This ship has come sailing home...

Hello again devout WPCC Groupies

As usual I find myself searching for daylight and motivation this time of the year, and my pumpkin carving enthusiasm melts like the hollow carcass that is rotting away on my deck right now. Thankfully this is a team effort and Leanne is on my case so you don't have to be! She has rallied the judges and compiled the results and we have some interesting findings this year, oh and a winner too. 

We didn't go back and check the official records, but we believe this may be the first year that all of the adult contestants have received a vote for their pumpkin, proving that socialism isn't dead after all. I'm just waiting for the year that one of our young carvers takes the trophy out from under our noses with their agile little fingers and over-sized imaginations...  So congratulations to all the carvers for carving well enough to be distinguished from that of a child, and to draw the judges eye. 

Congratulations to our back-to-back champion Leanne for her wonderful "Terror on the Seas" carving, pumpkin #9. 

I have mixed emotions about this win, I'm happy that I can finally send along the trophy she won last year, and won't have to worry about cutting her precious time with it any shorter, but I'm also sort of regretting that deluxe pumpkin carving set I got her and the family for Christmas last year. You, nor I, may ever win again:(

History will never know what the Northern Canadian Judge would have done, had they picked on the very obvious RULE VIOLATION by Tadhg, who used more than one pumpkin in his entry, but I think it's safe to say it wouldn't have impacted who won this year!

To honour the efforts made by the esteemed judges in their role as dream killers and motivational speakers, here is a summary of their comments to our adult carvers:

#2 Janice with the "Pie-rat" pumpkin
Clever, not sure I want to eat that weird shaped pie though…

Very creative. I spent some time wondering what a cake mouse was but I'm slow.....now I get it.

Always credit to those who come up with a pumpkin which differs from the theme, but anyway is exactly what the honored co-chairs of WPCC did ask for.

That’s not scary. What’s scary is the number of mice in my house.

The literal cryptic deserves props for thinking outside the box.

#3 Tadhg with his Loch Ness Cheater

Right, because pirates originated in Scotland – clearly!

Best use of multiple pumpkins I have seen. Except as pumpkin ammo. That’s awesome. So second best.

Love the creativity of this design. So simple but very effective at striking fearrrrrr into even the most seasoned pirates. Great job!

#4 Vivian with a dandy boat

Classic, can’t beat a good jolly roger.

Makes me feel bad about my artistic skills. Good job.

Love this ominous silhouette against the setting sun. The angled cut around the sun made a very nice yellow to orrrrrrrrange glow. Very nice!

#5 Mel with her wrestling Pirate

Nice knife skills!

Great effort. If this was a hulk hogan carving contest you'd get my first vote for sure! (Pumpkin 13 was thinking along the same line).

Thanks for showing the brain of a pirate. Seeing that frontal lobe of a pirate explains a lot

Why did they carve Trump’s face on the pumpkin?

#6 Mark and his rum inspired Pumpkin

Well done! Bonus points for making me think of rum.

Not sure what a kracken is but I love the design. Nice carving and smooth curves.

Yes! Love it!

The kraken one because rum is what gets me through parenting.

#7 Laurie with a 3-D sword

Love the flaming boogers / moustache.

Might not be the winner technically, but who cares when they receive the gold medal? Gold medal is exactly what #7 become from this experienced judge. Pirat over the pirats and now with a little more gold in the inventory.

Skin fading is impressive. Again, I feel bad about myself.

I love the expression of this guy, the varied depths of the carrrrrrrving for different light intensity and the sheen of the sword ( great play on works in the name too!)

#8 Sarah and her emoji Pirate

Emoji pirate.

Love the cartoon style. There's a pumpkin I'd go drinking with

Amount of ‘floating’ pumpkin is admirable, I like the technical skill and forethought generated.

Playful and well carved it's a perfect example of pirate meets Halloween.

#9 Leanne with her Champion Carving

Sweet carving!

Wholly ship, its great.

Technically the pumpkin that deserves to win. Maybe I should have voted it as the winner? Anyway I give it a silver medal (with a center of gold)

Now I am starting to downward spiral. I’m pretty sure I can see the wind blowing those sails