Hodgepodging the Lawn and Grub Show

Pond garden, May 30, 2013
See how late spring comes to Wisconsin?

1. April is Lawn and Garden Month. On a scale of 1-10 what's the current state of your lawn and/or garden. (10=a showpiece, 1=send in the professionals). Tell us about any lawn or garden plans you have for this month.

At this point, I'd say it's about a minus five. I've not been able to do any gardening for a few years and rather than calling in the professionals, I'd probably rather call in the tractor and disc and start over. The photo of the pond garden in May of 2013 (above) is how I would like it to look again this year. We've had an infestation of ground moles, which make the backyard bumpy and horrid, and as long as we had dogs living with us, I wouldn't let Mr. C. put out poison for the grubs, which is what the moles eat. So, it got pretty bad. Now that we no longer have dogs (sadly), we can put out grub poison and start the lawn project again.

 Strawberry Boy

July 4, 2015

2. "Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there."~Thomas Fuller  What does this quote mean to you?

It means there are weeds among my strawberries and raspberries. It's that simple.

I looked up Thomas Fuller and found a few more quotes:

All things are difficult before they are easy.

If it were not for hopes, the heart would break.

Health is not valued till sickness comes.

(These don't strike me as particularly profound.)

Choose a wife rather by your ear than your eye.

That one reminds me of the song,

If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life

Never make a pretty woman your wife,

So from my personal point of view, 

Get an ugly girl to marry you.

I think Thomas probably meant exactly what he said.

 April in Dallas, 2013

3. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about God?

Jesus of Nazareth, God in the flesh, who loved us so much that he took the sin and pain of the world on himself at the Cross, who defeated the powers of evil and death, who ushered in his Kingdom, who is Lord of the Universe, who works in this world by his Spirit and through those who follow him, who will come again at the final consummation and renew all things. That's the first thing.

 And then there's beauty, joy, peace, love...

4. If we were chatting in person, how would I know if you were nervous?

I would be trying to rip open the bag of chocolate chips with my teeth.

 Daffodils and Crab Apple Blossoms
May

5. Do you like the color yellow? Would I find any in your home or wardrobe? Daffodils, tulips, roses, sunflowers, day lily, black eyed susan...which yellow bloom on this list is your favorite?

I love yellow, as long as it's the soft, pale yellow that looks good on so many people but me. I have a baby-duck yellow fleece jacket that I wear even though yellow isn't my best color, just because it's such a great baby-duck color. Daffodils are my very favorite, because they're the first to appear in my garden. As a result, I feel a kind of loyalty to them.

 Misty (R.I.P.) liked sensible shoes too.

And she always loved lying next to my shoes.

In her last months, I didn't brush her because she acted like it was torture.

6. Flip flops or bare feet?

Neither. I'm a sensible shoes kind of person. I  could probably go barefoot outdoors on nice grass, but not indoors. I can't stand to step onto a drop of water or sand or goo or anything else that might have been spilled on the floor. Definitely not flip flops. They would drive my toes crazy.

 From Easter, 2016

7. Tell us about any Easter plans, celebrations, or traditions you'll carry out this month.

As much as I would love to attend York Minster on Easter morning, I will be celebrating the Resurrection at our own church and afterwards, will come home to family who will join us for Easter dinner. We'll provide the dinner and dessert; they have to bring candy for the kids. I hope they remember. And if it's nice out, we'll take a walk along Fifth Avenue - or maybe to the woods.

 York Minster

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Over the weekend, we were in Wausau, helping a certain little 3 year old girl celebrate her birthday.  The bottom right photo was taken shortly after her birthday party began.

***

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Hodgepodging Through Cobblestone Alleyways

This post probably contains the last of this year's lilacs. While the lighter-purple ones are already done, the deeper purple lilacs are still clinging tight.

Join Joyce and the Gang
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 She writes the questions;

we write the answers.

Plug them into your own blog

and join in!

1. How should success be measured? Using that as your standard, who is the most successful person you know? (Or one of the most successful?) 

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27). That would pretty much sum it up.  There are many throughout history who have done just that, who quietly and faithfully go about their business unnoticed, not looking for reward. Watching or reading the news, you'd think that's a pretty foreign concept in today's society, but it's just that the most successful people are not going to make the headlines. 

Alleyway in London

2. Have you ever been to a hot air balloon launch/fest/party? Ever taken a ride in a hot air balloon? Is that on your bucket list? According to Frommers the ten best hot air balloon adventures in the world are-

Loire Valley (France), the Serengeti (Tanzania), Napa Valley (California), Lake Champlain (Vermont), Cappadocia (Turkey), Istria (Croatia), Gstaad (Switzerland), Yarra Valley (Australia), Muelle (Costa Rica), and Albuquerque (New Mexico). 

Which one on the list would you most like to experience?

I've never been to a hot air balloon fest. It's not on my bucket list, and although I'd like to visit France and wouldn't mind visiting Turkey and Croatia, I'd prefer to stay on the ground and wander through cobblestone alleyways, looking for good coffee, an irresistible pastry or lunch, and good photo opportunities.

 Grilled Cheese with Tomato and Basil Pesto

You can find the recipe for TWO great grilled cheese sandwiches

on THIS blog post.

3. May 25th is National Brown-Bag It Day. Did you/will you pack a lunch today? When did you last pack a lunch for someone and what are your go-to ingredients for a brown bag lunch?

I won't be packing a lunch, but if I were to do so, there would be a chicken sandwich (with onion and lots of celery) on gluten-free bread, an orange, and one of my gluten-free chocolate chip cookies that I made yesterday and hid in the freezer because somehow, believe it or not, that seems to be a bit of a deterrent. Usually.

4. What's one of your favorite dance scenes from a movie or television show? 

This is easy, for there are only two. From the movie White Christmas, Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen And that's probably because it's Lucy's favorite. I love watching her little two-year-old self, in pink tutu and wings, dancing to 'The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing' :-) My all-time favorite movie dance scene (besides watching Lucy) is Anne Reinking from Annie, 'We've Got Annie.' She is fabulous!  The links will take you to YouTube clips.

 Vera Ellen in her younger years.

Nicole Rae Photography

5. John F. Kennedy made famous the line, '...Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." So what can you do for your country?

Pray, Vote, and See answer to #1. Imagine how different our country (and world) would be if we all did that, huh.

 Beautiful Rice Lake, WI

6. Weekends are made for __________________________________.

Rest, worship, and getting Mr. C. away from work.

 St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church

Wausau, WI

7. On this last Wednesday of the month, bid farewell to the month of May in seven words or less.

'You make Wisconsin worth the winters...almost.'

 During the rain

8. Insert your own random thought here.

There are so many who are struggling - personally, financially, health-wise, on my radar screen right now. We need to be faithful pray-ers who will uphold these people before God. We are all on this fallen planet together, and we need to pray for each other, especially when others, for whatever reason, just can't.

 Those would be maple seeds. They're everywhere!

***

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Have a great Wednesday, everyone!

Little Things I Love - Wednesday Hodgepodge

Longing for Apple Blossoms and Lilacs

Can't be too long now, can it??

Join us at Joyce's Wednesday Hodgepodge!

Thanks, Joyce

1. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes. Are you blooming where you're planted as we begin the month of May?

 April 1, 2012

No sign of May flowers yet this year

Lots of rain/snow still falling

I'd say that I'm blooming where I'm planted. Here, in the country in NW Wisconsin is definitely where I belong. (except during those miserable months of January, February, and March. But I guess they're the price we have to pay for living in such a beautiful place the rest of the year.)

2. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being no big deal, and 10 being full scale panic, rank your fear of spiders.

 A friendly little fella, photo taken in 2010

He must have been on our wall.

My fear of spiders is close to ZERO. Maybe a 1, and that's only if I think they're poisonous. No one ever taught me to be afraid of spiders, UNlike my successful mouse-fear teachers - who will remain anonymous, but who used to tell me that a mouse would crawl up my pant leg. Yikes! It's not that mice aren't cute, but they SCURRY. Shudder.....  My first Mouse Post ... And another Mouse Post.
So it's mice, not spiders, that scare me. And besides, who would be afraid of sweet, kind, lovable Charlotte???

fanpop.com

3. May is National Salad Month (who knew???)...besides lettuce, what are two must-have ingredients in your favorite salad?

 Something like this

but this one is missing the peppers

Nothing worse than ordering a salad in a restaurant and getting iceberg lettuce and a hunk of hard, unripened tomato. Disgusting. And then they expect you to pay for it. My salads at home are made of two different types of lettuces (neither of which is iceberg - usually), dried or ripe tomatoes, red and green pepper slices, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, English cucumbers, onion, black pepper. I can't have only two other ingredients. Sorry.

4. I mentioned on my blog last week that my Daughter1 will be moving to Washington State after she is married. Of the following sites in the Northwest, which would you most like to see in person-Crater Lake (Oregon), Seattle (Washington), Vancouver (British Columbia), San Juan Islands (Washington),  Mt. Rainer (Washington) Oregon Coast (Oregon), Mt. St. Helens (Washington), or Olympic National Park (Washington)

I would love to visit Vancouver, but only if I could fly there. Driving west from NW Wisconsin, there's a whole lot of flat land before you get to something interesting like Great Falls, MT. Not that the Dakotas and eastern Montana aren't beautiful in their own way, but I've been across the Great Plains in a train. I could fall asleep and wake up a half hour later and the scenery would be exactly the same. Maybe a different elk.

Who are these 'overpopulation' people and have they ever visited middle America????

And now that I've offended everyone who lives in the Great Plains region, I'll have to admit that it's a marvelous part of the country, the bread basket of America, and the fields of sunflowers and wheat are truly gorgeous! And, it is truly awesome country! So please forgive me. I'm just more of a trees and hills kind of person.

5. This coming weekend marks the 140th running of the Kentucky Derby...when did you last race (literally or figuratively) to cross a finish line?

 Okay, I'll admit that I didn't race up these steps!

I am still working on getting to my finish line. My goal, after hip replacement around New Years, is to run up and down the stairs again. I was telling the PT that I haven't walked up a flight of stairs  since I was about 5 (okay, maybe not quite literally, but almost). I don't know what the deal is, but even with my bad hip, I was usually able to run up the stairs. So much time is wasted walking up steps (because we all know that I never waste time on the computer, right???)  Anyway, that's one race I plan to win - getting to the point where I can run up a flight up steps.

6. What is something little you love?

Lucy

Seriously? Something little I love??  No hesitaton - Lucy, our newest grandchild, born March 29.

 Lucy and her mama

7. Would you say you are more of a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner? Elaborate.

I would say visual, because when I'm reading I need to know exactly where a place is, see it on a map, read charts and graphs to understand things better (obsessive about knowing the correct pronunciation of place names!), but then if it's getting the news, sometimes the audio is better for me because then I'm not distracted by the visual. And then there's the kinesthetic aspect. Yeah, I'd say probably some of that too. With many projects, I'd rather just do it intuitively, figure it out as I go along, rather than read the stupid instructions. But there are other times where I follow instructions to the minutest detail (like my own soap recipes, so I can count on each batch turning out the same).

So I guess this proves I have a split personality and need therapy NOW. (I'm hoping that's just a joke.)

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

How humiliating! 
  I hope the horse can't read.

This is a week of horrid weather events across mid  and eastern America. We've been hearing of tornadoes and the resulting loss of life and/or homes. So many people's lives were changed instantly, and they're trying to figure out what to do next. We should be remembering to pray for them. It's a good reminder to us as bystanders that nothing about life is certain, that we need to focus on the things that are really important and let the little stuff go.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

***

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The Baby's Coming...Waiting on Lucy

Big Brother
Waiting at home with Auntie
Numerous games of Candy Land

We started to get text messages at 2:30 in the morning. Mama was having contractions and they were on their way to the hospital. She was thrilled to later find out that her favorite doctor was the one on call this weekend to deliver babies.

The timing of this birth couldn't have been better. Daddy had just finished a week of spring break, MIL is coming to stay for the next week, and after that we'll be heading down to spend a week or two with them to help out. That will give us a good week to get over these horrid headcolds Kevin and I came down with Thursday night. 

I'll be posting a pic as soon as I get it. :-)

Please pray with us for a safe delivery.

My guess on the ETA is 1 PM    

Okay, I won't guess. I'll just wait....

The Fam

Last summer