Hodpodging Most Patiently

Pumpkins, Squash, and Mr. C.'s rats

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1. What's something that has recently 'tried your patience'?

The long and difficult process of trying to get health care providers to communicate effectively with each other. I have given up on 'quickly.'

2. Do you think patience comes to us naturally or is it something you have to learn as you grow? On a scale of 1-10 generally how patient are you? (1=I blow up at the drop of a hat and 10=I've got all the time in the world).

No, I don't think patience comes naturally. See #1. You learn patience as you grow older (and realize that you're not in control of the universe). I'm not a 1 and I'm not a 10, so that would be somewhere in between. I think that personality and birth order do makes a difference here. I suspect that patience comes sooner to middle children than firstborns or babies of the family. Sometimes, though, it's hard to tell the difference between becoming more patient or simply falling into a state of resignation.

Lavender

3. Share about a time when you felt like you could fly. Or a time you wished you could fly. Or a time you felt like you were flying.

I've never felt like I could fly, and unlike Mr. C., have never wished I could fly. Can you imagine what it would be like to run into a flock of migrating birds?


As far as feeling like I was flying, when I was a kid I had a recurring dream. I was standing at the top of a very long flight of stairs and jumped off the top step...floating...all...the...way...to ...a...soft...landing... at the bottom. It was a great dream. I loved that dream and hated being awakened from it. My next favorite recurring dream was riding horse across a wide open field without being thrown off. In reality, I got thrown off more than my fair share.

My oft-recurring and not-so-fun dream was of my brother and me seeing Squanto, Tanto, and Samoset (and lots of Hollywood extras) with war paint on their faces, peering into our living room windows and somehow missing the fact that we were escaping out the back door and running to the woods as fast as we could. I know we watched way too many westerns. I never became desensitized to that dream. It scared me every single time.

 Tuppence, recalling last night's nightmare

4. Your favorite song with the word fly in the title or lyrics, or your favorite song that relates to flying in some way?


Fly Away Home - Mary Carpenter Chapin

OR

Let's Go Fly a Kite - Mr. Banks

5. What's in your fall picnic basket and where are we picnicking in your neck of the woods this time of year?

Why we don't have picnics in January

Curry chicken salad with craisins and walnuts, ripple potato chips, McIntosh or Honey Crisp apples, and an assortment of olives and cheese. Where? Anywhere on a maple tree hilltop with beautiful blue skies, crisp fall leaves, and no bugs. It would be nice if it were located above a clean and rocky river.

 McIntosh

6.  Carpentry, electrical, plumbing, landscaping...which skill would you most like to possess and how would you put that skill to use today?

Do you mean as a result of hard work and dedication, or do you mean as a result of a miracle? I would like to possess landscaping skills and the ambition to do something with them. Neither is likely to happen.

 Looks like another fence sampler.

The Andrews Sisters

Just before breaking into

'Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy'

7. What's something you think is too expensive to justify buying lately?

Almost anything except books, but lately it would be low-lighting for my hair. My ancestors were long livers, so this could be a very expensive project if I were to keep it up, and it's not like I'm trying to pretend that I'm 20..or 30...or 40... ... ....you get the idea. Doing nothing is always easier and less expensive than doing something.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I wonder if I would be more ambitious if I weren't a middle child. 

I wonder if I'd have better answers if I weren't actually writing this at night.

***

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***

This post is linked to

Theresa's Good Fences

and

Eileen's Saturday's Critters

 

Hodgepodging the Five Year Old Mind

Red Dahlia, October 4

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1. It's October so let's get this out there first thing...have you jumped on the all-things-pumpkin bandwagon? How so?

No, although I do have both pumpkins and squash in the garden, which I will probably have to bring indoors in another week or so.

Mr. C. recently bought a loaf of very sweet and moist pecan pumpkin bread somewhere. I took a bite. It was dangerously delicious. So I sliced it up, put the slices in individual baggies, and stored them in the freezer. I don't need that stuff sitting on the counter staring at me. Mr. C. will be able to pull a baggie out and take it in his lunch. I tend not to steal things from the freezer. At least up until now.

2.  "We have more power than will; and it is often by way of excuse to ourselves that we fancy things are impossible." Francois Duc De la Rochefoucauld  

What's something you once thought impossible, but in hindsight see as more a matter of lack of will?

Cleaning off the vegetable garden. It is a horrid job. Horrid. I love planting, I love canning. That's about it.

 Wood violets near the driveway

3. The rose is America's National Flower, but every state also has its own (click here to see the list). Are you happy with yours? If you were in charge what would you declare your state's flower? If you're outside the U.S. what bloom would you like to see labeled as your country's national flower?

Wisconsin's state flower is the wood violet. I'm happy with that. They're a beautiful little flower. I love how they are out so early in the spring - and then I work at pulling them out so they don't take over. I would prefer that they would stay where I want them without my having to constantly remind them.

4. What have you lost interest in recently?

Decorating for fall. Fall is beautiful all around us, so it's a little hard to get too excited about trying to compete with God's handiwork... besides the fact that I tend to be unmotivated about that kind of thing.

5. In your opinion, who's the best living musician?

Hmmm. Well, I think John Williams the composer would be high on my list. John Rutter, composer, conductor, arranger would be also.

6. S'mores-love 'em or no? Ever make them indoors? Last time you sat around an outdoor fire? Are making s'mores and sitting round a fire pit on your autumn bucket list? Do you have an autumn bucket list?

 Grands, at their backyard campfire

sent to me by our son

I hate S'mores. They're way too sweet. Just give me some chocolate (and it needs to be very dark) and you can keep the rest. I do love sitting beside an outdoor fire, but haven't done it yet this year. Good grief! How did this happen? I love campfires!

No autumn bucket list.

7. Your favorite small town? Why?

 Near Hawes (I think)
or it could be Reeth

My favorite small town would be Hawes, North Yorkshire. It's so near so many places I like to visit, near my favorite sheep, near my favorite cheese, and in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. So much to love.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Photo August 2015

Best friends

Just before a fight

And now they're both five years old.
So here's how the five year old mind works:

The one on the left:  His mom told me that when she mentioned to him that tomorrow was photo day at school, he said excitedly, 'Oh, I'll have to wear something with polka dots!  Oh wait, I don't have anything with polka dots. Hmm. That could present a problem.'  No idea where the polka dot idea came from.


The one on the right:  He was demonstrating to me last weekend, how he catches bees. 'I just catch them by their wings.'  Don't they sting you?? 'No, they just buzz, and then I let them go.'  His dad tells me that it is true. He's caught three bees that way and is convinced, although his family has tried to dissuade him, that bees don't sting -  because he's not yet been stung. Nothing can talk him out it...except, I would imagine, the first bee that stings him. It's only a matter of time.

***

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'Frosted Apple Spice'

'Pumpkin Spice'

...and more! Check out all my handcrafted soaps at

HomemadeSoapNSuch

and at

Our ETSY Shop

 

Pumpkins

Autumn is definitely my time of year. I love everything about it - the drier days; the crisp, cool air; the crunch of leaves under my feet; the harvest. The downside is the fact that it ushers in winter. But I try not to think of that when I'm gathering the last vegetables from the garden, covering flowers at night to protect them from the early lighter frosts, and enjoying the beautiful colors of the season!

The photo above represents our total pumpkin crop. I really have no reason to raise pumpkins, except that any year I don't, I later wish I had. This year's pumpkins are a beautiful color, and their sole purpose is to look cute sitting on the picnic table. I think they're doing a superb job! They're not pie pumpkins, so I don't need to feel guilty about not freezing them for later use. Besides, I have no freezer space remaining.

Happy autumn! I'll be posting many more photos as our Wisconsin woods give us the stunning colors for which they are famous!

Praise God for the marvelous diversity of Creation. How cute are those pumpkins! :-) Dear Lord, help me to simply appreciate them and stand in awe of your creative power and NOT get attached to them or assign human emotion to them as they freeze and get squishy and die.



Psalm 118:24  'This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.'