in some of the larger creations when candles were added and Mickey's smile was outweighed by the toothy anticipation of others.

The frightening or funny faces

There were witches and bats streaking across the sky. The bat was suspended upside down, one witch had a pumpkin on her broom and the other was dodging the peaks of the mountain and the puffs of smoke from the chimney.

Witches and bats with details

And when all the mess was cleared up and the last seed collected for roasting, the finished products were lined up, admired, photographed and posted to social media for the annual vote. The voting is an impossible task - means, out of all the fine exhibits, you have to select just one. For a variety of reasons, I want to vote for each one. But rules are rules. So, I'm picking one.

Here it is. 

It was a clever little gem - and wins my vote because it was about association and connection - and as well as being very reflective of its creator - it absolutely engendered the most intense feeling of ANXIETY, FEAR and FRIGHT. This little creation was the stuff of genuine nightmares. (It also had a background story -  originally the creator may have had something a little more phallic in mind but cleaned it up for "the oldies.") Nonetheless, this weird and unlikely gem at number 9, depicting an engine failure warning light, gets my vote.

Can you imagine getting the "Engine Failure" warning light on the mountain roads of Whistler - now that would be mega scary! 

The full collection ready for voting

No doubt like many others around the world, our morning session had focused on the Australia vs New Zealand World Cup Cricket match where the #Aussies clinched the win in the last over. 

That was followed by a lunch gathering here of the pumpkin carvers, representing both #South Africa and #New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup Final. It was a fabulous atmosphere with another close result on offer to keep the fans literally on the edge of their seats and the roars echoing through the apartment.

Could have gone either way

A full house here all day and happy to report that no blood was spilt in any of the forms of competition throughout the day.  And just saying, it's not even #Halloween yet.