Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Hodgepodge Blessings

Welcome to this pre-Thanksgiving Hodgepodge. I'm thankful for everyone who visits here on Wednesdays, for all of you here today who keep this mid-week hop a fun and friendly corner of the Internet. If you've answered the questions today, add your link at the end of my post. Be sure to visit the person who linked before you, because that's part of what keeps this train chugging along. Happy Thanksgiving!


1.What's something you wish you knew how to do, but feel like it's too late to learn?

Speak a foreign language like I was born there. 

2. Your least favorite thing to shop for? Why?

Bathing suits. Will all women answer the same way? Why are they so weirdly sized? Why do all women know you need to buy a size larger than your normal size? Why are they so teeny tiny? Why didn't I exercise more in my 30's? 

3. How has the celebration of Thanksgiving today changed from when you were growing up?

One thing I like about Thanksgiving is the way it doesn't change a whole lot from year to year. Our menu has been tweaked very little, and the day is still spent happily in the kitchen preparing a comfort food feast. We eat late afternoon and follow that up in the evening with leftovers in the form of a turkey sandwich. I make my mom's cornbread dressing and all is right with the world. 

For me it's still about family and friendship and feeling grateful. The sound of the Macy's parade is background noise to a busy kitchen while fabulous smells fill the house. Later there's football and maybe a walk, a nap, and a board game of some sort. It's definitely about Thanksgiving and not at all about Christmas. It's about people not things. We never put our tree up before Thanksgiving and we would never think about hitting the stores on this day that seems meant to give us a reprieve from a very noisy world. 

4. What's something that when other people see it, reminds them of you? Explain.

The first thing that popped into my head was hedgehogs. When my girls see hedgehogs they think of me. It's just one of those now funny family happenings going back to the time I accidentally grabbed a dead hedgehog from our pond WITH MY BARE HANDS thinking it was a leaf and upon realizing what I had IN MY BARE HANDS proceeded to totally and completely freak. Now you're probably wondering how I could mistake a hedgehog for a leaf, but it was floating on it's back and shudder. Shudder shudder shudder.

5. If you could guest star in a TV show, what would it be and why?

Chopped. I think it would be fun to fill in as a guest judge. 

6. Have you ever farmed or spent any time on a farm? Are there farm stands in your little corner of the world and do you make it a point to shop there? If so, what item do you particularly like to buy from a roadside stand or farm shop?

My dad grew up on a farm near Denver so yes, as a child I spent some time there. I wrote a little bit about those days in a post you'll find here


That's my baby sister and I just hangin' out in the cow pasture back in 1960something. 

Most recently hubs and I lived in a rural corner of New Jersey so lots and lots of farms and farm stands. I made it a point to shop there in season, but most shut down after the pumpkin harvest. In summer months I'd stop almost every day and buy fresh from the farm corn and tomatoes and then whatever fruit or other veggies happened to look good. Corn on the cob is my favorite thing to buy from a farm stand. 

I'm happy to say there are a lot of farms and farm stands in our new little town too, so I'll continue buying from the grower whenever I can. 

7. What's something you've experienced recently that made you feel a sense of awe or wonder?

Not to sound like a broken record here, but this-


Pretty Place. I dare you to stand on the mountainside at sunrise and not feel the good kind of small. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

"By surrendering ourselves to quiet communion with God, by resting for a while from all our thinking and acting and serving, by leaving all things for once in our Heavenly Father's hands, secret wounds are healed, gathering unbelief is dispelled, and displaced armor refined." Oswald Chambers

I read this quote earlier in the week on someone's Instagram feed, and it resonated with me so deeply. I love the wisdom of Oswald Chambers. My prayer as we enter this Advent season is that each one of us finds time for rest from the thinking and the doing, time for quiet communion with God who heals our secret wounds and reminds us we are loved with an everlasting love. 





21 comments:

  1. Definitely not too old for learning a language! Do it! :) (though I'd advise against learning Italian...it's surprisingly confusing!)

    Also - what is Thanksgiving? When I was little I read characters in American books talk about pilgrims and a rock and pumpkins and turkeys. But what is actually celebrated (I like the idea of a holiday for thankfulness, I guess Christmas is our version of this).

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  2. I laughed about the regret for not having exercised more in your 30s re. bathing suits. :-) I empathize about the hedgehog. Ewwwwww. And thank you for the Chambers quotation. Beautiful photo in the mountains. I know the feeling of awe and small. And to think that He loves us.

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  3. Happy Thanksgiving....I had to drop my Spanish class--that was too confusing...Blessings

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  4. Beautiful quote by Chambers. I like it so much.

    I can speak Spanish. I am teaching it to our sons. But I don't speak it like I lived there. LOL. I speak it like I took it for many years. Yes, there is a big difference.

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  5. I am chuckling about your #4 story!! I could add bathing suits to my #2 but shoes is still my answer. I went back to your 2012 post about your grandparents' farm. Sure enjoyed reading about your growing up years. Thank for another fun Hodgepodge, Joyce. Happy Thanksgiving!

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  6. I loved your "hedgehog story" :) Learning a foreign language? Yes, that would be worse than learning how to read music, I think! Yes, shopping for a new bathing suit is "the pits", but I stopped doing that several years ago, thank goodness! Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving, Joyce. Thanks for all you do... PS You'll really enjoy all of those "farm fresh" vegetables in SC, next summer :)
    Kathy (from Reflections by Kathy)

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  7. Thank you for hosting the Hodgepodge every week and coming up with all these questions. I really appreciate it.

    Hope you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

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  8. Before we went on vacation this past October, I literally had not bought a bathing suit in ten years. It IS a painful experience! My aunt is like you in that an animal represents her. She loves Scottish Terriers so we all think of her when they appear. Thanks for hosting, as always!

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  9. Mmm, yes, a foreign language ship has probably already sailed. I am losing my English words now!
    Bathing suit selection is the bane of many a gals existence!
    Your Thanksgivings sound a lot like ours, right down to the cornbread dressing!
    That quote sounds like just what our world needs. Love the line " by leaving all things for once in our Heavenly Father's hands, secret wounds are healed". Sweet rest.
    I am thankful for you Joyce, I'm sure sometimes the Hodgepodge is just one more thing on your busy to do list, thank you for hosting. Enjoy the holiday!

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  10. So glad to have a fellow sufferer in the swimsuit answer. I often blame it on the mirrors in those department store dressing rooms. They are so distorted! Oh my that view. I am so grateful for a God who reveals Himself to His children through His beauty in creation and His Word. Thank you for sharing both. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

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  11. Good point on that swimsuit shopping! True, our menu doesn't change either and there is usually football on the TV. A guest judge would be fun. I've been watching Master Chef Junior. The kids are amazing chefs! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours......

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  12. Egads! A hedgehog!! Thank you for hosting and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

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  13. Joyce, I like your header. I'm with you on the swim suit shopping. And even if I spend time trying to find just the right one, there is something about wearing it to the pool that just doesn't get it. Interesting hedgehog story. Have a really special Thanksgiving Day.

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  14. What a cute picture of you and your sister! :) And your hedgehog story is hilarious! How funny!

    I was going to put shopping for clothes as my least favorite, but it's actually my second least favorite--my first is grocery shopping. Blech.

    I love the Wednesday Hodgepodge, btw!

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  15. OF COURSE I had to read your 2012 post about your grandparents' farm outside of Denver. The view of the mountains looks very familiar. I'd venture to guess that by now the farm has been overtaken by city dwellers (or will soon). Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and thank you for providing both the entertainment and the linking opportunities through the Hodgepodge Wednesdays!

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  16. Good answer on Chopped. I might have to pick Top Chef though since there would be fewer weird combinations of food I think.

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  17. Such a cute picture of you and your sister! I haven't worn a bathing suit in decades. So, I don't have to shop for them. LOL I hope you and your sweet family have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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  18. I love your Random Thought and say a hearty "Amen." I think that we should keep God in our Thanksgiving observances. I wish you and your family a blessed Thanksgiving Day!

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  19. Not playiing this week, but happy to check in with you and the other bloggers. Happy Thanksgiving from up north in brrrr Canada!

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  20. Sure hated to have to miss the HP this week but it has been "all hands on deck" around here! Everyone is gone now and we cherish the sweet memories and I will now get it in gear to start Christmas decorating an party planning. Happy weekend!

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