Wednesday Hodgepodge: Midway There

 

1. February is coming to a close. Give us a two-word phrase that tells us something about how yours went.

No snow.

Until today.

And where we live, that's pretty unusual.

2. If you had to describe how you're feeling right now as an amusement park ride, what ride are you on? Explain. 

That's kind of hard, because you could be, for example, happily going around on a Ferris wheel, or you could be stuck at the top and feeling seasick.

Well, let's say that right now I'm walking around the midway, figuring out how to use up some tickets.

3. What's something on your desk or a nearby wall that cheers you up when you see it or walk past?

The artwork we've gradually added to the loft room where the computer lives. It's so nice to have enough walls for that! Two Group of Seven prints, two Mark Rothko prints, a poster of quilts from a museum in Lancaster County, and a folksy picture of a country store that we found at a thrift store and just liked. 

4.  Are you a salad eater? How many salads do you typically eat in a week? Your favorite kind of salad? 

No, we are not big on salads here, especially in the last few years as salad vegetables have become very expensive and often not very good either. Sometimes we buy a bagged salad on sale, the kind that has chopped kale or cabbage in it. We eat some of it that night, and turn the rest into a stir-fry.

5. Without telling us the category give us your top five ______________. 

Sun-dried tomatoes

Mushrooms

Italian sausage

Black olives

Extra cheese

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

A thrifted dish for springtime thoughts. Except not so much for today, the blusteriest, wettest, coldest mess of a day I think we've had all month.

Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Things That Matter, Or Not

 

1. What kind of thinker are you-doer concrete thinking) analyst (analytical and abstract thinking), orator (logical thinking) inventor (imaginative thinking) or original thinker (creative)? What makes you say so? You can try this little quiz (link here) to help with your answer. 

I tried the quiz but I kept overthinking the answers, so not sure what that says about the way my mind works. The categories seemed to be putting people into groups such as verbal, visual, etc., and I wouldn't have gotten that necessarily from the way the questions were phrased ("Do you like puzzles?" is kind of vague). So, I don't like those categories too much, but I'm a word person who likes to make creative connections.

2. Do you own a crock pot, air fryer, and/or instapot? Do you leave said small appliance sitting out? How often do you use it/them? Favorite thing to make in one of these? 

CrockPot / slow cookers: got our first one as a wedding present 30+ years ago, have used them ever since, replace them at yard sales and thrift stores as they wear out. Right now we have three in-service ones, different sizes and shapes. We don't tend to do recipes with long lists of ingredients in them--more likely to put meat or chicken in them with some kind of sauce. We used them for both the turkey and the sweet potato/carrot side dish on Christmas. Today we're making navy bean soup in our medium-sized '80's slow cooker. They all live in the cupboards when they're not being used.

Air fryer--we were given one for Christmas, and it lives on the floor underneath the toaster oven (makes more sense than it sounds). All we've really used it for so far is a bit of frozen food and a batch of sweet potato fries.

Instapot--no, haven't gone there yet.

3. What's something you hold a strong opinion on that matters not at all in the grand scheme of things? 

As in something like crunchy vs. smooth? Or in which order the Narnia books should be read?

I can't think of anything else that works, because I can say something doesn't matter but maybe it really does, to somebody.

OK, here's one: I'd rather drink Tim Horton's coffee than Starbucks.

4. Describe the view from your window. 

Depends which window. Out front, more townhouse units, trees, hydro corridor. But behind that is an amazing nature trail. We used a photo of it for a book cover a couple of years ago.

Out back, a busy road, but across from that we get a good view of evergreen trees. If you sit on the deck and ignore the cars below, you can pretend you're at the cottage.

5. Do you have a favorite brand? Explain.

Brand of...clothes? Nail polish? Vitamins? Cookies? I'm not sure where to go with this one.

If we're talking about things that don't matter, I like OPI nail polish and Chips Ahoy cookies. NAOT shoes are gorgeous, but my budget is more like Skechers (and my last Skechers came from the thrift store, so there's that).

I hate getting stuck on brands, though (of anything), because they disappear so often. Case in point: Plain old Idahoan instant mashed potatoes have disappeared from the shelves again, all you can get are flavoured packets, and I'm thoroughly but quite inconsequentially mad about that.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

In what's already quite a bit of randomness, in a time that feels more random than usual, I'll show you my favourite recent thrift find: a made-in-Japan creamer from the early twentieth century, part of a tea set, with what some people call a sharkskin or orange-rind finish. I have often seen pieces like this at antique stores, but hadn't wanted to pay the money they were asking. But a local thrift store had this one sitting with some knick-knacks, priced at two dollars, and that made me very happy. I also found this vintage ad for the tea sets, on a website about Japanese imports.

So now maybe I'll keep my eyes open for the sugar bowl.

Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Books, More Books

Here are the answers for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Click the graphic to see the rest at From This Side of the Pond.

1. Something you've waited for recently? 

This box of books that arrived this week! (Getting that "bit of work" done has been a major occupation since last fall.)

2. What's something you loved to do as a child? 

Dig holes in the sand.

Look for books at the library.

Listen to tunes on my little record player.

3. Something you learned from a grandparent? 

My grandmother taught me that you are never too old or too young to enjoy reading. And marshmallow peanuts.

4. The most visited cities in the world last year (according to this site) were-Bangkok, Paris, London, Dubai, and Singapore. Have you been to any of the cities mentioned? Which would you most like to see? How do you feel about international travel in general these days? 

None of the above, and no immediate plans to do so. If you want some imaginary virtual travel, though, you can follow Betty Bunny around Rabbit Land

5. February is the perfect month to ______________________.

--have Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday on the same day! Not to mention celebrating our blog's nineteenth anniversary, sad and neglected as it may be.

(photo from an earlier blog-a-versary)

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Some people do videos about their thrift hauls. I haven't hauled much over the past month, other than a scarf, a couple of books, and some candles. Oh, and a purple suede jacket that I totally wasn't looking for, but that is a good replacement for two fake-leather jackets that were starting to show their dubious origins.

However, yesterday I was given two whole bags of Dickens novels by a family member. Sometimes you have to go out looking for things, but sometimes they find you instead. Where does one put twenty-seven volumes of Dickens? Well, that's not even a question. It's the book equivalent of shove over, everybody, and make room.

Linked to the Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

Betty Bunny Hops Again

 

Betty Bunny is planning another extended trip around Rabbit Land. Her latest science-fiction novel, Waterspaceship Down, has caused such a sensation that she's been asked to do a book tour. She'll be stopping at libraries and bookstores, signing autographs with her always-busy quill pen, and answering questions from her fans. As this tour will start when there's still snow on the ground, continue through the spring holidays (which happen early this year), and  last through  April, she's going to need a whole variety of clothes, although she's not going to have room for more than a small suitcase. Let's hop along with Betty and see how this plays out.

    Betty Bunny’s Wardrobe Inspirations

Pottery earrings from a craft sale  (sure, rabbits can wear earrings, why not?) 

      Two scarves: one navy with pink and purple flowers and green leaves; one much lighter, but also floral.

For the rest of this post, click here.