Finding My Way Through The Hodgepodge…

I’m a little late in joining this party, but, as someone once said, “Better late than never.”  I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather, and wasn’t up to answering the questions, before now.  As always, thanks to our Hodgepodge hostess, Joyce, for another great set of questions.

1. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your sense of direction? 1=can’t find my way out of a paper bag and 10=if I’ve been somewhere once I can find it blindfolded ten years later.

I have a terrible sense of direction!  I’d give myself a 2, and that’s being generous.

When was the last time you looked at/used a map you could hold in your hand? (phones don’t count!)

It’s probably been twenty years since I’ve used/looked at an actual map, back in the days when we actually traveled on a regular basis.

back east, down south, out west, up north

Choose one of these directional expressions and tell us why you chose it.

I’ll choose “down south” because that’s where my brother lives (in Florida), and I’d love to visit him again, one of these days.

2. Did you do more talking or listening yesterday? Is that typical? Describe your yesterday in one word.

Yesterday, I probably did more listening, but typically I do more of the talking.  One word to describe my yesterday was “restful”.  As I mentioned, earlier, I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather, so I’ve been resting a lot.

3. Time, money, water-power-resources, opportunity…which one on the list are you most guilty of wasting? What might you do to change that?

Without a doubt, “time” is the thing I’m most guilty of wasting, but I learned a long time ago, not to worry about it.  I have chronic health issues and I’m retired.  Enough said.

4. Did your family take regular vacations when you were a kid? Tell us something you remember about a family roadtrip from your own childhood.

No, my family didn’t take regular vacations when I was growing up.  We did make some road trips to visit family, in the neighboring state of Georgia, but I don’t remember many of those because I was young.  I remember my family and I did take one trip to Jekyll Island, with an aunt, uncle, and my favorite cousin, when I was about thirteen.  My family and I had moved to Georgia by then.  We only stayed a night or two at the beach, but I still remember how much fun we had.

5. If you could grow anything you wanted, what would you grow? Why?

A money tree!  Ha Ha  Seriously, I can’t think of a thing I’d like to grow that we haven’t already grown, except maybe some  pumpkins.  We’ve planted them before, but had no luck growing them.

Random:

Speaking of pumpkins, the Pumpkin Patch in a neighboring town is now open, and all four of our grandchildren have visited within the past week!  The temperatures around here are still in the high eighties, so it doesn’t feel much like autumn, but it looks like autumn at the Pumpkin Patch!   Below is a picture of three of our “grands”.  That’s one BIG rocking chair!

 

 

The First October Hodgepodge…

October is always a busy month for our family, and things are already underway!  One birthday celebration down, two more to go.  Of course, there’s always time for The Hodgepodge, so here I am.  As always, thanks so much to our gracious hostess, Joyce.

1. Have you ever spent time on a farm?  Yes, I’ve spent a lot of time on a farm.  In fact, we live on [ part of] what used to be Ed’s family’s farm.

Tell us a little bit about it.  When I was a child, my maternal grandfather was a farmer, and I lived with my grandparents for quite a while.  Grandaddy grew cotton, tobacco, and pecans for the market, plus he grew vegetables for eating and canning.  He also raised cows, hogs, and chickens.  I loved farm life, except when it came time to send the animals to market.  That part of farming made me sad!  I’ve picked some cotton, and taken cured tobacco off the sticks, after it had been removed from the barn.  I always wanted to string green tobacco, for curing, but wasn’t old enough, at the time.  By the way, picking cotton, by hand, is hard, back-breaking, work that’s also tough on your hands.

When I met Ed, my future husband, I discovered his parents lived on a farm, too.  Ed’s daddy raised goats, cows, and, occasionally, chickens.  He still grew vegetables for eating/canning, but, by then, he’d begun to lease out the bulk of his farm land to a neighbor.  The neighbor farmer grew corn, soybeans, or cotton on the family farm until Ed’s mama passed away about four years ago.  Ed and I grow a garden every year.

Me, in the last field of cotton grown on the farm

Have you ever grown your own pumpkin?  Ed and I have tried to grow pumpkins in our garden on a couple of different occasions.  We weren’t successful.  The vines grew, but the pumpkins did not!

Been on a hayride?  Yes, a few times, usually with a grandchild. Driven a tractor?  Yes, a few times.  (I have a very old picture of myself on my father-in-law’s tractor, but it hasn’t been scanned to the computer yet.) Milked a cow? I tried, but wasn’t successful.

2. What’s something younger you would like about you now?  I think she’d like the fact that I’ve been able to live the life she used to dream about while growing up.  That dream was all about becoming a good wife and mother, having a stable, uncomplicated family life, and always being able to keep the bills paid on time.  Thanks to the good Lord and a good husband, my dream came true!

3. What are three things you’d like to do more often? Three things you’d like to do less often?  I’d like to be able travel a little more often, visit with friends/family more often, and have the energy to deep clean my house.  I wish I’d get sick/tired less often, have to go to the dentist/doctor less often, and I wish I’d get hungry a little less often!

4. What’s on your nachos?

Sometimes, only cheese.  Other times, I’ll make a taco salad on top of them or cover them with taco soup.

5. What’s the most random thing in your purse or wallet?   The most random thing in my purse is probably a miniature screwdriver.

Does it need to stay there?  Yes, it does need to stay there in case one of the legs of my glasses gets loose or falls off.

Random:

I’m trying to rest and get over a very busy weekend.  Ed and I went to play Bingo  on Friday night, along with some of our family.

 3 generations, playing Bingo together

Then on Saturday morning we helped with our church’s “Feed the Sheep” ministry, went on a brief out-of-time shopping trip, afterward, then celebrated our daughter’s 39th birthday with family, on Saturday evening.

our birthday girl  

Sunday morning we went back to church for a fellowship breakfast before the morning worship service, and back to church on Sunday night for evening services.

On Monday we went out-of-town, again, to visit our long-time friends, Herman and Diane.  Herman will be having the second of two neck surgeries, this morning.  The recovery process of the first surgery has been very difficult for him.  I’m praying this second one will be easier.