What? It is the last day of September! And it is the Hodgepodge!!

Happy Wednesday

It is time for the Hodgepodge. 

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

 

Click here to join in the fun! 

 

 

October is peeking around the corner.

 

 

 1. Something on your October calendar that makes you smile?

My sister and I will be doing a Sister's Weekend! We did this for the first time last year for my birthday. We had such a good time catching up and spending time together we decided to make a yearly event.

This year we will be heading to Madeline Island, Lake Superior 

 

 2. Food for the soul or music for the soul...which camp are you in? Tell us why.

 Music for the soul. I love music. I have music playing in the background all the time. One of my favorite stations is KUSC out of Southern California. Click here to check out KUSC 

I love that you can stream your favorite music on line.

 

 3. What are two or three things you've learned recently as the result of an online search?

I have been doing some research about Madeline Island. I found some ideas of things to do and see on the Island.

I researched the movie the Russian Woodpecker. I heard about it showing at the Milwaukee Film Festival and I wanted to know what it was about.

 

 4. Share your favorite game day recipe. You can describe it, post the how-to, or add a link to the actual recipe. 

 I love salsa and chips!

Monday I shared an easy Fresh Freezer Salsa recipe.

Click here to check it out. 

 

 5. What are your five essential steps for creating the perfect morning routine?

 Getting up on time. I do not like when I over sleep.

I like to have the house to myself for awhile in the morning. Everyone else is asleep. 

I love to get a walk in or some sort of exercise in the morning. I feels good to have it done for the day. 

Coffee!!

I like to shower in the mornings. A shower is my true wake up call. 

Breakfast, I like to eat with my boys. It is a great way to start the day with them.

6. What small thing have you taken note of today?

Our neighbors tree is starting to drop leaves. I love watching them fall.

 

 7. Sum up your September in seven words or less.

 School!! Harvesting the Garden!! Lunar eclipse ~  blood moon.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

 

 

Have a great week!

Happy October! 

Fresh Freezer Salsa

 Salsa lovers, I have an easy recipe for you.

 Fresh Freezer Salsa

10 to 15 medium tomatoes

1 large onion

2 medium bell peppers

3-6 sweet or hot peppers - We use sweet peppers - 

make note if using hot peppers you will need to wear gloves

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup minced cilantro

3/4 teaspoon salt

Finely chop tomatoes and set in colander to drain. Finely dice onion and bell peppers. 

Dice sweet or hot peppers.

 Combine all ingredients and let stand 1 hour to allow flavors to develop. 

Add more peppers or other to develop the taste you love.

Eat salsa fresh or freeze it. It will be juicier, but just as tasty after it is thawed.

 

Enjoy!

Happy Autumn Hodgepodge

Happy Autumn

It is Wednesday, it is time for the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks us the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 1. What have you 'fallen for' recently?

We recently discovered Foyle's War. 

Click here for more information 

If you like British drama, you will enjoy Foyle's War.

I have 'fallen for', Foyle, I love his character.

 2. What's something you're 'squirreling away' for later?

 

 

We recently visited a shop that has just about every Ritter Sport variety.

3. How do you like your apples? Sweet? Tart? Crisp? Cooked? Apples are one of the superfoods for fall...how often do you eat an apple either plain or as part of a favorite recipe? What's your favorite variety?

I love tart and crisp apples.

I love having an apple as a mid day snack.

My husband makes a delicious homemade caramel.

My favorite apple is HoneyGold.

4. According to Fodor's the ten best fall foliage trips in the US of A are-Aspen Colorado, The Catskills New York, The Berkshires Massachusetts, Columbia River Gorge Oregon, Green Mountain Byway Vermont, Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway New Mexico, Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, Upper Peninsula Michigan, Lake of the Ozarks Missouri, and Glacier National Park Montana. Which would you most like to visit this fall and why? 

I think they missed Northern Wisconsin.

Wisconsin is beautiful in all seasons, but out does herself with Autumn color.

 This is our neighbors tree. It is beautiful each and every Autumn.

I have enjoyed several trips to Upper Michigan to enjoy the Autumn colors.

I would pick the  Green Mountain Byway Vermont.

 5. The topic of legalizing marijuana was raised in the most recent televised political debate so let's wade in too. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia currently have laws legalizing marijuana in some form. Four states have legalize marijuana for recreational use. Your thoughts?

The first step I would take is ask our local police officers if this is a good idea. Also our paramedics and other medical staff that has to deal with when the use of marijuana has been used for recreational use...what has been the outcome?

Sadly, two years ago, about four miles from our home, a 'recreational' drug party was going on. A young man had some sort of drug. He left the party, he walked right into the Highway and a Semi Truck hit him. 

 6. Are you okay to watch a movie already in progress or do you need to always see it from the beginning? How about jumping into a TV series somewhere in the middle? Is that okay? 

I have to start from the beginning.

 7. Thursday (September 24) is National Punctuation Day. What rule of punctuation trips you up most often? What rule of punctuation, when broken by someone else, bugs you the most?

Our family loves to pick on my sister for her use of the exclamation mark in her Christmas letters!!

!!

She uses them in just about every sentence!!

I know I make punctuation mistakes, so I do not get bugged by others!!

 8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

Wishing you all a great weekend.

I will be taking a short blog break.

Get out and enjoy the first weekend of Autumn.

Carla

 

 

On the Road Friday ~ Once in a Blue Moon on Long Lake

 It is Friday. It is time to take a trip. 

July 31st, 2015 we had the opportunity to spend the day on Long Lake.

We have friends who live on Long Lake. They invited us to spend the day on the water and for a Blue Moon boat ride.

We started our ride with a beautiful sunset. 

We toured along the lake. 

A celebrity lives on Long Lake. 

Larry the Cable Guy

Or some of you may know him as Mater, like my family does.

 

The Walleye Capital of Wisconsin, Long Lake in Washburn County is a picturesque 3,300 acre, 19 mile long lake reaching depths of over 70 feet.  The clear, spring-fed water, cool deep bays, gravel bars, pristine setting, and miles of undeveloped shoreline.

via - Washburn County

Click here for more information about Long Lake 

 Oh my, here comes the Blue Moon.

 When someone says "Once in a Blue Moon," you know what they mean:  Rare, seldom, even absurd.

This year it means "the end of July."

For the second time this month, the Moon is about to become full.  There was one full Moon on July 2nd, and now a second is coming on July 31st.  According to modern folklore, whenever there are two full Moons in a calendar month, the second one is "blue." 

via - Summer Blue Moon - NASA Science News

 The Moon belongs to everyone, the best things in life are free.

Susan Branch

We met a few other boats going for a night time ride and enjoying the beauty of the moon.

 " The moon will be the one to walk me back home"

Jen Vandervoort

 

Wisconsin Farm Fun

 Out and about in Wisconsin.

You just can not miss that the state of  Wisconsin has agriculture in its roots.

One of my favorite stores is Mills Fleet Farm.

It is full of agriculture needs for all the farmers in Wisconsin. The store also has a great garden area, bulk foods and a fun sporting goods section. It is just a fun store to shop in and you can always find something to go home with.

What I love are the garbage cans.

You just have to smile as you place your trash in a silo shaped garbage can.

Check out Mills Fleet Farm

Check out this mailbox. I have driven past this mailbox many a time and never take a photo. I just love the creativity with this mailbox. I finally took the time to stop and take that photo. My dad does not live in the same community as we do. He is a dairy farmer and he got a real chuckle out of this mailbox when I shared this with him.

Do you have fun little things like this in your community? You just can not help yourself to say"Hey, that is so fun" and smile.

 

Happy Wednesday to you!

Thoughts for Today

On The Road Friday ~ Special Guests Come for Dinner

It is Friday. 

It  is time to take a trip.

We are taking a trip right to my house.

Today, I am going to share about a special blogger who came to our home for dinner.

 In July, we enjoyed meeting a  fellow blog buddy.

I have been following Kris of Big Rigs 'n Lil' Cookies for several years. 

She is a Wisconsin blogger. She shares beautiful photography about her life on the farm. 

We have enjoyed many of her recipes. My boys are always excited when I make another of her recipes.

How exciting for us, that a trip for Kris and her husband to Northwest Wisconsin would include a stop at our home.

Kris of Big Rigs 'n Lil' Cookies and her husband came for dinner.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and shared many stories.

What  a special treat to meet another blog buddy. 

 We plan to take a trip to visit Kris and Cliff in Southwest Wisconsin.

We are excited to visit their farm, meet their pets and see all the work they have been doing on their beautiful farm house. And let me not forget, their gardens. 

A special gift from Kris and Cliff. Farm fresh eggs and Southern Pickled Relish.

Delicious. Wonderful. 

How about you? Have you had the opportunity to meet in person a blog buddy?

Have a wonderful weekend.

I am linking up my How to Grow Celery post with Heather Our Life in a Click

If you are looking to find a new Do It Yourself project, a new recipe or learn something new, go check out this party. 

 

It is a Spelling Test Hodgepodge

It is Wednesday, time for the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 1. Last thing you did on the spur of the moment?

I decided to make pizza sauce and tomato soup with all our never ending tomato harvest.

 2. How well informed do you feel about the current Syrian refugee crisis?

 Not informed enough. 

Last week I began to do research on my own to dig into what on earth is going on.

3. What have you changed your mind about? 

We planned to build a new deck on the front of our house. 

After the big basement project, we decided we will wait for Spring of 2016 to build the deck.

 4. A medium sized non-poisonous snake found it's way into the pool trap this weekend. If you'd been sitting poolside would you have fished it out? Gone running? Called for help? Pretended not to know? Continued swimming?

 I would have fished it out.

 5. September 10th is National TV Dinner Day...what's your idea of a great TV dinner? (Or at least a pretty good one!)

 I have never eaten a TV dinner.

In fact, this weekend was the first time I sampled SPAM!

I will have more on that story in a future blog post.

 6. Samuel Johnson is quoted as saying, "Courage is reckoned the greatest of all virtues; because, unless a man has that virtue, he has no security for preserving any other." Would you agree? Where have you seen that played out recently? What's the second greatest virtue?

I do agree. It takes courage to just live in this crazy world of ours. 

Where do I see courage played out.

Our men and women in the United States Military.

Our Police and Firefighters.

  The courage to continue on, when every thing seems to be against you.

The following is going on in Fox Lake, Illinois.

Gliniewicz was killed on the morning of September 1 in Fox Lake, a community of about 10,000 people in northern Illinois.

Gliniewicz radioed to dispatchers that he was following three men -- two white and one black -- into a heavily wooded area. He was later found shot dead there.

The lieutenant made the first call at 7:52 a.m. and called three minutes later to request backup. The backup units arrived at 8:01 and found their fellow officer dead, roughly 50 yards from his vehicle, at 8:09, Filenko said.

Authorities searched across tricky terrain and brought in helicopters, dogs, federal agents, night-vision equipment and body-heat sensors. Police cleared every home in the cordoned-off area and fielded more than 100 tips, Filenko said.

So far, police have found no witnesses. 

Righteous is my pick for the second greatest virtue.

7. What are three words you have trouble remembering how to spell?

Recipe

Believe

Receipt

I still have to spell the following words out loud. Not sure if it is habit or trouble remembering how to spell.

 8. Insert your own random thought here.

 

 

 

Growing Celery ~ With How To Photos

 This year was my first year to try growing celery.

Looking at the photo above, you would think, how on earth is that celery going to look like the celery I purchase at the store?

The trick is the following.

Once the celery is tall enough, you will wrap a paper bag around the plant, leaving the topmost foliage exposed. Tie the paper in place with twine. 

What we are doing is blanching the celery.

Blanching is accomplished by excluding light over a period of time while the plants continue growing.

You do need to check the progress of the blanching, celery is susceptible to rot.

Once you have stalks that have reached a light greenish yellow color, the plant is ready to harvest.

I used paper bags that I get from our local grocery store. I cut them to size to wrap around the celery and tied using twine. I tied the bags just snug. I did not want the bag to be tight around the celery.

I froze some of my celery for soup. 

We ate some fresh and I tossed some in potato salad and chicken salad.

Everyone thought it tasted great.

Growing Oranges in Wisconsin

 Our garden season is slowing down here in Wisconsin.

Our son Atticus helped me a lot at our four garden plots at the community gardens.

With the help of Marv, my dear gardening friend, Atticus has been busy tending to a lovely cherry and grape tomato plant.

Marv, likes to play tricks on all of us. He was quick to think of something fun to do to Atticus.

While we were waiting for the tomatoes to ripen, Atticus noticed an orange in his tomato plant.

 

 The silly jokes continue to come for us at the community gardens.

This week Atticus found this big bug in his tomato plant.

My idea of having Morning Glories climb my The Little Garden That Could mailbox is working.

 

I love the Summer Harvest stamps at the United States Post Office.

Our harvest is continuing to bless us. We have enjoyed a wonderful 2015 garden  season.

What little joys have you found this week?

Have a great weekend.

Carla

 

Hello September ~ it is the Hodgepodge

Happy September

 It is Wednesday, time to join up with the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun 

1. What's on your September calendar? Anything fun? 

Autumn hiking. It is our favorite September activity.

We also visit Cain's Apple Orchard in September. It is our favorite Apple Orchard.

 2. You might be described as a natural born _____________________?

I asked me husband to answer this for me. 

He answered, " you are a natural talker. Not sure the word for it, but you are a natural talker. 

You can talk to anyone."

 

Someone who can just talk to anyone. It is easy for me to talk to people.

3. September is National Courtesy Month...what one act of courtesy would you most like to see more of in your home, town, or the world at large? 

 

Language...I am so tired of hearing the Fword in my community. 

I heard two people saying the Fword trying to pick out a flavor of cereal at the grocery store.

 

 

4. Eager beaver, chicken out, clam up, or let the cat out of the bag...of the phrases listed, which one have you related to most recently? 

Eager beaver.

Our garden has done very well this year. I am busy trying new recipes. I am pickling cucumbers and beans. I am even thinking of trying Dilly Carrots.

I planted a grape vine two years ago. The grapes are almost ready and our vines are loaded with clusters of grapes. 

An eager beaver, that is me.

5. What's your movie theatre snack protocol? Do you chow down on snacks during the previews or wait until the movie begins? Do you buy snacks or refuse to pay those kind of prices? What's the last movie you saw in a theatre? How many thumbs up would you give it?

 

We do not go to the movies often.

My stomach does not agree with theater popcorn. I usually do have a drink.

6. Henry Ford is quoted as saying, "Nobody can think straight who does not work. Idleness warps the mind." Agree or disagree? Why?

I agree. I honestly think we need to be exercising our mind so we can keep our minds fresh.

 7. What's the last job you completed or task you performed where you had to 'work like a dog' until it was finished?

In April we had to have our basement wall replaced. 

After the wall was in place and all was done. We had a mess to clean up. 

We cleaned our basement! 

My husband and I sorted and cleared away stuff that had been sitting around.

It was not all that fun at the start. It felt great when we finished. We really gave our basement a good cleaning and got rid of a lot of stuff we did not need.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

What is your favorite apple?