A Pearl Of A 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 there before you. Here we go-

1. What's something on your August calendar you're looking forward to? Or dreading if that's easier to answer. 

Time with my Tennessee grands, friends and family coming to hang out on the lake later this month, and dinner with friends at a Michelen Star restaurant where we were finally able to snag a reservation. 

2. August 5th is National Oyster Day...do you partake? How do you feel about pearls? 

I like oysters and we have them on occasion. We don't fix them at home, but will order out if we're in a place that serves them. My son-in-law grills them and those are good too. True story- when we visited friends on Prince Edward Island  we went out with an oysterman and he pulled one out of the water and popped it into my mouth before I knew what was happening. 

I love pearls. They're one of my favorite gemstones and I have a set hubs bought for me in China and another set he bought for me in Japan. In the south pearls go with everything and I wear mine as often as I can. 

3. Tell us about a time when you felt like 'the world was your oyster'. 

There were those golden years when I was just out of university, just starting out in my career, just starting out in marriage, where it felt like so much was possible and the world was my oyster. 

In more recent years I'm going to say a road trip somewhere new. 

I love getting in the car and driving with perhaps a final destination in mind, but not rushing to get there, and having no real specific agenda for what we'll see and do along the way. Oh, there might be a few highlights or popular points of interest we don't want to miss, but I love the idea of enjoying the ride, stopping if something peaks our interest, and being open to getting off the beaten path to see what we can see. Those sorts of trips give me the feeling I think this saying implies. 

4. Trip Advisor lists seven islands in the US that require no passport (for US citizens). If you're answering today from outside the US you'll still need to produce yours. An-y-way, have you been to any of the seven? Let's pretend you get an all expense paid trip to one this month...which one do you choose and why? 

Catalina Island California~Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts~Mackinac Island Michigan~Key West Florida~South Padre Island Texas~or Kauai Hawaii

I've been to Key West more than once,  but not to any of the other islands listed. I love the Keys but prefer Marathon to Key West. The sunsets in the Keys are spectacular. 

Hubs and I had a really fun trip to Duck Key which is near Marathon one year. It was the start of lobster season and hubs went diving and brought back dinner. A local restaurant cooked them for us. 

Plus I got to do this which was exciting.  

As far as which one on the list I'd most want to see I'll take the all expense paid trip to Mackinac Island please. I've never been and it's a spot that's on my want- to-see list. 

5. Sylvia Plath is credited with the following- 

"August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time."

Agree or disagree? In other words, how do you feel about this month? 

Growing up August was firmly planted in summer and there was no confusion about that. School started after Labor Day and we were still squeezing in all the summer fun we could in August. 

Today maybe that's not so clear, but on the lake it's still summer. The lake is less busy too because schools start so early, and kids are back into all their sports practices, so the gentler weekends on the water are nice. 

Come Labor Day I'll shift into all things autumn, even if the thermometer says otherwise. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I read a thought provoking post on Instagram recently which I'm linking here-The Slow Death of the Beauty Of The World.  I think it's worth a read if you can access it. 

A Day In The Life-June

Welcome to our Day In The Life link up. If you've posted about a typical day where you live add your link at the end of my post, then hop over and say hi to your neighbors there. Day In The Life posts only please and thank you. 

I love reading these posts and think they harken back to the early days of blogging, and even social media, where you got to know people through their writing and felt connected through the ordinary moments of life. We're bringing it back today. 

I chose June 1st because just because. Mostly because it occurred to me the night before and I have to set some alarms to remember to snap pictures throughout the day. Here we go-

Monday, June 1, 2026

Rise and shine, today at 6:36 am. I didn't set an alarm and am often up far earlier, but on this day it was 6:36. 

Start the coffee (I always set it up the night before) and feed the little brown dog. Mondays are trash day here so the pup likes to accompany hubs outside when he hauls the bins to the curb. We don't put them out the night before because bears love a good trash can meal. 

I'm glad when hubs is home to do the lugging, because the bins are heavy and our driveway has a slight incline so it's not my favorite task. 

Once this is done I pour coffee and settle in to my comfy space on the upstairs deck. I read my Bible, write in my prayer journal, browse emails, check to see if there are Tiny Beans updates, and play my word games to keep my brain working. Tiny Beans is a photo sharing site my girls both use to share pics of the grands. It's by invitation only and it's nice because aunts, uncles, and great-grandparents can all see the pics there. 

The first cup of coffee is my favorite. 

Hubs sits with me and does similar activities, although he doesn't play the word games like I do. 

Today we notice something yellow on the curb beside the lower garage so we walk down to investigate. From the deck it looks like, for lack of a better descriptor, dog vomit. 

Whadda ya know? I snapped a pic and my trusty plant identifier told me it is a fungus appropriately named-dog vomit slime mold. It's also sometimes known as scrambled egg slime and it's common after a lot of rain. We had a gully washer here all day every day over the Memorial Day weekend so this makes sense. Fortunately it disappears as the ground dries out. 

You didn't know this was going to be educational, did you?

Anyway, I couldn't linger with my morning coffee as long as I normally do because I had a facial booked at 9 AM,  and it's almost an hour drive so I needed to get moving. 

There are places I could go much closer to home, but I love everything about the experience in this particular spa and I love the girl I see there. Now that my mom lives in that general direction I'll combine the trek with a visit to her, or I'll stop at Costco or Trader Joe's which are also very nearby the salon. 

I go with a clean face, but I did shower, outside of course because that's the law here once winter ends, plus the view cannot be beat. Then I put on my comfy yoga pants, ate a small carton of yogurt, and was on my way. 

The facial lasted an hour (pure bliss) and then I headed one town over to see my mama. 

When I arrived she was in a chair yoga class and when that wrapped up she was going for some p.t. I tagged along and it was fun to see what all she does with the therapist. She cracked a joke too and we all laughed. After therapy we went outside and sat for a bit, then back to her room. 

Pay no attention to my shiny face. I had a facial and am still sans makeup. 

I walked with her to lunch then got on the road to head home. I grabbed a box of chick-fil-a nuggets and a diet lemonade for the ride back to the lake because I was starving. 

Once home I spent some time on the deck working on my blog. 

It rained a little and I love sitting outside listening to it fall. I move the deck pots out from under cover for some free watering. 

Daughter2 facetimed and I spent 57 minutes talking to her which is always a treat. Her kids were resting so we actually got to talk.  

Continue to ignore my still shiny face and my slightly oily hair. Shower number 2 is coming up because hubs and I had signed up for a wine dinner that evening. 

This was not our normal monthly wine dinner, but one the owner of the wine shop had put together. The wines were French and the winemaker was there to do the presentation. 

They had the most amazing charcuterie board as a starter, and then short ribs followed by creme brulee for dessert. The food was yummy. 

Course I neglected to snap a pic of hubs and I, but in true to me fashion I did get one of the sky when we were walking back to our car. The sunset was a beauty. 

I tried to snap a picture as we drove across the bridge coming home,  but didn't fare too well. 

We were home about 9:30 and headed to bed soon after. 

Now. Was this day typical? Sort of. There's truly no such thing as a typical day here. Every day is a little different than the one before, but on this day there was a lot of driving which feels accurate, at least for the past couple of months. There wasn't any cooking which is not typical, but there was porch time, a catch up with a daughter, blog time, a fun meal out, and that facial, the benefit of which cannot be overstated. 

This was fun. I look forward to reading about your day and will plan another link up sometime late fall. Thanks for joining the party here today! 

Everyday Images

I enjoy the Everyday Images link up hosted by Kym (Another Cup Of Coffee) and thought I might try to make some of my recent random photos fit the prompts. Bloggers tend to snap a lot of pictures and a prompt like this one is a nice place to set them down. 

Kym posts new prompts every two weeks and the most current are-

flag, simple and/or complicated, at home, Wednesday weather,

 doorway, movement, and branched

Well flag is an easy one because I'm adding patriotic decor in spots around the house and several feature flag motifs-

This is on my coffee table, a little vignette that's fun and festive. I chose poppies because they make me think of soldiers and sacrifice. The pop of red in a little blue floral vase is so pretty. These are artificial poppies, but look so real. I ordered them from a company called Luv Sola Flowers which I think is out of California. The stems have some bend to them which made arranging easy. 

Love my 'smells like freedom candle' too. What does freedom smell like? For some reason I immediately think of freshly mown green grass, which is not the scent of this candle, but that's the first thing I thought of. The label on the bottom says gun powder, but I had to check so I don't think it's obvious. 

Since we're talking flags I also bought hand soap for my powder room and some disposable towels, both with red, white, and blue flag designs on them. 

Simple and/or complicated-

I spent Thursday afternoon cooking. I made dinner to take to a friend as part of a meal train (pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, and glazed carrots), then made a big pan of ziti to have ready to go for Friday night's dinner when my two sisters, my brother-in-law, and my nephew will be at the lake. 

And I made hubs and I a big cobb salad for our Thursday dinner. I'll make a dessert tomorrow but it felt simpler to devote an afternoon to the bigger cooking as opposed to spreading it out over a couple of days. 

Hubs is grilling wings Friday too but that's his department and he's got it covered. 

at home-

I'm writing this post at 8 PM on Thursday and this is the first I've sat down today. Maybe all week? 

Here's the sofa on our upper deck which is pretty much my favorite place to sit and it's currently on point with my patriotic theme. Happy birthday America! 

Wednesday weather-

Hmm. I take a picture almost every morning, but did not snap one on Wednesday. It was drizzling when we got up, we had thunder at one point, humidity, clouds and then a very pretty sunset. We had gone to dinner with some neighbors and I attempted to take a photo of the pastel skies from their driveway. 

Doorway-

I didn't have anything that fit this particular prompt so I scrolled back through my camera roll and found a photo I took back in March that I never posted. Yes, of course that counts. You make your own blog rules, right? 

I took this when I was visiting my daughter2 in Tennessee and we shopped in the prettiest little store. Even the doors were beautiful-

Movement -

Well the beaver family has returned. Not the original beaver family because ahem, they're goners, but maybe one of their offspring? 

He's movin' alright. Moving is good though because we do not want him stopping and staying a while. 

We started seeing one good sized beaver swimming from the back of the cove towards the channel, which means he swims under our dock bridge. You have to get up very early to see him (which we do) and he is busy. As a beaver. Ha! That saying has merit y'all. We watched him one morning swim across our cove and under a neighbors dock all while carrying a large branch with the leaves still on it. Crazy! But kind of interesting too. 

On Tuesday he had a friend with him. Oh boy. 

We don't want him/them setting up house on our property so we're doing what we can to deter them . I don't think I'll elaborate. 

Also, I wrote back in 2020 about the beaver who ate his way through our hillside landscaping and if you've never seen one you might think they're cute, but I'm here to tell you they are not actually cute. One reason we put in the waterfall was to save the hillside and the beavers have not come up the hill since so it's working. 

branched-

This one feels like a challenge. Technically they're under some branches-

These two deer were in my neighbor's front yard the other day. They were not bothered by me at all. 

Happy weekend everyone! 

End of September Everyday Images

I really enjoy the photo prompts Kym posts every couple of weeks on her blog (A Fresh Cup Of Coffee). I'm not sure if we're supposed to go looking for something that meets the prompt, or if we're supposed to scroll through the photos we've already taken and see what works. I guess either way is probably fine. 

I tend to look at the prompts when she posts them, and that helps me notice little things throughout the week that might work. I also like to add words to my pictures and make it more of a blog post because I'm better at words than pictures. 

Usually. The fonts in this post are all over the place and I could not seem to correct that. C'est la blog. 

Some weeks I get mine in just under the wire, and I missed last week's altogether, but I'm sharing the most recent here today. Kym posts new prompts every two weeks so you have some time to play. I'm also linking today with Joanne at Slices of Life for her weekly Talking About It Tuesday hop. 

Okay, here's what we're working with this time around-

neighborhood spot~ink~smooth~checked~sunrise and/or sunset~at home~ 

Neighborhood spot...

Not right in my neighborhood, but nearby and a place for neighbors to gather-

We've spent some time here recently, watching the Mancub play baseball and his brother Max on the soccer pitch. We were there Monday evening as the sun was setting, watching the six and under set play their hearts out, ever hopeful of a goal.  

Ink...

I'm not tattooed so I went with the other obvious choice-

Books, which are full of my favorite kind of ink-the written word. This is my current stash just waiting to be read. 

smooth.... 

I try to think out of the box on some of these and this is one of those times. That first cup of morning coffee is smooth, as is the lake early morning. Here's a shot of both-

checked....

I'm finally pulling out a few fall themed items for the house, and on Monday I switched out some pillows on the couch-

It only took me an hour to remember where I'd stashed the covers, but I finally found them in a big box in the attic labeled 'holiday pillows'. Who'd have thought it? 

The pillows are about as much as I've done because I got distracted by some of the other attic boxes I've started going through. I spent all of Monday washing Bitty Baby clothes that have been stored for thirty+ years along with two huge bags of dress up clothes I want my granddaughters to be able to play with one day soon.  I also discovered a stash of letters, cards, and assorted loose and framed photos which are always my downfall.  It's hard to stay focused when you land on a picture like this one- 

Look at that little cutie. I haven't seen this photo in years, and I know it doesn't fit the prompt, but it does make me smile. When I look at this picture today I see how much Daughter2's little Sugar looks like her momma. Her momma was three here, so a little older than Sugar is now, but that face! It's the same. 

Sunrise and/or sunset....

Well if you read here you know I'm never without a sunrise photo-

And lastly, at home.... 

When you live on a lake the water is home. 

Autumn Leaves And The Hodgepodge Please

Hello Autumn, and hello Hodgepodgers. If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger there before you. Here we go-

1. Fall officially rolls into the Northern Hemisphere on Monday (9/22)...what's your favorite thing about fall? 

I like how thoughts turn reflective and home feels warm and cozy. I like the comforting foods and comfy clothes that are part of it too. 

2. What's one thing on your real or proverbial autumn bucket list? 

A drive into a nearby mountain town for lunch and leaf peeping. I posted my very simple fall bucket list in Tuesday's post if you're curious (Grading On The Curve)

3. Apples, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and cranberries are some of the top fall foods. Which one is your favorite and how do you like it prepared? Any on the list you don't eat? Which one have you had most recently? 

I love them all but I guess apples would be my favorite, and that's the one I've had most recently. I like them all ways...right off the tree, in a pie, a tart, a crumble, applesauce, baked with a little cinnamon and butter. There are none on the list I wouldn't eat. 

4. 'Fall is proof that change is beautiful' is a popular sentiment. Would you agree or no? Elaborate. 

I think I'd be more inclined to agree if it read '...change can be beautiful'.  Changing seasons I think are beautiful, but there are times in living life where change is messy and unwelcome. In my personal experience I have found change to best be assessed in hind sight. It's often in looking back at a change we didn't ask for that we're able to find the beauty in it.  

5. Is there a spot near you where people go to see the leaves change color? Will you try to leaf peep somewhere this fall? Lonely Planet lists the following ten places as the best for leaf peeping...of those listed which would you most like to visit? 

Stowe, Vermont~Shenandoah National Park, Virginia~Columbia River Gorge, Oregon~Zion National Park, Utah~Tennessee/North Carolina border~West Virgina~Northwestern Wyoming~Wisconsin Northwoods~Northern Nevada~Ozark Highlands Scenic Byway, Arkansas

There are a lot of great spots nearby to see color, because the Blue Ridge is just a hop skip and a jump from here. I want to take a drive that direction one day soon and we'll make that happen I'm sure. As far as the list goes there are many there I'd enjoy seeing. 

I have been on the Tennessee/North Carolina border many times and it's a beauty...

This wasn't taken in the fall obviously, but it's beautiful in every season...

I also think the Shenandoah National Park is one of the prettiest places in America. I've been to New England, but never to Stowe and that one definitely sounds appealing this time of year, so I pick Stowe. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

This time of year I always like to pull out some pictures from my yard in New Jersey. 

We lived there before moving south,  and while the outrageous taxes and the seemingly never ending winter could get old...

...the glorious color in my own backyard never did. Happy fall y'all!