Peter peter pumpkin eater

Leif is getting old enough that I understand 90% of what he says. Then there is the other 10% of the time.

Leif: "I can't wait to jump on Christmas in my pumpkin!"

NM: "Huh?"

Leif: "I can't wait to jump on Christmas in my pumpkin!" (Looking at me like I am a complete idiot.)

Speaking of pumpkins... Leslie asked about my giant pumpkin. I kept thinking I would post about it, but it was growing at such a serious rate that everytime I took a picture and got it uploaded, it was even bigger. Leading me to believe I needed to take another picture. And so on. Evidently they routinely grow 10 lbs a day and some have been known to grow 40 lbs a day.

So here is the current picture:

The large one is 82" circumference (in standard pumpkin measuring speak... there is a whole new community I am being introduced to) from stem to blossom end parallel to the ground. It is 48" ground to ground on one direction and 51" ground to ground the other direction. When you plug these numbers into the standard OTT weight calculation we find that my behemoth is 132 lbs (+/- 6 lbs). Circumference calculations put it at 165 lbs (+/- 16 lbs). (My poor PChem students lived and breathed error analysis for two semesters.)

My goal is to keep the vines alive until mid-September. At that point it can be cut from the vine and stored in cool, dry storage until carving date for Halloween. (Anyone know a really great carver??)

AB asked me tonight who exactly was going to move my giant pumpkin. I told him I thought my husband was strong enough... not at 10 lbs a day additional he tells me.