Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 424

We're back! And here are the questions for this brand new week. 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 reminds you of your grandmother? Tell us why. 

2. Is your life currently more 'moonlight and roses' or a little more 'every rose has it's thorn'? Elaborate. 

3. June 23rd is National Pink Day...favorite thing you own in any shade of pink? Favorite thing found in nature in any shade of pink? Your favorite pink food or beverage? Your favorite shade of pink? 

4. Last thing that had you 'tickled pink'? 

5. What are two or three words that describe your style. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Monday Dusting

Happy Summer everyone! It's official! It definitely feels like summer here and we are back to busy. So much so that I didn't post a single entry on my blog last week. I plan to make up for that today though, with an extra long post. 

As opposed to my normal long posts I mean. 

So let's talk about last week and life in general. Remember the adorable newlyweds? 

They were finally able to take their honeymoon trip and spent last week celebrating married life in a beautiful tropical locale. Only four different Covid tests were needed to get there and back but one does what one must when the sea is calling. I think Daughter2 plans to blog about their getaway on her own blog, which you'll find here (It's Elementary). 

While the kids were away we kept their sweet pup who is so sick and the dearest best dog we've ever known. Dogs y'all...

They fill up your heart but they wrench it real good too. 

Meanwhile on the other side of the world...daughter1 and her family also spent a week vacationing in a beautiful tropical locale. Jeju Island which is sometimes called the 'Hawaii of Korea'. 

If you follow Daughter1 on Facebook she's posted a bunch of pictures, and hopefully will share the fabulous vlogs she made on her own blog soon. (Sincerely Shannon)

We have their sweet pup too, but I think I've told you he's technically our dog now. Saturday morning we took him for his first official boat ride of the season and he was, as per usual, living his best life. 

Everyday is your best life when you're him. 

Always helping the Captain-

Retrieving til the cows come home. 

He would swim after this rubber duck all the ding dong day if we'd let him. 

The lake was quiet Saturday morning so hubs and I had breakfast and iced coffee while the little brown dog wore himself out. 

fyi-he never wears out. 

In other last week news, hubs and I celebrated an anniversary...37 years so whoohoo! Go us! A random number to be sure, but I say every year is a milestone and should be marked. We had a lovely dinner at a restaurant we enjoy and talked about how both of our girls were vacationing somewhere fabulous while we're at home with the dogs. Not mad about it at all though, because happily married children are a true gift. 

Early in the week hubs brother and sister-in-law drove over from their lake in Tennessee to our lake in South Carolina. We did some boating and some grilling and lots of porch sitting which was fun. The men went skeet shooting one day while we girls shopped and lunched and we look so forward to more family fun with them soon. 

I'm all over the map here so this post might feel like more than a week's worth of recap, but I promise it's really only a week. 

I had plans to make hubs his favorite breakfast on Father's Day but just before church the power went out and was out all morning. Blueberry waffles for lunch are okay too. It rained all day so we watched movies and then he opened gifts and facetimed with his girls and I capped things off with his favorite dinner- meatloaf. 

The skies cleared so we met up with neighbors for an evening kayak to a nearby island. 

Gray days can surprise you with their beautiful endings. 

Note to Hodgepodgers

Apologies for the late notice, but there will not be a Hodgepodge this week. We’ll be back to the random next week, June 23rd. See you there! 

Hodgepodge Bounty

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. Or all the bloggers before you if you've got the time. Here we go-

1. Something you've seen recently that's 'cuter than a June bug'?

This-

Nobody's surprised are they? 

2. Tell us something about where you were and what you were doing in June of 1988? If you weren't born yet, June of 1998. Or if that doesn't work, June of 2008. 

On this day in June of 1988 I was spending all day every day marveling at my newborn baby daughter. 

I marvel at her still-

3. A place in your home or outdoor space where you feel 'snug as a bug in a rug'? 

I'm going to say curled up on the screened in porch... no real bugs allowed. 

4. June is National Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Month. Do you normally get your 4-5 servings each day? What's a favorite summer dish you make/serve/like to be served-ha! made with one of your favorite summer fruits. A favorite summer dish made with a favorite summer veg? How do you feel about cooking in the summer months? 

I always get my 4-5 servings of fruit and veg, but summer's bounty is my favorite. I love a homemade peach cobbler. I live in peach country and look forward to making one soon. Vegetable is a little tougher because so many are my favorite...a caprese salad made with basil from my herb garden and fresh from the vine tomatoes, a summer squash casserole, corn on the cob right off the farm...there's not a summer fruit or vegetable I don't love. 

 I don't mind cooking any time of year, but I do enjoy a break now and then. 

5. Do you have a summer reading list? If so share a title or two we can add to our own. 

My reading list is not specifically for summer, but is something I work through year round. It's never ending because every single day new books are born and added to the list. I always have a long list of 'want-to-reads' and a few near the top currently are-

The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate (our July book club choice), The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave, We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker, God is Red: The Secret Story of How Christianity Survived and Flourished in Communist China by Liao Yiwu, A Hundred Suns by Karin Tanabe....

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Somebody was in his happy place this past weekend-

May your summer days be filled with all the things you love! 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 423

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

1. Something you've seen recently that's 'cuter than a June bug'?

2. Tell us something about where you were and what you were doing in June of 1988? If you weren't born yet, June of 1998. Or if that doesn't work, June of 2008. 

3. A place in your home or outdoor space where you feel 'snug as a bug in a rug'? 

4. June is National Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Month. Do you normally get your 4-5 servings each day? What's a favorite summer dish you make/serve/like to be served-ha! made with one of your favorite summer fruits. A favorite summer dish made with a favorite summer veg? How do you feel about cooking in the summer months? 

5. Do you have a summer reading list? If so share a title or two we can add to our own. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Five Minutes of Slow

Joining the Five Minute Friday crew this week and here's how that goes...tell your inner critic to hush, then write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word. Next hop over to Kate Motaung's blog and add your link to the list. Lastly, be sure to leave a comment for the blogger linking before you, because comments keep the blog world spinning. Here we go-

Today's word prompt-slow

Time is a mystery isn't it? It's either moving too fast or too slow for our liking, and it's rare we say the pace is just right. I think learning to make peace with the pace is what leads to contentment, and while I'm always craving blank space in the calendar, I know days and seasons of busy need to happen too.

I have not seen my grandsons in person in 20 months. Baby Max was three weeks old when he last laid his tiny head on my chest and now he's a running, talking, laughing toddler boy. The mancub too, has grown at least a foot and added a hundred million words and questions to his vocabulary, and just saying that makes me want to rewind the clock and replay all the seconds I've missed thanks to geography and a global pandemic. 

Time moves in one direction only though, so we tell it now to hurry. To bring those boys and their parents back to our side of the world pronto and once they're here to please then slow back down so we can savor all the minutes we'll have with them in the flesh instead of facetime. 

Of course time never really speeds up or slows down, but rather is marked by change. The clock ticks, the calendar turns, we grow up and older, and it's neither fast nor slow but rather steady and constant and completely outside of our control. The creator of the universe is the keeper of the clock and thankfully is always right on time. 

Never too late, never too soon, never running behind, never racing to catch up. Always seeing time in all its fullness and acting accordingly. Nudging me to get busy or quietly whispering slow down. Reminding me with the speed or slowness of a moment that while I don't control the clock I do control how I spend what I've been given, and to spend it well. 

"Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom." Psalm 90:12

The Wednesday 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 go say howdy to the blogger linking before you. We're all about being good neighbors here. 

1. Besides the flag, tell us about something red, something white and something blue from your weekend. 

I made a trifle to take to a cookout at Daughter1's in-laws house. Hubs and I tell our girls we see their in-laws a lot more than they do-ha! It's so nice when you enjoy the families you add to your own via your children's choice of mate. 

Back to the trifle...I used the recipe found here and it was delish. The lemon syrup makes a difference so don't skip that step.  

2. June is here and it's National Give A Bunch of Balloons Month. Who would you give a bunch to if you could? Tell us why. 

This one's easy...Daughter1. It's her birthday month and I think every birthday needs balloons. 

3. What are three adjectives you associate with the month of June? Something you're looking forward to this month?

Soft, sweet, and summery.  June feels like the screen door opening into summer, and with a daughter's birthday and our own anniversary it's full of sweetness too. 

What am I looking forward to? Seeing daughter2 and her Mister, opening up the guest rooms to company, boat rides at sunset, and summer sunshine. I love June. 

4. Tell us about a time (besides the obvious Corona answer) when you felt stuck in second gear.

I feel a little bit that way right now. Lots of home projects happening, but it's slow going. 

5. Sum up your May in fifteen words or less.

The calendar looks less empty now and that's mostly a good thing. Mostly. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I'm a big fan of this band and her voice and this song...enjoy!