Peaceful Easy Hodgepodge

Hi friends. Long time no blog. We've been out of town, and only arrived home Monday night. We've hit the ground running here with a full week and then company starting on Friday. I want to recap our time away, but that won't be quick (probably not short either, just sayin') so will save that for Thursday's blog.  I think? 

Today let's Hodgepodge. If you've answered this week's questions answer on your own blog, then hop back here to share answers. Before you rush off, be sure to leave a comment for the blogger before you! Here we go...

1. What's something you enjoy now that your younger self would never have appreciated? 

A great nap.  Another thing would be a vegetable plate. I wasn't crazy about vegetables as a child, but I could make a meal off of them now, especially in the summer months. 

2. What was peaceful about today? 

Early morning sunrise and that first cup of coffee...

3. It's National Blueberry Day (July 8). Will you celebrate?  You can have one of the following right now-a slice of blueberry pie, a warm blueberry muffin, or a stack of blueberry pancakes...which do you choose? 

A slice of blueberry pie please. I made one a couple of weeks ago for some dinner guests and it was delish-

This or that-blueberries or raspberries? 

blueberries or strawberries? 

My answer is blueberries. 

I love blueberries. Also blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and boysenberries. Not sure I can pick a favorite berry, but blueberries are near the top of the list. 

4. Do you need a break? From what? 

I've just been to the beach so right now my answer is no. 

Gulf sunsets carry the stress right away. 

5. What has surprised you most about getting older? 

Probably the way I  feel on the inside not matching up with what I see on the outside. My mom used to tell me she didn't like people to know her age because once they know they sort of discount what she has to say. I get that now. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Today this beauty turns 96 years young. 

Happy birthday to my mama who is loved more than words can say. 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 661

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then hop back here on Wednesday (July 8th) to share answers with the universe. See you there!

1. What's something you enjoy now that your younger self would never have appreciated? 

2. What was peaceful about today? 

3. It's National Blueberry Day (July 8). Will you celebrate?  You can have one of the following right now-a slice of blueberry pie, a warm blueberry muffin, or a stack of blueberry pancakes...which do you choose?

This or that-blueberries or raspberries? blueberries or strawberries? 

4. Do you need a break? From what? 

5. What has surprised you most about getting older? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The Tender Middle

Linking today's post with Talking About It Tuesdays hosted by Joanne

We've recently moved my mom south, out of my sister's home in PA where she's lived for the past six years, and into an assisted living facility. Safety is paramount when you're in your ninth decade and that was the tipping point for all of us in making this hard decision. By all of us I mean myself and my three siblings. We've had a loose plan knowing this might someday become necessary but not going to lie, reality hits harder than you might imagine. 

I'm not going to talk too much about the process because every family has to do what's right for them. I will just say my younger sister did her homework and knew all the questions to ask. We looked at many places in two different states and between the four of us saw each one in person. 

There are so many factors to consider coupled with a lot of emotion, so if a move like this is on your radar start visiting and collecting information now. Just know that nowhere is perfect and settling in takes time. For everyone. 

I have a mishmash of thoughts I want to put into writing but the mishmash is real. Hubs has asked me a number of times this month, 'What are you thinking? I can see the wheels turning." 

Turning but not really getting anywhere. 

So what am I thinking? 

I'm thinking about how difficult it is to reach a point in life where your decisions are not your own. Not where you live or if you drive or sometimes even what you eat. 

I'm thinking about how every member of a family has feelings about how best to meet the needs of an elderly parent and how emotions run high where love, sadness, and exhaustion coexist. I'm thinking about how much grace is required in those moments. Grace given, and also grace accepted. 

How sometimes we have to do hard things we wish we didn't have to do. 

How giving an elderly parent as much independence as they can safely handle is a good thing, but knowing when too much is too much is maybe the more important thing. 

I think about everything our parents once did for us, and how that memory helps us now do for them. 

How often we frustrated them, tested their patience, wanted our own way, didn't want to be told what to do because we were certain we knew best. Suddenly that gets flipped on its head and now you're the one digging deep for patience and a gentle tone. The one trying to give in a little whenever giving in is possible. 

How you learn the parent you've known all your life is still there inside the person who now needs a walker and some help remembering the life they lived. 

There is also, somewhere in the middle of all this thinking, the unsettling realization that one day you might be that person too. The one needing all the things you're now being asked to give. 

How you will likely buck and dig in your heels because you still feel like yourself, an independent capable person who cannot imagine being anything but. 

Except now you kind of can. 

And it's a little bit frightening. 

I think about the term sandwich generation and how apt that moniker is. I'm the filling and sometimes I feel squished. 

And sometimes completely overwhelmed with love for those doing the squishing. 

I think about how I don't have the energy I had even a decade ago, yet I still have opinions and wisdom and things I want to contribute. I still want to matter. Everyone does. 

I think about how time shrinks and expands at the same time and  how I want my children to have big beautiful lives, but not forget mine as it gradually but naturally will grow smaller. 

Mostly I think about how God holds each one of our lives in the palm of His hand. How He knows the number of our days from beginning to end, and how He walks beside us through every season we encounter. 

We are never forgotten. 

Never unseen. 

We are known and loved by the One who made us. 

The Weekend

Good Monday morning friends. My blog and I are out of sync and need to get reacquainted. I spent last week helping get my mom moved which entailed, among other things, driving more than 700 miles (all local!!), and I have either a whole lot to say about it or nothing at all. I haven't quite decided. 

It was a bit of a tough week, with some bright spots too of course, but I think I'll put that on the back burner for now and just chat about my weekend, pretty blooming things, and how much joy motherhood has brought to my life. 

Backing up to Wednesday because the day was a beauty and for dinner I made this delicious one-pan chicken and spinach orzo which needs to be mentioned. 

The recipe calls for rotisserie chicken but I brushed a couple of chicken breasts with Italian dressing, roasted them, then shredded, and I liked the flavor this brought to the dish. Really good!! Hubs loved it and ate the leftovers for lunch the rest of the week. 

In other news I am in love with everything blooming in our yard right now.  

The color of these azaleas is so delicate. 

Thursday was my volunteer day, then I came home and washed my hair, made stuffed peppers for dinner, and crashed on the couch. 

Friday I spent most of the day with my mama who now resides in the Palmetto State. My older sister and my niece both live just a few minutes from my mom's new home and the three of us joined her for  a lovely Mother's Day luncheon there. 

I got back to the lake about 3:30 and met hubs at our local wine shop for a tasting. A vintner from Italy he’d met on one of his earlier visits to the lake was in town, so hubs wanted to stop by the tasting. I was exhausted so didn't stay long and we came home and had a low key Friday night. We had leftover peppers for dinner, then watched a movie-Solo Mio, which we thought was really cute. 

I'd love a trip to Italy right about now, please and thank you. 

Saturday morning we made a trip to Lowes to pick up more potting soil, dirt so hubs could repair the yard where the sprinkler repair happened the day before, and lightbulbs for our outdoor lanterns. I wanted to sit outside and blog and read, but it was a little too cool and cloudy so I planted myself on the couch instead. 

Hubs did a million things like clean the boat bimini, fix the yard where it needed fixing, repotted some tomatoes, and got ribs going on the Big Green Egg. Happy Mother's Day to me. He knows I've had a month week and has pretty much let me be. 

It warmed up some close to dinner time so we sat by the waterfall with a glass of wine which felt like a great big much needed exhale. The lake was quiet and the sound of the waterfall soothing. 

Also these ribs y'all. 

He has mastered it.  

Sunday. Mother's Day. We went to church and heard a really good message taken from James 3 about the power of the tongue, which I think gave everyone something to think about, or maybe that's just me? Right after church daughter1 and I sent the guys home and she and I went to see Devil Wears Prada2. A quiet theatre with chairs that recline and a tub of popcorn to share for our Mother's Day lunch. 

What more could a mom ask for? We both liked the movie and it confirmed my need for a trip to Italy. Also a pair of super chic sunglasses which I'll be adding to my birthday wish list. 

I bought both of my girls the same thing as a little Mother's Day gift this year, and went all in with my hedgehog theme. I ordered this wrapping paper from Zazzle and it was so cute and of great quality. I dislike flimsy wrapping. 

Both my girls have gardens and you know how we feel about hedgehogs. 

These watering cans are from Uncommon Goods and I saw them at Christmas time, but they sold out fast. I remembered them and went back and looked a couple of months ago and success! They're sturdy and  adorable both so I might have to go back and get one for myself too.  

My girls both gave me sweet gifts that confirm they know me well. I appreciate when there is thought behind a present.  

I came home after the movie and hubs and I finally!! took the boat out for this season's maiden voyage. The sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day to be on the water. We motored by a house hubs recently sold so he could snap some pics from the water to send the soon-to-be new owners, but mostly we just moseyed around  nearby coves before coming back to the house to get dinner going. 

Hubs grilled steaks and they were delicious. After dinner we took a short walk before deciding to jump back on the boat to try and catch the sunset-

A beautiful ending to the Mother's Day weekend and always a sweet reminder that God is faithful. 

Visit Holly (Pink Lady Blog) and Sarah (Books and Sunshine) to read more 

or to add your own weekend recap. 

Please Leave A Message

Five letters to go. We can do this. I'm staying true to my theme in the A-Z Blog Challenge which is The Things We Keep: An A-Z of Ordinary Objects. 

Day 22- V is for Voicemail

Recently I was connecting two friends who were going to co-host an event and one friend said she'd tried texting and emailing the other but hadn't heard back so I suggested she call her. On the phone. Ewww. 

Is that your reaction too? The friend laughed and said isn't it funny that actually calling someone to talk on the phone is more or less our last thought and not our first. 

In 2026 we are all about texts and emails and all the other tech options we now have, and are less about actually phoning someone we don't know well or when some sort of 'business' is involved, be it pleasant or unpleasant. Sure I talk to my daughters on the phone and also friends who don't live nearby, but for the casual interaction let's text. 

How does it make you feel to open your phone and see that little red number indicating someone has, gasp!! left you a voicemail? 

For the most part if I phone someone and they don't answer I do not leave a voice message. I send a text or decide to try again later. 

That being said, I do have a few voice messages on my phone that I can't make myself delete. Mostly from my mom who uses her phone very infrequently these days, but occasionally will accidentally call me and if I don't answer she leaves a voicemail. 

These voicemails are nothing special, just hello I miss you and love you and call me if you want to kind of things. 

Except they're special to me. 

Because my mama turns 96 years old on her birthday this year and I know that time is fleeting and also precious. So I save them. 

It feels nice to have her voice on my phone. I plan to keep it. 

Springing In To Monday

Hello friends and happy Spring! It's official and the pollen falling here confirms that. We have our outdoor rugs rolled up and furniture covered in a weak attempt to keep it at bay and minimize clean up. It helps, but she's a force y'all. 

I feel like pollen is a she. 

Anyhoo, the weekend...let's discuss. And link with Holly (Pink Lady blog) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books) like we do every Monday. 

Friday morning hubs and I ventured out for a mostly easy hike. It was cool when we got started but warmed up as the day went on. We followed what's known as the Oconee Bell Trail at a nearby state park and were rewarded with some blooms. 

For those not in the know, the Oconee Bell is a rare flower of the southern Appalachians, found only in a few locations in the mountains of South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia. The bells grow along slopes beside streams and rivers and have a short bloom time (just a couple of weeks) which is now. 

Saturday this particular park was having an Oconee Bell festival, but we wanted to beat the crowds so did the hike on Friday. We pretty much had the trail to ourselves which is how we like it. 

This trail marker is very 'me'. 

The trail is a mess. 

Well, the trail is passable, but that recent ice storm did some serious damage and the woods around the trail look like a war zone. 

That blue sky makes it all okay. 

This particular park sits on the lake just above ours and it's spectacular. There are very, very few homes on this lake, maybe 50 or so, and it's just beautiful. It's popular with fisherman, kayakers, and waterfall chasers and the view from the ranger station parking lot is stunning. 

I snapped this picture from one of the docks where the water is about 15 feet deep, and you can see the bottom. Our lake is crystal clear, but this one is a step above that. 

We came home and had lunch and then hubs took my car to have the tires rotated and I took a nap. I'm overly tired from all the recent comings and goings and more and a nap helped. We watched basketball and hubs says I'm a little too invested in my brackets but I what can I say? I like winning-ha! I'm not but I'm tracking my teams anyway. 

Hubs grilled salmon for dinner and I made spinach and brown rice to go with, which made the eating on Friday feel mostly healthy. 

Saturday morning we had breakfast out then went furniture shopping. Without getting too deep into the weeds here, my mom, who currently lives with my younger sister, is going to be moving south, and we need furniture for this new space. Honestly it's hard. We're doing what we think is the right thing at the right time and I'm praying all goes smoothly in this big transition. 

The 9th decade of life comes at you hard. 

I was charged with finding some furniture and hubs went along for moral support and common sense. We had a very pleasant experience with the salesman and it was all pretty straightforward, so hopefully when the time comes delivery will be the same. 

It was 84 degrees here on Saturday and you won't hear me complain. I worked on some odds and ends paperwork that needed attention, and we watched more basketball because we love us some March Madness. I also read, worked on my blog, and did all the laundry that was in the hamper which feels like it should be celebrated. 

Hubs grilled burgers for dinner and I made a marinated cucumber salad (recipe here) that will be on repeat this summer.

It stormed just as we were getting ready to eat and we were rewarded with a rainbow-

Sunday morning started on a high note, with a beautiful sunrise. I snapped a picture from the covered deck and the reflection of the trees in the lake was so pretty and peaceful. 

We left for church as we normally do, but encountered a hiccup en route and almost missed it. 

Remember how I said we had the tires on my car rotated on Friday? Well we had a flat on the way to church Sunday morning. It's been a long time since I've had a flat tire, but I'm glad it happened close to home and not this morning when I would be winding my way along the sparsely traveled twisty-turny route to my daughter's house in Tennessee.  

Thankfully we were only a couple of miles from our house and about a mile from a gas station. A gas station who's air was out of order, which was a bummer. We phoned our roadside assistance and explained we probably didn't need a tow, just enough air to get us back home and they sent someone our way. He was friendly, quick, and tried spraying some foam on the tires to see if he could spot a nail, but nothing. Doesn't mean there isn't one, but from our various awkward angles we couldn't see it. 

Once the tire was inflated we drove just a few miles more to the tire center where the car had been on Friday. My daughter was already at church but said my son-in-law could pop out of the service and pick us up.  Conveniently the tire center was exactly 900 feet from the church building so said we'd walk over and they could give us a ride home. 

We left the key in the key drop and hopefully it's a simple fix because I'm going to spend a few days with daughter2 this week, and my plan was to leave first thing Monday morning. We shall see. 

We made it to church just in time for the message and then rode home with the 'kids'. As soon as they dropped us at home we climbed into hubs truck and took ourselves out to lunch. It was 88 degrees and sunny and we shared an order of fish and chips and a salad with a view. 

As we drove home there was a breeze, and if you're not familiar with the south this time of year you should know that breeze was a literal cloud of yellow dust. 

I put a chicken dish in the crock pot once we were home, one of our favorites that I make pretty often. It's called a mediterranean chicken (linked here). The recipe calls for you to brown the chicken first, but I skip that step and it's still delicious. I always make this lemon-cucumber couscous salad to go with and it's really good too. 

This has nothing to do with anything, but our amaryllis is blooming...

...and she's a beauty. Happy Monday everyone! 

Gray Matters

Hello friends. I'm back home today after spending five days at my brother's house in NJ helping with my mama. My sister and brother-in-law (my mom lives with them) had the opportunity to take a big wonderful trip, some of it work related for my brother-in-law, and I hope they enjoyed every minute. We had my mom spend that time they were away at my brother's house.  

Caregiving is not easy and my sister and her family do so much on the daily for my mom. I'm thankful my siblings and I are a team as we try to make the best decisions we can for her. The 9th decade of life comes with some hard things and we want to treat her with the same sort of tlc she has given to us all our lives. 

While at my brother's I decided to try and meet Kym's everyday image photo prompt challenge. I spent a lot of time in the house sitting and commenting on the Olympics with my mom, coloring, reading, and thankfully getting out for a walk every day too. 

It was gray. Every single day. Gloomy gray. Not raining, but not a full minute of sunshine either. As a result most of these pics are gray too. Here are the most recent prompts, some of which required me to get a little bit creative-

middle-at work-shadow-weathered-pink-current project (quarterly)-sweet 

middle-my brother lives on a river and there are a lot of ducks and geese wandering the neighborhood. Some are swimming, some are sitting on the frozen water, and some are moseying down the middle of the street like they own the place.

at work-tree trimmers were at work removing branches from power lines in the area. This guy gave me a peace sign when I went by, but I missed catching it with my camera. Story of my life. 

shadow-honestly this was the hardest of all the prompts because the sun was out for approximately 3.4 seconds while I was in town. It was gray gray gray all day every day, so you have to look hard to see my shadow in this one. 

weathered-a tough one. How about the great outdoors? It's looking a little rough after weeks of snow on the ground. 

pink-my sister-in-law has quite the green thumb and the most robust Christmas cactus I think I've ever seen. It's just about finished blooming, but still has a touch of pink showing. 

Note to file: get a Christmas cactus

current project-my mom enjoys coloring so we did a lot of that while watching a lot of Olympic coverage. Pretty sure I could give commentary now on curling, women's slopestyle snowboarding, and the Nordic combined. 

sweet-my brother and sister-in-law are big on healthy eating and exercise so while sweets are not banned, they're not available 24/7 like some places I know. ahem. This is a good thing, right? Every afternoon about 3 PM my brother made my mom and I a cup of tea and there was always a little cookie to go with. 

My mama loves sweets so we had small desserts a couple of nights. A brownie bite and a spoonful of ice cream were the perfect combination. 

I've spent a lot of time thinking this week about how lucky we are to have in-laws in our family who love our mom and are willing to do whatever needs doing to make her feel safe and comfortable. What a gift.