Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 662

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday (July 15th) to add your link to the party. See you there! 

1. "Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability." Sam Keen

Do you feel less guilty relaxing in July than you do in January? Elaborate. 

2. What's a telltale sign you're upset? 

3. July 16th is National AI Day. What are your general thoughts and/or experiences with AI? Have you purposely used it? Does it excite you, scare you, or worry you? What do you see as a benefit? How about something relating to AI you see as a negative? 

4. You're invited to a summer pot luck and are asked to bring an appetizer, salad/side, or dessert. Which category do you go for and what are you bringing? 

5. It wouldn't be summer without___________________. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Hello Monday On Tuesday

Hi friends. It's June. Can you believe it? May was choc-a-block full and June will be the same. We have a daughter's birthday, a grandson's birthday, an anniversary, Father's Day, a week with daughter2 and her littles at the lake, Vacation Bible School, various appointments, my brother and sister-in-law in town for a visit, two wine dinners, and whew. It will be fun. 

Now if only the weather would get the message.

I didn't get my weekend recap written as we had company Sunday evening, then I had an appointment that required me to leave the house before 8 AM on Monday so here it is almost 3 PM and I'm finally sitting down to blog. 

Backing up to Thursday because it feels like the start of the weekend. I volunteer from about 9-1 every Thursday, then went to run a quick errand for a friend before heading to the salon for a mani/pedi. So nice. Hubs and I had already decided we'd go out for dinner which added to the enjoyment of the salon treatment. 

I got home and changed and we went to the local distillery for dinner and to hear some live music. I ordered a brisket sandwich and it was delicious but super rich. I only ate half and hubs helped with the rest. After we ate we went outside to hear a local band play. 

We ran into some friends there who introduced us to a couple they were with, neighbors of theirs, and in the course of chatting we discovered they're friends with some of our very best lifelong friends. We snapped a picture and texted our friends who live far from here and in the moment it all felt like such a small world. 

Friday hubs had an appointment to get his haircut in the nearby city and we decided to make a day of it. I tagged along so we could visit my mom afterwards, and we had the most delicious lunch in between these two events. We ate downtown at a small seafood restaurant where I could have ordered one of everything on the menu. 

We opted for a half order of their famous cheddar hushpuppies-

 A sampling of their fish dip which was so good I could have eaten as an entree...

A half dozen oysters from different east coast waters with varying salinity...

And then a lobster roll for good measure...

We got the Maine roll (cold) as opposed to the Connecticut roll (warm), but this place does both. We were full but we did get an order of their banana pudding to go so we could take that to my momma. She loved it. 

We left downtown and headed to her residence next, which is about 20 minutes from the city. We had a nice time chatting outside and hubs had her laughing which makes me smile too. These lilies in bloom in the garden there were beautiful. 

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We made a couple of stops on the way home to drop off and pick up various things so didn't get home until about 4:30. We relaxed that evening and skipped dinner since we were still full from lunch. 

Saturday I ran to the store first thing to get a few last minute party items and hubs ran to the rock place to get filler for a spot beside the patio. I'm sure the place has a name but he bought two buckets of rocks there so I call it the rock shop. We were both home by 11 and then headed out to watch the boys play in a travel baseball game about 40 minutes from here. 

This is how it went down-

We drove forty minutes to a very nice sports field complex. I mean really nice. 

We paid $20 to get in. Yes. $10 per adult. Does anyone else think that's a lot? And y'all. There were hundreds of cars coming and going all day long as there were games played by kids of different ages on multiple fields. I wonder if there are families with a child playing where only one parent attends the three day tournament because they can't afford the entry fee? 

My daughter says probably not because these travel teams are a different level and parents are spending crazy sums on the bats and other gear so paying the $10 to get on the field is nothing. I saw a meme where a mom said 'here I am wearing the same bra I've owned since 2018 while my 8- year old is on the field with a $500 bat'.  Ha! But also kinda true. 

I will stop now because I sound old, plus the facilities are super nice so the money it seems is at least going back into that community. Also, most people don't have a husband who hits the snack bar and spends another $50 on junk food. Not naming names, but it does happen. ahem. 

We came home and worked on getting everything ready for the next day's festivities. 

I cleaned bathrooms and hubs got the outdoor dining furniture wiped down and back in place, the grill set up, the cornhole boards out, etc. 

Saturday night he prepped the pork butt and shoulder. Somehow I bought one of each which I didn't think was a huge deal, because they weighed about the same, but apparently it was a bit of a deal because one had a bone and one didn't and blah blah blah. 

It was all delicious. 

Hubs put them on the green egg sometime between 11 and midnight on Saturday and they smoked happily all night long. There's nothing like the scent of BBQ with your morning coffee.

I'm not joking. 

The weather on Sunday was nuts. It looked like it was going to pour rain all day but it never rained a drop. It was chilly. Then it was warm, then chilly again. But not raining so we'll take it. 

We had BBQ with beans and slaw and then all the other yummy sides plus two desserts people brought.

 We played cornhole and fun fact-we've owned boards for ten years and I still am not great at this game. 

Here we are trying to do math. If you play cornhole you get it. It's all friendly and we had a great time chatting, eating, tossing the bean bags, and celebrating the start of summer. 

Also, this turtle lives here now. What should we name him?

Linking today with Holly and Sarah's yesterday hop Hello Monday and Joanne's 

Talking About It Tuesday

A Weekend Recap From The Porch

The weekends go by fast, don't they? We like to say every day is the weekend in retirement, but lately not so much. Hubs and I declared Saturday a no-hurry have fun day and although I had to remind him of the no-hurry bit a couple of times, he eventually relaxed and we had a really nice day. A day date if you will. 

Remember when I was counting those here? I'm still counting, just not posting all of them on the blog. 

Backing up to Friday...

Hubs of course had a dozen projects going so he spent most of the day power washing the dock and bridge. We've hired the staining out this year because that is a back breaking job and some years we pay to have it done. They're supposed to be coming on Monday so he wanted it squeaky clean first. 

Power washing the dock is also back breaking so he earned the rest. 

I took care of some paperwork and cleaned bathrooms, then went to play Mah Jong. Not back breaking, but it can sometimes strain the brain. 

Daughter1's hubs was attending an out of town medical thing last week so she and the kids came over Friday evening for a slumber party. The puppy too, because where they go the puppy goes. He desperately wants to play with the Little Brown Dog, but the LBD is not having any part of it. He lets him know too, but they'll get used to each other. 

The weather was absolutely gorgeous all weekend long, so we sat outside and played and talked, and hubs grilled burgers for dinner. Little Miss went to bed on the early side and the rest of us snuggled on the couch and watched Hook. Nana might have missed the entire middle of the film due to an unplanned nap, but I'd seen it before so no biggie. That's life in the third act. You fall asleep before the six year olds. 

Actually that has always been me, never a night owl. Does staying awake past 8:30 qualify one as a night owl? 

After some early Saturday morning fishing for the Mancub and Pawpaw, the party goers had breakfast then went on their way. Hubs and I jumped in the car for a drive one state over. We had a lunch destination in mind, then planned to piddle around in some of the shops nearby. 

At our wine dinner this month one of the couples we sat with told us they'd been to a great BBQ place in the little town of Dillard Georgia. I live in the Palmetto State, but the GA border is right down the road. 

We don't often go out for BBQ because hubs makes a mean pulled pork here at home, but the pitmaster at the Blue Hound in Dillard won Season 6 (July 2025) of the Bobby Flay BBQ Brawl and we thought we should taste it for ourselves. 

The drive over was just under an hour, and it's my favorite kind of BBQ place. A small building that sits on the literal side of the road beside a gas station, smoke billowing out of the smokehouse, and already a long line at 11:15 AM. 

I got the brisket sandwich with a brocoli salad instead of chips and hubs had the brisket plate with collards and slaw. He meant to order banana pudding, but forgot. We did get two jars of their rubs to try at home. 

We sat at a picnic table outside and enjoyed every bite. Afterwards we browsed a couple of shops just a few hundred yards away, then headed towards Clayton, which is a cute little mountain town we love. 

We passed this shop on the way to the restaurant and the name forced us to make a stop there on the way out-

They actually had some nice pieces of furniture and then the usual assortment of 'stuff', but we just looked before heading on to Clayton. Which was hopping on a sunny Saturday! Once we got parked we walked to a little shop called White Birch Provisions for a coffee. I think I might like to stay in the White Birch Inn sometime as it looks cute. We browsed the shops on the main drag, but didn't buy anything.  

On the way out of Clayton we popped in to the local distillery there so hubs could get a bottle of their bourbon. I hadn't been in the place in a couple of years and they've expanded quite a bit which was nice to see.

We made the hour-ish drive home and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening on the lower level porch. I had a small nap (my sleep tank has been fumes the past month) and we listened to music, read, and chatted. Neither of us were very hungry so hubs ate the leftover burger and sides from Friday's dinner and I had a fried egg sandwich.  Sometimes that is exactly what I'm craving. 

Sunday morning kitchen sink view. 

We went to church, then made an exceedingly and unnecessarily long stop at Tractor Supply for a piece of rope for the outdoor shower mirror (the one we had finally broke) and then had lunch on the porch. After lunch hubs trimmed tree branches or some such nonsense and guess where I was? 

If you said the porch you wouldn't be wrong. It's great to be back in almost summer mode. 

Linking today with Holly and Sarah for their regular Monday morning weekend recap party. 

Pomp And Hodgepodge

Welcome to this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Or all the bloggers if you've got the time. Here we go...

 

1. What's one piece of advice you would you give a recent or soon-to-be graduate? 

Congratulations! You don't have to have your whole life figured out. 

You may have to take a job that is something less than your dream job, and that's okay. Your first job is a stepping stone to your next job.  Prioritize your relationship with Christ in this season of enormous growth and change. 

2. May 15th marks the birth date of L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. At this point in time are you more in need of brains, courage, heart, or a trip back home? Explain. 

I'm going with courage. I want more of it. Moral courage in particular, which feels essential in these turbulent times we find ourselves caught up in, where truth is relative and everything is polarized.

3.  "There's no place like home" is an oft repeated line from Baum's book. When was the last time you felt the truth of that statement? 

Every time I travel I have this thought. I love getting away, whether for a long weekend or an extended holiday, but it always feels good to be back home, to sleep in my own bed. 

Actually sometimes it doesn't even have to be a trip. When I've been out of the house for a full day I might also have this thought. 

4. May is National BBQ Month...do you own a grill? Who does the grilling at your house? What's your favorite thing to throw on the grill? What's the last thing you grilled? 

Do we own a grill? Ha! We have a Big Green Egg used primarily for steaks and large entrees like pork butts, ribs, brisket, 50 chicken wings, that sort of thing. We have a gas grill we use when we just want to grill a couple of chicken breasts or burgers, a piece of salmon, etc., and we have a griddle we use for a variety of things...smashburgers, fried rice, fajitas and my favorite...

...making pancakes when the grands are all here. Hubs and I were just discussing the griddle the other night saying we want to do more griddling this summer. 

Hubs does the grilling here and also the cleaning of the grill after cooking. My favorite thing to throw on the grill would be a burger, but the last thing we grilled was a ribeye steak on Mother's Day. 

5. What's a memory you replay in your head when you need a little joy? 

There are many, but one of the first things that popped in to my head was daughter1 meeting daughter2 the day she was born. 

My parents brought her to the hospital and it was one of the sweetest moments of my life. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

"The earth laughs in flowers." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 653

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday (May 13th) to add your link to the party. See you there! 

1. What's one piece of advice you would you give a recent or soon-to-be graduate? 

2. May 15th marks the birth date of L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. At this point in time are you more in need of brains, courage, heart, or a trip back home? Explain. 

3.  "There's no place like home" is an oft repeated line from Baum's book. When was the last time you felt the truth of that statement? 

4. May is National BBQ Month...do you own a grill? Who does the grilling at your house? What's your favorite thing to throw on the grill? What's the last thing you grilled? 

5. What's a memory you replay in your head when you need a little joy? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Monthly Musings-May

It's the last Thursday of the month which means it's time for the Monthly Musings link up with Holly (Pink Lady Blog) and Patty (Good Better Best). Feel free to play along...

1. What am I looking forward to most this summer? 

Lots of things...dining al fresco, lake floats, the 4th of July, sipping iced coffee beside the waterfall, sunset cruises...

...jumping off the dock hand in hand with my grands, homemade peach cobbler, and casual entertaining with friends and family. 

2. Any favorite summer traditions? 

Some of these overlap with my answers to the first question but...

I always jump off the dock holding hands with my oldest grandson to help kick off summer. Hopefully his little brother will join us this year.  I tell him he will never be too old. 

We'll have to see about Nana but so far so good. 

We always watch the fireworks from our dock and shoreline because we have the best view of my across the cove neighbor's spectacular show. 

I make one peach cobbler every summer because summer says you must. Same goes for home made ice cream. 

3. Any summer travel plans? Please dish. 

We typically don't travel in the summer months. We live on a lake so people travel here lol. 

We're a little out of the box this summer as we've rented a beach house for a week for the whole family, and I'm really looking forward to that. The trip won't happen until later in the summer so there will still be plenty of lake time before and after. 

4. How do you red, white, and blue?

First of all, I love the colors...so festive! July 4th is one of my favorite days of the year. We have the flag flying on our dock and on the boat too,  plus a windsock on the dock and flag bunting hanging from the deck of the house. 

I have several t-shirts with patriotic themes/colors so will wear one of those on the holiday. This year I bought cute dresses for the grandgirls and will probably find something coordinating for the boys. 

We typically have a crowd here on the 4th. My girls are usually here with their families and we sometimes have additional houseguests around that time too. Last year hubs brother and his wife came, and we're hoping they come back again this year for the holiday. 

There are a lot of firework shows around the lake, some put on by people who live here, and then the marinas have pretty big displays too, so we'll definitely see fireworks. Not exaggerating when I say the best show on the lake is the one my across the cove neighbor hosts. 

Boaters come from all around the lake and anchor, both in our cove and in the waters around it, and she does an amazing job. When there's an especially beautiful firework all the boaters honk and it's so much fun. It stirs up feelings of pride in America and I love that. 

Hubs will grill something, and I like to make some sort of patriotic dessert, sometimes a trifle since I feel like you need a lot of people to eat one and we'll have a lot of people around. 

Oddly enough we don't usually take the boat out on the 4th. The lake is so busy that day, and since we can boat anytime we opt out of the crazy this day can bring. 

5. Beach, lake, or pool. 

Since I live on a lake it feels wrong not to answer with that one. Plus no salt-no sharks so winning! We swim in our lake and it's crystal clear. 

6. Favorite summer sweet treat? 

Strawberry shortcake, peach cobbler, and homemade blueberry pie. Just give me all the fresh fruity desserts please. 

7. Favorite sunscreens and self-tanners. 

I don't use a self-tanner. I wear sunscreen every day and like a lotion as opposed to a spray.  We go through it here and I'm not particularly loyal to one brand. I've got Neutrogena Ultra Sheer,  Bare Republic Mineral,  Tula Daily, Coppertone Sport, and Hawaiian Tropic Sheer Touch which might be my favorite. 

8. Best flip flops or sandals? 

I need a little arch in my flip flops, and while they're not inexpensive I do love the Olukai brand. 

I think this is the pair I currently own. As far as sandals go I like mine cute. I also like cute tennis shoes for summer and have several pair. 

9. How are you staying fit this summer? 

Lake life means you stay pretty active. Hubs and I joke we make about fifteen or twenty trips going back and forth to the dock every day, and while it's not steep it's also not flat, so there's that. 

We have kayaks and paddle boards and I love to swim. We have a pool in our neighborhood too, and I like to swim laps there. 

10. Favorite summer themed movies? 

Here's my top five...The Parent Trap (the Lindsay Lohan remake), Jaws, Dirty Dancing, Mamma Mia, and  The Deep (with Jacqueline Bisset and Nick Nolte). 

Come on summer...

We're ready for ya!