Good-bye October, Hello Hodgepodge…

Can you believe it’s already the last Wednesday of October?  Me either!  Welcome to The Wednesday Hodgepodge, the mid-week meme, hosted by Joyce FromThisSideOfThePond.  The Hodgepodge is a little of this and a little of that, but it’s always a lot of fun!  Here are this week’s questions, along with my answers:

1. My hubs spent last weekend pheasant hunting. Are there hunters in your family? If so, what do they hunt? Which of the following have you tasted-pheasant, rabbit, venison, duck, goose? Which of those would you most like to taste, or be most willing to taste?

Ed used to do a little bit of hunting, when he was a teenager, but that was long before we met, and he didn’t hunt much.  Our son-in-law, Clint, used to hunt, too, but not since he’s been in our family.  At this time, there are currently no hunters in our family, but if meat prices continue to soar at the grocery store, that could possibly change!  Around here, most people hunt for deer, birds, or wild turkeys.

While we’re on this subject, let me just say that I have a problem with very young children going hunting.  I’ve seen pictures of local children, some as young as five or six, posing with deer they’ve supposedly killed.  This disturbs me–a lot!

As far as what I would eat or what I have eaten, I’ve eaten venison (deer meat) and wild birds (dove & quail), but it’s been quite a while since I’ve done so.  I would be willing to try duck, wild turkey, or goose, but that’s about it.

2. What high spot have you visited that gave you a wonderful ‘bird’s eye view’ of something below?

The last high ‘bird’s eye view’ I had was from top of the light tower, on St. Simon’s Island, and that was probably 25 years ago!  My knees grew weak when I walked out on the ledge, and looked down! I’m afraid of heights, so I usually try to avoid places with a ‘bird’s eye view’.  Besides,  these days, I probably couldn’t hold out to climb all the steps of a lighthouse!

3. Do you have any birds in your home? These could be either real live pets or decorative, as in bird prints, knickknacks, fabric or pottery.

Yes, we have birds!  Up until two weeks ago, we had seven baby chicks living in a box in our pool room.  Thankfully, they’ve moved outside now, to a home of their own, but I still have a green and yellow parakeet named ‘Tweety’, who shares our home.  I don’t know exactly how old ‘Tweety’ is, but he’s lived with us for almost nine years.

4. Tell about a time you ‘killed two birds with one stone’?

How about this past weekend, when we celebrated two different grandchildrens’ birthdays in one weekend? Granddaughter, Madison, turned 8 on September 23.  Grandson, Evan, will turn 1 on October 30.

Evan wasn’t so sure about his ‘smash cake’…

Madison poses with her ‘Frozen’ themed cake

Evan’s party was last Saturday, and Madison’s party was last Sunday!  It was a lot of ‘sweets’, people, and celebrating for one weekend, but, we all survived!

 5. Your favorite song with a bird in its title?

An old song comes to mind:  On the Wings of a Dove by Ferlin Husky.  This [somewhat spiritual] song was popular when I was a child (in 1960), but I still love it today!  I was happy to find the song on YouTube, and decided to share it for those who may have never heard it. (That would probably include my own children, too)

6. What most recently gave you goose bumps?

Watching the new show ‘Stalker’ gives me goose bumps!  What a ‘sit on the edge of your seat’ kind of show!  Last week’s episode, ‘Phobia’,  actually had me squirming and yelling, when a woman woke up to find over thirty snakes in her bedroom–one of which was in her bed!  Snakes definitely qualify as one of my phobias!  (I got goosebumps again, yesterday, when Ed found a HUGE snake’s skin near our back yard!)

7. Halloween is this Friday…any plans? Did you trick or treat as a child? Carve pumpkins? Share your most memorable costume.

Although Halloween isn’t until Friday, our town will have its ‘trick-or-treat night’ on Thursday night–our town is ‘funny’ that way.  They only do ‘trick-or-treat’ on Tuesday or Thursday nights. Go figure!   We have no plans (yet) for Halloween, but our grandchildren will stop by on Thursday night to collect the ‘treats’ that I have waiting for them.

Yes, I did go trick-or-treating, as a child.  Back then, we were  lucky if we got a mask to wear for Halloween. If we weren’t lucky enough to get a mask, from the dime store, we dressed up in old clothes, put smut on our faces, and went trick-or-treating as a hobo. There was also the old standby of wearing a white sheet over our heads, and pretending to be a ghost, too. I think we had more fun, back then, than the children do now!

My most memorable Halloween costume is from just three years ago, when Ed and I dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, for our last family Halloween Party.

As for carving pumpkins, I never did that when I was a child.  I watched Ed carve a few jack-o-lanterns with our own children, although I’ve never tried it myself.  I’d probably make a mess of the pumpkin!

Random:

With Halloween just around the corner, I’m sharing my Halloween montage again. It’s a collection of some of my favorite Halloween pictures.  I really need to make another one of these, and include some Halloween photos of the two newest ‘grands’.  Enjoy!