Apples to Apples and it is the Hodgepodge

 

We went apple picking on Saturday with our son Atticus, take a look at this beauty!

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

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

1. 'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.' How does this saying ring true in your own family, either the one you grew up in or the one you made?  

 

I would have to say our youngest is like me in many ways. He is funny. If things get to serious, he will crack a joke. I am the same way. We like to lighten the mood. He also does not let too much worry him, he figures something out. I am the same way, it is figureoutable.  

 2. Something you're nuts about these days? How about something that's driving you nuts? 

 

I am nuts about..  

Jackson's Avocado Oil Sweet Potato Chips, I am nuts about them, do not leave me alone with a bag. 

What is driving me nuts? 

I was stuck not knowing  a baseball players name, I knew his nickname, Thor, but I could not think of his name. I did not want to look it up. Ha Ha. I am trying to use the old grey cells. I did not have to look him up, my husband gave me the answer, Noah Syndergaard.

 

 3. What does abundance mean to you? 

 

For me abundance means an overflowing amount of something special to you. For me, I have an overflowing amount of people who love me, I am blessed, so very blessed. 

 

 4. Caramel apple-caramel cake-caramel corn-caramel sundae-caramel macchiatto...what's your caramel treat of choice?  

 

 Caramel Sundae

 

 5. What's a childhood memory that always comes to mind as the leaves start to fall? 

 

Trick or Treat on Halloween night. 

My mom would drive my sister and me around our country neighborhood. We would get the best trick or treats, because it was just me, my sister and our three cousins that went trick or treating. Our neighbors loved seeing us kids. We would get bags of candy from Kenny Brown and Ed K. Irene W would make us fresh popcorn balls.  The Newton's gave us cans of soda. Trick or Treating out in the country will always be a fun memory for me, and my mom had fun too, stopping to see all the neighbors. 

 

6. Insert. your own random thought here.  

 

  Catch a leaf in mid air, make a wish, kiss it and toss it into the wind. 

 ♥

Carla 

Joy List Monday

 

Joy List Monday 

♥ a weekly reminder  ♥

a reminder to stop and pay attention to the little beauties and graces that make life magical and to set aside time for gratitude each day

♥ spending time with our kids this past weekend

♥ warm autumn days with lots of sunshine

 ♥ apple picking 

 ♥ making apple butter and  apple sauce

 ♥ watching the moonlight dance through the autumn leaves that are still hanging on the trees

♥ 

Wishing you a beautiful week full of little things that make you smile. 

♥ 

Carla 

 

 

Hello October and it is the Hodgepodge

 

Autumn bonfires are a favorite.

 

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

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 

 1. What's your favorite fall scent? Would we find this in or around your home right now? 

I love the smell of cinnamon. I am baking an apple crisp with lots of cinnamon, yes today you will find that smell in my house. 

2. October is Country Music Month...are you a fan of country music? Do you have a favorite country artist? Ever been to Nashville? In terms of lifestyle are you more country mouse or city mouse? 

I enjoy the "old country music", Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Loretta Lynn are a few on my old country playlist.

I like Johnny Cash, he is a favorite because of the memories I have from my grandpa singing along to Johnny Cash songs. 

We drove through Nashville, we did not stop. We were heading home from visiting our military son at Fort Gordon, Georgia.

I am a country mouse.

 

3. How about 'country cooking'? (loosely defined as rich flavors, familiar foods, large portions, often fried, and often associated with the southern region of the US of A)? 

chicken and dumplings-fried chicken-shrimp and grits-biscuits and gravy-mac and cheese-fried green tomatoes-cornbread-collard or turnip greens-deviled eggs-'barbecue'-gumbo-banana pudding 

Which of the foods listed is your favorite? Any on the list you haven't tried or would say a firm no thank you to if offered?

 

 My favorite would be chicken and dumplings.

I have not tried fried green tomatoes or barbecue gumbo.

 

 4. What's something that always has a positive impact on your mood? 

 

I know I sound like a broken record, because I talk about my garden so often. But if I am having a bad day, taking a walk out in the garden will lift my mood. There is always a surprise of beauty as I walk along, even in the winter.

 

  

5. As we say so long to September share a noun, a verb, and an adjective that tells us something about how that month looked for you. 

 

Challenging 

♥ we made some difficult decisions in September

 ♥ current events took a toll on the heartstrings ... they still are

 

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

 

Sense of beauty is the gift of God, for which those who have received it in good measure, can never be thankful enough.

Gertrude Jekyll 

 

St. Catherine of Siena

 

 

We are closing out the month of September and the end of the year is creeping closer and closer. 2025 has been a difficult year for many of our friends, our country and the world. Violence, war, illness, broken dreams, hurting family and friends.

 

 

My husband and I had several downs this year. We had to make hard decisions and change plans. It all makes me tired and sad, but I do not give up. We cannot give up. 

We can see all the injustice going on around us, we can get scared and feel like what can little me do? 

What I have learned this year as we have gone through a difficult season, is that I just have to keep doing the best I can each day. 

Smile.

Give a surprise bouquet to a friend and neighbor. 

Bake cookies for a friend going through a hard time.

Send a surprise package in the mail.

Listen... just listen.  

And pray.

I found the below dialogue from St. Catherine of Siena comforting and I wanted to share it as we all continue to do the best we can.

 

 

You must not break away from holy prayer for any reason except obedience or charity.

For often during the time scheduled for prayer the devil comes with all sorts of struggles and annoyances - even more than when you are not at prayer. He does this to make you weary of holy prayer. Often he will say: "This sort of prayer is worthless to you. You should not think about or pay attention to anything except vocal prayer." He makes it seem this way so that you will become weary and confused and abandon the exercise of prayer. 

But prayer is a weapon with which you can defend yourself against every enemy. If you hold it with love's hand and the arm of free choice, this weapon, with the light of most holy faith, will be your defense.

 

Flowers for your Friday

 

 

Orange zinnias have been the showstoppers this garden season.

Below is my display of a few of the big and bold orange zinnias.

You will spy my first acorn that I picked up on a recent walk.

 

 

More flowers for your Friday!

 

 

"As for rosemary I let it run all over my garden walls, not only because my bees love it, but because it is the herb sacred to remembrance and to friendship...." 

 Sir Thomas More 

 

Happy Autumn and it is the Hodgepodge

 

A toadstool found in the woods during a wet walk last week.

 

Happy Autumn and it is the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 1. Fall officially rolls into the Northern Hemisphere on Monday (9/22)...what's your favorite thing about fall? 

We live in Northern Wisconsin and me oh my, Wisconsin knows how to show off in Autumn. The leaf color, sunlight dancing in the leaves as they fall and the crisp fresh air make it all a delight for me. Autumn is my husband's favorite season.

 2. What's one thing on your real or proverbial autumn bucket list? 

 

We will take a drive and have a picnic enjoying the change of the season and soaking up all the autumn beauty of reds, yellows, oranges, purples and more as the trees change.

 

 3. Apples, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and cranberries are some of the top fall foods. Which one is your favorite and how do you like it prepared? Any on the list you don't eat? Which one have you had most recently? 

 

 

I am still making tarts. 

If you click the link below you will find my tart recipe. 

This week I made an apple tart. 

I enjoy all of the fall foods listed above.

Recipe ~ Tarts

 

 4. 'Fall is proof that change is beautiful' is a popular sentiment. Would you agree or no? Elaborate. 

 

It all depends on what the change is ... Ha Ha! Some change is easier for me than others. Having a dear friend move away, that was not so beautiful. 

Do a remodel "change" in our home to make it more cozy, that is fine and dandy.

 

5. Is there a spot near you where people go to see the leaves change color? Will you try to leaf peep somewhere this fall? Lonely Planet lists the following ten places as the best for leaf peeping...of those listed which would you most like to visit? 

Stowe, Vermont~Shenandoah National Park, Virginia~Columbia River Gorge, Oregon~Zion National Park, Utah~Tennessee/North Carolina border~West Virgina~Northwestern Wyoming~Wisconsin Northwoods~Northern Nevada~Ozark Highlands Scenic Byway, Arkansas

 

Wisconsin Northwoods ... that is where I call home sweet home. If you do plan to come this way, Wisconsin will not disappoint you. And let me know, I will put the kettle on.

 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

 

The calendar might say the first day of Autumn, but our weather is still full summer. Our winters are loooooonnnngggg here in Wisconsin, so we will take each summer day we can. I am still eating fresh cucumbers, green beans, zucchini and enjoying fresh flowers. 

 

Birthday Memories and it is the Hodgepodge

 

 

Happy Wednesday, one of our favorite requests to celebrate birthday's .. 

Highlander Grogg Filled Cupcakes

 

 

 After all that drooling, it is time for the Hodgepodge. 

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

1.  Are you more life of the party or more party pooper? If your answer is somewhere in the middle which side of the middle do you lean towards more? 

Birthday party, beach party, cocktail party, dinner party, charity fundraiser, surprise party, costume party, garden party, Christmas party, reunion...what's your favorite kind of party? 

I am in the middle, I join the fun, but I probably would not be the person to start the shenanigans, but I would join in. 

I love celebrating our families birthday's with a special meal, dessert and presents too.

 

2. Cheese, wine, and balsamic vinegar all improve with age. What would you personally add to the list? 

I will add, Carla, to that list. I have improved with age. One of the areas that I know I have improved on is patience. I take time to listen, that skill has improved with age. I chew on the things I am told and I will research and study before giving my two cents.

 3. How do you feel about your birthday? How do you want to be celebrated? Or don't you? 

I like my birthday. My birthday is December 12th. My favorite way to celebrate is spending the day with my family.

 4. What remarkable feat, interesting piece of trivia, or historical event occurred on your birth day and month? Not necessarily your same birth year, just the same date/month.

Frank Sinatra shares my birth date, 12/12.

5. Share two good things about your life right now. 

My husband and I recently had to make a difficult decision. We both feel good about the decision we made and have peace about it.

My family... my family means so much to me.

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

One last photo... delicious. 

 

 

September

 Brewing, fermenting, rising, bubbling, kneading, stewing, simmering, aging, curing, growing, sprouting... a working kitchen is alive with verbs.

Jill Winger

 

♥

Carla

Pray, love, remember and it is the Hodgepodge

 

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

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 1. What gives you energy? What takes it away? 

Having a fun project to do gives me energy. 

Time with my family and friends gives me energy. 

It might seem strange, but working in my garden gives me energy. If I am having a bad day, just feeling low and tired,  a bit of gardening usually helps me feel better.

Drama ... drama saps my energy. 

When things should really be easy, but red tape makes them difficult, I get very tired, very quickly.

 2. How often do you shop for clothes? What accessory do you always wear? 

I shop for clothes if I need something for an occasion, like attending a wedding or fun party. I will shop for clothes if something I currently have has seen its day. I recently purchased a new sweatshirt.

I wear earrings everyday... in fact I feel naked without them. Hee Hee!

3. What's something free that you feel grateful for?   

LOVE

I am so thankful to be loved by my family and friends. 

 4. Breakfast, lunch, dinner...which meal of the day do you enjoy most? What's your go-to comfort food? 

I will say dinner because I enjoy dinner with my husband most evenings. I do love our weekend breakfasts together, my husband enjoys making breakfast for us on Saturday and Sunday.

My go to comfort food is.. chicken noodle soup. 

 5. This week the world remembers the tragic events of 9/11. Do you mark the day in any way? How do historical events shape your perspective on your personal challenges?

 My husband and I pray for those who have died, not just on September 11th, but years later from the toxic air that those later developed cancer from. We pray for our military. We will reminisce about what we were doing September 11th  during our evening conversation.

Historical events shape my perspective on my personal challenges in ways of gratitude.  

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Autumn is starting to visit around here. We dipped down to 36 degrees over the weekend. Summer is coming back this week. I am alright with that.

Two Ladies

 

Above is the pooped out Ernie after our walk. Ernie and I walk everyday. Our morning walk is the same route everyday. Our evening walk changes daily.

On our morning walk we have our neighbors who like to wave at us or stop us for a quick visit.  We walk past a 8 plex and 4 plex that are next door to each other. In both are ladies that like to wave to me and Ernie. This week we happen to talk to both of the ladies. 

We were just coming to the 8 plex, when the one lady was pulling out of the driveway. She stopped as she got close to me and Ernie. She yelled out her car window, "Hi Sweetie, what a lovely day." Another car was pulling out of the 4 plex. The lady talking to me said, "Oh that is Marlene, I better get going and get out of her way." Off she went.

Then that car slows down and yells out to me and Ernie, "Hi, do you know that lady?"

I reply,"not really, we just chat and wave when I for my walk, nothing personal."

"Well, I am friends with her, I live in the 8 plex, she lives in the 4 plex. I just want to warn you, you gotta watch what you tell her, she will blab."

I thanked her for the advice. She asked my name and my dogs name. She told me she was Marlene and off she went on her way.

I carried on with our walk, chuckling about the two ladies.

 

Happy Grandparents' Day and it is the Hodgepodge

 

My grandpa Sam and grandma Vida.

 

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

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions

Click here to join the fun! 

 

1. Next Sunday is Grandparent's Day. Share a favorite memory, photo, recipe, or something you learned from a grandparent. 

 Our first born son is named Samuel Charles.

 Samuel for my grandpa Samuel and Charles for my father. 

Our Sam has that same curly hair as my grandpa Sam.

 

2. What's a quote from a book (besides The Bible) that has stayed with you? 

“But no one except Lucy knew that as it circled the mast it had whispered to her, "Courage, dear heart," and the voice, she felt sure, was Aslan's, and with the voice a delicious smell breathed in her face.”  

C.S. Lewis ~ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

 3. What's your number one food pet peeve? 

 

I need a separate dish for my cold salads and beans. If I am having a burger or a sausage and the sides are baked beans and cold salads. I am going to need a dish for the beans. They have to be on their own.

I will need a plate for the cold salads. 

I just do not like to have my hot food with my cold food.  

 

4. What's one thing about you that is still the same as it was when you were young? 

 I have to have short nails. I use to chew my nails when I was young, thank goodness I broke that habit very early in life. I broke the habit, but  I need to have short nails. I cut and file my nails every-other day.

 5. September is National Preparedness Month...does your family have an emergency plan? Do you have some sort of preparedness kit you keep on hand? If so, tell us one thing that's kept there. 

Our kids do not live in the same community as us. We would do our best to get together if something major happened. My husband and I have a couple neighbors we would go to for help. 

We have a kit in our car, blankets, wet wipes, kleenex, toilet paper, flashlights and first aid kits.

As far as in the house, we have flashlights, candles and bottled water.

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I have been waiting all summer for the morning glories to bloom. 

Hang on summer, enjoy the last three weeks of summer my friends. 

Leaving Coins

 

 

Hello Friends,

 

My husband and I like to visit cemeteries on our travels. We enjoy reading the stones. We often wonder why we see the items left on the gravestones. 

I am sharing a few unique to us gravestones that we have seen throughout our travels.

 

Bruce Wasielewski, we did not know him, but I was interested in what he had put on the back of his gravestone.. IT IS WHAT IT IS DARLING.

 

 

 I have always wondered why I would see coins. I found out the answer, please share with me if you know something different.

Leaving coins on veterans' gravestones is a common tradition meant to show the fallen soldier's family that someone paid their respects. Different denominations represent varying levels of connection:

A penny means you visited. A nickel signifies you and the deceased trained  together, a dime means you and the veteran served together, and a quarter shows you were there when the veteran died.

 If you know of any other traditions, please do share.

 

 

No Poker Face and it is the Hodgepodge

 

Hello Friends, 

It is Wednesday and it is time for the Hodgepodge. 

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

 Click here to join the fun!

 

 1. When someone finds out what you do or where you're from, what's a question they always ask? 

 

I was born and raised in the woods. Really, I was and so was my husband. So when we say where we are from, most people will say, "Where is that"?

We will start with the largest city that is close to the community that we grew up, which is about two hours away. If they know where that city is, we start to head further North into Wisconsin. 

 It is always fun when we do meet someone who actually does know where we are from.

And they will usually say, "you grew up out in the boondocks"!! 

2. Did you participate in 'Greek Life' when you were in college, or have children who did? If so what was your experience like? Taking another tack...have you ever been to Greece? If not, is that a destination on your bucket list? 

 

No, I did not participate in "Greek Life" ... my kids did not as well.

I have not been to Greece. 

Visiting Greece is not high on my bucket list.

 

3. Do you like Greek food? If so what's your favorite dish?  

 

I enjoy many Greek salads.

 

4. What incredibly common thing have you never done?  

 

 I do not have a tattoo.

 

5. What is a telltale sign that you're upset?  

 

I do not have a poker face. You will know I am upset. 

 

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

A few days ago I wrote about all the dogs wondering around in our neighborhood. I just returned from my walk with our dog Ernie. We met up with a lady walking her dog, she said, "Warning, there are two dogs roaming ahead, they seem friendly, I just want to warn you, because you never know."

Ernie and I carried on with our walk. Yes, we saw the dogs, but they did not come our way. Thank goodness!! 

Recipe ~ Tart

 

 

Hello Friends,  

Throughout the summer I have been sharing photos of the tart I have been making. It is a  quick and easy way to enjoy your fresh vegetables from your garden. I will share the recipe with you today.

The above photo I used radish and chive as our toppings.

In the below photo I used fresh green beans and mushrooms.

 

 

In the below photo I used fresh green beans, dill and made a mustard sauce to drizzle on top.

 

 

The below photo is the first tart I made using asparagus. 

Tart

1 sheet frozen puff pastry - thawed

8 oz of mascarpone cheese 

sea salt

pepper

olive oil

fresh vegetables of your choice as a topping

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Prep your vegetables.

Place a piece of parchment paper onto a sheet pan. Unfold the puff pastry and lay it flat onto the parchment. Spread the mascarpone cheese in an even layer onto the dough, leaving about a 1" border. Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange your vegetables over the top of the mascarpone cheese. Season with salt, pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Fold the edges of dough up and over the vegetables. Lightly press the creases together so that the pastry is secure.

Drizzle the edges with olive oil. Bake 30-35 minutes until the edges are golden brown and the vegetables are tender.

Enjoy!

This magical, marvelous food on our plate, this sustenance we absorb, has a story to tell. It has a journey. It leaves a footprint. It leaves a legacy."

Joel Salatin