Happy Birthday America and it is the Hodgepodge

 

Happy Birthday America

and it is the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 

 

 1. What does freedom mean to you? 

This is a difficult question for me to answer, because I could take it in so many directions. I have decided to take it regarding food.

Freedom to me means you have the right to decided what is best for you and your family. 

I will share an example of how I look at freedom...

If you want to drink raw milk, you should be able to drink raw milk. 

I already know what some people will say to me, "Carla, drinking raw milk has risks. People can get sick." 

My answer to this is, "How can you have freedom without risks."

I was raised on drinking raw milk. 

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.

We will be celebrating America's birthday as a family in August. This Independence Day our family is going in different directions.

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? 

I love blue!! It is my favorite color.

Stars!!

Home made ice cream!!

I like fireworks. 

 

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

A gift for my husband, it will be here this week. I am excited to give it to him.

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

 I am proud to live in America, because I am proud of the freedoms we have as a nation. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

 

"Common sense is seeing things as they are and doing things as they ought to be."

Harriet Beecher Stowe

 

 

New Blooms and Growth

 

Hello Friends,

The garden is busting. Each day it changes, new blooms and new growth.

I will give you a little tour. 

Above are our onions, I am concerned I planted the onions too deep?

Let us move on to the flowers... 

 

The front garden. I have worked on this garden to have never ending blooms from early spring to late autumn. I am so pleased with how it is looking this season.

 

Looking at the below photo you will see this gardeners feet and her prize cabbage. Oh how excited I am to make fresh from the garden coleslaw, one of my favorite summer harvest treats.

 

We have been eating fresh strawberries daily, picking some to add to our morning breakfast or to add into our drinks.

Our roses are having a fantastic season, as you walk past our climbing rose you can hear, buzz, buzz, buzz, it is loaded with bees. 

 

"Hours fly

flowers die

new days

new ways pass by

love stays"

July is Knock, Knock, Knocking and it is the Hodgepodge

 

Bayfield, Wisconsin   June 2025

 

Hello Friends, it is Wednesday and that means it is time for the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

 

1. What does adventure mean to you? 

Heading out with the ones I love to explore new places and places that we have visited many times before. 

Starting something new and unknown can also feel like an adventure to me.

Below are photos of a recent road trip to Lake Superior.. one of my favorite places to go on an adventure.

 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? 

Enjoying Fish and Chips on the shores of Lake Superior

 

I worked as a waitress and those tips come in handy. I do think one needs to earn the tip. If the job is not well done, well you do not tip as much as for a job that is well done.

We tip our waitress and waiters. I tip Heather who cuts my hair. 

I do not resent being asked if I would like to tip.

I decide on the amount I want to tip.

 

 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? 

We do like ice cream. We do not eat it daily. It is a true treat, so it is once in awhile.

I love Chip and Mint ice cream.

I do like a good soft serve. A favorite place to stop for ice cream is Culvers. 

 

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

My boys have heard me say this over and over in the last few years..

'back in my day, sports was sports, we did not add political agendas to sports.'

We just enjoyed watching the game. 

 

 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.

 

 Blooming

Historical

Peaceful

 

 We visited Bayfield, Wisconsin in the first weeks of June. We enjoyed  garden tours in many of the historical areas of Bayfield. 

 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

 

  A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.

Winston Churchill