Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Wednesday Hodgepodge



1. Do you have an interest in learning about your family's heritage? Why or why not? If you know a little bit about your roots, share an interesting piece of trivia or a fun fact about someone who goes way back on your family tree.

My aunt was the family tree keeper in our family. I think her daughter has inherited that job. Two of my grandpas came from the 'old country,' one born on the boat on the way to the U.S. from Sweden; the other came as a teenager from Denmark.  I know nothing about the relatives in Scandinavia. But here's the ship manifest from 1901 when my grandpa came here from Denmark to work with his brother-in-law.


It states farther down that he was single, that he was traveling with his brother, and that he had $5.00 in his pocket.

Another grandpa, my great great grandfather Isaac, fought under General George B. McClellan in Lincoln's Army in the Civil War. Because of his admiration for the general, my great great grandfather named his son John McClellan Timblin.


2. Branch Rickey, the baseball exec credited with signing Jackie Robinson, is quoted as saying-


"Luck is the residue of design."

 Agree or disagree? Why?


Yes, I agree. Many things attributed to luck are the result of hard work, organization, skill, determination, sacrifice, and perseverance. 'Well aren't you lucky, getting an A on that test. Oh, you were studying last night while I was out partying? Yeah, well, it doesn't matter. I'd never be so lucky.' or maybe you've heard someone say, 'She's so lucky to have that gorgeous garden.' I bet many gardeners are irritated when they  hear that, as they're on their knees, sweating, pulling those nasty weeds, and gritting their teeth.

Which reminds me, one of the funniest things our oldest son said was after he heard his sister play a piece on the piano - or maybe it was the other sister on her violin, 'Wow, I'd do anything to be able to play like that..............except practice.'  LOL


3. In the town where you currently reside, what's your favorite green space?

Luckily ;-)  we don't live in town.

 The Alfalfa Field North of the House
I love it, and can't wait to see that wonderful green alfalfa again!

4. Who is your favorite comedian? 

Until I saw Stephen Mangan in 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, I probably would have said Hugh Laurie from Jeeves & Wooster or Martin Clunes from Doc Martin.  But Stephen Mangan is perfectly hilarious! (Actually, maybe it's a 3-way tie)

Looking for The Interconnectedness of All Things

If you have not seen this and have any funny bone at all (I mean at ALL), it will make you giggle, chortle, or perhaps even guffaw!

5. March is National Nutrition Month, and almost everyone needs to improve their diet in some way.  What about you? How can you improve your nutrition on a daily basis? Will you try?

I eat a pretty healthful diet: meat (my general term for meat, poultry, fish, etc), low-sugar vegetables, yogurt, cheese, nuts...and dark chocolate. I could probably improve it by eating a little less dark chocolate, and probably less yogurt and cheese.  But give me a break. I'm from Wisconsin. And in case someone wonders why fruit isn't on that list, it's because a nutritionist told me that there are no antioxidants in fruit that you can't get from vegetables, and fruit is so high in sugar. Occasionally I eat a bit of rice, if it's in a brown rice tortilla, which is what I use for the crust of my Gluten Free Pizza.

But as far as the dark chocolate goes, I'm not sure I'll try to improve. I'm not making any promises here. Also, I'm pretty sure my body doesn't need the volume of mixed nuts and almonds that I consume while watching Pie in the Sky or A Touch of Frost.

6. Which of these green expressions have you 'experienced' in recent weeks -green with envy, green thumb, green around the gills, or give the green light? Explain.

I don't think any of those applies to me, but maybe the green thumb:


All of my Christmas cacti, aloe, yucca, and spider plants are doing well. Even my oregano and lavender plant are thriving. But I'm not showing you the current photo of that lovely rosemary plant you see in the photo. That was taken in December. Now it is dead. As. a. doornail. And one of the lavender plants upstairs on the window seat has also died. Who knows. I think that like the rest of us, it simply got tired of waiting for spring.

7. Where is one place you don't mind waiting?

Anywhere I have my Kindle. I realize that's not a sentence.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

March 10, 2014

This is what the snow looks like now. Dirty and disgusting. And this is the last I'm going to complain about it (unless we have a snowstorm in May again this year). Why? Because we are starting to get warmer temps and this refrigerator will soon be defrosted. Then we'll enter April. April's not perfect by any means, but it is a nice segue to May (see alfalfa field above).

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Thank you for hosting Wednesday's Hodgepodge, Joyce. 


***

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28 comments:

  1. A pity we don't own a television, as much as I enjoyed reading Dirk Gently I'd probably enjoy the show!

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  2. i love your plant area - it looks so fun. the ladder & all. i never was a plant person until i got older - or should i say i never put my energy into them & now that i can get them to live so long - i love it!! my christmas cactus is getting ready to bloom again. so fun! ( :

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  3. What a fun post. I really enjoyed all your comments to the questions. Have a great day. We're on blizzard watch here for the next 36 hours. ;(

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  4. We're supposed to get snow tonite. Not a lot, but still snow. It was 60 yesterday and a wonderful taste of spring! The dog in the field is beautiful. And I think if you live in Wisconsin you have to eat cheese. It's the law : )

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  5. I love this post - getting to know you - getting to know all about you!
    It was beautifully warm here all week - snow started to melt ( I can live with the filthy slush because it means Spring is fast approaching ) and then today they're predicting a snow storm to end all snow storms - uggghhhh - sick to death of it -
    Someone told the Farmer's Almanac is predicting a cold lousy summer - just what I wanted to hear when we finally have a pool :(
    Have a good one Judy!
    xox

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  6. i am with you, i can wait anywhere at all as long as i have my kindle... before kindle i took a book, but the kindle is better. when waiting in the car at a traffic signal i entertain myself by guessing what/who/why of the people in the other cars. i love people watching...
    love the results of your green thumb, mine is brown, but bob's is green.
    my dad's grandfather died in the battle of shiloh

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  7. I enjoyed your answers, especially the quote from your son, concerning his sister's playing :) LOL

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  8. Loving the picture of the Alfalfa field, mostly because that is one beautiful dog!

    I'm with you, give me my Kindle and I can wait anywhere too.

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  9. You do eat better than I do. I need to get my diet in order! And my half sister did our genealogy for my dad side - wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy far back - you know a lot about yours too! Interesting.

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  10. Wow..there's so much in this post to comment about! It was so interesting about your family history. I'm very interested in my own. I know some interesting history and have done a little researching on line but I hope that in a few years I have the time to join the "Patrick County Genealogy Society" I just know there will be a world of information through them. I have a lot of family on both parents side. I have a cousin that posts about the "Hilton Castle " in England on Facebook from time to time. It interesting..even though we spell ours with a "y" instead of an "i".

    Great Post!
    Have a Wonderful Day!

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  11. Ah! I am a city girl through and through, but I love the picture of you and the family in the field. So much space and so much nature! Beautiful.

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  12. I had two uncles that fought with the Union Army and lots of Southerners who fought with the CSA. I even found out that the one who was the Union doctor marched through my home state and said the people there were very nice. Whew! That probably helped grease the wheels when his nephew, my grandfather, married my grandmother whose family were all involved on the other side. ;-)

    I love Steve Martin. I loved him in "All of Me" and "Roxanne".

    xo

    Sheila

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  13. Ohhhh - I need to check out your soap!!!

    Where you live is just green enough :) Beautiful!

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  14. I haven't watched Dirk Gently but will have to try it. You like England so much I would have thought you had some English roots in your tree.

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  15. Enjoyed your answers! Old man winter isn't finished with us yet. He is dumping another 5 inches of snow on us and we have another extreme weather alert.

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  16. I was just musing on my way to work, that March is not pretty. Dirty snow, dead grass and the general bedraggled appearance of outside. But I am not complaining!! It is wonderful to see the bare sidewalk again, hear birds in the trees and yesterday I noticed a few bulbs poking their way up! So no complaining here!

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  17. Very interesting on your family history. I need to work on finding out more. I do know my grandparents on both sides came from Europe, Czechoslovakia area. So lovely where you live. I will have to check out your funny men. I'm going to try your pizza and yes you must eat cheese being from Wisconsin. I love eating healthy. I started about two years ago. Funny how all we needed to do was go back to the basics of eating real food like our ancestors did and stay away from all the fake food in the grocery stores. I love house plants, yours are gorgeous. At one time in my life I had over 200 plants in our home in Illinois. Going to head on over and check out your soaps.......

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  18. For your sake, I sure hope all that snow melts away soon! We've been enjoying 70's here in GA. and I'm loving every second of it!

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  20. Fun to learn more about you, my friend. xo Laura

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  21. I sure did enjoy your Hodgepodge, Joyce! With the Ancestry.com DNA test, I found out I have Scandinavian blood! Never knew that before. 19% Scandinavian. I love genealogy! I also love your alfalfa field. Gorgeous!

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  22. Hi Judy!

    So nice stopping by to peruse your lovely blog and get to know you a bit! I also liked the photos on your side bar of your sweet pets :) Looking forward to visiting again!

    Kindly, Lorraine

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  23. Judy
    I enjoyed your Hodgepodge thoughts
    I'm going to have to look up Dirk Gently. I wonder if he's related to George Gently...

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  24. We don't have cable tv any more, and I'm happy 'bout that. Anything I watch is either on DVD or online. Will have to check out your comedian online and see if anything shows up I can watch.

    Your corner of plants is very pretty!!!

    Loved reading your history. What a great inheritance you have.

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  25. Loving the soap. I love your green space too....I may have to try that myself during our Spring break. I like a green space in the house. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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  26. I think every family needs someone who keeps track of the heritage. Luckily, it's not me! Thanks for all your answers. Spring is on the way so I hear.

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  27. You know who I love and have since I was a girl? Bill Cosby. He's so funny! My dad's youngest brother is the record keeper on that side. I think I'm going to have to do it on Mother's side. But getting info from those people is like pulling eye teeth.

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