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.