Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 610

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday of course,  (July 9) to share with the universe. See you there! 

1. What's an adult problem nobody prepared you for? 

2. How tuned in are you to all the recent food related health news? Have you gotten rid of your scratched cookware? Did you pay attention to food additives before they made the news? What's one healthy eating/cooking/food shopping habit you need to adopt? 

3. What's getting worse and worse as you get older? How about better and better? 

4. Are you more of an indoor person or an outdoor person? Elaborate. 

5. If you had an expert personal assistant today, what would you have them do? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

A Star Spangled 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 does freedom mean to you? 

In terms of being a citizen of the US of A I see freedom as having the ability to make choices, to speak and act according to my beliefs and values, and to choose the path I want to walk in this life. To move, change course, raise a family, worship, get an education...all without unnecessary constraints. There are so many things we take for granted that I don't want to take for granted. 

That being said, the word freedom holds an even deeper spiritual meaning for me. I'm free not only from the punishment of sin, but also from its power. God sent His only Son into the world to pay the penalty I deserved. Because of that, I’m free to live joyfully and with the hope of heaven—even when the world feels confusing and dark.

2. How will you celebrate Independence Day this year? If you live outside the USA answer this question as it relates to your own country's patriotic holiday, wherever that may land on the calendar. 

I love the 4th and all the goes with it. The food, decor, music, fireworks, lake time, family, the flag waving...all of it. We'll have hubs brother and sister-in-law here for the weekend and we always have fun with them. 

On the 4th daughter1 and her family will come for lake time, a cookout, and then fireworks once it gets dark. My across the cove neighbor puts on a fabulous show and people come from all around the lake to watch. We have prime viewing from our shoreline and dock which makes it extra fun. There will be a lot of boats anchored outside the cove and whenever a particularly beautiful firework happens the boaters honk.  

Wouldn't be the 4th without one of my favorite throwbacks shared here...

c. 1998

3. This or that...red, white, or blue? Stars or stripes? Watermelon, home made ice cream, or blueberry pie? How do you feel about fireworks?  

Red, white or blue...depends what we're talking about but probably blue. 

Stars or stripes...stars in nature, stripes in my closet.

Watermelon, homemade ice cream, blueberry pie...a tough one, but I'll say watermelon. 

How do I feel about fireworks? I love fireworks and enjoy seeing them on the 4th. 

4. What have you purchased recently that made you excited? 

Maybe not excited, but happy. We haven't made any large purchases lately but I love this cute Kelly and Katie purse I bought recently to carry at the wedding we attended.

It's a nice size, has a fun summery feel, and was a good price. It can be a clutch or a shoulder bag with a slim gold chain strap. 

5. I'm thankful to live in America (or fill in whatever country you call home) because_____________

Back in 2022 I wrote a whole post on this topic. It's linked here (Raindrops on Roses), but this was the heart of it all-

What do I love about America? 

I love her can-do spirit. 

I love her wide open spaces and her too noisy cities. I love her diversity of thought, experience, culture, food, and climate. I love her music, college football, and small town USA. 

I love her many freedoms and the men and women who fight to preserve them. 

I love her natural beauty and her volunteerism. Her history and her modernity. Her compassion and her fortitude. Her southern drawl, New England clam chowder, purple mountains majesty and the way the sun sinks into the Gulf on a warm July night.

I love her optimism. It may be harder to find these days, but step away from the angry rhetoric filling our screens and our news feeds and sometimes even our neighborhoods, and you'll find the extraordinary. Everyday people working hard, loving their families, helping their neighbors, and praying God's blessings on this nation we call home.

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

"In summer, the song sings itself." 

~William Carlos Williams

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1. Auburnchick’s Adventures	2. Lisa's Musings
3. Wednesday Hodgepodge at Pink Lady	4. Memorable Moments and Modest Missives
5. Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa	6. Kym @ A Fresh Cup of Coffee
7. Scriptor	8. Tanya The Other Side of the Road
9. Enjoy Life	10. Memphis Bridges: Hodgepodge
11. Lysha @ A Camera & A Cookbook	12. ellen b. The Happy Wonderer
13. Carla from The River	14. Mrs. T at Across My Kitchen Table
15. HallAroundTexas - Weds Hodgepodge	16. GoldintheClouds
17. Kirstin @ Loving Life Blog	18. Your Friend From Florida
19. Ingrid	20. Freedom HodgePodge
21. Rachel @ Sunny Side

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Hello America How Are Ya?

Raise your hand if you sung that? 

Some of you are too young, but I love that song (City of New Orleans by Arlo Guthrie) It somehow stirs up feelings of nostalgia in me that always surface around the 4th. 

So how was your weekend? Do you want the good news or the bad news first? I like to get the bad news over with so...

Somehow I have a stress fracture in my ankle, and I cannot think of a less pleasant month to have your foot encased in a warm and toasty soft cast than the month of July. I suppose August would be just as bad, but here's hoping I don't have to confirm that through personal experience. 

I've been walking on it for a couple of months (oops), but I honestly thought it was my achilles, and if I just rested it enough it would improve. That wasn't happening and I was annoying my hubs who had taken to saying, 'come on granny' anytime we needed to walk somewhere so I finally saw my doc. 

Also, I am a granny so no offense taken.  

My doc did get an x-ray, but not the official kind like the orthos use. She couldn't see a fracture, but said I might need a different sort of scan, so I ended up with a referral and finally made that happen last week. 

And came home with the boot. 

Bother.  

I've never worn one of these but do people need a new hip when they get out of a boot, because it feels like one hip is higher than the other when I walk? I'm going to wear one cute wedge on my left foot to make me even. 

Did you come here today to read my medical chart? Let's talk about more pleasant things.  

Blueberries. 

Friday daughter1 came over with her kiddos so we could go blueberry picking one street over. Yes in my boot and with the temperature like the surface of the sun. 

One of my neighbors has an abundance of blueberry bushes in her yard, planted by the previous owner who must have really really loved blueberries. I think there are about thirty bushes still, even after our friends had some removed. 

They're super generous and put an announcement on our neighborhood facebook page every year for people to come pick anytime because there is no way they could harvest all these berries themselves. 

So we picked our share in the summer sunshine, then went home and jumped in the lake. 

Well, Nana did not jump. Nana hobbled down the cart path in her bathing suit and her boot, then took off the boot and ever so carefully climbed down the steps into the lake, and floated. The doc said it was okay so long as all I did was float. No actual swimming or kicking or fluttering or anything that involves moving my ankle. 

I always jump off the dock at the start of summer with my oldest grandson and my middle grandson was all in this year too, but I guess it will be an end of summer happening as opposed to early summer this year.

Friday night hubs and I toasted to my bummer summer with a glass of rose and a view. I can deal. I mean I kind of have to, right? 

Dinner was a hit and this recipe for Shrimp and Avocado Bowls with Mango Salsa and Lime-Chile Sauce  is for sure a keeper. It's a great summer meal and I'll be making it again soon. So easy and so delicious. 

The recipe says you can adjust the jalapeno and the siracha if you don't like spice, but I did not cut back on the spice at all and we both absolutely loved it. 

The Lime-Chili Sauce is definitely spicy so if that's not your thing, you could use less. The mango salsa would also be good with some pita chips. 

Saturday we had painters here most of the morning. You might remember we had to cut a hole in one of the guest room ceilings a couple of months ago because we thought there was a leak happening. There was not, but we had a nice hole nonetheless, two actually because the plumber also had to cut into the master bath on the wall behind the shower. The holes were not large and were finally repaired, and then the painters came to repaint Friday and Saturday. 

It took two days because hubs had them repaint the garage while they were here. He never misses a chance for home improvement. 

After the painters left we trekked to the grocery store to get most of what we'd need for the week, including the holiday celebrations. Hubs offered to go himself, but the list was long and I needed to be in charge lol. 

It kind of wore me out though, so we came home and I was on the couch until dinner. 

Hubs grilled a pork tenderloin and afterwards we re-watched an old favorite movie-Mr. Holland's Opus. I was thinking about what an original story that was and how we don't get a lot of original stories anymore in terms of film. 

Sunday I hobbled to church and we went to breakfast/lunch afterwards with daughter1 and her hubs and our grands. Then it was home to do a few last minute housekeeping tasks because daughter2 was on her way to the lake with her two littles to spend the week while her hubs is working. 

They arrived around 3:30 and sweet baby J immediately spied the lily pad floating by the dock and said we needed to swim. So we did. 

Boys will be boys, but these little girls y'all! 

They are fearless! 

Little Miss was here Friday and she just steps right off the dock or the lily pad and comes up smiling. 

Hubs grilled again Sunday night making fried rice on the griddle with the leftover tenderloin. Everyone enjoyed dinner outside and bonus, it made the clean up of a 16-month old feeding herself rice fairly easy. Hubs got out the hose and the blower and voila...good as new. 

The whole crew will be here this morning for blueberry pancakes lakeside and more swimming and summer fun with the cousin crew. I will try to keep up and as hubs says, 'try not to end up in a real cast before summer's over'. 

#Goals y'all. 

So what were you up to this weekend? I love the days leading up to the 4th because it feels like summer is really here. I hope the weather cooperates so we can spend a lot of time in the water. Enjoy your week and God Bless America! 

Linking today with Holly (Pink Lady) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books) and their weekly Hello Monday blog hop. 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 609

Here are the questions to our regular mid-week Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then swim back here on Wednesday (July 2nd) to add your link to the party. See you there! 

1. What does freedom mean to you? 

2. How will you celebrate Independence Day this year? If you live outside the USA answer this question as it relates to your own country's patriotic holiday, wherever that may land on the calendar. 

3. This or that...red, white, or blue? Stars or stripes? Watermelon, home made ice cream, or blueberry pie? How do you feel about fireworks?  

4. What have you purchased recently that made you excited? 

5. I'm thankful to live in America (or fill in whatever country you call home) because____________.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Montly Musings-June

It's too hot to think deep thoughts. Plus today's my volunteer day followed by a trip to see the orthopedist,  so keeping it simple. I'm linking with the Monthly Musings girls, Holly (Pink Lady) and Patty (Good Better Best), who offer ten topical questions to answer on the last Thursday of every month. This month we're talking Summer Vacation Guide, and everyone is welcome to jump in...here we go- 

1. Share your summer trips for 2025. 

Our backyard is a summer destination so we try not to do a lot of traveling this time of year. 

We love company in the summer months and typically have a lot of it. We prefer to do our own traveling in other seasons. 

That being said, this year we've booked a house in Hilton Head for a family beach vacation late summer, and I'm looking forward to that. All the grands will be there, along with their parents and I'm sure it will be crazy fun. Have you ever been to Hilton Head? 

Fun fact...this is me on the beach at Hilton Head, aged 3. 

We lived in the nearby area that year. I've been several times as an adult and the island has a relaxed, family friendly vibe, great restaurants, fresh seafood, and plenty of sun, sand, and water for everyone to enjoy.

2. How do you manage the post vacation laundry? 

Pretty much the same way I manage laundry year round. Just get it done. If we're in a rental with a washer and dryer I'll do laundry before we head home, even though that goes against my personal motto NOT to do laundry while on vacation. 

Also I feel like hubs and I have a lot of laundry for two people. Not the point of this question, but true nonetheless. 

3. Most memorable summer vacation? 

Ooh, this is a toughie. From my childhood or my grown up life? How about one of each? 

We didn't take a lot of summer vacations when I was growing up. We belonged to the local swim club and spent our days there, lived an hour from the 'Jersey shore' so always had a couple of day trips there, and went to sleep away camp for a week which we loved. 

But! My grandparents all lived out west and every so often my parents would buy six plane tickets and take their whole crew to Colorado and then New Mexico. 

We absolutely loved these trips. My dad grew up on a farm outside of Denver and my mom grew up in Albuquerque so the landscape, the food, everything was big and exciting and so different than our East Coast life. 

We loved seeing some of our cousins on these trips too. Everyone was spread out far and wide and people didn't travel the way they do now so it was all very special. 

Now as an adult I've had some pretty fabulous trips so picking just one favorite is nearly impossible. Our family trip to Lago Maggiore definitely makes the top five. 

We spent the mornings taking the wooden boat taxis out to various islands in the lake, exploring and lunching and shopping. The afternoons were spent at the pool reading stacks of books. The food was fabulous and we ate our weight in gelato. 

It was 2007 and my oldest had just finished her first year of uni, my youngest was getting ready for her senior year of high school. 

Time moves fast in those young adult years and I'm so glad we hit pause and just enjoyed being together in a beautiful place. A core memory for all of us. 

4. Do you cook or eat out on vacation? 

Depends on what sort of vacation we're having. If we're in a rental house at the beach with five littles ages 8 and under, then we'll definitely be preparing many meals at home. Our plan for the summer beach trip this year is for each couple to plan one dinner, eat one dinner out with the whole group, pizza on the beach one night, and take out seafood at some point. We'll mostly do breakfast and lunch at home too. It's just easier and more enjoyable in this stage of parenting/grandparenting. 

Now, if it's just me and the hubs then I'm all about eating every meal out. 

5. Are you an overpacker, underpacker, or a just right packer? 

If we're traveling by car there's no such thing as overpacking lol. I'm a just right packer when it comes to air travel. 

6. Beach, lake, or mountains? 

Yes please. 

7. Road trip or fly? 

I prefer a road trip, but sometimes flying is necessary so I deal. 

8. Favorite vacation activities? 

A book and a beverage and a beach chair. 

Walking on the beach. 

Walking the countryside.

Exploring foreign cities. 

Going where the locals go. 

Eating where the locals eat. 

museums and history 

Coffee or wine sipped in a European city square.

9. Best packing tips? 

I'm a fan of packing cubes and use those when I'm trying to save space. For road trips I like to pack in tote bags, which hubs is not super keen on, but I feel more organized this way. 

10. Favorite road trip songs? 

I like a mix of 70's (best music ever), country, upbeat, and laid back. It might depend where we're going too. For a beach trip there will be lots of beach music which is one of our favorite genres anyway. On car trips we usually listen to Sirrus radio and switch between the 70's, 80's, The Bridge, and Y2country stations. 

Also, we listen to books on Audible when we have long car trips, and break it up with music. 

Enjoy your summer travels everyone, wherever you may roam.

Adventuring Through The Hodgepodge

Welcome to the weekly 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 does adventure mean to you? 

This word is used a lot today, so I looked up the definition because I was curious. Here's what I read-' an unusual, exciting, and possibly dangerous activity, such as a trip or experience, or the excitement produced by such an activity'

I'm not what you'd call an adventurous person, yet I've lived a somewhat adventurous life. I'm a mostly cautious person married to an adventurer, and as a result I'm often out of my comfort zone. Once I'm back on level ground, so to speak, I'm almost always thankful for the adventure, or at least for what I've learned from the experience. 

For me personally adventure has helped grow my confidence, it's shown me I have hidden strengths, and it's definitely given me a greater appreciation for the wider world and all it's possibilities. 

I think adventure looks a little different in the various seasons of our lives, but even in this 'third act' it's still exploring new places, trying activities new to me, and learning new skills. 

2.  What are your thoughts on tipping? What businesses or service providers do you regularly tip? Do you resent being asked if you'd like to add a tip? What about when a suggested amount is presented? 

I'm not opposed to tipping and try to be extravagant when the occasion and service calls for it. I love to leave a 100% tip now and then, especially if the server is having a bad day, but is doing their best anyway. 

I always tip my hairdresser because I know I take up a lot of her time when I come in for an appointment. The nail technician always gets a tip. If our yard guy goes above and beyond and does something extra for us I'll add a tip. And I always tip in a sit-down restaurant. 

After that it gets murky...I don't feel like I need to tip when I'm ordering at a counter and carrying my own food to a table. I dislike the cashier watching me opt for no tip though so sometimes I'm guilted into it. I don't really mind suggested amounts because math. But! I don't think the suggested amount should start at 25%.  I realize prices have risen, but 20% of the bill is still 20% of the bill, right? 

3. I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream...do we? Is ice cream a favorite treat at your house? What's your favorite flavor? Regular, soft serve, gelato, sherbet, or some sort of non-dairy version of ice cream...what's your pleasure? 

Ice cream is hubs favorite after dinner treat so I try to always have some in the freezer. I very very rarely have ice cream at home, but I do enjoy going out for it now and then. I love home made ice cream so if that's on tap I'm in. 

My favorite ice cream flavors are rocky road, strawberry, coconut, and peppermint. If we're talking gelato I'd definitely opt for stracciatella and that's my answer for the last part of this question. That's my number one. 

4. What's your 'back in my day, we____________________ ' story or saying? 

Well there's a thousand things I could say here, but lately I'm wondering why we get heat warnings for 90 degree weather? When did this start? 

Back in my day summer meant it would be hot. Really hot. It was summer and it was supposed to be hot. We didn't have ac in our house until I was in the third grade. School was never cancelled for heat. 

I understand there are people who work out of doors, but in general they understand what they need to do to manage the heat. People need to bring their pets inside when it's super hot, but the ones who don't likely won't just because a weather person tells them they should. 

This is super trivial I know. 

Also...because this blog is nothing if not educational... heat warnings and advisories started in 1979, which in my mind feels like just a few years ago, but in reality was almost half a century. Specific heat-health warnings started in the 1990s. 

Also...back in my day only old people said back in my day. 

5. Somehow this is our last Hodgepodge in the month of June. Next week's Hodgepodge lands in July. Wow. Sum up your June using three adjectives. 

celebratory~family filled~chock a block 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Hello summer...

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1. Auburnchick’s Adventures	2. Memorable Moments and Modest Missives
3. Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa	4. Life As Kim.
5. Lisa's Musings	6. the Wednesday Hodgepodge
7. Knit by God's Hand	8. The Wednesday Hodgepodge
9. Trading Ashes For Beauty	10. Enjoy Life
11. ellen b. The Happy Wonderer	12. Hall Around Texas
13. Lysha @ A Camera & A Cookbook	14. Carla from The River
15. Lisa @ Boondock Ramblings	16. Wednesday Hodgepodge
17. GoldintheClouds	18. Cottage by the Sea
19. Raindrops & Rainbows	20. Mrs. T at Across My Kitchen Table
21. Your Friend From Florida	22. Scriptor
23. Kirstin @ Loving Life Blog	24. Ingrid
25. Kym @ A Fresh Cup of Coffee	26. Memphis Bridges: Hodgepodge
27. Wednesday Hodgepodge	28. Shannon, aka "Auntie" @ The Iron Diva
29. Daring Adventures	30. Rachel @ Sunny Side

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A Summer Bucket List

The calendar says summer which means it's time to revisit my spring bucket list and move on into this new season. This was my spring bucket list...

I kept it short and sweet and still didn't do all I'd planned. I did a lot though, and there were so many fun spring happenings that didn't make the list which means I pass. 

Not that it's a test, but I don't like leaving lists uncrossed. 

Go to a Farmer's Market...not yet. I'm adding this to my summer list because I still want to get there. We just did not have a weekend where it worked this spring, but summer's my favorite for fresh produce and lots of grilled fruits and veg. 

Tackle the attic. Oops. Nope. And now it's hotter than h e double hockey sticks up there so I think we'll push this task off until autumn. Pretty sure last winter I moved the task to spring and since I'm not worrying about it in the heat of summer I guess you'll see it again when autumn rolls around. Hi hubs! 

Kayak. Done. Once but at least we got out there. We'll do more kayaking this summer and nobody will love it more than the little brown dog. 

Dye eggs with the kids. Celebrate Easter. Host dinner. Wow, raise your hand if it feels like Easter was a hundred years ago? In reality just two months. Well, technically a lot longer than two months, but you know what I mean. 

Anyway, this one was done-done-and done and I loved it all. 

Write a love letter. Hmmm...I'm going to say yes because I wrote my grandson a birthday letter four days before summer rolled in. I think when I put this on my bucket list I was thinking more of the hubs, so maybe I can still make that happen. I like writing letters and we still need to officially celebrate our anniversary. 

Hike a trail new to us. Nope. I wish we'd been able to do this, but between the weather and my ankle we didn't get to this one. We don't do a lot of hiking here in the summer because it's so hot, but never say never. 

Host a Derby party. Yup. Whoohoo! It was lots of fun too. 

Pick strawberries and make jam...fail. There's always next year, and thankfully daughter1's mother-in-law makes strawberry fig preserves and always shares. 

Visit a garden. Does my daughter2's raised beds count? Ha! 

Probably not, but I loved seeing all her plants and look forward to tasting something she's grown. 

See a ballet. This was one of my favorite springtime activities. Daughter1 and I went to the International Ballet's performance of Don Quixote to celebrate her birthday. The costumes were beautiful, the dancing exceptional, and there's nothing quite like a mother-daughter day to bring the smiles.  

Spring was busy. While I only managed to complete half my list, there were lots of fun spring events that happened, but weren't listed....my sister and niece came out to the lake one weekend for brunch, the 'kids' moved out and into their own home, we had a whole week with both girls and all the grands in the house, took our first boat ride, celebrated a soon-to-be new momma, a grandson turning three, 41 years of married life, and more. It wasn't dull. Or quiet. 

Now bring on summer...

Linking today with Joanne for Talking About It Tuesdays...hop over to her blog (Slices of Life)  and see what everyone else has to say on this last Tuesday in June.