Officials, who declined to name the school, said a horrific event presented itself at a pumpkin-carving contest. A little girl, 6-year-old Lulu Milovitcha, was the victim in what researchers called a mermaid attack.

A local farm, Quarter Moon Growers, provided the school with 50 pumpkins for the contest. Milovitcha had not even started carving the orange vegetable when terror struck.

Just as Milovitcha was about to pierce the rind, razor-sharp teeth punctured the pumpkin from within. The teeth, protruding further by the second, split the fruit in half as Milovitcha shrieked in horror.

Curled up inside the orange mess was a black, barnacle-covered mermaid with 3-inch fangs.

The small creature used its flippers to jump onto Milovitcha, who screamed as the mermaid tangled itself in her curly red hair. A nearby parent came to the aid of Milovitcha and used plastic craft scissors to cut away the tangled mermaid.

The parent, a Mrs. Peggy Shamrock, tossed the mermaid into a snow-cone machine. The creature hissed and howled until pulled into a mixing attachment, upon which Shamrock watched as a scarlet snow-cone poured into a paper cup.

With the mermaid destroyed, Shamrock called UCCMR Crime Scene Researchers, who arrived on site within 15 minutes. Both eight-year-old Lulu Milovitcha and Peggy Shamrock avoided injury.

Lawyers for Milovitcha’s family are filing lawsuits against Quarter Moon Growers, whose farms span 80 seaside acres.

From below:

A cluster of wild California grapes found on a vine growing in Las Trampas.

‘Heavenly Blue’ morning glories are still blooming!

The morning glory vines are over 17 feet tall, and still growing. I can’t provide them with any more support because I don’t have a tall enough ladder.

‘Thai Hot Dragon’ chile peppers. They really are fiery hot.

‘Oregon Spring’ tomato plant still growing and putting out tomatoes.

Giant lemongrass:

Rose blooming by the morning glories.

Mesclun and lettuce in a cage. The cage keeps the squirrels, raccoons, and birds out 100%, plus the snails and slugs can’t find the plants because they’re 3 feet off the ground. The plants are finally taking off because of the cooler temperatures, rain, and lack of animal attacks.

Here’s a pretty unique waterfall.

This cascade is formed by the roots of a bigleaf maple growing through the creek bed. The water flows over the roots in a curtain and plunges into a somewhat deep pool.

This waterfall, like many others in the area, only flows during the rainy season. It’s completely bone dry right now.

These lady slippers are so interesting. The flowers are shaped exactly as the name would suggest. This particular flower was much richer in color than others nearby. Seen in the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

Anybody been there?

This is Berry Creek Falls, a 70-foot waterfall in Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The falls are surrounded by huge, majestic redwoods. An amazing place.

After seeing a recipe for rose-flavored crème brûlée on Dessert First’s blog, I decided to try the recipe with my French friend.

It ended up turning out wonderful. The vanilla cream was marked by the floral, spicy flavor of roses. Delicious.

This ice cream, made with lemon verbena leaves, was delicious. I urge any and all gardeners to invest in a lemon verbena plant – it’s possibly the best smelling herb I’ve ever encountered.

The leaves can be used in tea, jams, and many other things…like ice cream.