Wednesday Hodgepodge # 352…

 

Last week, this time, I was packing for a quick trip to Florida.  We had a great time visiting with my brother and sister-in-law, but, as usual, time passed quickly.

This week we’ve been picking and shelling garden peas, digging and eating “new potatoes” and pulling up sweet Vidalia onions!  What a difference a day (or seven) makes!  We’re finally getting some much-needed rain on our garden, and we are so thankful for it!!!  It’s been quite a challenge trying to keep a garden the size of ours watered.

With all that being said, now let’s get on with The Hodgepodge!  As always, thanks to our gracious hostess, Joyce.

1. What would you say is your biggest day to day challenge?

These days, thanks to rheumatoid arthritis, my biggest day to day challenge is just getting out of bed and getting moving in the mornings.  Many days, the old joints are stiff, and don’t want to move.  Then there’s the fatigue that goes along with RA.  I’m always tired.

2. May 16th is National Biographers Day. What’s a biography you really enjoyed reading? Is this a genre you read regularly?  I’m not sure if autobiographies count, but  I thoroughly enjoyed reading both of [country singer] Loretta Lynn’s autobiographies.  The first is entitled, Coal Miner’s Daughter and the second is entitled Still Woman Enough.  Both were very good and quite entertaining.  I enjoy reading biographies/autobiographies, and read them fairly often.  Dolly Parton’s autobiography, My Life and Other Unfinished Business, was a good read, too.

3. How important is keeping a clean house? 

I enjoy having a clean house, but it doesn’t always happen.  If I feel well, I clean; if not, I don’t worry about it.  I’ve learned to clean the rough spots, and let the rest ride.  Yesterday I had a good day, so I tackled cleaning underneath my bed.  Whew!  What a job that turned out to be!

Do you need to de-clutter your life?  Yes, I do need to de-clutter.  I have accumulated too much stuff, but can’t seem to bring myself to part with much of it, yet.  So, I put everything back underneath my bed, yesterday, except for the dust!  I really must do better in the near future!

4. You’re the 8th dwarf. What’s your name?

Just call me “Nappy” because I look forward to my afternoon nap every day around 2 o’clock.

5. What’s surprised you the most about your life or life in general?

The thing that’s surprises me most about my life is how quickly it’s passing by, now that I’m retired.  I kid you not, time didn’t pass this quickly when I worked!  Several folks we know have passed away, lately, which has also been another reminder of how quickly life is passing.

Random:  The saga of “The Man With the Can” has ended…

Last week I mentioned that “Trouble”, the cat, had been missing for a few days.  Part of the mystery concerning her disappearance has been solved.  Last week, our son began noticing a foul odor, and discovered the decomposing body of “Trouble” underneath his home, on Thursday.  Upon investigating, further, our daughter-in-law discovered that the guy who pressure washed their home had heard the sounds of a cat meowing, loudly, on the day he was washing the house.  The sounds were coming from under the house, he said.  What we don’t know is why “Trouble” was meowing so loudly, or why she failed to come out from under the house.  We wonder if she was sick or injured, and how long it was before she died under there.  She’d been missing about 10 days when our son found her body.  On Saturday morning, “Trouble” was retrieved and buried in Ed’s parents’ yard.  It seemed only fitting that she was laid to rest in the place where her life began, over eighteen years ago.  This cat truly must have had nine lives, and she enjoyed every one of them.  RIP, “Trouble”.