Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

1. If your life had a theme song for this past year what would it be? Goodness of God.  But actually this is my theme song for my whole life.

2. Chocolate cake, chocolate milkshake, chocolate ice cream, chocolate truffle, chocolate mousse, chocolate candy bar or a fudgy chocolate brownie...of the chocolate treats listed, which one is your favorite? Which one have you tasted most recently? Or maybe you don't like chocolate??? My favorite would be chocolate cake.  Most recently, I had some low sugar chocolate ice cream.

3. What has surprised you recently? That I've been enjoying watching some of the Hallmark Mystery Movies.  I've never been a super fan of the mystery genre.  But they are better than I thought and I even read a whole mystery series by Alana Terry a few months ago.  Who knew?

4. September 19th is National Voter Registration Day in the US. Are you registered to vote in whatever state or country you happen to live in right now? If not, why not? Not counting a political race, what's something you've had to vote on recently? Yes, I am a registered voter.  A couple of months ago we had a vote on a state constitutional amendment  It did not go the way we hoped, but at least we had our chance to voice our opinion through a vote.

5. Do you like to hike? If so, when's the last time you went hiking and where'd ya go? If you're not a hiker are you a walker? Is walking (for exercise, etc.) part of your daily/weekly routine? No, I really don't like to hike very much...but if there's a beautiful view or waterfall at the end, I like it a little better. I do like to walk.  It's for exercise and also to let the dog do some exploring.  It's not a daily routine, but I like for it to be at least 3-4 times a week.  As the weather is cooling down, I hope to make it a little more regular.  

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

My grandson turned 7 on Saturday! 
Time is flying by so fast.
I sure do love this boy and his mama!

Thanks for visiting and if you'd like to participate in the Wednesday Hodgepodge (come on...you know you want to), click the button at the top of the post.

Cathy

Tuesday 4 - Art

 

Art

 

From Annie:  "Hi Friends and welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we give you 4 questions each week to ponder and answer.  It also gives you a chance to see how other Bloggers feel about things and an opportunity to make new friends.

This week let's talk about art."

1. Are you artistic in any way and if so, how so? Knitting, crochet, drawing, painting, writing lovely word art, home décor, lovely meals?  There are many ways to be artistic. I do not knit except by loom or by knitting machine.  I do crochet.  I don't draw, paint, write lovely word art and I'm okay at home decor, and lovely meals...not really.

2. Does any art hang on your walls or grace your tables or shelves at home? How about your front door or windows.. what about your yard?  I do have several of my sister's paintings and drawings.  She was awesome but unfortunately her strokes took that away from her.  

This is one of her pencil drawings that I love.

I also have paintings from my daughter.

She drew this for me a long time ago and I still love it

Here's one from a few years ago.  I think she sold it though.

3. Do you have a favorite artist or artists and do you have a favorite piece of art? I'd say my sister and my daughter are my favorites.  But I also love Norman Rockwell and Thomas Kincade

4.  Home décor can be art. When you  bought things for your home did you plan out the décor or did it all just fall together. Was there a theme?  I've always said my decor style is Early American Garage Sale.   My mom and sister are both awesome at decorating and I think sometimes that intimidates me.  But  I buy things and display things I like.  And that makes me happy.   I bought a couple fall things yesterday to put out and I have some from past years also.  Hope to put them out this week.

I hope you enjoyed your visit here and that you link up and participate too.  The link is at the top of the post at the blue word Art.

Have a great day!

Cathy

Bits of This and That

 

Good morning.  It's a beautiful day here so far.  It's currently 61 degrees and sunny. The high for today is 75.  Perfect!!!!  My sister just texted me and we're heading out shortly to go to Hobby Lobby and Joann's.  It's always a fun time going to those stores with her.  Yay!

Our weekend was nice and mostly quiet.  Friday we went to lunch with hubby's mom and had a good time.  We had fish from Long John's, and that was good.  But the best part was all the good conversation.  I know I probably say this about every time.  But his mom is just so much fun to talk with and we always have the best time together,

Saturday, hubby and I went to a favorite pizza place for lunch.  I had a small pizza (and ate the leftovers for supper) and hubby had spaghetti and meatballs.  Then I ran into Krogers and got a few things and stopped and got a Starbucks drink and spent the rest of the day at home, doing some housework and watching a Hallmark Mystery movie and then a couple of shows we are currently binging in the evenings,

Sunday we went to church both morning and evening and had a nice nap in between.  Below I will post the pre-recorded Sunday Sermon.  It was a really good one about Abraham and waiting by faith from the Hall of Fame of Faith, Hebrews 11.

I hope you had a chance to worship this weekend and I hope you have a lovely day today.  Thanks for visiting,

Cathy

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

1. Did you watch any coverage of the 9/11 services on Monday? How do you feel on this day some 22 years after the events occurred? Share more if you want to share more. No, I didn't watch.  I hope we will never be attacked like that again.

2. September 13th is National Peanut Day...do you like peanuts? Your favorite dish that contains peanuts? Yes, I like Peanuts.  I'm not sure I eat them in a particular dish.  I just like to eat them plain and also in candy bars such as Snickers.

3. Something you're currently 'nuts' about? My youngest daughter.  She turns 29 today.  

Happy Birthday!

4. Your favorite Peanuts character? There are several quizzes online if you're curious...I took two and got the same character for both so I'm sure it's accurate lol. (Click here for the link) 

Linus is probably my favorite.  I took the quiz and it said I was Charlie Brown.  Sounded fairly accurate.  

5. Tell us about a job you worked 'for peanuts'? The job I ended up retiring from.  When I started minimum wage was $2.50 and I probably didn't make much more than that.  That didn't really bother me too much because I was only 19 and still lived at home.  But eventually times changed and I ended up doing okay.

6. Insert your own random thought here. We started a new Bible Study last night called "When You Pray."  One of the quotes from Jennifer Rothschild really stuck with me.  She said, "Prayer is not a performance, it is a conversation with God."  I think it's so important that we know this.  He's not ticking off a box for all the things we say being just perfect, He is more interested in us being in tune with Him and being authentic and just talking with Him about our worries and cares and praising Him for all He is.

Happy Blogoversary to me!  On this day in 2008, I wrote and posted my first blog post.  Who would've dreamed I'd still be here 15 years later!  I'm so glad I answered the challenge put out by my co-worker.  So how long have you been here in this blogging universe?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Cathy

Bits of This and That

 

Good Morning.  We had a nice weekend.  

Friday morning we slept in a little and then went outside and sat on the front porch for awhile.  It was so beautiful out and we both enjoyed being outside and so did Lucy.

Looks like I need to clean the porch rails.
I had a hummingbird feed hanging over
this spot and it has left a mess.  lol

After that we picked up hubby's mom and we went to Olive Garden for lunch.  Good food and good conversation...just what I like.

That evening we watched a movie and enjoyed just relaxing at home.

Saturday morning we again spent time on the front porch.  I think we may be doing a lot of that this fall if the weather stays decent.  We had Mexican food for lunch and went to the grocery and then home for the day.  Again we watched a movie and read, etc.

Sunday we had Sunday School, Church and Bible Study in the evening.  All were good.  After evening service we met up with 2 other couples and had dinner at Frisch's and again good food and conversation...my favorites.

Below is the pre-recorded copy of Sunday morning's Sermon.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great day.  If you'd like, share something in the comments about your weekend.

Cathy

Friday Photos

 

Lucy relaxing while we were watching TV one evening this week. 

We saw this peacock ambling across the road. He or she lives
 (along with a few other peacocks) on a horse farm close to my sister’s home.
 It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to get a picture of one of them. 

  

Well that’s about the only photos I have this week. Hope you have a great weekend and thanks for visiting. 

Cathy

Currently - September 2023

Today it's time for the September Currently Post.   You can link up with Jennifer here, as she is the hostess.  In September, we are talking about what we're currently loving, seeing, dreaming, eating, and using to decorate.

Currently I am:

Loving: Some of the cooler weather we are having.  Last week was gorgeous, this week is hotter, but this weekend it's supposed to cool down again.

Seeing:   Beautiful blue skies.

  

Dreaming:  Of being in Myrtle Beach in November.

Eating: Monday night we had ground chuck burgers with mushrooms, cheese and sliced potatoes.  Tuesday night we had pork chops and fried apples and mashed potatoes. We seem to be cooking at home more and are starting to lean towards more of the fall, winter foods we love.  After cooking 2 evenings we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches tonight. lol 

Using to Decorate: I still have up most of the summer decorations, but I'm planning to take them down and hopefully start putting up some fall things.  I'm planning to use what I already have from past years.  The one thing I may buy is a mum for outdoors.

That's it for today.  Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great day.

Cathy

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

1. It's National Read A Book Day...whatcha' reading?  Half-Price Book Store had a 20% off sale all weekend.  I typically read books on my Kindle or my iPad...but I couldn't resist going to the sale.  I bought a book for my daughter that completes one of the sets that she has and I bought myself 3 books from the clearance rack.  The one below is what I'm currently reading.

What's a book you want to read? The other 2 books I bought at the sale.

2. Which is better...having high expectations or low expectations? I say high expectations.  Explain why. Why not expect the best?  Life is too short to never get excited and to look for the very best.  I know that can lead to sometimes being very disappointed.  Again, though, if you don't expect the best you are already disappointed.  At least, that's what I think. 

3. Serenity is trusting in Jesus and His plan for my life.  Jesus is the only one who can bring serenity or peace.  John 14:27 " Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

4. What's the most interesting thing in your purse or pocket right now? Nothing really...maybe my phone as I can do so many things with it, including reading, playing a game, talking or texting to a friend and taking many pictures.

5. What helps you calm down? Reading a Psalm and praying or listening to music...also talking with my husband.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

It is so good to know my salvation doesn't depend on
what I do, but instead on what He has done.

Thank you so much for visiting.  I hope you have a great day!

Cathy

Tuesday 4 - Planning

 

Planning

Seeing ahead

Welcome back friends!

A wise man once said that most people fall into their lives.   They don't plan and carry out what they would like to do, they just fall into things through circumstances.      Others plan and prepare for life.  They know the kind of person they want to spend their life with, the kind of family, home  or job they wish to have and make a concerted effort to follow through.  

So what about you?

1. Did you plan to be where you are right now in life or did you just end up where you are? I didn't do a lot of planning until more recent years.  

2. What plans did you make for your future and what plans do you have for the future now or are you just marking time?  The longer I stayed with the job I started at age 19 (which I never intended to stay there until retirement) the more I knew it was where I was supposed to be.  

3.  Do you live where you want to live or would you have done things differently when planning where to live?  I live right where I want to live.  As we get older, we are starting to think about a smaller place that would be easier to take care of...But then again, we'd like to update this place and just stay.  We'll see what the future holds.  Time will tell!

4.  What is planned for this coming Autumn? 

• trips or plans with family or friends?  No plans, but am almost always up for something.
• vacations? Just made reservations for our annual trip to Myrtle Beach.
• holiday plans? Nothing planned yet.
• Reading list?  Whatever strikes my fancy.

Thank you for joining in to make Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 a success.   

Cathy

Tuesday 4 - Toys

 

Toys

Annie says "Hello. It's time for Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.  I hope you are enjoying them.  I welcome ideas for questions or themes, so feel free to let me know.

Could we talk about toys?  Toys are important to children and sometimes to adults as well.   There are memories tied up with toys we loved, toys we miss having in our lives.  We found comfort in them, excitement with them and just fun times over all."

1. What was your favorite all time toy? Probably my bike and my hula hoop

2. What kind of toys did you enjoy growing up? Bike, Hula Hoop, Base Ball and Glove, Swimming Pool (the few years we had one), Sandbox, Swingset.

3.  I think certain bric a brac in the home could be a kind of grown up's toy.  What is in your home just purely to make you happy? Paintings and Drawings from my sister and my daughter.

4.What games were your favorites and do you still play any games? Hopscotch, kickball, Life, Scrabble, Monopoly, Dominoes

That's it for today.  Thanks Annie for the fun questions.  Hope you all have a great day and thanks for visiting.

Cathy

Share 4 Somethings - August 2023

 

I'm linking up with Jennifer at Overflowing With Thankfulness for Share 4 Somethings.  The prompts are things we loved, read, learned and ate in August.

Loved:  I'm still loving our crochet group and I love that I finally finished this baby blanket.  I've got another one started.  I'll have to show a picture here sometime when I get a little farther along on it.

This morning I ordered a kit to make a little turtle.  I've been wanting to do something like this for a while now and this may be the way to start doing it.  It has everything you need and they say it's for beginners.  Now, while I've been crocheting for over 40 years, I've never done something like this.  I hope I can do it and that's it's a lot of fun.  Time will tell.  😉  

I'm also loving our Open House Prayer Time at our church every Tuesday morning.  Hubby just opens the doors of the church, the lights are muted and there is soft worship music playing and scriptures on the screens to encourage worship and prayer.  We've been doing this for almost 2 months now and everyone seems to enjoy coming to the church to pray.  Some come in for a few minutes and some stay a lot longer.  It really is a wonderful way to pray and just spend time with God.  There is no visiting or talking (unless you want to visit outside on the way in or out) or anyone leading. It's just you and the Lord.

Read:  I have read 6 books so far this month. And all have been by the same author, Jean L. Kuhnke.   If you check my Good Reads in the sidebar, you can see what I've read.  I like reading her books as they are fairly short and I love her stories.  Also, she publishes them on Amazon and 100% of the proceeds go to help support a small mission church here in the United States.

I'm still enjoying reading the 4 Gospels along with Annie F. Downs each month.  This month we've been reading the Gospels in the Message, which I really enjoy.

Learned: I can't think of anything specific right now, but I know I've learned things from the sermons and Bible studies I've listened to this month.

Ate: Hubby took me to Texas Roadhouse for my birthday and I had a delicious steak and we also hit Red Lobster this month and some wonderful shrimp dishes.  No pictures, but they both were very good.  But probably my favorite meal was made at home.  Hubby cooked a big pot of green beans with red potatoes and chopped pieces of ham.  Then we had some corn on the cob and I had fresh tomatoes given to me by my sister and a church friend.  Definitely, my favorite summertime meal.

This picture is from July, but it was the
same thing this month, except we
 didn't have the blueberry muffins.

Well that's my 4 Somethings for August.  Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a good weekend.

Cathy

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

1. What's your earliest memory?  I'm not sure, but probably somewhere around the age of three.  We moved to a house my dad built for us when I was 3 and I remember little snippets of playing and living there.  I do not remember anything of the house before that.

2. What's something about you today that the old you would find surprising?   That I actually am retired after working 45 years.  I never dreamed when I started that job that I would work there all those years.

3. Do you like to fish? I don't know because I haven't fished since I was a little kid.  Are you a fish eater? Yes Favorite fish (to eat)? Cod Favorite way to prepare fish? Prepared by someone else....I prefer my fish broiled, but breaded and deep fried is good too.  

4. What's your biggest first world problem? Keeping up with all the things I need to do such as house chores, doctor's appointments for me and hubby and also my sister's appointments, paying bills (although hubby does most of this), etc.  

5. What one word would you use to describe your year thus far? Blessed

6. Insert your own random thought here. On yesterday's post I mentioned a fan that I have for my cell phone. And some of you asked about it. Here is a link on Amazon where I purchased them.  

If you look close, you can see
the pink fan and a glimpse 
of my new haircut.

Here's the fan not plugged in.

Thanks Joyce for another week of Hodgepodge.  

Thank you for visiting and I hope you have a great day.

Cathy

Tuesday 4 - Summertime Easy Living?

 

Summertime Easy Living?

 Annie says, "Hey! Welcome back to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we ask just 4 questions each week to give you something to blog about, something to think about and a reason to visit other blogs!

♫Summer time and the living is easy says the song.  So how is summer going for you? Let's talk about it....."

1. How has it been so far? I think it's been a really good summer.  Life is good!

2. What have you been doing this summer? Blogging, reading, crocheting, watching TV and Mystery Movies in the evenings.  Spending time with family and specified times of praying (Tuesday mornings, Open House Prayer Time at Church and then August 31 Days of Prayer).  I also went to Texas for my daughter's wedding.  As I said in #1, it's been a really good summer.

3. What are you going to do? Any plans? As far as I know, there are no special plans except to celebrate hubby's birthday later this week and next month our women's Bible study group will be starting up again.

4. It's been hot in most of the country but here on the Jersey coast it's been perfect so far. Not too hot, not too cool but just right with breezes.   How are you weathering the heat. Any tips on staying  cool on hot, humid days?  Clothing, food, drinks, fans, air conditioning? Let us know your secrets to keeping cooler.  I'm doing okay with the heat.  I figure that I survived an outdoor wedding in Texas late in July, so I should be able to handle whatever August in Ohio throws at me. lol  I always make sure to have something nearby to drink so I don't get dehydrated and I stay inside with air conditioning as much as possible on the really hot days.  I have a little fan that plugs into my iPhone and I carry that almost anywhere I go, just in case.  

Hey Annie, Thanks for these questions and for the link-up.  Thanks everyone else for visiting.

Cathy

Bits of This and That

 

Good morning:

It's a beautiful morning, but it's going to get really hot as the day goes on and it will be really hot all week.  But that's okay because we are blessed to have air conditioning.

We had a nice weekend and the weather was really nice...not too hot at all.  It was pretty quiet for us.  We went out for lunch on Friday and Saturday and took something home for lunch on Sunday after church. Saturday evening while watching some TV, I also scrubbed down my bathroom and did some laundry. 

I read a good book (you can see in my sidebar for Good Reads what I read).  And I started another one.  We watched some TV and really just relaxed this weekend (actually, we do that most weekends.).

I finished this baby blanket last Wednesday and I've started another one.

Here's a pre-recorded copy of the Sunday morning sermon.

Life is good and I feel so blessed.  I hope you are having a good day and thanks for visiting.

Cathy

Friday Photos - Everyday Images #15

 Kym from A Fresh Cup of Coffee has a link up for "Everyday Images" and below is the list of prompts of August.  Kym says:  "I am sharing my photos every other Tuesday, along with my prompts for the next two weeks. You can use all or some of the prompts for your own photo posts, or none of the prompts and just link up a post featuring your photos. Simple rules: Your posts must be family-friendly; the photos must be your own; and the post must be mostly photos. If you do share I'd appreciate a mention and link to A Fresh Cup of Coffee on your post."  

August Prompts - Everyday Images #15

~~~~~

vintage

hidden

river

spot in town (quarterly)

yellow

forever

~~~~~

Vintage - Piano Babies are porcelain figurines used
to hold a shawl that served as a piano dust cover back
 in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

Hidden - Hiding God's Word in our heart is very important

River - The Little Miami River yesterday afternoon

Spot in Town - Beautiful Gazebo in our town - sorry about
the barrier stuff, but the farmer's market was going on
in the parking lot.

Yellow - Tis the season for school buses again.

Another Yellow - Beautiful house in our town

Forever - God's Word is forever!

If you'd like to link up with Kym, you can do that here.  Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great day.

Cathy

Thankful Thursday

 

Today I am thankful for our our sweet Lucy.  She is 10 years old today.  I can't believe we've had her that long.  Unfortunately for her, she had a vet appointment today to get her boosters.  He said she is very healthy and I'm praying we'll have her for a lot more years.

She's a pretty hyper dog and she's definitely strong-willed.  Much more so than either hubby or myself.  But we love her so much.  She keeps us on our toes and she makes us laugh a lot.  Here are a few pictures of her through the years.

Thank you Jesus for giving us this little girl.  Happy 10th Birthday, Lucy!!!

Cathy