Wednesday Hodgepodge: Fall into Playing

Welcome to the Fall edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge and I hope you join in on the fun.

1. The Wednesday Hodgepodge this week falls on John Chapman's birth date.  He's more famously known as Johnny Appleseed...what's your favorite variety of apple? 

I really like Gala and Pink Lady apples.

2.   When did you last say 'ick'? 
I was reading a story about a 2 headed snake! I thought "ick" real fast as this snake has a head at both ends!  Talk about Push Me-Pull Me!

3.   Do you think there's a generation gap?  Explain. 
I often think that there is a time when parents and kids don't see eye to eye and time has to pass before both can fully see the point of view of the other. Grandparents and grandchildren often see eye to eye and enjoy each other's company. Not sure if that is a generation gap or if generations needs space.

4.  What's on your computer screen saver?  Do you leave it alone or change it often? 
At work I have a picture of our little dog August playing out in the day care yard. At home there is a picture of me and my friend Anu with our little dogs when we were down south last November. I don't change  it very often because I love the pictures and makes me smile each time I see them.

5.  If you had the attention of the entire world for two minutes, what would you say? 

"STOP" Stop trying to get someplace and look where you are. Stop fighting and enjoy what you have.  Stop blaming the world for your troubles and do something about it. Stop hurting our children and start protecting them. Stop letting criminals out and keep them in jail away from everyone. Stop watching all those "Reality " shows, you must know that they are not "Reality". Stop chasing sin and chase truth, faith and God.

6.  Four fashion trends to try this fall are-brocade/jacquard (fancy printed fabrics), peplum, lace, and printed pants...which of these four would you be most likely to wear? 

OK well, I'm not a slave to fashion. My clothes consist of jeans, warm tops, warm sock, sneakers and a few heels. I dress for warmth not fashion. So I will continue to wear what I wear.

7.  What can make your bad day better?
Coming HOME to Gerry and the dogs. Having cuddle time on the couch or out on the deck with those I love. Quiet prayer time with my Lord.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 
The new season of our favorite shows start this week. Have you been watching? I really like The Big Bang Theory and it started this week.  How about you? Enjoying the new season. I'm wondering how long it will be before the shows that I've not seen are already canceled!

Weekend Review: Sister Day

   What a Fantastic weekend we had. It was the start of fall which made many people happy and the weather was very crisp indeed.
   Saturday was a surprise day for me. I though I was going to lunch with 3 friends, 3 ladies who get along well and have fun doing it.  What I saw was that it had morphed into 9 ladies for lunch. We made noise, laughed, shared cards, laughed some more, told stories about the past, tossed around confetti, ate and enjoyed each others company.  It was so much more than 4 ladies who lunch. It was a party of ladies who love each other, and haven't laughed like that in a very long time. It just made our souls feel good! Ever have any of those experiences? Then you know how good it feels. These ladies are not just friends, they have become family.
   Sunday was another fantastic day as we had a baptism at Church. An older teen decided to put on Christ as her savior and we all got to witness this momentous event in her life.  I have a baby sister in Christ and it just thrills my soul!
   The rest of the weekend was filled with cleaning the fish tank, and updating info on our multiple devices. The good thing is when 1 device is updated with new addresses, emails, group lists and whatnot, and you plug it in and hit "Sync" all the devices in the house get updated at the same time. So, it's not so terrible, but making sure that the first device was updated was a pain!
   So how was your first Fall weekend?

Baby it's Cold Outside!

Man-O-Man was it hard to get out of bed this morning!  August was determined to sit in the open window sill but as he did so, he was shaking so I pulled him down and his hair was cold to the touch. He cuddled with me because I was warmer. that is just too funny because I'm not warm by any means.
 I'm just popping in before I head out to the Dentist in a bit. Writing to you all takes my mind off what will be happening in a few hours.  I know I have some cavities to fill but not sure what else he will do to me.  I see a nap in my future.........Have a good day all.

Wednesday Hodgepodeg: Falling into Fall

Once again Joyce did it! She created the questions that we all get to answer and discover things about each other.  How many answers will be similar? You will never know, if you don't visit.

1. What's the best and worst thing thing about growing older?
With age comes the ability to no longer be influenced by others as much as I was in times past. I don't care for high heels, or fashion as I once did. I don't care that I don't care either. It's Freedom Baby!
The aches and pains of getting older are my worst thing, no, it's the wrinkles! I hate the wrinkles that I see in the mirror every morning!

2. Autumn arrives this week in the Northern Hemisphere...what one thing do you love most about the fall season?
I love the colors of the Fall. The oranges, the deep yellows. It's very beautiful up here in NH.

Just look what I see from the deck! And this is only the beginning!

3. Speaking of fall...pumpkin seems to be flavoring everything these days-are you a fan? What's your favorite pumpkin flavored food or beverage?
Love pumpkin coffee, pumpkin muffins, and pumpkin soup.

Cream of Pumpkin Soup we had for dinner last night.

4. Since we're on the subject of fall...what's the worst fall you've ever taken?
Many, many years ago, I was raising 2 little ones and they were a handful. I was running after one of them and attempted to jump over the pile of laundry in the hall. I didn't do a great job and fell over it breaking a few toes.  Now I know that toes are not a huge thing to break but have you every tried to walk on broken toes? The doctor told me to stay off my feel for 2 weeks.  I told him what time the kids get up and to be at our house to take over at that time, and to bring coffee!  Really- stay off the foot for 2 weeks with 2 little ones, how impossible is that!!!!

5. If you could own a prop from any film what would you choose?
I can't think of anything I would choose.

6. What's the most interesting word you've read or learned in the past week?
Nothing comes to mind that I've read or learned this week, but I love the word "homemaker".

7. When was the last time you locked yourself out of your house, car, or office? Was it a big deal?
Several weeks ago, we came home from shopping and I opened the back door to let the dogs out. While I was out there, I came back in to get something and then turned around and went back out. I locked my self out there and had to call Hubby who was in the car going someplace to come back and let me in. My purse, and therefor my keys were on the table looking at me. Thank goodness I had my cell on me!  It was funny and thankfully it was not cold out, or raining.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I have a dentist appointment Thursday. Does anyone else out there have a fear of the dentist? I really don't like having to go.  We have a new dentist who is very nice, makes me smile, even tells me what a good job I'm doing while he is working on me and yet my feet are bouncing up and down and my hands are clenching the arm rest and all I can do is pray that he will be done soon.  What is it with dentist's?  I  wonder if he goes home at night and wonders why or what is wrong with this lady.  I'm sorry Doc!!!!  Can you all pray for me tomorrow at 9 am? Thanks, both the dentist and I need it.

So now it's your turn, how would you answer the questions?

Muffins for Fall!

One of the things I seem to do in the fall is bake more muffins. How about you?  There is something about turning on the oven (even the toaster oven), and smelling the wonderful aroma that comes out of it, that screams FALL!

This past weekend was the first of many more muffins to be made here at this house hold.  I looked around to see what I had on hand to make Cream Cheese Muffins - Be still my heart!!  It came out similar to a mini cheese cake minus the graham cracker crust because I eat low carb and believe me, I didn't miss the crust one bit.

Cream Cheese Muffins

2- 8 oz packages of cream cheese - softened
1/2 cup Splenda
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Cinnamon

Mix everything but the Cinnamon till it's smooth. Preheat oven to 350 and line the muffin cup with those paper cups and fill the cups. Top with a little of the cinnamon and bake for 30 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean.

I used my large cup 6 cup muffin tin but if you have the normal size 12 cup muffin tin, then do so. The muffins will be smaller of course but then you get to eat more of them. Drop the cooking time to about 20 minutes.  I wanted bigger ones so I used the 6 cup tin.  

Take them out and let cool before placing them in the fridge over night. Now, if you are not good with temptation you could eat them right then and there, but I really was glad I held out till morning because they are just wonderful!

And the carb count for these biggies were 2.30 each!!! So I had 2 for breakfast with pumpkin coffee and it was well worth the wait.

Made any muffins yet this season?  

Last Summer Weekend

It doesn't feel much like Summer up here! It's cold enough for a sweater (or light jacket if you are me) early in the morning and I carry it home in the afternoon after the weather warms up.  The leaves are falling, the air is crisp and Sunday at the Church pot luck there were lots of crock pot meals and hot pies for dessert!  Yup, Summer is just about over.  How are you handling it?

Part of me is sad because I do so love the heat, but I am the only one in this house that feels that way. Hubby and Becke the wonder dog both like fall. No need for the AC at all. The ceiling fan can be on low just to move the air around. The window is open and sleeping is not interrupted by sweating.  August doesn't care what the weather is. When he gets cold at night, he climbs UNDER the covers with me. If I'm cold, I put a light jacket on him!  He's one happy boy and just loves hanging out with us. I believe he forgot how cold it gets in winter up here!!!

One thing I do love about fall is the food.  As much as I like salads, burgers, and grilled veggies, I don't think of them as "Comfort Foods". When I think comfort foods, cream soups, baked custards, mac & cheese come to mind.  In the morning hot oatmeal with maple syrup, hot cocoa and warm apple crisps scream comfort foods and fall is the best time to enjoy those.  So, as a low carber, fall is the most dangerous time of year for me.

This weekend was relaxing, slow, easy and full of warmth.  Saturday Hubby and I went Christmas shopping and was surprised at how few decorations were up and how few stores had Christmas wrapping paper so wrapping the gifts will have to wait, but we took a nice bite out it!

We were in Toys R Us and really feeling our age as we had to ask the sales clerk a few times to help us.  Our DIL was kind enough to send the Christmas Wish List of our 2 grandsons to us and we had no idea what some of the things were!!  Ever happen to you?  So we were in the store, asking the clerk what they were and where could we find them.  Boy did I feel my age.

They live in San Diego and the youngest grandson also has a birthday in November and both our son and DIL have birthdays in December so it's a busy time for that family. Because I'm Scottish and therefore cheap, I get all the gifts together (including Halloween) and get them all out at once.  So, that is what we worked on, onSaturday.

Sunday, church took up most of the day as it was a Pot Luck day. We all bring something and share, talk, get caught up with each other's lives and generally have a great time worshiping God and being a family. I made Pot Roast.  It was in the crock pot and we took home an empty crock pot.  A nap and movie watching rounded out Sunday.

See, lazy, slow, filled with warmth and love.  How was your weekend?

It's Hodgepodge Time Again

Thank you Joyce for this weeks questions. As usual some are easy, some are hard and at least one makes me think (which is a good thing). Come play with us.

1.  ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?  The NFL is back in action along with all the college teams.  Are you a fan?  Who do you root for?  If you're not a fan what do you do while the rest of America watches Saturday, Sunday, Monday night, and now Thursday night games?

I, myself am not a fan of football but Hubby is and so are most of our friends. Up here it's all about the The Patriots! Even August get's involved.

What do I do while the games are on?  I sit and knit or sew or read while the game is on. I will look up and ask a silly question because I really don't get the game. I enjoy the company of friends.

2. What's something I'll always find in your closet?

Something with long sleeves! I get cold easily so long sleeves live in my closet.

3. Share one of your earliest memories.
My Memere lived in a small apartment and on Sundays we all went to her house for lunch after Church. She always had bread in the oven when we got there the smell was heavenly.  I got to have the crust with butter on it as soon as it came out of the oven. The crust was always the best part of bread for me and still is!   It was heavenly!!! It was years later that we found out she got the bread from the bakery across the street and just popped it in the oven a about 30  minutes before we got there. The bakery would sell "almost baked bread" to her every week. They did the work, she got the glory!  How funny is that. 

4. What circus act best describes your week so far?

photo from Google

I have lots of things up in the air over the next 4 weeks and boy do I feel like this!!! So much to do, so little time......

5. What's a food you disliked as a child but you love now?

photo from Google

Brussels sprouts. I really love these little guys, don't we all?

6.  Describe your summer in three words.
Hot, fast, wonderful!

7.  Where were you on September 11, 2001? Will you do anything special to mark the day this year?
I was at work and we had a radio on for music, when the news interrupted our day and gave the news, some of us ran into the kitchen where there was a TV and we watched tower 2 fall.  A group of us marked the day by spending time in prayer at church for  those families still suffering from the loss of loved ones because of that day, our country, it's leaders, our church family and it's leaders and for those who ran into the buildings as others were running out.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I put the down comforter on the bed the other night, yup it was that cold!  I have the heat on in the car and under my desk at work.  I will miss summer, but fall sure is pretty up here.

Now it's your turn, how would you answer these questions?

10 DAYS?? Say it Ain't So!

Yup, there are only 10 days until the official start of Fall. Are you ready?  When you decorate for Fall, if you decorate for Fall, do you decorate just one room, one floor or just one object (as my daughter-in-law does by putting apple placemats out on the table and declaires fall decorating done). In her defense, she lives in San Diego. I decorate just about the whole house and a little outside as well.

The kitchen and dining area is done as well, with a fall table setting and decoreted microwave cabinet.

This is the top of the microwave cart

Bathrooms are places that are necessary to a home so why not make them look nice as well. Pull out those fall scented candles and place them in there for leasurey tubbies. Add a fall border to your shower curtin for a little extra color (no need to go buy a fall shower curtin after all)  Add a Welcome sign to show everyone you are glad they stopped by. Top shelves with some fall color and place small pumpkins in there as well.

Do you add a few touches to the outside as well?  How about a few pumpkins - they dont even have to be real - they just need to give that FALL feeling.

With only 10 days to go I really need to pull down the fall clothes and get them ready.  Weve had a few days in the high 60's and low 70's here and when I get up in the morning, it's in the low 50's!!! Yup, it's feeling like fall up here in the upper right hand corner of the USA.

I Don't Know - Fall Cleaning

I have the hardest time coming up with a title for my post, do you? I can write the post, but then the title always sounds boring. Hubby was joking me about the fact that this post was written but it had no title. He asked me what I was planning to call it and I said, I Don't Know.  So that is why it's titled what it is.

This past weekend, I had a boatload of energy and took advantage of it and started to fall clean the house.
Now, for those of you in the south, fall cleaning has a entirely different meaning. My daughter in law, who lives in San Diego, pulls out the apple place mats that she got for a wedding gift and puts them on the table and announces that Fall decorations are up!  It's a bit more involved in that up here.
First, all the summer decorations are put away, the Fall decorations come out.  The house gets ready for the cold - and the snow -  and the times the power goes out. I don't like the cold of fall but I love the color of fall. The spectacular and vibrant yellows, oranges, and reds speak to me and make me feel warm all over.

I began in the kitchen.

Orange pumpkins with the red microwave hutch  just yell FALL, don't you think?

Even fall birdhouses tucked up by the ceiling make me feel happy.

Clean counters, with fall candles add a great glow to this corner of the kitchen.

Here is the candle - so cute!

While another fall candle tucked in this corner help to add a glow here as well.

Here is the other candle.

The walls, counters, floor, and wall photos all get scrubbed and decorated.  How about you? Do you clean and decorate for the fall? Do you clean for the fall?

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Important Stuff!

Joyce has been a busy woman, she really works hard to create the questions for every week.  Click the button above and join the fun. And Thank You Joyce!

1. In your opinion what's the most important job in the world? Oh, and parenting is a given so besides parenting, what's the most important job in the world?
WOW there are a lot of important jobs in the world. That is really a hard question. I guess any job is important if you have integrity while you do it. So the woman at the laundry mat who cleans our clothes has an important job because she helps us look good. If she does her job with integrity, then her job becomes important and we trust her with our clothes. The job itself may not look important but if the person has integrity, then the job becomes important.

2. Share a favorite or not so favorite memory from a childhood birthday.
I don't have a favorite memory of a childhood birthday. I was not wanted as a child so my birthday was not celebrated.  I got my best birthdays after I was married and Hubby made them all fun. The one that stands out is when I became 50. He didn't get me one cake with a big fat "50" on it but 2 cakes with "25" on them.  So funny!!

3. Peanut butter-crunchy or smooth?

Choosy Mothers chose Jif (and smooth at that!)

4. William Butler Yeats is credited as saying, "Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth, We are happy when we are growing." Your thoughts?
Having something is not as much fun as wanting something. Say we want a new car. Once we get that new car it needs the oil changed, it needs to be insured, it needs new brakes, it needs gas, it needs something else and after not too long, it needs to be replaced.  Because once you have it, you want something more.  The "Having" was not as much fun as the "Wanting". So yes, wanting something leads to growth and growth leads to happiness.

5. What's something that makes you cringe?

I cringe when I hear a mother telling a child, that they are useless, or stupid, or some other demeaning thing. That will be the voice in their head FOREVER!

6. Name a song that always puts you in a good mood?

Bet on It from High School Musical. When I get tired and really don't want to get up and exercise, or do anything but be a lump on the couch, I play that song and it gets me up and moving.


7. The answer is yes. What's the question?

"So Hubby has been retired for over a year now, are  you STILL glad he's home all the time?"  YOU BET YES!!!!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

One of the things I like about fall is that Dunkin Donuts up here has Pumpkin Coffee.  Hubby bought me some K-cups of their coffee. YUM!

So now you get to play.  How would you answer these questions?  Then hop around and see what others put for answers.