Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What is something you'll never forget about the age you are right now?

Parenting a toddler and teen, and several more in between. It's challenging, it's fun, and I'm trying to treasure every day.

2. What's a household chore you've never done? How have you managed that???

I can't think of any household chores that I have never done. I can think of a few I wouldn't mind never having to do again, but that isn't the question this week.

3. Does nature shape our personalities more than nurture? Explain?

I think it's a combination of both.

4. Friday (February 28th) is 'Something on a Stick Day'...funny because Zoanna over at A Penchant for Pens recently sent me an idea for a question relating to this topic. What's your favorite food eaten on a stick?

Strawberry cheesecake popsicles from Schwann's. I haven't had any for years, and now I'm wondering if they still make them.

5. Which of your five senses do you treasure most, and why?

I have only four senses and I really wouldn't want to give any of them up. I think sight is the one I treasure the most, being unable to see would make me very sad.

6. What's the best music, theatre, or sporting venue you've been to? What made it great?

The only music anythings we have ever been to were church related. Never been to a theatre. The best sporting event was a Pirates baseball game which we really enjoyed even though they ended up losing quite badly.

7. It's the last week of the month...in five words or less bid adieu to your February.

Loved all the big snowstorms!

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I'm really looking forward to the A-Z challenge that is coming up. With all the suggestions related to my chosen theme that came in, it looks like I'll be blogging for quite a while.

Challenge

April will be the five year anniversary of my blog. I'm cooking up several different ways to celebrate, and one of them revolve around doing a post every day in April except Sundays.

To make it a little easier I decided to join the A-Z challenge where day one the topic of my post will begin with an A, and each day thereafter will continue with the next letter of the alphabet. My theme will revolve around Amish things, so this is where you come in. Can you think of any words that you would like me to write a blog post?

I have been jotting down ideas of things that could work for each letter, for an example: Q will work nicely for quilts, R for remedies, W - weddings.

I would love to hear more suggestions, and if I get more words than I need I can always continue even after the initial A-Z challenge is over.

Looking forward to seeing what you suggest!

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What's the biggest change since your childhood in the way people think or act?

People in our area don't seem to have changed that much, they're still some of the friendliest down to earth country folks I know of.

2. The Olympic Biathlon involves cross country skiing broken up with either two or four rounds of target shooting. Which part of that would stress you out more? Or would you love them both equally?

I think I would hate them both equally. I don't even want to think about wearing a pair of skis and shooting, ...... let's just say I'm not a fan of guns.

3. February is National Canned Food Month...what is your most often purchased canned food item?  What was in the last can you opened?

Sweet corn. Not a fan of store bought, but unfortunately not having a garden has made that a necessity.

4. What river (anywhere in the world) would you most like to cruise?

The Colorado River especially through the Grand Canyon.

5. It's the middle of the night and you can't sleep...what do you do? Count sheep? Toss and turn? Watch television? Or do you get up and do something productive?

I am more the get up and do something productive type. In fact most of book four in the Adventures of Lily Lapp series was written in the middle of the night.

6. How important is keeping your cool?

Very important.  I have never ever regretted times I kept my cool even though I had reasons to lose it.

7. I've got white stuff on the brain so why not run with it? White lie, wave the white flag, white knuckle it, white wash a situation, or white as a sheet...which phrase could most recently apply to your own life in some way?

Hmmm.... none of them seem to apply. White lies are still lies, I've been slogging through some things, but am in no way ready to wave the white flag, there have been no white knuckle moments, which have also kept me from being as white as a sheet.

Basically the only white things around here are the piles of snow.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

 

Growing up we made Angel Food cake quite often. Having several dozen chickens we always had plenty of eggs and when ever we had a surplus it was time to bake Angel Food cake. I didn't enjoy it at all, having a hand cranked egg beater I always thought my arm was getting permanently damaged by the time the egg whites were stiff enough for the cake.

 

Since we are no longer Amish and now have an electric beater, a daughter who had never tasted an Angel Food cake and wanted to try it, we finally made one. It was a breeze to make compared to what it used to be and still every bit as delicate, moist, and simply delicious as I remembered.

 

I think the dreaded Angel Food cake will be made quite often now that it has lost the dreaded part.

Snow

As most of you know, I absolutely love snow. So far today it seems I can't keep from walking window to window to check on how deep it is piling up.

In the past two hours it went from this:

To this:

If it keeps up I may have to ask our Amish neighbors to borrow their horse and buggy to go pick up LV from work.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1.What makes love last?

Off the top of my head I would say, always be more focused on what can I do for the other person rather than what they can do for me. Never holding a grudge. Enjoying all the little things in life, big things really don't happen that often, but when adding all the cherished little things you still end up with tons. Being each other's best friend.

2. The Beatles made their US debut fifty years ago this week. Are you a fan? If so, what's your favorite Beatles tune?

I don't think I ever heard a song by the Beatles, at least not that I'm aware of.

3. Valentine's Day-your thoughts? Do you celebrate in any way? Do anything special for the people you love? Expect anything special from the people who love you?

I love the idea of Valentine's Day, but in reality it simply isn't a big deal for us. In the past we have gone out to eat, including last year's disastrous dinner. Chocolates were a staple every year since we first started dating, but this year we're opting to stay at home and simply cook one of our favorite meals, and maybe light a candle or two.

4. Steak or burger...you have to choose. Now that that's settled, how do you like it?

Burger, please.  I like them well done, but not prepared on a grill.

5. The Hodgepodge lands on the birthdate (February 12th) of Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States of America. Lincoln is quoted as saying, 'Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test his character give him power.'  Do you agree? Why or why not?

I agree. It takes a man of great character to make good choices when he is in a position where he can do what ever he wants to do.

6. Honest Abe's image is featured on the US penny (1 cent coin) so I'm wondering...what do you do with your pennies (or your country's equivalent)?  It's been suggested the US stop making the penny, and two bills have been introduced proposing just that, but neither were approved. What say you?

Pennies are somewhat of a nuisance, but at the same time I will still always pick them up if I see one on the ground. I would be a little sad to see them go away.

7.  Do you think pop culture deserves serious study?

No, I don't think it needs study. I do think it's sad how so many are wrapped up in fluff and nonsense, when there are so many better things they could be doing with their life.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Thank-you to everyone that shared suggestions on what to try to remove the stains on my quilt. I'll be trying everything until I find what ever does the trick.

Advice

I have always been a little more on the sentimental side, and while I'm no where close to being a candidate to appear on Hoarders, I do tend to hang on to things that have memories attached to them.

 

This quilt was one of my very first sewing projects. At only six years old I started creating the nine patch quilt blocks, but it wasn't until after LV and I were engaged that I finally finished the quilt top and the winter before our wedding Mom and I quilted it. Not only does it have years worth of memories stitched into it, it was also the quilt Sailor used on his first real bed, and mornings before we started our school days we would help each other make the bed and have little I-Spy games to find specific nine patch blocks. Nothing big or all that important, but enough to make it a quilt I treasured.

Ever since we moved I have not been able to locate the quilt, until yesterday when the children crawled under the basement stairs and discovered a garbage bag.

You guessed it, it contained the missing quilt. Only now it doesn't look very nice. The nine patches are still fine, but the light blue fill in squares are awful. They all changed color where they had been quilted.

I tried treating it and washed it in cold water, but it still came out looking like this:

Now I'm trying to decide between my options. Do I.........

1. Store it in the attic, never to be used again.
2. Simply burn it.
3. Painstakingly take it apart and salvage the nine patches and recreate the quilt with new fabric.

Or does someone have a solution to get the awful stains out?

 

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Are we always responsible for our actions? Are there any exceptions?

I do think we are responsible for our actions, I can't think of any exceptions. We always have a choice how we act and react to anything and everything.

2.  Has anyone from your home town become famous?

Over the past several years the town I was born in watched one of their own become very famous. The town I grew up in doesn't have any famous people.

3. January was National Slow Cooker month. Do you own a slow cooker/crock pot? Did you use it last month? What's a favorite dish you make using a slow cooker or crock pot?

I own a slow cooker and use it frequently. It was used last month to make Spicy Cranberry Wings. One of our favorite dishes to make in the slow cooker is a pork roast.

4. How do you feel about private companies collecting data about you?

It doesn't bother me too much as long as I have dealings with them and they don't share or sell any of it to others.

5. The Games of the 2014 Winter Olympics kick off with their opening ceremony this coming Friday....will you be watching? Which Winter Olympic event would you most like to see in person? Have you ever been to Russia? Any desire to go, Olympics or otherwise?

I have zero desire to go to Russia. I'm not that into the Olympics so I really don't have any of the events that I'd want to see in person. I'm not planning to watch the opening ceremony.

6. Share a good or bad sports related memory from your childhood or teen years.

I was a book worm and a student that loved studying. Any sports, no matter how simple was basically torture to me and therefore not a good memory.

7. What's a must have song for you on a work out play list? If you don't work out, run, swim, bike, walk, or anything else that could be construed as 'exercise', then what's a song that motivates you to at least get up off the couch?

Music that always makes me feel like moving is an instrumental piece titled by the puzzling name, Joy of Life/ Trout in a Bath 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I'm not doing much moving at all since snapping something in my right leg. I don't have time for this, but sometimes being forced to slow down isn't all bad. Buddy seems to enjoy extra story times. Spending more one on one time with him is the silver lining to this particular cloud.