Hodgepodge, eh?

Welcome to a middle of the week, middle of the month, Wednesday Hodgepodge! Raise your hand if you 'get' my post title today. If you've answered the questions, add your link to the party, then go say hi to the neighbors. Here we go-

1. What's your favorite time of day? Why?

Early morning. I love the quiet, the color of the sky at sunrise, and most especially that first cup of coffee. I love the way the whole day lies ahead of me, filled with possibility. 

2. Waffle iron, toaster, coffee maker, mixer, blender...which small appliance most needs replacing at your house?

Can you tell I recently attended a bridal shower? I'm going with a blender because we are currently without one. 

3. It's National Grouch Day (October 15th)...what's something that makes you feel grouchy?

I'm kind of like a toddler, in that if I haven't had enough sleep I can get a little grouchy. Also, like a toddler my move is much improved with a nap. 

Do we actually need a day devoted to all things grouchy? Hoping there's a National Be Cheerful Day on the calendar somewhere too! 

4. Ever been to Canada? Is that a country you'd like to visit? According to Trip Advisor, the top ten best destinations in Canada are-Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Victoria, Calgary, Niagara on the Lake, Niagara Falls, Whistler, and Halifax.Which city would you most like to see?

I've been to Prince Edward Island which I absolutely loved (and wrote about here), and then en route home we drove down through New Brunswick into St. Andrew by the Sea, St. John, the Bay of Fundy, and the Reversing Falls, before heading into Maine. It was a wonderful trip. Our friends who live on PEI have a daughter getting married next summer, so we are making plans for a trip back that way in 2015.

I've never been to any other cities in Canada, but would happily see them all. Tops on my list at the moment are Vancouver and Whistler. 

5. What was your favorite food (or one of your favorites) when you were a child? Is that still a favorite?

Bologna, egg salad, and marshmallow fluff (not all together!).  

I could not begin to tell you when I last had bologna, but I'm pretty sure it's been decades. I don't eat marshmallow fluff these days either, unless it's in the form of Christmas fudge, and even that I haven't had in years. Egg salad is still one of my favorite foods. 

6. Do you cry easily?

Yes.  I sometimes wish I didn't, but tears form pretty easily for me, both the happy and the sad. 

7. Have you started your (gasp!) Christmas shopping? If so when, and how much? If not, when will you even begin thinking about it?

I've started, mostly just a few smaller stocking stuffer gifts, but they're our favorite anyway, so important. And it wasn't so much a deliberate decision to get started early, as it was happening upon items that made me think of a friend or family member and instead of doing what I normally do...say I'll come back later...I bought. We have a wedding happening right after Christmas this year, so I feel like it would be in everyone's best interests if I'm a little bit ahead of the game in holiday preparation. See question #3-ha! 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I'm going to recap the bridal shower in tomorrow's post. It was too much to squeeze into a random thought, even for me. ahem. So how about I post a fall foliage shot here instead, because we can never have too many of those, can we? 

It was a gray drizzly day here on Tuesday, but the colors are glorious all the same. Here's what I see outside my kitchen window-

...outside my family room window-

...when I pull up the driveway into the garage-

"Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn." ~Elizabeth Lawrence