A is For Hodgepodge

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge and Day 1 in the April A-Z Blog Challenge. Some Wednesdays I'll probably use the random thought space here to post my A-Z, but not today. My letter A post started running a little long (shocking I know!) so I've decided to give it a place of it''s own. You'll find Letter A posted here. 

And if you're visiting from the A-Z welcome. The Hodgepodge happens here every Wednesday and you're invited to play along. Hodgepodge links only please on this post. 

And if you're here every week I'm glad you're back. Now here we go-

1. March is rolling on out of here. Sum up your March in ten words or less. 

March was a whirlwind of activities, events, and family fun. Whew! 

I know that's eleven words, but adding that Whew! at the end felt essential. 

2. Are you afraid of heights? When was the last time you found yourself dealing with a height, and did it make you nervous?

Heights don't bother me so much as what is often required to reach the height. I love a big, wide, expansive view from up above, but greatly dislike a sky tram, gondola, cars hanging from a string high above the earth, which is so often how you get from low to high. 

I've ridden many of these contraptions, and have to give myself a talking to the entire time we're moving. Or swaying! which is really not my favorite. 

Yes I rode a gondola above the clouds near Mt. Blanc. A crowded one too, where I wondered about the weight limit the entire ride up. It was a long, long, long way. 

I haven't dealt with any scary heights recently. I can handle tall buildings with the top floor reached by elevator. We spend a lot of time in the mountains and I love those sorts of heights/views. Driving high coastal cliff roads with no guard rail is unnerving, but also a little bit thrilling. 

Big Sur 

No post of mine regarding heights would be complete without another mention of the gondola that dangled by a thread I rode on to get up to the tea plantations in Taiwan. (I wrote a post about it here-Quake, Rattle, and Roll) The wind was whistling through the open windows and the car swayed in a way that was slightly terrifying. See those specks in the sky? 

That's me. The gondola made a stop halfway up and not gonna lie, the height and angle on these temple steps was a little nerve wracking too. 

3. What's a word you struggle to spell on a regular basis, and sometimes need to double check before writing it down? Use the word in a sentence that tells us something about your April calendar. 

necessary

Rain will be necessary here this month, if we want to get out of the current drought conditions we're experiencing. 

4. Love 'em or hate 'em, with Easter comes the sweet treat known as Peeps. So... do you love 'em or hate 'em? Speaking of peeps, what's your favorite way to have chicken? 

I like Peeps okay, but wouldn't say I love them. They're a fun, festive treat this time of year, but I don't seek them out. I'm sure I put a package in my girl's baskets when they were young, because more than the taste I love the look of them.  

When my daughter2 was first married and living in Pennsylvania we went to a peep and wine pairing at one of their local vineyards and that was kind of fun. 

My favorite way to have chicken? As an ingredient in a Thai green curry.  I prefer chicken baked and with a lot of flavor added, teryiaki, BBQ sauce, that sort of thing. I don't eat a lot of fried food anymore. 

5. This week's Hodgepodge lands on the first day of April, which happens to be National Poetry Month. Do you like poetry?  Share a favorite line or two from one of your favorite poems. What makes this one a favorite? 

I started thinking about copyright infringement after posting this question and here's what I found on line-

'You can safely use short excerpts from poems published before 1925, as they are in the public domain. Generally, using 1-2 lines (especially if they are not the heart of the poem) is often considered fair use, though not guaranteed, while quoting 3+ lines or more of a recent work usually requires permission.'

I do like poetry, and I wish I'd memorized more when I was young and my brain wasn't as crowded as it is today. I have several favorites, but one I love is The Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe (c. 1849). The main reason I love this poem is because my dad knew it by heart and would randomly recite it from time to time. His grandgirls absolutely loved that, and this poem always makes me think of him. 

"It was many and many a year ago, 

In a kingdom by the sea, 

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

By the name of Annabel Lee;

And this maiden she lived with no other thought, 

Than to love and be loved by me..." 

by Edgar Allan Poe

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

It's Day 1 in the April A-Z blog challenge, and if you don't know what I'm talking about go to this post (The ABC's of April) to get the 411. Essentially you blog one letter of the alphabet every day but Sundays in the month of April. My theme this year is The Things We Keep: An A-Z Of Ordinary Objects. You'll find Day1 in the challenge posted here. I hope you'll follow along! 

Also, I cannot let this week pass without wishing you the peace and blessings of Easter. 

May you know the hope and joy that is ours because of the great gift of God's only Son, who died in our place and rose from the grave. Happy Easter! 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 647

Here are questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday (April 1st) to share answers with all your peeps. See you there! 

1. March is rolling on out of here. Sum up your March in ten words or less. 

2. Are you afraid of heights? When was the last time you found yourself dealing with a height, and did it make you nervous?

3. What's a word you struggle to spell on a regular basis, and sometimes need to double check before writing it down? Use the word in a sentence that tells us something about your April calendar. 

4. Love 'em or hate 'em, with Easter comes the sweet treat known as Peeps. So... do you love 'em or hate 'em? Speaking of peeps, what's your favorite way to have chicken? 

5. This week's Hodgepodge lands on the first day of April, which happens to be National Poetry Month. Do you like poetry?  Share a favorite line or two from one of your favorite poems. What makes this one a favorite? 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

The No Hodgepodge Hodgepodge

Hi friends. Apologies for the late notice, but I just cannot manage a Hodgepodge this week. The Hodgepodge will return next Wednesday (October 17). 

I had company all weekend and then my mom is here with me all week. Plus the world has gone absolutely mad and I just need some space from the noise of the internet right now. I am praying for the nation of Israel, for an end to the horrors we are seeing from afar, for peace and healing for the very many who are hurt and grieving. 

I hope each one of you reading here knows the peace only God can give. We can turn to Him when this world spins out of control and we can trust Him in the midst of so much chaos and sadness. The One who set the stars in the sky knows your name and He cares for you. 

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day" Psalm 46:1-5

A Cup Of Pumpkin Spice Hodgepodge

Welcome to another week in The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then hop over and leave a comment for your neighbor there. Here we go...

1. What's something that scares you? 

Besides our government you mean? I kid. Sort of. 

I'm going with bats. They give me the heebie jeebies. 

2. Do you care where the food you eat comes from? To what degree? 

Do I care? Yes. I read labels, am on the lookout for the GM tag and do my best to steer clear, we eat very little processed foods, and if I were ever to have dinner with Bill Gates I'd tell him real meat only please, none of that synthetic stuff he thinks Americans should be eating. 

Just to be clear, Bill Gates is not someone I'd care to have dinner with. 

3. What's something you wish you'd spent more time doing when you were younger? 

Oh wow, lots of things I suppose, but realizing that is part of growing up. A few things that come to mind would be speaking French, asking my dad about his childhood, keeping up with a journal, and learning to play the piano. A few more serious bits too but I don't think they're for sharing here. 

4. Let's play autumn this or that....pumpkin spice or apple cider? Corn maze or haunted house? Horror film or Hallmark movie? Blanket or sweatshirt? Watch football or watch the World Series? Foliage-red, yellow or orange? 

I'm not a pumpkin spice fan at all so cider it is. I've never cared for the scary elements of Halloween so I'll go for the corn maze. I definitely don't watch any horror movies, but it's also a rare day I watch a Hallmark movie so really neither. Hallmark if I have to choose. I love a cozy blanket, and college football is what fall Saturdays are all about. As far as the foliage goes, I love a mix of all three colors. 

5. This time last year where were you and what were you doing? 

This time last year hubs and I had just returned from a fabulous trek up the coast of California (mucho posts about that trip starting with the link here).

On the first Tuesday in October of 2022 we were finally back in the southland. I spent that morning in the orthopedic surgeon's office having my fractured elbow assessed. Good times. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

October, 2023. It's not the coast of California...

...but it's awfully pretty here too. 

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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 522

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

1. What's something that scares you? 

2. Do you care where the food you eat comes from? To what degree? 

3. What's something you wish you'd spent more time doing when you were younger? 

4. Let's play autumn this or that....pumpkin spice or apple cider? Corn maze or haunted house? Horror film or Hallmark movie? Blanket or sweatshirt? Watch football or watch the World Series? Foliage-red, yellow or orange? 

5. This time last year where were you and what were you doing? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

A Fearless 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. Here we go-

1. What motivates you to work hard?

Sometimes it's houseguests ha! I mean company coming kicks us in to gear in terms of having the house in order. For the record, my house is almost always in order, but company motivates me to dig a little deeper. 

In terms of projects I love a deadline and find having a list of tasks needed to meet that deadline motivating. 

Sometimes love motivates me to work hard. I want to accomplish something for another person and the idea of adding a bright spot or a bit of kindness to someone's day is motivating in its own way. 

2. It's been said "Ignorance is bliss"...is it? 

Well now that depends what we're talking about. I don't think we can stick our head in the sand about what's going on in the world today, but I won't be consumed by it either. If there's some element of a problem or situation I can control then ignorance is definitely not bliss.

In thinking a little more about this question I'm going to say that most of the time ignorance isn't bliss. Ignorance quite often turns what would have been a small manageable problem into a larger issue. 

3.Would you rather be stuck on a broken elevator or a broken ski lift? Explain. Have you ever actually been stuck on either? Of the common fears listed here what's your #1-

heights-enclosed spaces-snakes-public speaking-the dark-flying

I think a ski lift, as long as we're talking chair lift. If we're talking gondola then I'll take the elevator please. Thankfully I've never been stuck in either, but my hubs was stuck in an elevator several years ago. He was in a hotel in New Jersey and the lift stuck between the 6th and 7th floors for several hours. The fire department had to extract him lol. 

Actually it wasn't funny, but all's well that ends well. Also he was alone and was happy about that. 

Of the common fears listed enclosed spaces are my #1. 

Which is why I'd prefer the ski lift. 

4. What's something you like about the town or city where you live? 

I live in a small town and I guess the smallness is something I enjoy. I do love a city, but I love them the way I remember them, not so much the way they are now.  People in my small town are friendly, there's not a lot of traffic, and there's a lake in my backyard. Can't beat the view-

Tuesday morning sunrise

5. Life is too short to waste time on things that don't matter. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I made a chocolate-raspberry ice cream cake for dessert last weekend and it was so good. I used this recipe (foodandwine.com) and will definitely make it again. I did crush the raspberries when layering because biting into a whole frozen raspberry might ruin someone's night. And I forgot to take a picture but trust me, it's a keeper. 

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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 516

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

1. What motivates you to work hard?

2. It's been said "Ignorance is bliss"...is it? 

3.Would you rather be stuck on a broken elevator or a broken ski lift? Explain. Have you ever actually been stuck on either? Of the common fears listed here what's your #1-

heights-enclosed spaces-snakes-public speaking-the dark-flying

4. What's something you like about the town or city where you live? 

5. Life is too short to_________________________________. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

A Merry Halloween Hodgepodge

Boo! It's the 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. Here we go-

1. In two or three sentences describe yourself to someone who has never met you. 

I actually have an 'about me' tab on my sidebar, but it's in serious need of updating. For now let's stick to the prompt-

Married for 38+ years to my college sweetheart. Mother, daughter, sister, Nana. I love Jesus, books, words and finding beauty in the great wide somewhere. 

2. Will you celebrate Halloween this year? If you answered yes tell us how? Let's play this or that-chocolate candy or fruity candy? pumpkin seeds or pumpkin pie? Halloween party or scary movie? hay ride or corn maze? carve a pumpkin or paint a pumpkin?

We'll be spending Halloween with daughter1 and her family so definitely celebrating. The boys are so excited about their costumes which their crafty momma made. They live in one of those neighborhoods that has lots and lots and lots of children, the kind of neighborhood other people drive into so their kids can also trick or treat there. I'm expecting a lot of the fun kind of chaos.  

As far as this or that-chocolate, pie, party, hay ride, carve

3. What's something that scared you when you were young? Are you still afraid?

Our basement lol. If my mom needed me to get something from the basement I begged my sister to go with me, and she did the same. We eventually got over it, but even as a grown adults we disliked being sent to the basement to fetch something. No logical reason why, nothing truly scary ever happened in that basement, but it was a childhood fear that stuck. 

4. Your favorite soothing drink? 

Hot tea with a very small splash of milk. 

5. Are you thinking about Christmas yet? Does this make you feel happy or stressed? 

My September-October brain has not had a lot of room for thoughts of Christmas. 

Besides, I love the fall and Thanksgiving especially, so I don't want to move ahead too quickly. I guess I've thought about Christmas a very little bit in terms of who's coming when, and I've purchased a handful of gifts, but not enough to make a real dent in my gift giving list.  

I don't feel stressed thinking about Christmas. Not yet anyway. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

I have what feels like a million random thoughts currently rolling around my head but for now let's all just take a deep breath and appreciate the Tennessee sunset in my daughter's backyard-

Happy Wednesday! 

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Chicken Fried Hodgepodge

Welcome to another 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. Here we go-

1. July 6th is National Fried Chicken Day...are you a fan? Do you make your own or have a favorite place to buy from? Do you own chickens? If not chicken what's your favorite fried food?

I very rarely fry anything, and I try not to eat a lot of fried foods. Fried isn't my favorite and I'd rather have grilled chicken if given a choice. That being said I do love homemade fried chicken and here in the southland you can find good fried chicken at a lot of the local restaurants. I do not own chickens but daughter1's in-laws do and they keep us in a steady supply of fresh eggs. 

My favorite fried food would be shrimp. 

2.  What's something you're too chicken to try?

Probably a lot of things. Skydiving (am I chicken or am I smart?) and returning the boat to the lift exactly completely precisely right (am I chicken or is hubs too chicken to watch me try?) are two things that came instantly to mind. 

3. When did you last find yourself running around like a 'chicken with its head cut off'?

I like to plan so it's not often I'm running around last minute. Maybe the weekend of daughter2's baby shower when there were many moving parts, lots of logistics, and a lot to haul hither and yon. 

4. Something you've done recently that makes you think 'I'm no spring chicken'? 

Tried to read something without my glasses on. 

5. 'Winner winner chicken dinner'...tell us about something good that's happened in your life lately. 

This darling little boy arriving almost three weeks ago...he is so precious-

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We had a nice July 4th weekend which always culminates in our neighbors spectacular fireworks display over the water. She lives opposite us on the cove so we have prime viewing from our dock. Boats come from all over the lake and anchor out to watch the show....

God bless America! 

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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 447

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

1. What do you wish you'd done more of last year? Less of? 

2. What's the tallest building you've ever been in? Do you have a fear of heights? 

3. Do you have a word for the year? Elaborate if you'd like to elaborate. 

4. January 11 is National Milk Day...are you a milk drinker? What kind? Your favorite recipe that calls for milk (cereal doesn't count)? 

5. What excites you most about the future? What do you miss about the past? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Nothin' Scary About The Hodgepodge

Welcome to another edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge, our last in October.  If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my blog, then leave a comment for the blogger before you.  Here we go-

1. Is Halloween a big deal in your neighborhood? Was it something you celebrated as a child? With your own children? Do you like candy corn? 

It's not a huge deal in our neighborhood, but it's not no deal either. There are not a lot of young children in our neighborhood and the driveways are long and the roads a bit dark so not ideal for trick or treating. Last year someone organized a trunk or treat in the clubhouse parking lot which was fun and made trick or treating easier for everyone. We don't get trick or treaters at our door, which is just as well because I tend to buy way too much candy and consequently eat way too much candy. 

We did celebrate when I was growing up, nothing over the top but it was a fun day and much looked forward to. We always had a costume parade at school and then we trick or treated around the neighborhood that evening. This was back in the day when you wore those plastic masks that covered your face, had tiny little slits for eyes, and a rubber band that went around your head to hold it in place. If you know you know and if you don't, well you're young and lucky lol. 

My dad always carved a pumpkin but we didn't do any extreme decorating. Early on in my blog life I wrote a (very wordy) post about my Halloween memories. I've linked it here if you're curious-It Was A Dark and Stormy Night...

We kept it pretty low key for our own children too. Costumes and trick or treating around the neighborhood with the dads leading the way. We carved pumpkins but again, I wasn't in to a lot of Halloween decor. 

As far as candy corn goes...I can take it or leave it. 

2. Are you a scaredy cat? About what? 

Hmmm...we probably all have one thing or another that would qualify us as 'scaredy cat'. I have done and still do a lot of things many people would define as 'living unafraid'...international travel, swimming in a deep lake, public speaking, etc. 

How about traversing a gorge in a hanging cable car? I'm fraidy scared but I still do get on them and go so does that really count? 

I know...bats. I am a scaredy cat when it comes to bats. Shudder. 

3. Last time you were somewhere that should have been busy but felt like a 'ghost town'?

Maybe a restaurant on a Friday night that would normally be hopping but these days is not?

4. Do you like chili and if so how do you like it? Beans or no beans? Meat or no meat? Beef or chicken? Spice or no spice? Favorite toppings? 

I love chili and I love chili weather. I make mine with beans-meat-spice, but can happily eat chili all sorts of ways. I tend to use beef but also have a white chicken chili recipe that's tasty. We like spicy and then hubs also needs a side of jalapeños because there's no such thing as too hot for him. I like shredded cheese and sometimes a small dollop of sour cream on mine along with a side of cornbread.

5. Would you describe yourself as a night owl? What time of night qualifies? What are you doing while everyone else is asleep? Do you then 'sleep in'? Define 'sleeping in'. 

Ha! No. What's the opposite of a night owl, because that's what I am? I'm an early bird and love the wee hours of the morning as the sun is rising, not the wee hours of the night after the sun has gone to bed. My level of productivity goes way down late afternoon, and sleeping in for me would be 7:30. If I'm still in bed at 8 am I'm probably sick. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." L.M. Montgomery

So is the little brown dog...

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Door

Continuing with the 31 Days To Telling Your Story Challenge with prompts by Kate Motaung over at Five Minute Friday.

Today's prompt-door

Back in 2012 I was participating in a month long photo challenge and one of the word prompts was door. I remember writing that post (you can read it here) and how much I enjoyed looking back at some of the doors hubs and I have walked through in our married life. We'd had eight homes by then and have added two more doors to the mix since.

I guess we never stop opening doors.

I liked that post. Writing out our moves in timeline form helped me see with the clarity of hindsight how one seemingly random place we called home was not so random after all. How one stop in the road of life taught us things, grew us up, made us ready for the next.

Almost two years ago we walked through door number ten.

This house.

The one we could only imagine would stand where the trees grew thick and the red clay ran deep.

The one we built from the ground up.

We live here now.
It's home.

Two years ago we opened the door and once again invited change into our lives, perhaps more change than any move we'd made previously.

Location, lifestyle, people, circumstance.

Most of the pictures I take here are from the back side of my house because the view is lovely there. You see that's the thing about doors, both the literal and the proverbial...

You have to open them to know what's on the other side.

And wherever that door leads you...well as they say round here, you'll need to sit a spell. Put your feet up, pour some coffee, catch your breath.

Of all the many moves we've made, I've probably resisted this last one the most. I blame it on mid-life, the empty nest, this unsettled feeling I have most days of not knowing quite who I am in this new season of life.

So I write about it, and it helps. I read what I wrote in seasons past and rest in the knowledge God is still teaching me things.

Still growing me up.

Still making me ready to swing wide the doors in front of me and walk on through. 

Five Minutes of Why

I'm linking up with Five Minute Friday today and here's the drill-Kate posts a one word prompt, you set your timer and write for five minutes flat, no editing or over thinking.

I'll be honest here and say these prompts lend themselves to deep thought and I often struggle to articulate deep thought in just five minutes. I need more like five hundred to make my point, but still I try. I like the way this exercise stretches me and often forces me to examine my faith and put what I see there into words. I especially love seeing all the many directions in which writers run with a single word.

Obviously I haven't started my timer yet-ha!

Today's prompt-why

When my girls were little instead of asking why they used to ask "how becomes?" I don't know exactly when and how this came to be, but instead of asking why it was always "Mommy how becomes I can't go outside and play?" or "How becomes Poppie lives in heaven instead of here with us?" or "How becomes your hair is brown and mine is different?"

I think maybe the phrase came about because when they asked a question I answered, and my answer almost always began with the word because. How becomes was an extension of that.

I remember the innocence of my children, their curiosity, their sense of feeling safe in the world. Bad things happened but they were mostly shielded from them. It's a different world in 2018 with everything on display all day every day. Fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, violence of the human kind...no place sacred, no place safe.

How becomes the world is such a mess?

Well that's a tough one. A question for the ages really because a messy world is nothing new. When my children were small and they'd ask a tough question quite often my answer was simply this-'Because Mommy says so'. Small children are most of the time more than okay with that answer. In fact it was the answer they were looking for. They don't need details, they just need to know someone bigger is in charge.

We're all small children when evil looms large in our newsfeeds and our school buildings, our churches and movie theatres and on and on it goes.

Someone bigger is in charge.

Every time something tragic occurs I'm reminded this earth is not my home. That I'm a traveler in an imperfect world, and that God has something infinitely better planned. That He knows the end from the beginning and we only see in part.

For those who don't acknowledge the existence of God that all sounds trite and convenient, like you're taking the easy way out. Except it's not easy. It's not easy to look at a world gone mad and say something better is coming.

So how becomes I believe it?

Because God has promised that very thing and He has never ever failed to keep His word.

Mastering the Hodgepodge

Welcome back to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! If you've answered this week's questions, add your link at the end of my post. Be sure to leave a comment for the blogger linking before you because comments make the blog world spin. Here we go-

1. When you think about your future what do you fear most? Hope for the most?

What I fear most would probably be some sort of serious health issue. I think once you hit your 50's you become hyper aware of your health, the value of good health, and the importance of maintaining it. You do what you can, but you certainly can't prevent/control it all.

What I hope for most is my family's health, not just their physical well-being, but their emotional and spiritual health too. That last one most of all. 

2. September is National Chicken Month. How often is chicken on the menu at your house? What's a favorite dish made with chicken? What's something you're a 'chicken' about doing or trying?

We have chicken about once a week. I have several favorites so it's hard to choose just one. I love roast chicken, barbecued chicken, and chicken salad. I'm making this chicken dish tomorrow evening and it's a good one. I use chicken breasts instead of thighs and definitely don't skip the lemony cucumber couscous linked in the recipe as a side dish. It's so good!  

What am I a chicken about doing or trying? Most anything new-ha! Oh wait...I'm a little bit chicken about riding highly strung cable cars in foreign countries. 

That tiny speck going up the side of a glacier in the French Alps is me in a highly strung cable car. 

That's me, hanging over Italy's beautiful Lago Maggiore in yet another highly strung cable car. 

Also me, dangling precariously over the tea plantations in Taipei. 

But I've done them, which only proves the point of my original answer. 

3. What are three things you don't own but wish you did?

Such a broad question...shall I go with a ridiculous answer or a practical one? Let's be practical-

a kayak, a golf cart and an apartment in London

Okay, semi-practical. The first two are items we intend to purchase this year, and that last one is on the list I keep in my head.

4. Would you rather be a jack of all trades or a master of one? Elaborate.  If you answered one, which one?

I'd love to be able to sing, but can that be taught? I mean I know it can be taught if a person has a bit of natural talent, but what about for those of us who don't? 

I might say writing, but I'm not sure it can be truly mastered. There's always room to grow, improve, and refine this particular art. 

I suppose I will choose to be a jack of all trades as I have a variety of hobbies and interests. I like to cook, bake, entertain, read, write, craft, garden, bird watch, hike and swim. I wish I knew more about computer snafus, boating, simple home improvement and basic car 'stuff' but I suppose there's still time to learn. 

5. Ketchup or mustard? On what?

I have to choose? Actually mayonnaise is my favorite condiment but of the two listed here I'll say mustard. On a hotdog or a ham sandwich. 

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

College football is back in action and we're pretty happy about that. We're big TN Vol fans here, but we root for the hometown team too. Go Tigers! 

My son-in-law is a huge fan of the hometown team so his son needed gear to wear on game days.

I know how you feel baby boy. Sometimes these games wear me out too.

Accomplishing The Hodgepodge

Somehow we've landed in the last week of May. Does anyone else feel like it was just Christmas? June is one of my favorites so no complaints here. The Hodgepodge is rolling right along too...answer on your own blog then hop back there tomorrow to add your link to the party. See you there!

1. What makes you feel accomplished? Explain.

It's the little things. Hosting a dinner party. Completing a tough hike. Keeping a plant alive for an extended period of time. Successfully preparing a complicated recipe. Building a house. Writing. 

2. If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be? Tell us why.

Princess Catherine because I adore her, Tim Tebow because I so admire how he has used his fame for good, and the President because he's the President. 

3. Do you have a great burger recipe? What's in it? What do you like on a hamburger and where is your favorite spot to order one out?

I don't really have a recipe, just good ground beef, lots of salt and pepper, and one of our favorite steak seasonings, either Sauers or Chicago. I need lettuce, tomato, mayo on my burger with a side of dill pickle. I don't do the fast food thing so much, but there are a couple of local spots here that make a good burger. I do like Red Robin's burgers too. 

4. What's the biggest anxiety producing thing you do on a regular basis?

It's a toss up between flying and docking the boat. Now technically I'm doing neither, but!...I am flying that plane from my seat, and while hubs is normally doing the actual boat docking, the first mate role makes me sweat.  

5. This is the last Hodgepodge of May. Tell us about your summer plans.

Well, first and foremost I'M HAVING A GRANDBABY! Other than that it's all about the lake. Lots of company coming and going, so lots of boating, corn hole, and porch sitting. I'm also going to a little reunion with friends from the church I grew up in, and I'm really looking forward to that. A fun, busy summer. 

Is there any other kind on this side of the pond? 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

A neighborhood friend invited me to lunch last Friday, along with two other women. Three of us lived in the UK at roughly the same time, but didn't know one another there. We went to a gorgeous spot out in the country, a small farm with an interesting menu and a spectacular view.

The weather was picture perfect, and it was a completely lovely afternoon.




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