Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Inspired by Nature - Wednesday Hodgepodge

Ferns on Fifth
June 2013


Join us and Joyce, author of From This Side of the Pond blog for:



1. April 22nd is Earth Day. Are you inspired by nature? In what way?

I am definitely inspired by nature. It always takes me to the Creator and the awe I feel for the majesty of His creation. And when you think about it, what we see now is really just residual beauty. Imagine what it looked like before mankind's fall into sin. Someday we will know. Until then, we can praise our generous God for allowing us to live on His earth and giving us this hint of real beauty.



2. Down to earth, four corners of the earth, move heaven and earth, not have an earthly chance, or salt of the earth...which earthly idiom have you most recently encountered? Explain.

At the moment, what I can think of are some of the authors and composers I consider to be 'salt of the earth.:' C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, N.T. Wright, Francis Schaeffer, R.C. Sproul, Dorothy L. Sayers, J.S. Bach, George Frideric Handel, etc. And really, not just famous people, but anyone who works to the best of their ability to bring glory to God - whether they write, compose, wait tables, or clean houses. We're not all called to be C.S. Lewis, thank goodness.

From my cranberry bush in April

3. Share one piece of advice you might give a newly engaged couple.

It's not about the wedding. It's about the future you have together. I think sometimes people forget that the wedding is not the goal. They forget to look beyond, to how they're going to deal with real life after the ceremony. It helps not to start married life with the baggage of financial debt. You're not more married if you spend $50,000 on a wedding than if you spend $500. Be real. At your wedding, enjoy your friends and family. Make  them feel comfortable. Stop fussing.

And another thing (You knew there'd be another thing, didn't you!)  It's not all about you. It's about the commitment that you're making to one another in the presence of God and your friends and family.



An Amazing Fungus

4. When did you last engage someone to perform a job, task, service, home repair, or improvement? On a scale of 1-10 (ten being the best) how would you rate their work and/or your satisfaction with the job or service provided?

Since my husband does all the home improvements around here, I'd say it was the front porch. It is not finished yet because of time and money (Oddly, you have to have enough of both at the same moment), but it will get done eventually. What we've got so far is wonderful. Even if another stick of wood didn't get pounded on, that front porch is just a dream come true. I love to walk out there in the spring mornings and have coffee in the early morning on my new porch (when it's 60+ degrees.)  He definitely gets a 10 for the quality of work. 


Our Lone McIntosh Tree
(because the bunnies and deer finished off the new one)

5. When did you last find yourself engaged in small talk? Are you awkward or an expert or somewhere in between?

A couple nights ago at a party. It helped that I had taken a pain killer because I had a PT appointment immediately following. :-) (not that I'm advocating engaging in small talk when you're under the influence, of course). Small talk is not natural to me. I feel like life is just too short to not get right down to the things that matter.


 Happy Westby area Holsteins

6.  What was the last historic place you visited?

It's been a while, but probably the last place was Westby, Wisconsin, in the southwestern part of the state. My husband's cousin lives there. It's an old Norwegian settlement and he's an old Norwegian. :-) He's also Westby's historian. I think he knows everything there is to know about the place. Check out my sidebar for his  new blog,  'Westby Remembered.' He's got a ton of info there about Westby, a beautiful little village among the coulees and ridges of SW Wisconsin.

Misty

7. The world would be a better place if we just__________________________.

a. If we ate more cheese.

b. If we just stopped being selfish. 

c. If our government would stop being up in everybody's business all around the globe!


Jazzie

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

 Tuppence and me, planning a trip to the Lake District of England
Odds are just as good for her as they are for me at this point.

***



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34 comments:

  1. Such beautiful photos! (And I have a motto: No one is allowed to leave my house hungry!)

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  2. Ate more cheese-ha! Well, that would be a good place to start! I love that photo of your cranberry bush. Fantastic!

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  3. I enjoyed your post and your photos today, Judy. I was wondering what the view is like from your porch these mornings. Is it turning green at all yet? Have a great day.

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  4. I love your photos.So good to plan a trip. :):) Hope you have awonderful day. xoxo,Susie

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  5. Interesting questions and answers, and wonderful photos! Yea for cheese!

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  6. Love the picture of you and your kitty. Enjoyed your answers.

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  7. we cover Jake's hip when he sleeps, just like Misty... i am always more inspired by nature than by mankind.

    down to earth is what i am, practical to the bone.

    love that cranberry pic..and I agree 100 percent with your wedding advice.
    one thing I learned about marriage is don't sweat the small stuff. i did not know that in my first marriage...pick the battles and make them short.

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  8. I really enjoyed your post.
    Too many subjects to comment on, but I'll just say you're a kindred spirit, Judy.
    I did love the beautiful photos too!

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  9. Lol! Yes the world would a better place if we all ate more cheese! I am all about being a good Wisconsin girl and eating REAL Wisconsin dairy!
    Very fun post!

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  10. Enjoyed all your answers as always, but especially your advice to an engaged couple. Your soo right of course. It does seem as soo much time and effort and MONEY goes into the wedding itself, it has honestly gotten to be just ridiculous. How much better would it be if that much effort honestly went into the relationship and establishing a "joint" relationship with Jesus? Enjoy your day!

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  11. I love all your random bits and pieces, Judy. We think alike on so many things/levels.
    I am so happy that you got your porch even if it is not completely done yet- xo Diana

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  12. Judy, thanks for visiting my blog this morning and I so enjoyed returning the visit. It sounds like we might actually have some things in common - one being that we both have grandchildren in Indiana. We happen to be visiting them as I write. Another is our belief and trust in a soverign God. Also, enjoyed your photography. Lovely shots of God's creation where you live. I do hope you will call again, as I think we could be good friends.

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  13. Happy Wednesday, enjoyed the post, eat more cheese please, Francine.

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  14. Yes... cheese does make things better :) That answer made me laugh.

    The pictures are all so beautiful!
    The cows with the stream is just gorgeous!

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  15. loved all your photos! love wis cheese, too. :) thank goodness my small-town grocer carries some half-moon wis mild cheddar.

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  16. We just covered our 'previously uncovered' front porch. I love sitting out there now--and so do 5 of our cats and our two dogs! To say it gets a bit crowed, at times, would be an understatement :)

    I agree with your three suggestions to make the world a better place :)

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  17. We just covered our 'previously uncovered' front porch. I love sitting out there now--and so do 5 of our cats and our two dogs! To say it gets a bit crowed, at times, would be an understatement :)

    I agree with your three suggestions to make the world a better place :)

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  18. Oh my, I do love your last photo. And I love Eric's photo too. My dad has Holsteins. Made me think of him.
    I always enjoy reading your thoughts.

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  19. I really enjoyed all of your beautiful photos, Judy! Your dogs are adorable!

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  20. Such beautiful photos, and a late Happy Earth day to you.

    Jen

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  21. I love how you intersperse your lovely photos throughout your post.

    Great advice there in #3!

    Small talk makes me cower...unless I know you well and then I can talk a blue streak. (Maybe I should take a little something before I have to go to one of my husband's company dinners the next time?) :)

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  22. AMEN to your engagement advice! I sometimes wish couples spent as much time and effort in choosing their mates and preparing for their lives as they do planning their "dream" wedding.

    Cheese. yes, cheese is the answer!

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  23. Gorgeous photos. I agree - eat more cheese!! I LOVE cheese. Cheese, butter and/or garlic can make anything taste like heaven! LOL

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  24. Your dogs are beautiful! Love all your pictures. Good advice to the engaged couple.

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  25. I agree with you on #1 and #3. In Japan, where I live, there are many people who think of the wedding ceremony as their goal, rather than as a new beginning.

    Have a wonderful day.

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  26. I like your wedding advice. My sister and I were married within 8 months of each other. My parents set an amount of $2,500. (Okay that was 43 years ago) My sister went big and they paid whatever was above that amount. Mark and I went with a dinner in the church basement and outside party at my parents house. People stayed until 2 am! We were buying a townhouse and didn't go over their budget.
    I love small talk, I love getting to know strangers and ask questions. I had been at Hoover Dam about a year ago which I forgot to put down. Love all you photos!

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  27. Love your answer to number 7. Have you ever tried baked camembert. To be honest the world would probably be better if I ate less cheese (my body is not very tolerant of dairy) but oh it is indeed yummy.

    And yes. The UK govt could do with quitting getting into other people's business. So many countries wrecked by colonialism and laws that still exist they didn't want in the first place...

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  28. So nice to have a visit from you! You have some wonderful thoughts here. It's good to pause and appreciate our planet. I do it in some way everyday. Having a new porch must be wonderful! And it's so beautiful in Wisconsin. Love those cows! How exciting to go to the Lake District! I just finished reading Susan Branches book about her tour of England, and it made me want to visit again in the worst way!

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  29. Thought provoking questions, and great photos. The small talk thing got me thinking. With some people it's easy and other's it's like pulling teeth. But I'm like you . . . cut to the chase and get on with it!

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  30. Thanks Judy for stopping by today. It's always a delight to meet another blogger. Your blog is lovely and your answers were great, especially "eating more cheese." How funny! Beautiful pictures too!

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  31. Great post. Your newlywed advice is spot on!

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  32. This is a lovely way for me to start my day. I empathize with the too little time/too little money part of working on home projects. Nature is fabulous, and fortunately for us in this state it isn't hard to get a good dose of it.

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  33. Lovely thought-provoking post and great pictures. I see you're heading for the English Lakes sometime - let me know if you need any tips! Are you going to risk Hardknott, I wonder?!

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  34. Fun post! Your Westby photo made me think of Cambridge, England. That's a WI town I'd not heard of. Lovely photos!

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Hi! And thanks for stopping in at Cranberry Morning. I love reading your comments and visiting your blogs. I am unable to respond to No-Reply bloggers, so please make sure to enable your email address on your blog. Also, many Google+ blogs don't allow me to comment because I'm not a member of Google+. So, I'm not deliberately avoiding you, but Google+ is not commenter friendly.