Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Fresh From The Garden Hodgepodge

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! Answer the questions on your own blog, then jump back here and add your link at the end of my post. Be sure you say howdy to your neighbor on the list, because that's how we roll here on Wednesdays. Here we go-


1.  Do you find yourself influencing your world, or is it more the other way around?

I think we all influence, for good or ill, our own little corners of the world. I certainly influence my husband and children, just as they influence me. Personally I think if everyone concentrated on loving and leading and also learning from the people closest to them the world be a better place. 

Somehow we've gotten caught up in making sure our voice is heard in some larger arena, that our opinions are noted and scored as 'right', when what we really need to be doing is loving the people nearest us every single day. I feel certain if we took better care of our small circles of influence the big one (aka planet Earth) would improve too. 

2. July 14th is National Tape Measure Day...the device was patented on this date in 1868. When did you last use a tape measure? Do you always know where to find one in your house? Tell us one way in which you feel blessed 'beyond measure'.

I went furniture shopping on Tuesday and used a tape measure several times. I do know where we keep ours at home. 

In what way am I blessed beyond measure? 


3.  The Plaza Hotel (Eloise), The Land of Oz (The Wizard of Oz), Narnia (The Chronicles of Narnia), The Hundred Acre Wood (Winnie the Pooh), Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), or Never Never Land (Peter Pan)...which storybook land (on this list!) would you most like to visit and why?

I'm going to say The Hundred Acre Wood. I like the beauty found in nature, and the wisdom of Pooh and company. The Hundred Acre Wood seems like a peaceful place to take a break from the chaos, anger, name calling, and political rhetoric we're confronted with on a regular basis.  

4. Where and when do you get your best ideas?

Generally somewhere quiet with a view to the outdoors, and definitely early in the day. In my old house I did my best thinking in our sunroom first thing in the morning, and I've got a spot already earmarked in the new house too. 

5. So what have you been watching on TV this summer? Anything good?

We've watched a lot of the Olympic Trials...swimming, track and field, and gymnastics. I'm looking forward to watching the games next month. 

6. 'Don't swim for an hour after you eat', 'Dog days of summer', 'Knee high by the fourth of July'...choose a summer saying from the list or share one of your own, then tell us what image or memory comes to mind when you hear it spoken.

Well you couldn't be a kid in the 60's or 70's and not hear that first expression at least once in your life. Makes me think of afternoons at the neighborhood pool, moms sitting in lounge chairs around the pool deck and kids on their towels spread across the grassy hillside behind. 

Lining up at the snack bar for a frozen Milky Way, jumping off the high dive, fun times with my sister, games of Marco Polo, waiting impatiently to get back into the pool the minute the whistle blew signaling the end of adult swim, and the carefree happy days of my childhood summers. 

7. In a single sentence, sum up one life lesson you've learned.

Prayer changes things. Most times that 'thing' is me. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

My daughter's in-laws have the most fabulous garden, and the best part of that is they share. Last weekend hubs and I came home loaded with all of this goodness-


We've been feasting on tomato sandwiches, cucumber salads, a pan of to-die for eggplant parmesan, and super delicious veggie omelettes. There's nothing so sweet as produce right out of the ground except for maybe the people who grow it and share the love!



25 comments:

  1. enjoyed your answers, Joyce...smiles

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  2. Your answer to #1 is so right. And, I know I am guilty of trying to get MY opinion across too loudly sometimes. I struggle with finding the right way or balance to make a difference while on this big circle and at the same time not be offensive. Loving in the smaller circles can radiate out...so, thanks for the reminder.

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  3. Love me some fresh grown tomato sandwich! Great answer to #7 and so true for me also.
    Have a great week!

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  4. You got #1 right! How lucky you have garden produce available to you. My brother in law has really quit doing much of a garden.

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  5. Oh Joyce, your answers are so wise. Maybe you could run for president? Your daughters are beautiful. So are those vegetables! Our daughter was teaching the grandkids how to play Marco Polo this past week.

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  6. Wow, that lining up at the snack bar brought instant memories of summer Bible camp. I too have a favorite place. Right now I'm having coffee on the porch. Glad you've already found your spot at the new house. PS. Your girls are darling.

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  7. Wow that's a lot of lovely food and your girls are so cute. I mentioned family too for that question. Great questions as usual Joyce. Enjoy the rest of your week.

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  8. Joyce, I enjoyed reading all of your answers today, plus the fact that I could actually see 'the linky' again :)

    That picture of those garden-fresh veggies is a familiar sight. I'm so glad you are enjoying some good old southern hospitality, and home-grown food! If we lived closer, I'd share mine, too...
    Kathy (Reflections)

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  9. Ahhh....frozen Milky Way bars!! They had those in our pool's snack bar too. Ricky Nelson's Travelin' Man has to be playing while I eat one, though!! Chlorine smells, Ricky Nelson and frozen Milky Ways. I'm 9 years old all over again, wishing I could be grown up like the girls standing around the jukebox, playing Ricky Nelson over and over again! LOL Loved the HP today, Joyce!

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  10. Sitting on the porch in the morning is my happy place too. I spend about an hour out there every morning. Thanks for coordinating this fun survey.
    Cheers!
    Lori in Blue Ridge, GA

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  11. I agree 100% with what you said in number one. Maybe we can't make a different world-wide by ourselves, but we can in our own little local world, and all of us together will make a difference where we're at.

    #7 Amen!

    How sweet that they shared part of their harvest with you. I am so happy to know that you eat tomato sandwiches, too. Folks out here don't even know what they are! Too weird. :)

    Have a blessed day, Joyce!

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  12. I with you in The Hundred Acre Wood. Wouldn't be nice to solve problems with a jar of honey. Silly ol Bear! :-) The Hundred Acre Wood was the theme for our nursery. :-)
    Love that produce. Yummy!
    Have a great week!
    Carla

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  13. Love your answer for #1. Ha, I forgot about adult swim. I wonder if they still have that, but doubt it since it seems everything is so child-centered these days. What gorgeous veggies!

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  14. Great answers! Especially number 1 And such a good pic of those girls of yours...super cute. NOTHING better then fresh veggies from the garden...and people who share them, lol. Have a good day!

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  15. Love your answer for #1 and influencing your world! True, we were always told not to swim for an hour after eating. I'm very impressed with your daughter's in laws garden.

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  16. Mmmmm to those tomatoes and cucumbers!
    Prayer does change me. Recently I have found myself thinking about a situation so differently from how I used to and I realize it's a result of prayer.

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  17. You are indeed blessed with those two beautiful daughters. The Hundred Acre Wood was my almost first choice. It has always seemed like a happy place to be.

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  18. A tomato sandwich HAS to be made with Duke's Mayonnaise. Nothing else will do. We have had tomato plants growing since back in April. They get taller, but no tomatoes yet. There is still hope.

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    1. I'm in SC! I've got Dukes and agree it's essential : )

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  19. Have you found yourself missing the old house? I'm so nostalgic about everything in the world. Those wonderful veggies take me back to summers 'putting up' food with my grandmother. I LOVED doing that with her. The in-law family sure do have green thumbs!

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  20. Goodness, those veggies look so good and how nice that your daughter has such generous inlaws. Yes,on prayer changing us and so often that's who needs changing. Great answers and questions!

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  21. Amen to your lesson learned. I'm learning that one too.

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  22. I'm a believer in the power of prayer, too! There is nothing better than veggies straight from the garden. That photo, in fact, makes my mouth water! I'm growing tomatoes this summer on our back deck and they're delicious with a sprinkling of salt. Yum!

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  23. Your summers growing up always sound so ideal, Joyce! You paint the most beautiful pictures in my mind each time you describe them. <3

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  24. It seems you had very fun summers growing up :) I have not tried frozen milky way.

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