Already -Missing -July Hodgepodge

Neighbor's Windmill

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1.  I recently read here about four secrets to happiness from around the world. They were-

Overcome your fears by facing them head on, allow yourself to relax and reset, work to live versus living to work, and find the good in life. Not sure if these are the actual secret to happiness, but which of the four do you struggle with most? Which one comes most easily to you?

Most easily? Definitely, finding the good in life. There's a lot of good if you're tuned to see it. I pray daily for God to open my eyes to his mercy and grace - in creation, in people, in circumstances. 

I tend to avoid fear-inducing situations. For example, I have a fear of falling off the edge of a cliff, but if I tried to face that fear head on and walk closer to the edge, it could prove to be counter productive.

 July Clouds

2. How would you spend a found $20 bill today?


I would spend it as quickly as possible before the value is even less than it is today. Have you noticed how a $20 bill buys you so much less than it did ten years ago?  Just keep paying attention. It's getting worse, fast.

3. Ego trip, power trip, guilt trip, round trip, trip the light fantastic, or trip over your own two feet...which 'trip' have you experienced or dealt with most recently? Explain.


'Trip the light fantastic' is such an odd phrase, isn't it. It definitely doesn't apply to me. Round trip might be the one most recently applicable.

 Raspberry- Yogurt Mid-afternoon Protein Treat

1/2 c. Fage 0% Plain Yogurt

1/3 tiny packet Raw Stevia

1/3 c. fresh raspberries

4. If you could master any physical skill in the world what would it be, and how would you use that skill?


Do you mean master with effort, or just be able to do it? This reminds me of our oldest son (last week's Hodgepodge birthday boy) who would listen to his younger sister play the violin beautifully (I mean, beautifully!) and would say, 'I'd do ANYTHING to be able to play like that...well, anything except practice.'  That cracks me up every time I think about it.  And yes, I'd love to be able to play violin well, but I'm counting on a computer chip being implanted in my brain. I'll hold off a while longer before I resort to practicing. (Y'all do know when to take me seriously, right?)

 Mr. C. and Middle Son Building Porch Ceiling

5. As July draws to a close, let's take inventory of our summer fun. Since the official first day of (North American) summer (June 20th) have you...been swimming? enjoyed an ice cream cone? seen a summer blockbuster? camped? eaten corn on the cob? gardened? deliberately unplugged? watched a ballgame? picked fruit off the vine? taken a road trip? read a book?  Are any of these activities on your must-do-before-summer-ends list?


I can hardly stand the thought of summer coming to a close. Even July coming to an end means we're going into August. That means things are winding down and autumn is soon upon us. And that means that winter is just around the corner. How did this happen so quickly??  Are you done with your Christmas shopping?............................In answer to the question, I've gardened and picked fruit off the vine and read a book or two - well, reading a few books and reading parts of others. There's always something interesting that's a Kindle temptation. Non-fiction mostly, theology - or historical fiction or a good mystery. Diane from Lavender Dreams mentioned a couple mysteries she found at the library. The Fleet Street Murders and A Stranger in Mayfair. I'm going to look into those.

Currently reading or sitting in my Kindle queue:

Who is This Man? Ortberg
Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child - Esolen
Lectures by N.T. Wright
A Method for Prayer, Matthew Henry (What an interesting, amazing man.) Probably more on him at a later date. 
Alan Turing, Unlocking the Enigma, Boyle
Grantchester (No, I've not finished it because I'm easily distracted by the other above-listed books and non-fiction is always more attractive to me.) 

6. The Republican Presidential candidates will debate on August 6th. What's your question?


Didn't the term 'liberal' used to mean favorable of individual rights and freedoms? That is so far from what the term means these days. Now it seems to mean favorable  only to the approved opinion - and the government will tell you what that is.

How are you different from any other politician who wants more government, not less, and who wants to use other people's money for their own pet projects? Can you prove that you're not bought off by big corporations? What do you think of the idea of letting people have more control over their own lives, rather than government dictating and taxing the working American citizen to death? Do you favor rights for illegal immigrants over the rights of legal immigrants? What do you think of promoting a culture of life, rather than a culture of death? What do you think of doing away with the death penalty but also doing away with funding Planned Parenthood, who has used taxpayer money to kill 6.8 million American babies since 1970 - and is now known to be selling baby body parts. How can anyone think this is okay? Who are you most afraid of, that you're not willing to be a real statesman and stand up for what is good and right, but simply cave to what you perceive to be popular opinion - because you care more about re-election than you do about the survival of this country?

Were we allowed more than one question? And I've a few more, if my time's not up.

Raindrops on the Garden Pond

7. What's your most listened to song so far this summer?

The tones of the wind chime on my front porch. It's my favorite right now.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

 Tuppence with her knitting

I'm actually progressing on the little peach sweater, finally. I have an amazing friend who solves my knitting problems, including the one yesterday, where I put a buttonhole on the wrong side of the button band. Then I did stockinette? stitch for 10 rows, ignoring it, hoping the problem would go away. It didn't vanish, oddly enough, so this morning I took it to my patient, engineer-brilliant knitting friend who actually managed to take out just the button band stitches back 10 rows, fix the problem, and then knit it back up. It was like watching a magic trick, one that I'll never ever learn, but one that gives me even more appreciation of the brilliance of my friend (and her generosity). 

Thank you, Bethany.

***

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This post is linked to

Saturday's Critters

and 

Skywatch Friday