tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-109265622024-03-19T01:00:53.665-05:00Dewey's TreehouseNineteen years of Treehouse talkMama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.comBlogger3355125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-75975945298692053332024-03-18T19:27:00.003-05:002024-03-18T19:32:08.223-05:00Start With a Notebook (Spring/Summer Clothes)<p> This floral notebook cover is called Blooming by Eliza Todd. I thought it was very cheerful and colourful, so I decided to use it as wardrobe inspiration for the coming months. The photograph makes it appear bright blue, but the real-life book is closer to slate blue. Besides that, I see a lot of pink and pale blue in the design, plus white, soft green, and the odd bit of orange and brown.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiydzQMMQjFtmOxK86-OvdNX2ji6D_pF6Vse3MUlWqEXxvb_HXehyFnz5tbWih2VnkkRHPY_DsIfySTM3meNANBNoXtD3FtL7YfOzP36F6ls6f0jzCLE-e6f_zmsXTKmTpuoNNPY91NsMe5YFriSo933dz5pdz3Q_kBIS01nqDzzfRtWzzyrGShhg/s2984/IMG_20240316_164410_604~2.jpg" style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2984" data-original-width="2112" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiydzQMMQjFtmOxK86-OvdNX2ji6D_pF6Vse3MUlWqEXxvb_HXehyFnz5tbWih2VnkkRHPY_DsIfySTM3meNANBNoXtD3FtL7YfOzP36F6ls6f0jzCLE-e6f_zmsXTKmTpuoNNPY91NsMe5YFriSo933dz5pdz3Q_kBIS01nqDzzfRtWzzyrGShhg/w283-h400/IMG_20240316_164410_604~2.jpg" width="283" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">I posed the book against a few favourite things.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTr-1r7USEifxgWmmLrDHXsOh4zCwLhpaM_x8t4tDkPA4qLrH46qDZcI9TFJK5QGRpAxaStIbTI2vLy3_KkzSsFUDHNWgm_cDpzGkKLR94_fsHli1INhZZoAmNdzO5DcgHvCCYzbj8sfybAETS89abV37f0Ap058-2OQ6eN5qnGlitt4Qbdwcjlw/s2412/IMG_20240318_191534_5~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2054" data-original-width="2412" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTr-1r7USEifxgWmmLrDHXsOh4zCwLhpaM_x8t4tDkPA4qLrH46qDZcI9TFJK5QGRpAxaStIbTI2vLy3_KkzSsFUDHNWgm_cDpzGkKLR94_fsHli1INhZZoAmNdzO5DcgHvCCYzbj8sfybAETS89abV37f0Ap058-2OQ6eN5qnGlitt4Qbdwcjlw/s320/IMG_20240318_191534_5~2.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">A couple of scarves...</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOzDvoWbOyEe8hLIzrHZcZH7kU40gdJiAvjbiAlADtL6wMF_H0YD6cq2HRgtFGLeEHu6R2aamqq4RpdegVHQtR142BpjfKHn99Ji3HCUHlp5h_ywkid54W9DVq7izXvB1-PWg8qUdftVeXEQxQANebzhvEVGYw__isjTfXxyM7r7j-5cATN7agCA/s1642/IMG_20240318_191446_7~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1619" data-original-width="1642" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOzDvoWbOyEe8hLIzrHZcZH7kU40gdJiAvjbiAlADtL6wMF_H0YD6cq2HRgtFGLeEHu6R2aamqq4RpdegVHQtR142BpjfKHn99Ji3HCUHlp5h_ywkid54W9DVq7izXvB1-PWg8qUdftVeXEQxQANebzhvEVGYw__isjTfXxyM7r7j-5cATN7agCA/s320/IMG_20240318_191446_7~2.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">A bit of makeup...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHglZdY8rZQqFNuQ-gmHjNDWNah22HBEPwJCr6hsIxxzwKtu0pT1WP81-vckYI5KbIQP6LhlR1vBC8twMwcvWWrxW-bm3-zJZY8u8QbQ_KDQUdt5JqH20ESy9a3NTxXuJIRRvDzAeuQmJo9RGeyVOP4v5dkP5wf530ZAZCnNUWu6VjF0DI-s1XPw/s2875/IMG_20240220_111918_250~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1900" data-original-width="2875" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHglZdY8rZQqFNuQ-gmHjNDWNah22HBEPwJCr6hsIxxzwKtu0pT1WP81-vckYI5KbIQP6LhlR1vBC8twMwcvWWrxW-bm3-zJZY8u8QbQ_KDQUdt5JqH20ESy9a3NTxXuJIRRvDzAeuQmJo9RGeyVOP4v5dkP5wf530ZAZCnNUWu6VjF0DI-s1XPw/s320/IMG_20240220_111918_250~2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">A new pair of glasses. I thought I could see how this would work.</p><p style="text-align: center;">And here's the story...</p><p style="text-align: center;">It's Global Recycling Day, she reads online. She is curious enough to go and check out <a href="https://www.globalrecyclingday.com/">the website</a>.</p><p>She doesn't consider herself a particularly political or protesting person, but she does understand "mend, repair and reuse in order to sustain the usefulness of the items around us for as long as possible." In planning her spring-into-summer wardrobe, she wants to use mostly the clothes she already has, but she's also not opposed to thrifting a few things to help them all hang together a little better. She might even buy a couple of brand-new things, with the intention of using them well and making them last as long as possible. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">What kind of weather does she need to plan for? Some years, where she lives, there's hardly any spring at all, and people seem to jump from coats and boots into shorts and sandals. This winter has been milder, though, and (barring an occasional tantrum) spring does seem to be staking out its turf already. She decides to start with a core of navy (or denim blue) and white clothes, in a range of cool-to-possibly-hot-weather types, and blossom out from there. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/p/start-with-notebook-springsummer-clothes.html"><br /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/p/start-with-notebook-springsummer-clothes.html">Read the rest of the post here</a>.</span></div><div><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-71146619601494064352024-03-13T17:44:00.007-05:002024-03-14T13:58:11.952-05:00Wednesday Hodge-Pi-dge<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b> </b></span></p><p style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></p><div class="from-this-side-of-the-pond-button" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin: 0px auto; width: 273px;"><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #6e698f; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="From this Side of the Pond" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLK-yhKNVwj3sjifV77kit9gclxJGZP61Bf1tTjFKKjwdhIstEVWOb2xpfBsjPn8oIfxYKw3fbe1-SbiZ8D2HPPT0MDRKZVbgcLQzcq9l583CZubEiAwhgwf0EcUt66Lwr07-6V7ZVjQ/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="273" /></a></div><p><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. Thursday is National Pi Day...are you good at math? What was the last thing you had to calculate? Did you use your head or technology? Last slice of pie you ate? </b></span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I haven't had any pie for awhile, but I did make jam bars yesterday, so that's close. (And we had birthday cake on the weekend, so that has to count for something.)</span></span></p><p>Anybody shopping for groceries (or anything else) these days needs to be calculating: sizes change, prices change, ingredients change. Is it better to buy two packages of name-brand cookies so you get the discount, or another brand that gives you store points, or the generic brand that doesn't promise anything but cookies? Multiply that by...well, just keep multiplying. And dividing and adding and subtracting. </p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. What makes a house a home? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Something you choose yourself, that makes you smile when you see it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>3. Your current favorite green thing? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">A green plant that came in a gift basket two years ago and has outlived all its basket-mates.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. How do you define achievement? How does your personal definition look similar to, or different than, society's definition? What's something you think is worth achieving in life? </b></span></p><p>Managing one particular thing well enough not only that you make it work for yourself, but that you are able to hand it on or down to others, to teach or inspire them to do the same for others in return.</p><p>Or, for some of us who have never figured out that one particular thing, squishing a few lesser-sized things together and doing the same.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. What song is a good soundtrack for your life right now? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">This Good Day, by Fernando Ortega.</span></p><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">If rain clouds come</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Or the cold winds blow</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">You're the one who goes before me</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">And in my heart I know</span></i></span></div><div class="ujudUb" jsname="U8S5sf" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 12px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span jsname="YS01Ge">That this good day, it is a gift from You</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">The world is turning in its place</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">Because You made it to</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">I lift my voice to sing a song of praise</span><br aria-hidden="true" /><span jsname="YS01Ge">On this good day.</span></i></span></div><p><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Insert your own random thought here. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I was younger, there were things I learned to do, things I took lessons for, things I thought I should do...and most of those things I haven't done in years. All the things the grownups tried to push me to be good at, I wasn't, very, or it just didn't work out. Sometimes I totally embarrassed myself by letting myself get pushed into doing those things that I wasn't, very. I could tell when I wasn't, very, because people would be too polite about it...or sometimes even not, which maybe wasn't as awful as the too polite way.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now I do more of the things that I never had to prove that I could or couldn't do. Because they were the things I cared about in the first place.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2024/03/home-is-where-hodgepodge-is.html">Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.</a></i></b></span></p>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-87438200250428740672024-02-28T13:35:00.001-05:002024-02-28T13:36:15.294-05:00Wednesday Hodgepodge: Midway There<p> <a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #6e698f; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="From this Side of the Pond" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="273" /></a></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. February is coming to a close. Give us a two-word phrase that tells us something about how yours went.</b></span><div><b><br /></b><div>No snow.</div><div><br /></div><div>Until today.</div><div><br /></div><div>And where we live, that's pretty unusual.<br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. If you had to describe how you're feeling right now as an amusement park ride, what ride are you on? Explain. </b></span></p><p>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.</p><p>Well, let's say that right now I'm walking around the midway, figuring out how to use up some tickets.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>3. What's something on your desk or a nearby wall that cheers you up when you see it or walk past?</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">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.<b> </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. Are you a salad eater? How many salads do you typically eat in a week? Your favorite kind of salad? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. Without telling us the category give us your top five ______________. </b></span></p><p>Sun-dried tomatoes</p><p>Mushrooms</p><p>Italian sausage</p><p>Black olives</p><p>Extra cheese</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Insert your own random thought here. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS58u0Hp77cEDd3BJKOANYBDMJHzdlBPzqNGeU2zuS5Yo070RKIu8OByLyNL8IKQpMQMpBKygpEzRiXaIyDP9xLUtjtuG-O2b1WAk8qKKBPv4-qDFvcFrO7TaigsNvtlqMKtovxIeKOs68-clEV3qzwfbbYqk5jzpb6pQEJFXjP30nNMw20BUi_A/s1080/IMG_20240223_135921_874.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS58u0Hp77cEDd3BJKOANYBDMJHzdlBPzqNGeU2zuS5Yo070RKIu8OByLyNL8IKQpMQMpBKygpEzRiXaIyDP9xLUtjtuG-O2b1WAk8qKKBPv4-qDFvcFrO7TaigsNvtlqMKtovxIeKOs68-clEV3qzwfbbYqk5jzpb6pQEJFXjP30nNMw20BUi_A/s320/IMG_20240223_135921_874.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2024/02/a-hodgepodge-salad.html"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><i>Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.</i></b></div></a></span><p></p></div></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-91598048065560576292024-02-21T09:03:00.004-05:002024-02-27T09:34:20.275-05:00Wednesday Hodgepodge: Things That Matter, Or Not<p> <a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #6e698f; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="From this Side of the Pond" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="273" /></a></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>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 <a href="https://psychologia.co/types-of-thinking/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">(link here)</a> to help with your answer. </b></span><div><b><br /></b></div><div>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.<br /><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>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? </b></span></p><p>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.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxKCskjCprTHv8b4BUWcBf0ZhkNDorFruywuNQIGVUN7ElL49aEHwkkgApf9FjC-8686kWXN7VyU4lAsWTtJjeprTFSBsGq_WhWcNzkyzncRPDFCCXc6IxNNkyWLLGTVDvdXWXlwB0NUOG5TihyphenhyphenBJ6idyzYt1HwnrHN0Az3ziIQu_f0fQNzhuIgQ/s3264/IMG_20240221_164815_476.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxKCskjCprTHv8b4BUWcBf0ZhkNDorFruywuNQIGVUN7ElL49aEHwkkgApf9FjC-8686kWXN7VyU4lAsWTtJjeprTFSBsGq_WhWcNzkyzncRPDFCCXc6IxNNkyWLLGTVDvdXWXlwB0NUOG5TihyphenhyphenBJ6idyzYt1HwnrHN0Az3ziIQu_f0fQNzhuIgQ/s320/IMG_20240221_164815_476.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">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.</span></p><p>Instapot--no, haven't gone there yet.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>3. What's something you hold a strong opinion on that matters not at all in the grand scheme of things? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">As in something like crunchy vs. smooth? Or in which order the Narnia books should be read?</span></p><p>I can't think of anything else that works, because I can say something doesn't matter but maybe it really does, to somebody.</p><p>OK, here's one: I'd rather drink Tim Horton's coffee than Starbucks.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. Describe the view from your window. </b></span></p><p>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.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgccAjw_I9i0rP6o-X5lRDACvU6J-K9XJ1EHYW7s8HpCyN-VByp2rO4vcxVRRSlcBo_0oxLQQYo9nIk49F9vDXFZp9PDemQ-apY5s4KOgyAtLeOJM-387OTqTiSQEBVovlmTg5BWkgYdjZ7_5ppS0upWZODb1PEBF7RMtSVKYPVydmoyZi09R4s8Q/s2775/glen%20ecover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2775" data-original-width="1836" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgccAjw_I9i0rP6o-X5lRDACvU6J-K9XJ1EHYW7s8HpCyN-VByp2rO4vcxVRRSlcBo_0oxLQQYo9nIk49F9vDXFZp9PDemQ-apY5s4KOgyAtLeOJM-387OTqTiSQEBVovlmTg5BWkgYdjZ7_5ppS0upWZODb1PEBF7RMtSVKYPVydmoyZi09R4s8Q/s320/glen%20ecover.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: left;">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.</span></div><p><b style="font-family: inherit;">5. Do you have a favorite brand? Explain.</b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Brand of...clothes? Nail polish? Vitamins? Cookies? I'm not sure where to go with this one.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">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).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Insert your own random thought here. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">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.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">So now maybe I'll keep my eyes open for the sugar bowl.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ZlonIWpn2SoCGhbtIiJLuZ3lYhUq1svwgl92PolciUWv7NUGuO97gDqGKz_Ab3f54EIenpkp99dd0YDudvYsfmnFGVfs_TcVVHpaY0mdqEJbjk9Whh9v_xEnZ8tMQy8d7VwX0G6o5WVzxgVblJ8W9JA5R2Y6pDXhCz3-HY2UQXrlZAPXbuOfvQ/s397/0D59E149-E560-484B-B123-7A9F5E1B5CBD.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="397" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ZlonIWpn2SoCGhbtIiJLuZ3lYhUq1svwgl92PolciUWv7NUGuO97gDqGKz_Ab3f54EIenpkp99dd0YDudvYsfmnFGVfs_TcVVHpaY0mdqEJbjk9Whh9v_xEnZ8tMQy8d7VwX0G6o5WVzxgVblJ8W9JA5R2Y6pDXhCz3-HY2UQXrlZAPXbuOfvQ/s320/0D59E149-E560-484B-B123-7A9F5E1B5CBD.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYpLjrXKXCW8CIiAC9ipRTXuaTtpsgYIfiACEN2lxTOp7RLJ7XS0n0ep6TSXppiQ73KhLjSIAD8U99m7vjP7rZOBgpJVXINYDYDmYI5dGYhtOrZ3Fzl37SBOp6w4QA5zm85mFlHYO9FeytdjIUlovVbRWDxh4GOVMm2Z37CmTFX0oixBi1qS8qHQ/s1023/IMG_20240214_175558_477.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="1023" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYpLjrXKXCW8CIiAC9ipRTXuaTtpsgYIfiACEN2lxTOp7RLJ7XS0n0ep6TSXppiQ73KhLjSIAD8U99m7vjP7rZOBgpJVXINYDYDmYI5dGYhtOrZ3Fzl37SBOp6w4QA5zm85mFlHYO9FeytdjIUlovVbRWDxh4GOVMm2Z37CmTFX0oixBi1qS8qHQ/s320/IMG_20240214_175558_477.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2024/02/the-view-from-my-hodgepodge.html">Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.</a></i></b></span></p></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-67881428392439320592024-02-07T10:27:00.006-05:002024-02-07T10:29:04.966-05:00Wednesday Hodgepodge: Books, More Books<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are the answers for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Click the graphic to see the rest at From This Side of the Pond.</span></p><p></p><div class="from-this-side-of-the-pond-button" style="margin: 0px auto; width: 273px;"><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><b><img alt="From this Side of the Pond" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="273" /></b></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. Something you've waited for recently? </b></span><div><b><br /></b></div><div>This box of books that arrived this week! (Getting that "bit of work" done has been a major occupation since last fall.)</div><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDqwR3Bdr9X6EHEY2LoH1rAhHtUX5732hU6L3TVr7OhPqEXe3Ek9ret-uFQvZSculTnSS2yd05TgUWYmdQUMgO_fkRzfiwxdni5pJXCi8KZGqWMrPkV9B3SGpi5GYNbTMtRkR1pgACIIP709YEJiArhz_pE6kQKj6yjwsEhTIZd7LbTKTTXnMFyw/s2448/IMG_20240205_142445_746.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDqwR3Bdr9X6EHEY2LoH1rAhHtUX5732hU6L3TVr7OhPqEXe3Ek9ret-uFQvZSculTnSS2yd05TgUWYmdQUMgO_fkRzfiwxdni5pJXCi8KZGqWMrPkV9B3SGpi5GYNbTMtRkR1pgACIIP709YEJiArhz_pE6kQKj6yjwsEhTIZd7LbTKTTXnMFyw/s320/IMG_20240205_142445_746.jpg" width="320" /></a><b><br /></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. What's something you loved to do as a child? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dig holes in the sand.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Look for books at the library.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Listen to tunes on my little record player.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>3. Something you learned from a grandparent? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My grandmother taught me that you are never too old or too young to enjoy reading. And marshmallow peanuts.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">4. The most visited cities in the world last year <a href="https://www.traveloffpath.com/these-are-the-10-most-visited-cities-in-the-world-right-now/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">(according to this site)</a> were-<i>Bangkok, Paris, London, Dubai, and Singapore.</i> 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? </b></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">None of the above, and no immediate plans to do so. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you want some imaginary virtual travel, though, you can </span><a href="https://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/p/betty-bunny-hops-again.html" style="font-family: inherit;">follow Betty Bunny around Rabbit Land</a></p><p style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgb5v6dlzP02PWl0U7q1TJGyTTgkDMZnMzRw1487Pq3nAYuQqQlFnBavLR8jjvmp3A1Uw6TG56ki_vk1-qTNLNqMHIVUTnIMyGhN7LTPBtcdPTNYOw2apeQiDnhYXMKRFqXVWDtC4q89NEB8C9RY6tgZ6V2IcqLu5htU5DH7O7UjMa5e8mfweX1A/s2210/IMG_20240205_143539_294.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2210" data-original-width="2210" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgb5v6dlzP02PWl0U7q1TJGyTTgkDMZnMzRw1487Pq3nAYuQqQlFnBavLR8jjvmp3A1Uw6TG56ki_vk1-qTNLNqMHIVUTnIMyGhN7LTPBtcdPTNYOw2apeQiDnhYXMKRFqXVWDtC4q89NEB8C9RY6tgZ6V2IcqLu5htU5DH7O7UjMa5e8mfweX1A/s320/IMG_20240205_143539_294.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">5. February is the perfect month to ______________________.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">--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.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFVAf32DFB7quBFUsYwLVmI7mXbOAdEE7hJN_qy-F_dRK_cY-UzS7kyuuyK3L4i_jLiglGRx9-5OrTvx7QdUpBPZE0l8tzRSuxvPjR3mvF6XDaRmdddAwtOS-1o37_L8YJzDzG8SNbJeU2c6mTdLQKxfm4gQ8CTnZ5fWkaEPpwPZxZgerXXHtHg/s200/DSC_0001.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="133" data-original-width="200" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFVAf32DFB7quBFUsYwLVmI7mXbOAdEE7hJN_qy-F_dRK_cY-UzS7kyuuyK3L4i_jLiglGRx9-5OrTvx7QdUpBPZE0l8tzRSuxvPjR3mvF6XDaRmdddAwtOS-1o37_L8YJzDzG8SNbJeU2c6mTdLQKxfm4gQ8CTnZ5fWkaEPpwPZxZgerXXHtHg/s1600/DSC_0001.JPG" width="200" /></a></span></p><p style="text-align: center;">(photo from an earlier blog-a-versary)</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Insert your own random thought here. </b></span></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA5N3yFDnXLwjLdydKu7jTMSzG6I8dUI6NW2gm8f3F_7zFLpstAczrAKa0z_2sqXD1hO-RtPtUKFWxzI4IKTXK7t1uWLrVpAY2Hby693oDBJ18RhTQfeVrSI1_hdt5PkY-YjAT-8g36xVeodbl1fdXdraeIrg4LNWD-2A8VQIHwKKiexJZId4RpA/s2205/IMG_20240129_090707_190.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2205" data-original-width="2205" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA5N3yFDnXLwjLdydKu7jTMSzG6I8dUI6NW2gm8f3F_7zFLpstAczrAKa0z_2sqXD1hO-RtPtUKFWxzI4IKTXK7t1uWLrVpAY2Hby693oDBJ18RhTQfeVrSI1_hdt5PkY-YjAT-8g36xVeodbl1fdXdraeIrg4LNWD-2A8VQIHwKKiexJZId4RpA/s320/IMG_20240129_090707_190.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">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.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">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.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2024/02/waiting-on-hodgepodge.html">Linked to the Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.</a></i></b></div></div></span><p></p><p></p></div></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-91893968513415032162024-02-02T14:39:00.005-05:002024-02-02T14:41:27.459-05:00Betty Bunny Hops Again<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPEmefg-n3sDsZsgJ8lEPOU9t8wpS6T64CGqWvdc1ZDR93tuJxKFAulZICrg8mMJLw3Dt0yW-kYo0xiaAFS2x78orPfppxcupu1LoA-iTSV1BYK2_wNhYzM2u1I6wTkXHVOWzzQf9JAA-da4dxwvEwlfr7KmemT9FB-1j-PeXYy3dHV5_fVYS1tA/s1923/IMG_20240202_100528_7~3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1797" data-original-width="1923" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPEmefg-n3sDsZsgJ8lEPOU9t8wpS6T64CGqWvdc1ZDR93tuJxKFAulZICrg8mMJLw3Dt0yW-kYo0xiaAFS2x78orPfppxcupu1LoA-iTSV1BYK2_wNhYzM2u1I6wTkXHVOWzzQf9JAA-da4dxwvEwlfr7KmemT9FB-1j-PeXYy3dHV5_fVYS1tA/s320/IMG_20240202_100528_7~3.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p><a href="https://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/2023/11/hoppy-holidays-clothes-post-with-rabbits.html">Betty Bunny</a> is planning another extended trip around Rabbit Land. Her latest science-fiction novel, <i>Waterspaceship Down</i>, 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.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-JUk2NxrgkZDG3OFv3y2okZ-3BVko-ahnon_5QqBSfMQfaDmpx5yVhJJ0ZcPBjbMSy42ZEyIBOEqsoKGl6NYjggWoros-fanRFPWO9pdRkgka4W9mCWqu8QdsWzekXcKkAMp0vec5Tc7WbNb0gwcNU3hwGB4f1z4k6bJ54DylFaxUsHILsPo47w/s2885/IMG_20240202_093743_1~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2885" data-original-width="2184" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-JUk2NxrgkZDG3OFv3y2okZ-3BVko-ahnon_5QqBSfMQfaDmpx5yVhJJ0ZcPBjbMSy42ZEyIBOEqsoKGl6NYjggWoros-fanRFPWO9pdRkgka4W9mCWqu8QdsWzekXcKkAMp0vec5Tc7WbNb0gwcNU3hwGB4f1z4k6bJ54DylFaxUsHILsPo47w/s320/IMG_20240202_093743_1~2.jpg" width="242" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Betty Bunny’s Wardrobe Inspirations</span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: 400; text-align: center;">Pottery earrings from a craft sale</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (sure, rabbits can wear earrings, why not?) </span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMSRoWyEkRtJNdCoPDLJwr3SA0kZq7s-0HbGaI93VopLZQ6lYrSM7C9DZOuWpGWJRh6-vRb0Fq1_NX8QQZIe1jP47_kTCl0CC77746Cyx_UgEpeEhi_NHXZ-SXNjZQsZgtwf0VhqzFvN8JcVK1EWS1f7SAIqandZfaD-ZVoh6aDNgUIlMBoev_HQ/s640/IMG_20231225_091704_204~2-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="640" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMSRoWyEkRtJNdCoPDLJwr3SA0kZq7s-0HbGaI93VopLZQ6lYrSM7C9DZOuWpGWJRh6-vRb0Fq1_NX8QQZIe1jP47_kTCl0CC77746Cyx_UgEpeEhi_NHXZ-SXNjZQsZgtwf0VhqzFvN8JcVK1EWS1f7SAIqandZfaD-ZVoh6aDNgUIlMBoev_HQ/w200-h185/IMG_20231225_091704_204~2-2.jpg" width="200" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span>Two scarves: one navy with pink and purple flowers and green leaves; one much lighter, but also floral.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhll0XRWgxWF5m5OQeTm6XO3JeWIKpOtliuoH8VpZ_q0vA4yAADk4jlftcyosO_JNHcMbShyphenhyphenVlWCLQmAx3yXq2BXVpQxjn8k64ZV2MhuFFOYtRILKmZ5ZQg9vjWyStH6i7ePvSQ2FvQzbkDz7XoGMXKDrqWz8SJqfJn7lFE5iyUdIeuCQQC_lkteQ/s3079/IMG_20240131_105316_970~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3079" data-original-width="2031" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhll0XRWgxWF5m5OQeTm6XO3JeWIKpOtliuoH8VpZ_q0vA4yAADk4jlftcyosO_JNHcMbShyphenhyphenVlWCLQmAx3yXq2BXVpQxjn8k64ZV2MhuFFOYtRILKmZ5ZQg9vjWyStH6i7ePvSQ2FvQzbkDz7XoGMXKDrqWz8SJqfJn7lFE5iyUdIeuCQQC_lkteQ/s320/IMG_20240131_105316_970~2.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/p/betty-bunny-hops-again.html">For the rest of this post, click here.</a></i></b></div><p></p>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-69055700687027449302023-12-20T18:20:00.002-05:002023-12-20T18:21:49.093-05:00The O Christmas Tea Hodgepodge<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #6e698f; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="From this Side of the Pond" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="273" /></a></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. Did you do more talking or more listening yesterday? Was it by choice or by necessity? </b></span><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Oh, that's right--when I first saw this question, I thought "I should pay attention to this today!" but then I forgot. So I'm not sure; I think it came out about even.<br /><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. Are you a tea drinker? Hot, cold, or both? Flavored? What do you like in your tea? Do you make Christmas tea this time of year? What time of day do you like to sip your tea? </b></span></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>I have a small collection of teapots, and I will drink tea when it seems the polite thing to do, but I actually like coffee better. So, pretty much no to the rest of the questions.<br /><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>3. What's an activity you won't try, an event you won't attend, or an athletic challenge you won't take part in not even for <i>'all the tea in China'</i>? </b></span></p><p>Anything involving the phrase "athletic challenge." </p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. What's something most people seem to love but is not '<i>your cup of tea</i>'? </b></span></p><p>Sushi.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. How does your family celebrate New Year's Eve? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">When our kids were younger, <a href="https://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/2006/01/new-years-time-by-ponytails.html">we used to do theme parties with them</a>. These days, my husband and I might watch an old movie, eat snacks, play a Christmas-gift card game, and somewhat ashamedly fall into bed sometime before 12.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Insert your own random thought here. </b></span></p><p>When we came into church the first week in December, we were each handed a broken piece of coloured glass (with a warning to be careful!). The message was that each of our lives resembles a fragment of a stained-glass window, made complete and brought together by God's hand. I kept forgetting to take that piece of glass out of my purse--but if you're expecting to hear that I cut myself and am going to carry the scar of that fragment on my hand forever, no, I did eventually give it a safe home on top of a vintage canning jar, where the light can be seen through both the clear glass lid and the almost-triangular green shard--which, I've noticed, is almost the shape of a Christmas tree. Maybe even the broken bits have meaning when we look close enough.</p><p><b><i><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2023/12/tea-and-hodgepodge.html">Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.</a></i></b></p></div></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-3842722227363914052023-12-06T19:25:00.001-05:002023-12-06T19:26:34.451-05:00Crank it Up for the Wednesday Hodgepodge<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #67cad9; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: left;"><img alt="From this Side of the Pond" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="273" /></a></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. What's one fun thing on your December calendar? </b></span><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Having a dessert party with our church group.<br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. Sherwin William's Color of the Year for 2024 is <a href="https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color-of-the-year-2024?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA67CrBhC1ARIsACKAa8QXpGxFPYOf8LK_uYKP8X6bNqG0cECoFbI3-4ADSYJlaHnPHrGcVhkaAqdXEALw_wcB" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Upward</a>, described as 'a hint of silver lining', 'a breezy blissful blue' (<a href="https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color-of-the-year-2024?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA67CrBhC1ARIsACKAa8QXpGxFPYOf8LK_uYKP8X6bNqG0cECoFbI3-4ADSYJlaHnPHrGcVhkaAqdXEALw_wcB" style="text-decoration-line: none;">see sample here)</a>. Benjamin Moore's Color of the Year for 2024 is<a href="https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color-of-the-year-2024?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA67CrBhC1ARIsACKAa8QXpGxFPYOf8LK_uYKP8X6bNqG0cECoFbI3-4ADSYJlaHnPHrGcVhkaAqdXEALw_wcB" style="text-decoration-line: none;"> Blue Nova,</a> where 'violet and blue come together in a sumptuous hue'. <a href="https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-colors/color-of-the-year-2024?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA67CrBhC1ARIsACKAa8Rf7frFBNPDZYzG91oYiNC3m5Toz2nV9CcUHDHFfHhmaYfVORrPTGMaAnHfEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds" style="text-decoration-line: none;">(see sample here</a>) Valspar's Color of the Year for 2024 is <a href="https://www.wvnstv.com/digital-desk/whats-trending/valspar-just-announced-its-color-of-the-year-for-2024/#:~:text=Valspar's%202024%20Color%20of%20the,relax%2C%20recharge%20or%20even%20entertain." style="text-decoration-line: none;">Renew Blue,</a> a balanced blue with a touch of grayed sea -green' (<a href="https://www.wvnstv.com/digital-desk/whats-trending/valspar-just-announced-its-color-of-the-year-for-2024/#:~:text=Valspar's%202024%20Color%20of%20the,relax%2C%20recharge%20or%20even%20entertain." style="text-decoration-line: none;">see sample here)</a>. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Seems like the design world is keen on the color blue for the new year. Do you have a lot of blue in your home decor currently? What shade? Of the three colors listed which one's your favorite? Do you need to paint? How likely is it you'd select one of these shades for your home? Which one? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Blue in my closet: yes, sure, fine.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Blue in our house? Hardly at all. As a GenXer, blue feels like too much of a throwback to the blue carpets etc etc etc of the 1980's. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>3. Do you struggle with 'the seasonal blues'? What are some things you do to try to beat the blues? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Listen to some different kinds of music, or at least Christmas music in a different style. Right now I have a "Christmas Around the World" CD playing that has a lot of South American rhythms and steel drums.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Turn on the star light in our living room window.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwQQ4tOwO5Wi8CBVmI_U0uOhJgriPmEe8lIR5Nftf-FTTxgMNs4Ue9b6R95k0meADxKZVw6c1x_CUGByV-o_1izfRYlAAmAYP0m8vNBsPoPXMg1-nulZT0790P-EhBPZlEKqvDXa4l4G2csPNSTRbAysR5EqTB9-V96y36XctE_e8kv5wFzZwWYQ/s2448/IMG_20231205_094438_570.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwQQ4tOwO5Wi8CBVmI_U0uOhJgriPmEe8lIR5Nftf-FTTxgMNs4Ue9b6R95k0meADxKZVw6c1x_CUGByV-o_1izfRYlAAmAYP0m8vNBsPoPXMg1-nulZT0790P-EhBPZlEKqvDXa4l4G2csPNSTRbAysR5EqTB9-V96y36XctE_e8kv5wFzZwWYQ/s320/IMG_20231205_094438_570.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. Blue jeans...love 'em or no? How many pair do you own? Are you married to a particular brand? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have two pairs, both thrifted. One pair are Levis, one are a brand nobody's ever heard of. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. In terms of holiday preparation (baking, shopping, wrapping, mailing, meal planning, etc) how far along are you? 1=haven't given it a second thought, 10=nothing left to do but wait. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Managed to address all the Christmas cards today plus make chocolate banana bread for the dessert party, so I'm feeling pretty 10 just at the minute.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Insert your own random thought here. </b></span></p><p>Instead of random thoughts, random shots?</p><p style="text-align: center;">New-to-me bookcase to hold art and poetry books</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yKhDXCD5H1LEln1pHLOiOrUZLD5FAAvkTm6PdwvfCSHMEW1jtDEPwqAJ4stu1H-yQN0ugMHYuWQbYheDi2XHuYzGyqsG12GNXECBQ2q9A1ggqgpzIoOy1mZxLRl0Trcc-rHAEMvSgrShAWj6sHxeftvUPbMzzsAz2Jxw5iUkbQacu2kCQgSNdA/s2448/IMG_20231130_205438_813.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yKhDXCD5H1LEln1pHLOiOrUZLD5FAAvkTm6PdwvfCSHMEW1jtDEPwqAJ4stu1H-yQN0ugMHYuWQbYheDi2XHuYzGyqsG12GNXECBQ2q9A1ggqgpzIoOy1mZxLRl0Trcc-rHAEMvSgrShAWj6sHxeftvUPbMzzsAz2Jxw5iUkbQacu2kCQgSNdA/s320/IMG_20231130_205438_813.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Advent wreath</div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuVjXSsMICYEwLfEj1rcwRxC5WY56jiaDDBKe8DlqTdWB7BsgM90xc_5u0gtjr2chYGVlAeNW0t8ZpGdhfO10YYwJa40PxbclzLaB7T5eCkW6YCsVHC-HLuPNLrW8oLSf4Ok7bOWLtNCL5chg6JaEDTTdnTEJ1p_zu8P7xp6DrzCLZfe_KORrpQw/s2399/IMG_20231202_165249_840.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2399" data-original-width="2399" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuVjXSsMICYEwLfEj1rcwRxC5WY56jiaDDBKe8DlqTdWB7BsgM90xc_5u0gtjr2chYGVlAeNW0t8ZpGdhfO10YYwJa40PxbclzLaB7T5eCkW6YCsVHC-HLuPNLrW8oLSf4Ok7bOWLtNCL5chg6JaEDTTdnTEJ1p_zu8P7xp6DrzCLZfe_KORrpQw/s320/IMG_20231202_165249_840.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Hand-crank coffee grinder we just bought</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxcKGvhkNyJo7cRllgk0HKdYK80xRBfUVTOmGGAoCVg1OWlhEAPrAvKZVB-Nh3bOgBehL9EvYrAYvfIyTbZHNPLnjuMAJACPVMkBEky9S6X9yiozStvqGxtrsHl97G_fkj6oo5z1u_3XKsCJDyxkcGwcSfxoBgzjEMxd51ejr1w3ETV-1LQOJZJA/s1873/IMG_20231204_150103_877~3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1873" data-original-width="1662" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxcKGvhkNyJo7cRllgk0HKdYK80xRBfUVTOmGGAoCVg1OWlhEAPrAvKZVB-Nh3bOgBehL9EvYrAYvfIyTbZHNPLnjuMAJACPVMkBEky9S6X9yiozStvqGxtrsHl97G_fkj6oo5z1u_3XKsCJDyxkcGwcSfxoBgzjEMxd51ejr1w3ETV-1LQOJZJA/s320/IMG_20231204_150103_877~3.jpg" width="284" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Euro-groceries for Christmas</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmEZwBwE5IMNYYh5agZQh15m8rJgwsAVxT1dUcvZ-6LGSklWnmG9WlVm8bivOAFHOEvWa9eVq1jpeBI9Z_ACjh83KBaMt3tuIb4oRwjtHaTLr28trvuszkwd59MCAdfjsazuJDCii99ee6IihLjnNzRFNudVSiRfkU94Nbn5ustoKcbkULUpUucQ/s2765/IMG_20231206_123545_051~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2420" data-original-width="2765" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmEZwBwE5IMNYYh5agZQh15m8rJgwsAVxT1dUcvZ-6LGSklWnmG9WlVm8bivOAFHOEvWa9eVq1jpeBI9Z_ACjh83KBaMt3tuIb4oRwjtHaTLr28trvuszkwd59MCAdfjsazuJDCii99ee6IihLjnNzRFNudVSiRfkU94Nbn5ustoKcbkULUpUucQ/s320/IMG_20231206_123545_051~2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Three-dollar box of iffy Christmas stuff from the thrift store</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Qpcf3qjNexpo3Zipi_IxdOsDpoP6WOiHI5gOkj272VXTLFljGO1MeltDbyeHmyComeDX0rqJv7_2SkU-w8arRQ4sRxU0RL8O1uAUKBE7M7glnk8QdwZjkM9I90ZGvW96QMISpFu06huTQovXCKRR67mDOKSGG22aoW_5lOLOZF7KxO4uYcLsjg/s1080/IMG_20231205_170542_067.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Qpcf3qjNexpo3Zipi_IxdOsDpoP6WOiHI5gOkj272VXTLFljGO1MeltDbyeHmyComeDX0rqJv7_2SkU-w8arRQ4sRxU0RL8O1uAUKBE7M7glnk8QdwZjkM9I90ZGvW96QMISpFu06huTQovXCKRR67mDOKSGG22aoW_5lOLOZF7KxO4uYcLsjg/s320/IMG_20231205_170542_067.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is what was actually in the box</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk5hJzbdgZ0vKsGaL1ewAFQ1WwmXritETAkZzOzIxHf2Y49-LK7f76ReyrnGpmyvVGufJws2d3nW8V5oclMZVkSu1TRvjxzoQCBthuf_eLBsyMGRBOXeBhqbdsyzo5APPMnrutWjlLsvFwNbwKh_ltp-iw1IGf5ZhU2fLZ9-hU_xaUdnFMtAr-Ig/s1080/IMG_20231205_170542_141.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk5hJzbdgZ0vKsGaL1ewAFQ1WwmXritETAkZzOzIxHf2Y49-LK7f76ReyrnGpmyvVGufJws2d3nW8V5oclMZVkSu1TRvjxzoQCBthuf_eLBsyMGRBOXeBhqbdsyzo5APPMnrutWjlLsvFwNbwKh_ltp-iw1IGf5ZhU2fLZ9-hU_xaUdnFMtAr-Ig/s320/IMG_20231205_170542_141.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And these are the candle rings and candles on our dinner table, looking quite festive and not at all blue.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYCLZf7GbTDdxHMVYAMYH9yFgPPzk29zJLfSftifXxzUJ8ffPKWmkR4YkFff9necL7w0dwyY-XmpEB_Eo9GWBqTyrxQhxwpBEvLHYRadKQrJVRWYNiUvf6zDOXOZDrOHIvP_F_8i12bRzNvS_kt3VDC7rDZ3eYFaaoMMr5rKaAF5KXvSuIwBnDIQ/s1080/IMG_20231205_170542_172.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYCLZf7GbTDdxHMVYAMYH9yFgPPzk29zJLfSftifXxzUJ8ffPKWmkR4YkFff9necL7w0dwyY-XmpEB_Eo9GWBqTyrxQhxwpBEvLHYRadKQrJVRWYNiUvf6zDOXOZDrOHIvP_F_8i12bRzNvS_kt3VDC7rDZ3eYFaaoMMr5rKaAF5KXvSuIwBnDIQ/s320/IMG_20231205_170542_172.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2023/12/the-hodgepodge-blues.html">Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.</a></i></b></div></span><p></p></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-82069908921595438952023-11-29T11:21:00.003-05:002023-11-29T11:23:57.213-05:00Time for a Wednesday Hodgepodge<p> <a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #67cad9; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><img alt="From this Side of the Pond" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="273" /></a></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. Does anybody really know what day it is? Last week we skipped the Hodgepodge and I just assumed this week would find us in December, but nope. Still November. Do you wear a watch? Use a paper calendar or strictly electronic? What's your favorite hour of the day? Why?</b></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Those are a lot of questions! Yes, I have a wristwatch, and I wear it whenever I think about it, but not as often as I used to. I don't use a paper calendar on the wall anymore, but I do have a planner book (bullet-journal style, more or less). </span></div><span style="font-size: 18px;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-size: 18px;">And sometimes it's sunny like sweet apple honey</span><br style="font-size: 18px;" /><span style="font-size: 18px;">I try to remember my name</span><br style="font-size: 18px;" /><span style="font-size: 18px;">Sometimes the sky is like blueberry pie</span><br style="font-size: 18px;" /><span style="font-size: 18px;">And my heart feels the same 'til</span><br style="font-size: 18px;" /><div><span style="font-size: 18px;">I just don't know what time it is... (song by Dennis Lee for Fraggle Rock episode "Wonder Mountain")</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div></blockquote><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. Tell us something about how you celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday. </b></span></p><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, it wasn't Thanksgiving here, but it was a day to keep thanking anyway, no matter what, and there were a few no matter whats. I had ordered a boxful of this and that to go in Christmas stockings, and the delivery service finally admitted they'd lost it. I was waiting for another package as well (different company, this one was <a href="https://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/2023/11/sun-snow-and-something-purple-update-to.html">a winter dress for me</a>), so that made me a bit antsy, wondering if it would come without problems or get lost as well. My husband had to go out of town for the afternoon, return time uncertain, so we agreed that whenever he did get back, we'd go to Swiss Chalet for chicken and fries. While I was getting changed to go out (because it was a date with my husband after all), there was a big hard bang on the door, and it was a delivery person putting something into the mailbox by the door, and it was the dress. Yay! Then I got a text that had gotten delayed (Be there in half an hour) and another one at the same time (Be there in five minutes). So I quickly pulled off what I was wearing, put the new dress on and didn't even take the tags out of the back, pulled on my coat and grabbed my purse as my husband was pulling in the driveway. (You can believe I was really careful with the dipping sauce that night.)</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><b style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">3. What's a sound you hate to hear? </span></b></div><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Paper jamming in printers.</span></span></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. Where do you not mind waiting? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">At the library!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. I really wish____________________________________. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The sky was blueberry pie. Today it's more like snowball special.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2023/11/its-hodgepodge-time.html">Linked from the Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.</a></i></b></span></p></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-48879314317106342612023-11-24T10:33:00.005-05:002023-12-25T21:28:21.049-05:00Sun, Snow, and Something Purple (An Update to Hoppy Holidays)<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWB-n-PHCWS_OGauYrW5m7u8tDoadmhRKXcbdtaPpUraLCnCjHHUp3Q09SpJPMT-lmnDpvW0p38NTLGITLbCS3ym3qzMXnyefZ2aTiixMPfmqBtTdvtg4d-eI5oUDh6Cj_pAdOlzCgNPguU-pmEGwgvAGqm_s5XB96Rxm2JC88TCO0gaDwJWTH8Q/s2469/IMG_20230805_132426_DRO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1959" data-original-width="2469" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWB-n-PHCWS_OGauYrW5m7u8tDoadmhRKXcbdtaPpUraLCnCjHHUp3Q09SpJPMT-lmnDpvW0p38NTLGITLbCS3ym3qzMXnyefZ2aTiixMPfmqBtTdvtg4d-eI5oUDh6Cj_pAdOlzCgNPguU-pmEGwgvAGqm_s5XB96Rxm2JC88TCO0gaDwJWTH8Q/s320/IMG_20230805_132426_DRO.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>"Snow Fantasy," by Lawren Harris (1917)</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi95xlRRFtEDfA5CA1SR6vfTKLWzYY3St8IXT9XB6TR7p8uUtQnvcXyYXr7KczgYldkw6mggEDoChBVbkblXmxpMO3qjR1Krowfe3n62GodT4JadARlyTuekyd61H1d_OQKRDGa_n46CD9yJ_r_6adMyaUtDIF-hN7CHlc21DhAePCHgsi0H87JXw/s1698/IMG_20231225_091704_204~2-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1569" data-original-width="1698" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi95xlRRFtEDfA5CA1SR6vfTKLWzYY3St8IXT9XB6TR7p8uUtQnvcXyYXr7KczgYldkw6mggEDoChBVbkblXmxpMO3qjR1Krowfe3n62GodT4JadARlyTuekyd61H1d_OQKRDGa_n46CD9yJ_r_6adMyaUtDIF-hN7CHlc21DhAePCHgsi0H87JXw/s320/IMG_20231225_091704_204~2-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Christmas update: porcelain earrings made by a local artist.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/2023/11/hoppy-holidays-clothes-post-with-rabbits.html" style="font-family: inherit;">On her adventures during the bunny holidays</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, Betty Bunny withstood the pressure to wear festive colours. But I'm not as grumpy as Betty, and sometimes I do want to mix some red or green into my pinks and blues and greys and purples. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGjidyJehkx6aumSokcACTjyAY7-dlR-eiHnrr1LyWaYhJ1Xm9GDn8xAK4rWwCPBNm6qUbCHxHeawvGU5hXxRJR8xVMPpJmQiV51SXFwdPgcxO9q6jqyfBFm_74A2Yc7hpLdOCRphYUy7vJuqtmrCpj3JOZHaxdWUo1EVeK07bK4HwXkkBpgM30g/s2044/20231124_101433.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1544" data-original-width="2044" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGjidyJehkx6aumSokcACTjyAY7-dlR-eiHnrr1LyWaYhJ1Xm9GDn8xAK4rWwCPBNm6qUbCHxHeawvGU5hXxRJR8xVMPpJmQiV51SXFwdPgcxO9q6jqyfBFm_74A2Yc7hpLdOCRphYUy7vJuqtmrCpj3JOZHaxdWUo1EVeK07bK4HwXkkBpgM30g/s320/20231124_101433.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How to do that without looking like I got dressed in the dark?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>To slide things even more into the non-traditional, I recently bought a </span><a href="https://duffielddesign.ca/products/sterling-sweater-dress-fw23" style="font-family: inherit;">purple bamboo-blend fleece dress from Duffield Design</a><span>, and I want to get as much wear as I can from it over the winter.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhrXvIHDRD_O7waiLPEvs6uky0m57llj_D3rNkXMgFjfOaCQ8JJwBNkPtEruNVmYDrKGWMP9e-pEyUj1amg-iLvsQ58nCxOttt5Bbh8xP5vovsQRVt84iSkhs4j_OTcbBz27aJQ07T_kTSuNYetMMx8ekfVRf9C4KEj23xu1USy4D2H8SFaZ9l6w/s2002/20231124_083515.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2002" data-original-width="1078" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhrXvIHDRD_O7waiLPEvs6uky0m57llj_D3rNkXMgFjfOaCQ8JJwBNkPtEruNVmYDrKGWMP9e-pEyUj1amg-iLvsQ58nCxOttt5Bbh8xP5vovsQRVt84iSkhs4j_OTcbBz27aJQ07T_kTSuNYetMMx8ekfVRf9C4KEj23xu1USy4D2H8SFaZ9l6w/s320/20231124_083515.jpg" width="172" /></a></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Janice at </span><a href="https://www.theviviennefiles.com/" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">The Vivienne Files</a><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"> has pointed out that, if you have a red sweater and a pink sweater, or tops in different shades of green, you're probably not going to be wearing them together anyway, so it's all fine. While there are things here that I won't be wearing at the same time (the burgundy skirt with the blue polka dot shirt), there are enough other ways to wear each of them to make this (mostly thrifted) December-January wardrobe work.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Let's start with Betty's 13-piece travel capsule. You can see more photos of these clothes </span><a href="https://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/2023/11/hoppy-holidays-clothes-post-with-rabbits.html" style="font-family: inherit;">in the earlier post</a><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Z3a7l1uffOg8B1lp0TlziIsmZg9Lf0d3ieDbPDWdIfqPpYTgqjqbopoI3dh4VH1uK3KucI9Ex_yboRzbwJda6yFEccUbncjQ3f_qfw5cxA9IJ0UBinA3acDPbBcVFFIq0ubJW9xHBWEMekS_fghz1kkjb3jPyEpb98-CrcPPyKIhDaAoIGoZhQ/s3264/IMG_20231103_142354_DRO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Z3a7l1uffOg8B1lp0TlziIsmZg9Lf0d3ieDbPDWdIfqPpYTgqjqbopoI3dh4VH1uK3KucI9Ex_yboRzbwJda6yFEccUbncjQ3f_qfw5cxA9IJ0UBinA3acDPbBcVFFIq0ubJW9xHBWEMekS_fghz1kkjb3jPyEpb98-CrcPPyKIhDaAoIGoZhQ/s320/IMG_20231103_142354_DRO.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Winter-white t-shirt, long sleeves</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lavender mock neck top</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Chambray shirt, blue with white polka dots</span><span> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Blue and white striped shirt</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dark blue merino wool cardigan </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Purple/pink pullover </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Navy turtleneck pullover </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dark grey pull-on pants </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Navy "office pants" </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Boot-cut blue jeans<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Navy ultrasuede skirt (upcycled) <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Grey Revolve dress [Switching this to the purple fleece dress]</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.kettlewellcolours.co.uk/blog/jo/styling-the-annie-wrap-dress"><span>French-grey wrap dress</span></a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitcL_lpWU_N7A6VBrrjcqkwSKEnjO_OrFXRb33ozECvju-1Kq-WQXmrUSgTKruqAUYuIRdngtdjlVH9sSSMIL2mnN8K6jmNtkzwYSu1W7WPb8ahGl_pFyzNfWUYIlygxrbRxFjogoGQO_zUVfjXA6hibI4VWejgnggzXaEmBvZqgr9xUXL8W1DUA/s320/dress.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="194" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitcL_lpWU_N7A6VBrrjcqkwSKEnjO_OrFXRb33ozECvju-1Kq-WQXmrUSgTKruqAUYuIRdngtdjlVH9sSSMIL2mnN8K6jmNtkzwYSu1W7WPb8ahGl_pFyzNfWUYIlygxrbRxFjogoGQO_zUVfjXA6hibI4VWejgnggzXaEmBvZqgr9xUXL8W1DUA/s1600/dress.jpg" width="194" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">If I were Betty, after hopping home from my travels, and seeing snow clouds overhead, I'd add in a few warm, casual pieces of clothing, including those corduroy pants that wouldn't fit in the suitcase. The travel wardrobe was a little short on t-shirts, so I'm including a couple of those along with a warm sweater.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>Light grey corduroy pants</span> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Navy Henley top, long sleeves. I wouldn't likely wear it with a skirt, but it would work with any of the pants.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Grey-blue ribbed cotton t-shirt, long sleeves. Ditto.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal">Grey zip-up hoodie (not shown)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Grey heavier pullover with kangaroo pockets. For those days when everywhere seems cold.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXd0dYlUrjCIIhpod735_U6Rzav2fqXQ9o8ac9M1L6C58DMVY_XCCWXMduDIemZnN14aRE0XZbRNSCTyWBqxghgFqocrq0rbIuMIkYQoB7OBJMR7eFhIftz26FGJY04LEtutipMHbWmgRSeKlRdeLDtJLYlzwBKcCu1m0_SFb7QNYDf42r51xTDg/s3111/20231119_134011.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3111" data-original-width="2179" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXd0dYlUrjCIIhpod735_U6Rzav2fqXQ9o8ac9M1L6C58DMVY_XCCWXMduDIemZnN14aRE0XZbRNSCTyWBqxghgFqocrq0rbIuMIkYQoB7OBJMR7eFhIftz26FGJY04LEtutipMHbWmgRSeKlRdeLDtJLYlzwBKcCu1m0_SFb7QNYDf42r51xTDg/s320/20231119_134011.jpg" width="224" /></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'd also want to make the most of the purple and pink pullover by adding this</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> pink sweater underneath it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="line-height: 15.6933px; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-oMAjyJEtpfb480NRcX34MN50Q1rsncq-AQlxXGbHo2dnGo0OOD4OGVD536Fl7O6gPjgsny7f9K511M6ZR4NFxD9XKOJSSvIPLnMW2BrDuZbraYJ-cPa5fYy3fBXeeeKTkfCoU7YyI64HgM9z4bPebo_KX9atOKgwbZlOtkbb7NKCWADMUn9_sA/s2732/20231119_133843.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2732" data-original-width="2049" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-oMAjyJEtpfb480NRcX34MN50Q1rsncq-AQlxXGbHo2dnGo0OOD4OGVD536Fl7O6gPjgsny7f9K511M6ZR4NFxD9XKOJSSvIPLnMW2BrDuZbraYJ-cPa5fYy3fBXeeeKTkfCoU7YyI64HgM9z4bPebo_KX9atOKgwbZlOtkbb7NKCWADMUn9_sA/w150-h200/20231119_133843.jpg" width="150" /></a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Other useful things:</b></p><p class="MsoNormal">Blue tank, dress length</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="line-height: 15.6933px; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Burgundy tank top</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Burgundy pleated midi skirt </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6zaw49oFW-4z0pjv0DkpuvFkEb0FA570DdazoBJ6BEUJW0AbPTg80b9Si08kWmNzaCHd2a0W16onHy5tAhyPxev5pv3uVKCAcxhgXAKHZkfMwSCr-UFiyoJaUKizX9i9LmeU_OR6L5cDnH9j8a9OA1q38CrO56c_eTC96o6M2V048MsZkM978ug/s2563/20231119_133858.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2416" data-original-width="2563" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6zaw49oFW-4z0pjv0DkpuvFkEb0FA570DdazoBJ6BEUJW0AbPTg80b9Si08kWmNzaCHd2a0W16onHy5tAhyPxev5pv3uVKCAcxhgXAKHZkfMwSCr-UFiyoJaUKizX9i9LmeU_OR6L5cDnH9j8a9OA1q38CrO56c_eTC96o6M2V048MsZkM978ug/s320/20231119_133858.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">The wrap dress can be tucked into a skirt to look like a blouse.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrT37gPEsj4RxDP3e302t7SpsDCvRblur7Zlp2zSLcxMgONlZUz_6Xo0dph39j2jmfyZhZVk5G672Ez3SgbcnGQik3UUzuEqiEi4blWGCoCLDXJd2vTycVEFpjsY3xidE1-Bh8D-XycYVCtb_wfrOj0vzB4aiTsr_rA-n4okJFZGoew86xaiGCQ/s2889/20231119_143511.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2889" data-original-width="1386" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnrT37gPEsj4RxDP3e302t7SpsDCvRblur7Zlp2zSLcxMgONlZUz_6Xo0dph39j2jmfyZhZVk5G672Ez3SgbcnGQik3UUzuEqiEi4blWGCoCLDXJd2vTycVEFpjsY3xidE1-Bh8D-XycYVCtb_wfrOj0vzB4aiTsr_rA-n4okJFZGoew86xaiGCQ/s320/20231119_143511.jpg" width="154" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">The burgundy skirt also works with this d</span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="line-height: 15.6933px; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span>ark red silk-cotton cardigan</span></span>. </span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">So, there's my dressy-red outfit, for whatever festivities might require it.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuVQTtz9Ps8YKXksK_v1t0UBUvHJwiwS0npaS-CFUZjqxzwM3Fe3E4DdiHS3mMmiWWyoL3fkmzqUVY56dKnfu3Z5-dS-kWeiHAoqmqszA19C42uK-D0Kf5Ofw1diTn7PHVh-DokN2qlI2fuMnIbcJ0r-HXb0QHuJ0MTzxYz4YhysZi-0_trtLbpg/s3234/20231116_125209.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3234" data-original-width="1819" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuVQTtz9Ps8YKXksK_v1t0UBUvHJwiwS0npaS-CFUZjqxzwM3Fe3E4DdiHS3mMmiWWyoL3fkmzqUVY56dKnfu3Z5-dS-kWeiHAoqmqszA19C42uK-D0Kf5Ofw1diTn7PHVh-DokN2qlI2fuMnIbcJ0r-HXb0QHuJ0MTzxYz4YhysZi-0_trtLbpg/w180-h320/20231116_125209.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Finally, I have a not-as-dressy red leather vest that generally comes out around Christmas time. I'd consider wearing it with navy or winter-white tops, the chambray shirt, or possibly on top of the grey pullover; so that's probably enough to keep it in business.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p6oLDvs_ktM/X7V5TwZaIYI/AAAAAAAAbeQ/GN1iJRn0ZzsGu077FFay-T2vTaO6-YC1ACNcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_20201118_132148.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p6oLDvs_ktM/X7V5TwZaIYI/AAAAAAAAbeQ/GN1iJRn0ZzsGu077FFay-T2vTaO6-YC1ACNcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_20201118_132148.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Total clothing items: 25 (including the new dress)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Accessories</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgPn33iOswZeNjTlprtt08Wqdb5TmdYq1IgP2BUkd996YW5mBYAanykhu5Mw-dEfPO1gmm0AQ8LypoUqI5EhI9TPL8g2CSYAU-J5u30v65KYniqFAT5W9pizvdkdFFZo3rLskJZSCV-bEUpkJUrKwBHw0QsrGGsqJSz9QWmmIUoPSmk06toaU1KA/s2795/20231119_150937.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1495" data-original-width="2795" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgPn33iOswZeNjTlprtt08Wqdb5TmdYq1IgP2BUkd996YW5mBYAanykhu5Mw-dEfPO1gmm0AQ8LypoUqI5EhI9TPL8g2CSYAU-J5u30v65KYniqFAT5W9pizvdkdFFZo3rLskJZSCV-bEUpkJUrKwBHw0QsrGGsqJSz9QWmmIUoPSmk06toaU1KA/s320/20231119_150937.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9uWUCBkwUjkerRFvjx5F4vfIS9u005sfW1KYKO1f9I9K-pRbf-ByIPbwtPeo6WUPmtk8UDSKZwUNB1FD3MBmOmtPMHjRulVV78_YFualm8bv9XsoT0RMBnLISsaLzUYp1Do7-uyDd_0y3P02Q5Lz2sA6Sora7ag8xGlFa-6HFPXrCEaH8jsfQAQ/s2167/IMG_20231119_145258_DRO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1769" data-original-width="2167" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9uWUCBkwUjkerRFvjx5F4vfIS9u005sfW1KYKO1f9I9K-pRbf-ByIPbwtPeo6WUPmtk8UDSKZwUNB1FD3MBmOmtPMHjRulVV78_YFualm8bv9XsoT0RMBnLISsaLzUYp1Do7-uyDd_0y3P02Q5Lz2sA6Sora7ag8xGlFa-6HFPXrCEaH8jsfQAQ/s320/IMG_20231119_145258_DRO.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfyYVaVDN1_IAeYRKZ9HvA-HZSvQA5RPSLRHp3o6XAHkAf5s_xTLDpqHSTqzU6t9x4ChIlADUd4pRO8fVMYT5YWhFbaPK01WWVKssWDMAxG_OVPBExyel_gr3Do9hbAoycQFt7lhPb8CTvTj0SHK_lUvrVgAj4v4FE77N1GWc9IsjWVKoEqXOrXQ/s2178/20231119_151101.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1464" data-original-width="2178" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfyYVaVDN1_IAeYRKZ9HvA-HZSvQA5RPSLRHp3o6XAHkAf5s_xTLDpqHSTqzU6t9x4ChIlADUd4pRO8fVMYT5YWhFbaPK01WWVKssWDMAxG_OVPBExyel_gr3Do9hbAoycQFt7lhPb8CTvTj0SHK_lUvrVgAj4v4FE77N1GWc9IsjWVKoEqXOrXQ/s320/20231119_151101.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4B4yFnGe4e2Rn9Nnop6n1AacRm7ghZObDywiydJYdAYggoEnpkHxFtJz3USXpQIIFY1Y6iOQt0OeJfysZudJr_4a8rEroo6bPxvH2xP0Ch0rDXmSylvDdwSzqotu1k37PRzGZ1AA5AChUM4a-RBONXznC3X7Q-gBpLrAsLGobqNFTT-hdOzWEpg/s1993/20231119_151035.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1626" data-original-width="1993" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4B4yFnGe4e2Rn9Nnop6n1AacRm7ghZObDywiydJYdAYggoEnpkHxFtJz3USXpQIIFY1Y6iOQt0OeJfysZudJr_4a8rEroo6bPxvH2xP0Ch0rDXmSylvDdwSzqotu1k37PRzGZ1AA5AChUM4a-RBONXznC3X7Q-gBpLrAsLGobqNFTT-hdOzWEpg/s320/20231119_151035.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIEZ4DWTL9j8SUejWUWAvA1-ut1S5gMPzUixVpOULR20E8tbkYbwguF6JznoRteIA-AfiH5SLtMS1blaUfz0k1fCsVwoPMgBTRjo_9VJ9QKSM1opX9wOprMKJu3YDuiEiB97hTD47sJdw13Bmy3UgFPCIQUepzQgSDoleEfZvKnah11vskkOmbeA/s2815/20231119_150751.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2051" data-original-width="2815" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIEZ4DWTL9j8SUejWUWAvA1-ut1S5gMPzUixVpOULR20E8tbkYbwguF6JznoRteIA-AfiH5SLtMS1blaUfz0k1fCsVwoPMgBTRjo_9VJ9QKSM1opX9wOprMKJu3YDuiEiB97hTD47sJdw13Bmy3UgFPCIQUepzQgSDoleEfZvKnah11vskkOmbeA/w400-h291/20231119_150751.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr4GoYtCWFVeq2CLI4beoSk_wJw-gqb_y-rmCUf4YiwxCvSsMQCjWUgQ8OZFxv98sdVK1-NG4xJUiMJLUpmkPUBK1UKFXkjAMXYhWXoTueCDn93W9ZEyPv8auNtS-IcXYlJXwaHcrTT-6MTWyAn2_bOXH1Q0h23ywFKaA80eZJe4KgAXQPeQcicA/s1632/20231119_150405.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1632" data-original-width="1587" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr4GoYtCWFVeq2CLI4beoSk_wJw-gqb_y-rmCUf4YiwxCvSsMQCjWUgQ8OZFxv98sdVK1-NG4xJUiMJLUpmkPUBK1UKFXkjAMXYhWXoTueCDn93W9ZEyPv8auNtS-IcXYlJXwaHcrTT-6MTWyAn2_bOXH1Q0h23ywFKaA80eZJe4KgAXQPeQcicA/s320/20231119_150405.jpg" width="311" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Outfits, Casual and Otherwise</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiYMCqeEAuHTZ5ScR4sIpINrH94hN0iJcdjFCmqOZ0ZG2YuVW6IHPx1zC6Ry0JytzcdDFFqShZpq8-4Y3X1FVH6YRQMPawZZpJUUiXTgiVheursKLpT_i4jOAoqqwleDekFJJa6ZRtsVYVVCZEQtF9BnTLm7lUc3qIxfocqtfxXjP-eQY2JizOg/s2985/20231124_092425.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2985" data-original-width="2239" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiYMCqeEAuHTZ5ScR4sIpINrH94hN0iJcdjFCmqOZ0ZG2YuVW6IHPx1zC6Ry0JytzcdDFFqShZpq8-4Y3X1FVH6YRQMPawZZpJUUiXTgiVheursKLpT_i4jOAoqqwleDekFJJa6ZRtsVYVVCZEQtF9BnTLm7lUc3qIxfocqtfxXjP-eQY2JizOg/s320/20231124_092425.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmuCNKghX7zOaOnsmr6GpRxlXO1JFKpT2TLCpg_pE1o7GHtosCLb1A4h1KE9BRzItjCdYjM18GsE_ZUBeu-FFof8f0G3kj406uPUu4b4SzdqfT8GyqFnkDYwhKsiJaurl9kaXL8Qeb2XZlO6LIzMRTHP5JXehjYiy7LiaGjGm4QRZIBrfZh6lXkQ/s3153/20231124_093026.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3153" data-original-width="2224" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmuCNKghX7zOaOnsmr6GpRxlXO1JFKpT2TLCpg_pE1o7GHtosCLb1A4h1KE9BRzItjCdYjM18GsE_ZUBeu-FFof8f0G3kj406uPUu4b4SzdqfT8GyqFnkDYwhKsiJaurl9kaXL8Qeb2XZlO6LIzMRTHP5JXehjYiy7LiaGjGm4QRZIBrfZh6lXkQ/s320/20231124_093026.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinmELEcnSbwpctLhgQkzTXI9tBo26cf0CU-atCPbBPuiBXh-m76kzPVDMHnPKv_JVv5PFRA8-wi_fxBI-WCFBnbJ0Yzaa91mY5bxxpM3Bp47b7Wtc2JT8EUy_nAEuPGg5KUG4nLDW_3jayiTOIXks0fNodEoCcnAz4NIHWFvDmnwTMqv7V_vkZvw/s2920/20231124_092505.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiotkBGAYVcKWY7ouxTpAIhYGlP_X5QD8f6YGanduqoqB7CFFpEPkBMmMba7Ez5Ff9EAQaSq4TQO8p_itPR-L827ptHeF3ClVKvHMcjbsifHpUstz-caOBr2qH80i0Kwarn6tAYKraJS69xqQX2ddkgIFyOGhzZ-vxpzW4bJF7tBBqeh4oXcYKzEg/s2985/20231124_092859.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2985" data-original-width="2052" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiotkBGAYVcKWY7ouxTpAIhYGlP_X5QD8f6YGanduqoqB7CFFpEPkBMmMba7Ez5Ff9EAQaSq4TQO8p_itPR-L827ptHeF3ClVKvHMcjbsifHpUstz-caOBr2qH80i0Kwarn6tAYKraJS69xqQX2ddkgIFyOGhzZ-vxpzW4bJF7tBBqeh4oXcYKzEg/s320/20231124_092859.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMONx-ttzDDRhEB0VFcHojuWavZqWtvDPDo9eB09_vYEf5a5Fj9Vmr4MyLowPwOC6pZMo3Hu3_0BCelQ3iA12g2VtT9t2Pf-vtcDiCIC77DRX8K4VrO9qNAxZuQH2kPygVc_l6H43nyISg5d3hcbOyQM3VCjk7KVg-2VicaMFTk2xlfuJAXRolPQ/s3052/20231124_101403.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3052" data-original-width="2233" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMONx-ttzDDRhEB0VFcHojuWavZqWtvDPDo9eB09_vYEf5a5Fj9Vmr4MyLowPwOC6pZMo3Hu3_0BCelQ3iA12g2VtT9t2Pf-vtcDiCIC77DRX8K4VrO9qNAxZuQH2kPygVc_l6H43nyISg5d3hcbOyQM3VCjk7KVg-2VicaMFTk2xlfuJAXRolPQ/s320/20231124_101403.jpg" width="234" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i>Happy Holidays!</i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><b>Last updated November 24, 2023</b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>(A technical apology for the colour of some of these photos--it's snowing today, and the light isn't great even near the window. Somewhat appropriate for the theme, I guess.)</i></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-26080866738993710992023-11-04T10:03:00.005-05:002023-11-07T10:46:42.359-05:00Hoppy Holidays (A Clothes Post with Rabbits)<div style="text-align: center;">The holidays are coming. Can you tell how excited Betty Bunny is? </div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGNljSfT2RkapxJqAmABsnvQZG9Pq0lPCCW3wg-GftWyNwzlr6CCBkvWheIUFiW-oX3gB02D6c5lOVXuEKVCMgOmyeW8ROE0xpnEmQdldX6GMq34XOLLslaQ2ThilKrF7oK_qK-WVkTN8o437oogwlVIfZMDfVttQMDClaVhzDGTqhZLN9Bd8I-A/s1842/20231103_134727.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1776" data-original-width="1842" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGNljSfT2RkapxJqAmABsnvQZG9Pq0lPCCW3wg-GftWyNwzlr6CCBkvWheIUFiW-oX3gB02D6c5lOVXuEKVCMgOmyeW8ROE0xpnEmQdldX6GMq34XOLLslaQ2ThilKrF7oK_qK-WVkTN8o437oogwlVIfZMDfVttQMDClaVhzDGTqhZLN9Bd8I-A/s320/20231103_134727.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">She makes a large pot of tea and contemplates the next few weeks.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvaawG6Gbpu7qN96TalYOsYnaNjLZbhybHn_O2wrNctF09AbZD7ChUiCTXcFDVYNc8adZq-8gzDjwzkZMSeN2dWbaY04tzWcQfSK9X_e2NpEQz1zD4qNKcPhEbPlY6N1hHJqQZULXo2mteE5duZeZjp-7GHTqz6BjeHClkt3yrr0_PoZIZEy2czA/s2870/IMG_20231103_141114_DRO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2208" data-original-width="2870" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvaawG6Gbpu7qN96TalYOsYnaNjLZbhybHn_O2wrNctF09AbZD7ChUiCTXcFDVYNc8adZq-8gzDjwzkZMSeN2dWbaY04tzWcQfSK9X_e2NpEQz1zD4qNKcPhEbPlY6N1hHJqQZULXo2mteE5duZeZjp-7GHTqz6BjeHClkt3yrr0_PoZIZEy2czA/s320/IMG_20231103_141114_DRO.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Her bunny family is rather scattered, so she will be making a roundabout trip to see them all.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here is her travel outfit: navy pants, a striped shirt, and her brightest pullover sweater.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Z3a7l1uffOg8B1lp0TlziIsmZg9Lf0d3ieDbPDWdIfqPpYTgqjqbopoI3dh4VH1uK3KucI9Ex_yboRzbwJda6yFEccUbncjQ3f_qfw5cxA9IJ0UBinA3acDPbBcVFFIq0ubJW9xHBWEMekS_fghz1kkjb3jPyEpb98-CrcPPyKIhDaAoIGoZhQ/s3264/IMG_20231103_142354_DRO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Z3a7l1uffOg8B1lp0TlziIsmZg9Lf0d3ieDbPDWdIfqPpYTgqjqbopoI3dh4VH1uK3KucI9Ex_yboRzbwJda6yFEccUbncjQ3f_qfw5cxA9IJ0UBinA3acDPbBcVFFIq0ubJW9xHBWEMekS_fghz1kkjb3jPyEpb98-CrcPPyKIhDaAoIGoZhQ/s320/IMG_20231103_142354_DRO.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">What's in her suitcase? She's going for a Whatever's Clean Thirteen, so she decides to limit it to ten pieces of clothing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A dark blue cardigan that goes with the shirt and pants.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVA67kcUL6k4b2bEmSFXJ3zhLgvLPV5GLzjy-kln3PHOUlIx54ZjDBE2Y_dDi3VwPbkSOH42fJYvb0GB0NGCVXbHL8JDzD_BHD1bEx6ayAJOjBZYs_MYBgejCMPD6wod5Upa9F7wRvFYwLG66qdwt3RZbooTOsqA9LId0rCjPqb1voyU3IO7F4ig/s3264/IMG_20231103_142612_DRO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVA67kcUL6k4b2bEmSFXJ3zhLgvLPV5GLzjy-kln3PHOUlIx54ZjDBE2Y_dDi3VwPbkSOH42fJYvb0GB0NGCVXbHL8JDzD_BHD1bEx6ayAJOjBZYs_MYBgejCMPD6wod5Upa9F7wRvFYwLG66qdwt3RZbooTOsqA9LId0rCjPqb1voyU3IO7F4ig/s320/IMG_20231103_142612_DRO.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A turtleneck top that goes with everything else.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTNdsUSg_wXteBsnBqMug8KrmqDFKZw-qLIvUd78u7NOg1unUnc4HS6xpWozusncm_qcWDjF_gShsgSswiOgEqkRZc2yjwhZd0fR30aGCgkGtXRgqHCURTsrIY5vmogwhXSBysCvUE31FRbpRtpxauVeMMEZAIbujbSYyerzYPuDJmmUQlFgP3A/s3074/20231103_150413.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3074" data-original-width="2326" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTNdsUSg_wXteBsnBqMug8KrmqDFKZw-qLIvUd78u7NOg1unUnc4HS6xpWozusncm_qcWDjF_gShsgSswiOgEqkRZc2yjwhZd0fR30aGCgkGtXRgqHCURTsrIY5vmogwhXSBysCvUE31FRbpRtpxauVeMMEZAIbujbSYyerzYPuDJmmUQlFgP3A/s320/20231103_150413.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">An extra shirt and a pair of jeans</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3E3_xi51zKoJAq8R4AGxxaXZnXvL-moFxwmeKXYmgpmL2jH_JyJfZhBV8RsU8VP8QY4aZVNwOVcIa4cxenRFjeqe7LLF-PqJqEmMbLw8YiRfUM3ZaKOAWLX1KREzzKDeDiG_incCcEzQfZlItJT_plBKGtYh1eGTVmQukmPRSi9WDRORtmaYuw/s3195/20231103_150248.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3195" data-original-width="2243" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3E3_xi51zKoJAq8R4AGxxaXZnXvL-moFxwmeKXYmgpmL2jH_JyJfZhBV8RsU8VP8QY4aZVNwOVcIa4cxenRFjeqe7LLF-PqJqEmMbLw8YiRfUM3ZaKOAWLX1KREzzKDeDiG_incCcEzQfZlItJT_plBKGtYh1eGTVmQukmPRSi9WDRORtmaYuw/s320/20231103_150248.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A winter-white t-shirt. She considers adding a pair of light-grey cords. Will they go with enough of the dark blue/navy things? Well, maybe not with everything, but they are pretty useful, so she decides yes for now. If her suitcase won't close, she'll leave them behind.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSILJGIJfcSga525Lrx2JcD959O7ci8ZBYMEZlQbE11-Xi38pQdL8HCSi94yH-1IR6GAj18x5xC9v0Bf0vkIrUopnqoKz5ctMbw6kNi1I5qAXipsq2amfzJ8xdu8OITAmo9bkHKbsrjDbTHz1CKkmw-cE3UgKCxwavij7VRZBFEXfO8TVSD6oDGA/s3109/20231103_150215.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3109" data-original-width="2332" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSILJGIJfcSga525Lrx2JcD959O7ci8ZBYMEZlQbE11-Xi38pQdL8HCSi94yH-1IR6GAj18x5xC9v0Bf0vkIrUopnqoKz5ctMbw6kNi1I5qAXipsq2amfzJ8xdu8OITAmo9bkHKbsrjDbTHz1CKkmw-cE3UgKCxwavij7VRZBFEXfO8TVSD6oDGA/s320/20231103_150215.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">She adds a navy turtleneck sweater, plus a skirt that goes well with it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfx7WWPtBELuG2LsLyHJceNz7rp1vlIomeMgUSSAdZhzy3bYG9SlxugBk2Ib1a86wdLtgvMuN9tqkEJ2Pa1F9XNwTlN_jGCiNUBcnujiBUYBYsBPlE_Tc116OjCM_gNbROoFDe8YF3ezoWJwAzSgxmzExrWIBC7TcHNkNkymBP9tzfQk-uE0X_Qg/s3264/20231103_150335.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2147" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfx7WWPtBELuG2LsLyHJceNz7rp1vlIomeMgUSSAdZhzy3bYG9SlxugBk2Ib1a86wdLtgvMuN9tqkEJ2Pa1F9XNwTlN_jGCiNUBcnujiBUYBYsBPlE_Tc116OjCM_gNbROoFDe8YF3ezoWJwAzSgxmzExrWIBC7TcHNkNkymBP9tzfQk-uE0X_Qg/s320/20231103_150335.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">She thinks hard about the last two spots in her bag. She doesn't really want another sweater. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmmT6MlHCiZr1chB1ZGdzS6PQ9kwTKqbbwL4I-ewIdyYRb-ZMlX2BeTvUyqKCX4EzBdJAB_hjQ9FzTh_pzMdfrwsoVJJK4C3Nhw1IJ58kvoIzuwui0tNkDI0RXrXCWVe_PRSTXSIXZeqMsETsVNZQrylOsYIYF1ttFbax5rTPrQ8q7lg5seGa6Q/s2653/20231103_150309.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2415" data-original-width="2653" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmmT6MlHCiZr1chB1ZGdzS6PQ9kwTKqbbwL4I-ewIdyYRb-ZMlX2BeTvUyqKCX4EzBdJAB_hjQ9FzTh_pzMdfrwsoVJJK4C3Nhw1IJ58kvoIzuwui0tNkDI0RXrXCWVe_PRSTXSIXZeqMsETsVNZQrylOsYIYF1ttFbax5rTPrQ8q7lg5seGa6Q/s320/20231103_150309.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">She does like this striped t-shirt, but she has a feeling she might need something a little dressier for adult-bunny festivities. In a flash of inspiration, she decides to pack her blue-grey wrap dress, which can be worn open like a cardigan or tied closed on its own. And also her darker grey <a href="https://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/2016/10/a-little-grey-dress-review-of-revolve.html">Revolve dress</a>, which was made to be worn as a top or a tunic as well. And since she's feeling so buoyantly bunny brilliant, she treats herself to an extra piece of clothing that won't take up too much room: charcoal-grey knit pants that can make an outfit with the Revolve dress.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxVGnrNqnvSw61_Wy_2uQPkX1YGathcCDEvNiojjAOHTYI2PuoUcGXxJg7j6Qi0YMOVbKkaGN7L7YiKJJrpbCTpJ0YJ8CXuadJD_fPYmmgtOK95yFztOy4K_DQud0m4MUTozDZJu53ejCOUHCBXScIWIEXB3ToDyPHEd-BNkm-vG4SfYrqMmLzg/s3257/20231103_154713.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3257" data-original-width="1979" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxVGnrNqnvSw61_Wy_2uQPkX1YGathcCDEvNiojjAOHTYI2PuoUcGXxJg7j6Qi0YMOVbKkaGN7L7YiKJJrpbCTpJ0YJ8CXuadJD_fPYmmgtOK95yFztOy4K_DQud0m4MUTozDZJu53ejCOUHCBXScIWIEXB3ToDyPHEd-BNkm-vG4SfYrqMmLzg/s320/20231103_154713.jpg" width="194" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">She also doesn't skimp on accessories. Some bunnies might be expecting her to wear holiday colours, like lettuce green and carrot orange. She's having none of that, but she can be festive in her own somewhat snarky Betty Bunny way.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So Betty sets off on the BunnyTrak train, with her bag of clothes and shoes and scarves, and gifts for the multitudinous cotton-tailed relatives.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Her first stop is to see Cousin Rosa and her little boy Bongo. She is rather glad that she will be staying there only one night, as they are a little noisy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0kf6rcnMEtLs8Crtn-ER6y6thZL5jN1tstPp33FOdQ0sCJ0rBktdhytuKyIqcYn-IdbLVjBtWjPdWqkZnsdzbdlQU5hrL-JDUxE7lIggh7vJRPjnuvYCNAnu3E24yOodUwNPWbljhJc4-BoTqdVLACpLGE0ir6O9NuLIy0JRHnrroeCq_bJlrnw/s2011/20231103_134529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1923" data-original-width="2011" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0kf6rcnMEtLs8Crtn-ER6y6thZL5jN1tstPp33FOdQ0sCJ0rBktdhytuKyIqcYn-IdbLVjBtWjPdWqkZnsdzbdlQU5hrL-JDUxE7lIggh7vJRPjnuvYCNAnu3E24yOodUwNPWbljhJc4-BoTqdVLACpLGE0ir6O9NuLIy0JRHnrroeCq_bJlrnw/s320/20231103_134529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The next day she arrives at the home of Cousin Tom, who is very busy this time of year nailing up wreaths on burrow doors.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHnQ6RWjaiHMDgc3aopcOCB5CpYYKZm_NlRb7Sx05Qc7mmv9XzCrr-guYcxy-JABr60x5UAXTIE2e5NTEiimx9MoE4Fyfpo2OzTkRaOF3UnLsG34ZFy_-iEbAOS3G6Khy73EEWjUdrPlsKujrlMZ6asB-67wuq3hA402FIH7wIdW8pnxnrGAHhVA/s1996/20231103_134457.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1996" data-original-width="1704" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHnQ6RWjaiHMDgc3aopcOCB5CpYYKZm_NlRb7Sx05Qc7mmv9XzCrr-guYcxy-JABr60x5UAXTIE2e5NTEiimx9MoE4Fyfpo2OzTkRaOF3UnLsG34ZFy_-iEbAOS3G6Khy73EEWjUdrPlsKujrlMZ6asB-67wuq3hA402FIH7wIdW8pnxnrGAHhVA/s320/20231103_134457.jpg" width="273" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In fact, he has an emergency callout while she is there. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"You won't mind staying here with the twins, will you?" </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"No, not at all."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">"They'll probably just nap all afternoon."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvD12JrpyxPiKcGMC_oIozRaurgBria6U8Rx_M1wJrZZUTuqAKsgVP5LHtKocadCPFIkxn5t0DwJBTh8E4YVE4CcPtWg8ydescecuqGT0QfgwbHbgCMwkfP-DD3YjHWfWKkQ9YVX1TW8JZrJIhfAODl8Lyc2nwyQ19bglISRr9y6Cwj0n5djESyg/s2165/20231103_134225.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1866" data-original-width="2165" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvD12JrpyxPiKcGMC_oIozRaurgBria6U8Rx_M1wJrZZUTuqAKsgVP5LHtKocadCPFIkxn5t0DwJBTh8E4YVE4CcPtWg8ydescecuqGT0QfgwbHbgCMwkfP-DD3YjHWfWKkQ9YVX1TW8JZrJIhfAODl8Lyc2nwyQ19bglISRr9y6Cwj0n5djESyg/s320/20231103_134225.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">More like twenty minutes. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj94ceIG_OV-xl_21KN6yNqomti5vYMzfZEhd7PPubwQK69A7eTotTiKPCvTZynSA00ima98_432LnwhHkgdEqb2dMPmB9InUhsnAkO7JLfeVufHa08j9svFL58KxIxH89PQWYL1bpEcbzsHN59RzqLgDQG19qz1vOlZY-8pyC15yBJ3zM3AtCcog/s2128/20231104_085502.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2051" data-original-width="2128" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj94ceIG_OV-xl_21KN6yNqomti5vYMzfZEhd7PPubwQK69A7eTotTiKPCvTZynSA00ima98_432LnwhHkgdEqb2dMPmB9InUhsnAkO7JLfeVufHa08j9svFL58KxIxH89PQWYL1bpEcbzsHN59RzqLgDQG19qz1vOlZY-8pyC15yBJ3zM3AtCcog/s320/20231104_085502.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Betty is glad she brought along an outfit that can survive paint, juice, peanut butter, and ketchup.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPujMXFW6yMFrcEXmw3mRKuBsASRb3tA-PzRV9JSGcCv-2WZTO5FaSCHXe3uwGyu5ASRoHt6edUbqW6hU5JtalUjDQ0leeM2zxi6tT2nCeH_Ldp7ZMKPGDfBVAtP08fwXZLA1A5rqs3hEO5GFtcSDwP11qwd1EPuhylHx6ynAN-C9P7NSEPHJaNg/s3034/20231104_094358.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3034" data-original-width="2239" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPujMXFW6yMFrcEXmw3mRKuBsASRb3tA-PzRV9JSGcCv-2WZTO5FaSCHXe3uwGyu5ASRoHt6edUbqW6hU5JtalUjDQ0leeM2zxi6tT2nCeH_Ldp7ZMKPGDfBVAtP08fwXZLA1A5rqs3hEO5GFtcSDwP11qwd1EPuhylHx6ynAN-C9P7NSEPHJaNg/s320/20231104_094358.jpg" width="236" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">But she Is happy to change into something else when some other relatives drop in after dinner.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMkHOgnGDhFemhmukC5XhEZHX3HcwZKxInEvoQis1s-Bos8PLjMldp3RjHFIapQKds0yQfI2YRValIHTG5mIrZe1pfFojmYLgVhs-KJ8cWmu3WjIYkXvMIFELewPp1deLHZjAirrd7iVucckve8w9FZiJ4mGCtjWBjiGQCggYBsgLTrvERdqMG_w/s2092/20231103_134334.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1605" data-original-width="2092" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMkHOgnGDhFemhmukC5XhEZHX3HcwZKxInEvoQis1s-Bos8PLjMldp3RjHFIapQKds0yQfI2YRValIHTG5mIrZe1pfFojmYLgVhs-KJ8cWmu3WjIYkXvMIFELewPp1deLHZjAirrd7iVucckve8w9FZiJ4mGCtjWBjiGQCggYBsgLTrvERdqMG_w/s320/20231103_134334.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0XmawhtyaIKaeOQbfl_1D5eVQjpgc8J1GgHSXj9MAGCoc-3hgAY-MAmD1y1HAwROp0mKELe0A_b0B5HqwCiGtM-m25wS1iM53qL9_uXIC4isT_3thMZqnL8Abs60ePWveD3G4PiD9iqGe5Sbip4bQWpksGijH_eoqnMg72W7Vm5cs7AzdLMhXIw/s3216/20231104_094300.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3216" data-original-width="2251" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0XmawhtyaIKaeOQbfl_1D5eVQjpgc8J1GgHSXj9MAGCoc-3hgAY-MAmD1y1HAwROp0mKELe0A_b0B5HqwCiGtM-m25wS1iM53qL9_uXIC4isT_3thMZqnL8Abs60ePWveD3G4PiD9iqGe5Sbip4bQWpksGijH_eoqnMg72W7Vm5cs7AzdLMhXIw/s320/20231104_094300.jpg" width="224" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgax6K8g0LKc6F8P2CMt_mfxbs0LmNT4TJx6HkSzNqZqnC1bOzCG4BF8gnxHcHIT-Bep7SIKx8SVX1t1Bx3cFELdnjSVdMXnOvxWzLHlT5ZHvme_Vn_kWBWGpL2wlPok79uEGm_PTcfdr53tEt2XtrEATQd06s0AgiT4-5_kui6j8XQ9LrGztXoIg/s2087/20231104_094146.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1774" data-original-width="2087" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgax6K8g0LKc6F8P2CMt_mfxbs0LmNT4TJx6HkSzNqZqnC1bOzCG4BF8gnxHcHIT-Bep7SIKx8SVX1t1Bx3cFELdnjSVdMXnOvxWzLHlT5ZHvme_Vn_kWBWGpL2wlPok79uEGm_PTcfdr53tEt2XtrEATQd06s0AgiT4-5_kui6j8XQ9LrGztXoIg/s320/20231104_094146.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Betty's next stop is the town of Hooten Holler, where she plans to attend the annual holiday concert. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWFDSDLNpvOKNo2IJBHFB0nM33tfJrqpzqtb9jzFExEhzjL0VadHKQNFEyUwMMlWveVGUJph0_jubDdewqwaoN3xybEEaavhVUKJRzEYHUGmW6RdZ2votV1SJHROIsqNL0MoKWxQqgd1lNwneoPNyW1YImYPvWPKQ5vtngDT-NMxMrzt7Rlgi5A/s3199/20231104_104139.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3199" data-original-width="2326" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWFDSDLNpvOKNo2IJBHFB0nM33tfJrqpzqtb9jzFExEhzjL0VadHKQNFEyUwMMlWveVGUJph0_jubDdewqwaoN3xybEEaavhVUKJRzEYHUGmW6RdZ2votV1SJHROIsqNL0MoKWxQqgd1lNwneoPNyW1YImYPvWPKQ5vtngDT-NMxMrzt7Rlgi5A/s320/20231104_104139.jpg" width="233" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Two of her nieces, Clara and Maud, are performing a duet.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Veb-W796WiH6RHDl2rw0Q4jJxqoUoRq7DvWLT9KVUSDvlKbERaHJ1O7iygCm3e20gE7qKeRsas6-15S0E3km5p1zVvGYLHXSG_XPifpxIiz1idA5Pam4HHMoZpLsfksSC_wD6tlDVrJ73NsWo5Gm9Sm5UUrvDwNUYFN8Dzac-Atwo1DjlPtToQ/s2451/IMG_20231103_130403_DRO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1948" data-original-width="2451" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Veb-W796WiH6RHDl2rw0Q4jJxqoUoRq7DvWLT9KVUSDvlKbERaHJ1O7iygCm3e20gE7qKeRsas6-15S0E3km5p1zVvGYLHXSG_XPifpxIiz1idA5Pam4HHMoZpLsfksSC_wD6tlDVrJ73NsWo5Gm9Sm5UUrvDwNUYFN8Dzac-Atwo1DjlPtToQ/s320/IMG_20231103_130403_DRO.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">After the concert, her friend Lucy Pocket invites her to stop by for carrot cider and cinnabunny rolls. Unfortunately, young Maud has had a bit too much cider and insists on doing several more encores.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQly5wiKWGJggHKgi57S1QUcR9r5hietTqnDroybH45Y34JC7tMFq6qbPKypbqGg-3iEkBnaMif1s7PuyFV_ENaRo38efIue7dmSBGIHE0NnGXlH1iobNPh27szhdTDR_5xTmy8NKqediSC7JANrQjiSEG_vhP5P3E0zBfywsTSXUZUOnjH7nvQ/s2549/20231103_134512.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2011" data-original-width="2549" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQly5wiKWGJggHKgi57S1QUcR9r5hietTqnDroybH45Y34JC7tMFq6qbPKypbqGg-3iEkBnaMif1s7PuyFV_ENaRo38efIue7dmSBGIHE0NnGXlH1iobNPh27szhdTDR_5xTmy8NKqediSC7JANrQjiSEG_vhP5P3E0zBfywsTSXUZUOnjH7nvQ/s320/20231103_134512.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">But she eventually calms down.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMrXQqRyOF1sLM1dYSMtv1f1hiKhk5G-DbfKD2ubLCYInTt-wvSxSxHVreC9WYAn7ee7iemfq47Bva79aXGb9DKiChfcCNYQ8Skm7IyB4v0cVJyudsjO5emmVUGm6wen3qgEdzbJq8IbLI-1u5cP8KS4EWiK0VaR-PFxm2wwODOBFs4fxRWMowTg/s2062/20231103_183313.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1436" data-original-width="2062" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMrXQqRyOF1sLM1dYSMtv1f1hiKhk5G-DbfKD2ubLCYInTt-wvSxSxHVreC9WYAn7ee7iemfq47Bva79aXGb9DKiChfcCNYQ8Skm7IyB4v0cVJyudsjO5emmVUGm6wen3qgEdzbJq8IbLI-1u5cP8KS4EWiK0VaR-PFxm2wwODOBFs4fxRWMowTg/s320/20231103_183313.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The next morning, Betty and Lucy go out for brunch with a couple of other old friends.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0eEtJ3oAou4FlBJ0FjEHm69E71i8Vh-yg5KkmyoZKLINZHDAW0fMN5XKtmLY3J9BxUeEj6nai3eCJZcoH1zTRlgrNGRvkpquP6lS6B6xFoYECA6f6B9euJxD4AvQzJJB_Z0W5iAW6q12gfVwMCiDZr11NvyfzRijlcHaBqmGddlrGJt64EYPGLw/s2501/20231103_185854.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1922" data-original-width="2501" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0eEtJ3oAou4FlBJ0FjEHm69E71i8Vh-yg5KkmyoZKLINZHDAW0fMN5XKtmLY3J9BxUeEj6nai3eCJZcoH1zTRlgrNGRvkpquP6lS6B6xFoYECA6f6B9euJxD4AvQzJJB_Z0W5iAW6q12gfVwMCiDZr11NvyfzRijlcHaBqmGddlrGJt64EYPGLw/s320/20231103_185854.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4vimZpUhnKZcuAPhffydzl37dbnowE_OhlNgeFyOs2jXm0StREarrPwxsIhmGAaM5GHHwEY94ZRw8GZOGJZrNe-R-_ppse96cns6KsR4yLdysk5TxDG4G7e9RxMKNsJXu7Ld-47p2p3sU110JrTDXR5B_rJwOdmDhDaIxhXh0traMZc2L50KcaA/s2988/20231104_103932.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2988" data-original-width="1975" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4vimZpUhnKZcuAPhffydzl37dbnowE_OhlNgeFyOs2jXm0StREarrPwxsIhmGAaM5GHHwEY94ZRw8GZOGJZrNe-R-_ppse96cns6KsR4yLdysk5TxDG4G7e9RxMKNsJXu7Ld-47p2p3sU110JrTDXR5B_rJwOdmDhDaIxhXh0traMZc2L50KcaA/s320/20231104_103932.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1tCh4nhNgCkr_nFF9xa6pXuKmZZ-bX6suD8al0ppLaL4ot0xNgVcUno0EcvHIAKUutifORkUyXXR4UHrNK-7tizCAA94wY5RLPt14N4CzgVbf8C6QnCUzKACj0gg0c9_vgYma4VXxdF4Hb6NhOEzfTzviE8E_e7fEc8J8RyLaD1Fl3Qc9H0JGtA/s2254/20231104_104010.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2254" data-original-width="2227" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1tCh4nhNgCkr_nFF9xa6pXuKmZZ-bX6suD8al0ppLaL4ot0xNgVcUno0EcvHIAKUutifORkUyXXR4UHrNK-7tizCAA94wY5RLPt14N4CzgVbf8C6QnCUzKACj0gg0c9_vgYma4VXxdF4Hb6NhOEzfTzviE8E_e7fEc8J8RyLaD1Fl3Qc9H0JGtA/s320/20231104_104010.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Betty then catches a Bunny Airways flight to visit her brother Robert, whose passions are table tennis, model rocketry, and cave hiking. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-yisEJEoits_h3NhwjBaI9Ma0JKIAuagVXB-8bjaR4iqvZDN6TCq9Gk5mlqi4dtmVqhLpbweObd5b39uvMstyu8y9k4mD6zVegpwQO4Qet5iimfhgpHyTmz8njGS_ui-dUr5396tmviIy1M8wKa-uyy-QD-uKXf3nkbVAXCTGK4MfAyPwzgfaVQ/s1959/20231103_134604.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1959" data-original-width="1731" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-yisEJEoits_h3NhwjBaI9Ma0JKIAuagVXB-8bjaR4iqvZDN6TCq9Gk5mlqi4dtmVqhLpbweObd5b39uvMstyu8y9k4mD6zVegpwQO4Qet5iimfhgpHyTmz8njGS_ui-dUr5396tmviIy1M8wKa-uyy-QD-uKXf3nkbVAXCTGK4MfAyPwzgfaVQ/s320/20231103_134604.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">When Betty visits Robert, she dresses for adventure.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPVznophRr9DNTNqlvXqi7rF8rwscSbMPBcMIZV_rJY7NROBxXtXy4a5HVRIfmEwHtIStqhjwpuCs0LgQsdkTZnil882yS8b3Lp3FPHp7KcJSfaa_KLwGAJ220EVPqn9oV4iqbbiRd4CrsnD9SYg-nEbyxqUQYYvnqQgTSah2mHE_VO11l9ta_Pw/s3050/20231104_104031.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3050" data-original-width="2110" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPVznophRr9DNTNqlvXqi7rF8rwscSbMPBcMIZV_rJY7NROBxXtXy4a5HVRIfmEwHtIStqhjwpuCs0LgQsdkTZnil882yS8b3Lp3FPHp7KcJSfaa_KLwGAJ220EVPqn9oV4iqbbiRd4CrsnD9SYg-nEbyxqUQYYvnqQgTSah2mHE_VO11l9ta_Pw/s320/20231104_104031.jpg" width="221" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Betty's final stop is Granny Babbit's burrow, where a great number of bunnies, old and young, are gathering for the annual Run-From-the-Fox-Night Fireworks Party and Swap Hop. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidocmhLs2gmhEMc3CINGQ35Wf3teWjEu0r68fXIWyx4we8L8hj4jmnlYvwPV9XBk9qc3nyMrDGZUpFQyYj84_6IihqjjDiQ_r1AouBrf9OEsczjUsTbYw7xi-XxsyzQnweErvanWeC9_0nTv5pbjmWaGAET4mbhDGOY9KVSV_jFOZVQZEuDkRHqg/s2857/20231104_103851.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2857" data-original-width="1798" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidocmhLs2gmhEMc3CINGQ35Wf3teWjEu0r68fXIWyx4we8L8hj4jmnlYvwPV9XBk9qc3nyMrDGZUpFQyYj84_6IihqjjDiQ_r1AouBrf9OEsczjUsTbYw7xi-XxsyzQnweErvanWeC9_0nTv5pbjmWaGAET4mbhDGOY9KVSV_jFOZVQZEuDkRHqg/s320/20231104_103851.jpg" width="201" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoCooMimywNJxrA-VNcUSwbrhWlTYQDL5llaNVgN2qUXuiprWnSJRTkYq4Mw-8VB0fnFc9c_BrZbArYzpYzKNeY4nVoDpvUr4pzGXkGlRTD9W2VMlIwLvkvYKppsZMLA7cE4wjdiLzgaA-QA4Ctp-_-Z_nSwnSkKgxC5aJwXtct0xNzji2SouQiA/s1942/20231104_103825.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1942" data-original-width="1395" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoCooMimywNJxrA-VNcUSwbrhWlTYQDL5llaNVgN2qUXuiprWnSJRTkYq4Mw-8VB0fnFc9c_BrZbArYzpYzKNeY4nVoDpvUr4pzGXkGlRTD9W2VMlIwLvkvYKppsZMLA7cE4wjdiLzgaA-QA4Ctp-_-Z_nSwnSkKgxC5aJwXtct0xNzji2SouQiA/s320/20231104_103825.jpg" width="230" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">There are so many relatives there that she ends up sharing a bed with a couple of the young cousins, who have trouble getting to sleep because of all the excitement. She has to sing them some lullabunnies.</span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7h4xiousf9L_BWJRXQ-nc4w93kiLOfV08tYS1JzEI0VfgAdFflqZZDPGXPVtzlrGgFqYnB_k6TcHBYTsqfufCCIYZrbTTfic3KyRDUUIAw0pnfEUUYwuSBJsRtn5hkqGQPQX2mSpeW-slvQFyxcA_A3TnTIkNwS9PG0PG1tYKg1MGrdpV8GOvcA/s3022/20231103_182546.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2021" data-original-width="3022" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7h4xiousf9L_BWJRXQ-nc4w93kiLOfV08tYS1JzEI0VfgAdFflqZZDPGXPVtzlrGgFqYnB_k6TcHBYTsqfufCCIYZrbTTfic3KyRDUUIAw0pnfEUUYwuSBJsRtn5hkqGQPQX2mSpeW-slvQFyxcA_A3TnTIkNwS9PG0PG1tYKg1MGrdpV8GOvcA/s320/20231103_182546.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The next morning she pulls on whatever-is-still-clean and hops home. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpG8v2XM4N0TEdFP-SugzA3xI_vUdWyGAY6rioKvhvSD9ZPsWU3SjM2OOaj_4xNA5aHQmWUsE_rbbZUQkLJfQK-jGDzWsMWXNbETrpsP3OZX4AK21bleoJ1E2PJHl3RdRTa6SM9JizPd5fR2fHvPnKxvjZ0Dzvj2Kz9B78l_gBMmTF13xHSvHv5Q/s2732/20231104_104253.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2732" data-original-width="1771" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpG8v2XM4N0TEdFP-SugzA3xI_vUdWyGAY6rioKvhvSD9ZPsWU3SjM2OOaj_4xNA5aHQmWUsE_rbbZUQkLJfQK-jGDzWsMWXNbETrpsP3OZX4AK21bleoJ1E2PJHl3RdRTa6SM9JizPd5fR2fHvPnKxvjZ0Dzvj2Kz9B78l_gBMmTF13xHSvHv5Q/s320/20231104_104253.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">She did bring back some interesting things from the white-elephant gift swap.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br style="text-align: left;" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixxJia4G3KjQEEiOVSrcuQH6Zc8tVyHn1wL65o-LmG4g2_TcWXTwS6_FYZSNB6XQ7G5GL-R4g6yaNVafwdOvCnw6lHFA_M5mZuIvvE9naWu2K6GZ20vvA1dqo8RNx6ytVIdylRXooU_PUkKmY90_kyzcNhYIWmwvoBSYyEClpODEX95rLNJGPc9A/s2142/20231104_085627.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1895" data-original-width="2142" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixxJia4G3KjQEEiOVSrcuQH6Zc8tVyHn1wL65o-LmG4g2_TcWXTwS6_FYZSNB6XQ7G5GL-R4g6yaNVafwdOvCnw6lHFA_M5mZuIvvE9naWu2K6GZ20vvA1dqo8RNx6ytVIdylRXooU_PUkKmY90_kyzcNhYIWmwvoBSYyEClpODEX95rLNJGPc9A/s320/20231104_085627.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But now she has to write a bazillion thank-you notes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAhmjFAkLGUB7RmlIqh2I8YHv387tVD2ae-yVP9fRijaUyAnBHZ6ZxYKDHnchgcrFvkgWn5Ab3FzIQVO97rfjBymljhqAAj5mNPFS47TJJFk1ueVmrnHPh0hEDMqNIfi6nhml5kd5JZ8UytAFEqe9VD5RQorC6Q5JLDvyWewXivhOsZmOu6aiBdA/s1931/20231104_085554.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1743" data-original-width="1931" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAhmjFAkLGUB7RmlIqh2I8YHv387tVD2ae-yVP9fRijaUyAnBHZ6ZxYKDHnchgcrFvkgWn5Ab3FzIQVO97rfjBymljhqAAj5mNPFS47TJJFk1ueVmrnHPh0hEDMqNIfi6nhml5kd5JZ8UytAFEqe9VD5RQorC6Q5JLDvyWewXivhOsZmOu6aiBdA/s320/20231104_085554.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">She's not coming out again until spring.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>NOTE: Most of the rabbits are vintage <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendelfin">Pendelfin</a>, and their names are as given by the makers. "Betty" is actually "Boswell," maybe because of the writing desk, but I think she's more of a "Betty."</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>The travel wardrobe ideas are adapted from <a href="https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2022/11/building-a-cool-weather-wardrobe-1-garment-at-a-time.html/">this post</a> and <a href="https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2022/11/accessorizing-adding-to-a-navy-green-yellow-wardrobe.html/">this one</a> on The Vivienne Files.</i></div></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-44709213292088613222023-10-25T12:18:00.002-05:002023-10-26T09:31:47.411-05:00The Art of the Wednesday Hodgepodge<p><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><b><img alt="From this Side of the Pond" data-image-enhancer="larger than third of 578" data-original="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" data-pre-sourced="yes" data-sourced="yes" data-src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" id="image1" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" style="border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(239, 239, 239); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: none; margin-bottom: 0rem; margin-left: 0rem; margin-top: 3rem; max-width: 580px;" /></b></span></a></p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. October 25th is International Artists Day...do you have a favorite artist? If so tell us who and why. </b></span></span><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Fun question. It varies, but I seem to be drawn to Canadian artists, or those (like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Lismer">Arthur Lismer</a>) who were born somewhere else but became part of the Canadian art tapestry. </div><div><br /></div><div>I am working on learning to like some of the more abstract painters like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Rothko">Mark Rothko</a>. Not even contemporary, I know, but I'm still catching up.<br /><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem;"></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. Would you describe yourself as artistic? Elaborate. </b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Can I draw or paint? Not worth a nickel. Some years I have made rather nice collage-style Christmas cards, though.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>3. What's a skill, task, hobby, or job you've done so often you now have it 'down to a fine art'? </b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Folding our laundry Marie Kondo style. I've been doing that now for five years, so, yes, it takes a lot less thought than it did at the beginning.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. How often do you dine out? Fast food, fine dining, or somewhere in between? Tell us about a less than stellar restaurant experience you've had recently (<i style="box-sizing: border-box;">or not so recently if that's easier</i>). </b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I had a Filet-O-Fish on the weekend, does that count as dining out? </span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We go out for Chinese food or Swiss Chalet when we need a break from our own cooking. Familiar rather than fancy.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. Do you celebrate Halloween? To what extent? Are there trick or treaters where you live? </b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem;">Barely, to all of those. We bought a box of mini Coffee Crisps and Smartie packs to have on hand, but we'll probably end up eating them ourselves.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Insert your own random thought here. </b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Russ Ramsey (author of <i>Rembrandt is in the Wind</i>) writes about the disadvantages of working with marble: "it often has veins of impurities, it stains easily, it erodes when exposed to acidic rain, it is inflexible. You cannot add back to marble once you make a mistake." (Instagram post today) And yet...sculptors have used it for centuries, sometimes to make the most beautiful sculptures ever. Something about it challenges them, draws them to ignore or work around all those disadvantages because of what they can envision it becoming. Maybe like the way God sees human beings.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2023/10/the-art-of-hodgepodge.html">Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond</a></i></b></span></p></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-85185619069150103802023-10-18T12:34:00.005-05:002023-10-18T12:36:17.234-05:00Wednesday Hodgepodge With a Sprinkle of Ginger<p><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><b><img alt="From this Side of the Pond" data-image-enhancer="larger than third of 578" data-original="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" data-pre-sourced="yes" data-sourced="yes" data-src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" id="image1" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" style="border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(239, 239, 239); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; float: none; margin-bottom: 0rem; margin-left: 0rem; margin-top: 3rem; max-width: 580px; text-align: left;" /></b></span></a></p><span style="background-color: white;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">1. What's something small you tend to sweat even though you know you shouldn't? </b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Trying to answer the first question on a Wednesday Hodgepodge.</span></div></span><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem;"></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. October 17th is National Pasta Day...do you like pasta? What's your favorite? Cooked at home or eaten in your favorite <span class="ppM3hMPXji51X6W_yfYp InlineEntity InlineEntityWrapper UhasLk_20S5Du1FekOfM ttd9OnxwNDCiFtsXMqqf" role="button" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; position: relative;" tabindex="0"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Italian </span></span>restaurant? How often do you make/eat pasta? </b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ooh, yeah, pasta. Did you know Canadians tend to say pasta with a very short a, as in, he pasta me the bowl of spaghetti? Apparently it's a Canadianism that most of us don't notice until someone from the U.S. points it out to us. Also "drama."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This year we have been extra fond of Greek spaghetti, both homemade and at a local diner.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>3. Do you consider yourself a spontaneous person? Explain. </b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">More so than most people would probably give me credit for. I am up for a certain amount of "let's drop everything and go." Spice of life, right? But I like routine and order too.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. Who are some of your heroes? Tell us why. </b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Demosthenes, Publicola, and Timoleon. I like history.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. Let's wrap it up with something light...Taylor Swift...are you a fan? On a scale of 1-10 how much so? (1=who's Taylor?, 10=a true Swiftie, seen her in concert more than once). If you're a fan what's your favorite T. Swift song? </b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. Sorry, daughters.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Insert your own random thought here. </b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm having a busy couple of weeks, as I published a book, my colleagues and I published a book, and this weekend is an annual retreat where we all get to talk about books (and insects, and Canadian art, and other things). I took time out to make a batch of pumpkin bread, because pumpkin and ginger really say "fall" to me.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; margin-top: 1.5rem; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34pqK4CZ4bkwT4WnB978TrLZK9ydz9wNN4-0sI7am6T6KGoica0Rhwg5Im9aX6yWCKJlF7wqKGty_4-bY6T7St8MpueUoh2650Pc4ylQ5E4QTWssqoe_PsiWDeyF23kiK62wv2zE04kNU-yo1fIF0T_Eu8_qo6brhw_vYJg2Yvg9I8H7kS4RcJA/s640/thumbnail.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="640" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34pqK4CZ4bkwT4WnB978TrLZK9ydz9wNN4-0sI7am6T6KGoica0Rhwg5Im9aX6yWCKJlF7wqKGty_4-bY6T7St8MpueUoh2650Pc4ylQ5E4QTWssqoe_PsiWDeyF23kiK62wv2zE04kNU-yo1fIF0T_Eu8_qo6brhw_vYJg2Yvg9I8H7kS4RcJA/s320/thumbnail.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2023/10/speak-now-hodgepodgers.html">Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.</a></i></b></span></div><p></p>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-61280580116672686182023-10-04T17:33:00.009-05:002023-10-04T17:36:31.911-05:00Wednesday Spicepodge<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back (click the graphic) to add your link to the party. See you there! </span></p><p></p><div class="from-this-side-of-the-pond-button" style="margin: 0px auto; width: 273px;"><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><b><img alt="From this Side of the Pond" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="273" /></b></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. What's something that scares you? </b></span><div><b><br /></b></div><div>The big serious things? not going there right now.</div><div><br /></div><div>Small and silly ones? Mice. I do not think they're nice.<br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. Do you care where the food you eat comes from? To what degree? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Right now I care more about managing to keep it on the table at all. We do buy local produce when we can.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRPYEV5SSR0Oej33flajxyAdMU4G_YaX_mSCxV43nsqbbeLH-mTA1q3w_jFiQAQPacaYq6-JbRUqjsjWCcJi-To6Z5uUkpnLCDPFFYl3BnArGYKgMo0WPIARcALC9uKH2fozvXuRV5qPc-mnzLExCWVMHjPU59s02kSP7hOonNXiH9Feww4Gwq-g/s2842/IMG_20230922_163429_DRO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2191" data-original-width="2842" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRPYEV5SSR0Oej33flajxyAdMU4G_YaX_mSCxV43nsqbbeLH-mTA1q3w_jFiQAQPacaYq6-JbRUqjsjWCcJi-To6Z5uUkpnLCDPFFYl3BnArGYKgMo0WPIARcALC9uKH2fozvXuRV5qPc-mnzLExCWVMHjPU59s02kSP7hOonNXiH9Feww4Gwq-g/s320/IMG_20230922_163429_DRO.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>3. What's something you wish you'd spent more time doing when you were younger? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's hard to go back and think "if I had done this," because if it had changed my life dramatically, I might have missed out on other things that have happened.</span></p><p>But definitely less time spent watching T.V., more time talking to real people and finding out their stories.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLRdnTNlCCp2UBDu1Nusg-obLi9Tc12mtjYbln2bZVrGcD4-eDzGLA9KIkOB1kwBSdVMnr-_xfrbD33xvohB95qUMC9IBWfPTyquj483BWnXkOfsCX5mrTSc6HbCGoyc4ulByRs66WBAPKDmlT1HbGUaISXZf9HOZTFhzmR9jtoV5JCjDJ_KiMcA/s3215/IMG_20231003_114626_DRO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2418" data-original-width="3215" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLRdnTNlCCp2UBDu1Nusg-obLi9Tc12mtjYbln2bZVrGcD4-eDzGLA9KIkOB1kwBSdVMnr-_xfrbD33xvohB95qUMC9IBWfPTyquj483BWnXkOfsCX5mrTSc6HbCGoyc4ulByRs66WBAPKDmlT1HbGUaISXZf9HOZTFhzmR9jtoV5JCjDJ_KiMcA/s320/IMG_20231003_114626_DRO.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. Let's play autumn this or that....pumpkin spice or apple cider? Corn maze or haunted house? Horror film or Hallmark movie? Blanket or sweatshirt? Watch football or watch the World Series? Foliage-red, yellow or orange? </b></span></p><p>Cider, yes, and all colours of leaves. The rest of the list, no real opinion.</p><p>I don't buy fake pumpkin-spicy things, but I do <a href="https://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/2006/10/two-pumpkin-recipes-yes-pie-recipe.html">bake with pumpkin and spices</a>, if that makes sense.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKIBxoWKrCURauYwQFy1Qwn2FC8F33qpmLptiHrtYygoE_bqXFJEZnnXQ22bVYA4k6EBADeADJeKd9o91f2obzUOvCs4cuLN9VyhkBmoX1DpmKKWMTv1k28k-rhfxOoFJHlKK5vKgThcGO4oEtPcXSSE2nIj2eqAOeqzIW66lC-aPFCZhmwptaNg/s2950/IMG_20231003_120614_DRO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2257" data-original-width="2950" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKIBxoWKrCURauYwQFy1Qwn2FC8F33qpmLptiHrtYygoE_bqXFJEZnnXQ22bVYA4k6EBADeADJeKd9o91f2obzUOvCs4cuLN9VyhkBmoX1DpmKKWMTv1k28k-rhfxOoFJHlKK5vKgThcGO4oEtPcXSSE2nIj2eqAOeqzIW66lC-aPFCZhmwptaNg/s320/IMG_20231003_120614_DRO.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. This time last year where were you and what were you doing? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pretty much the same as this year: getting ready for a fall retreat on Lake Erie, trying to salvage the last of our parsley from malevolent squirrels, and going to the flea market when we can.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Insert your own random thought here. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I saw a video this week about a family who were able to pack and move out of their rented (furnished) place in one day (three car trips), thanks to their already-minimalistic mindset. What was more troubling was the reason they had to move at all: somebody at the rental office apparently made a clerical error that couldn't be undone (didn't renew their lease). I also just finished reading <i>The Watchmaker's Daughter</i> by Larry Loftis, a new biography of Corrie ten Boom. If you don't know or have forgotten, she was released from a WWII concentration camp due to a clerical error. Clerical errors may have been responsible for more good and bad events in this world than we will probably ever know.</span></p><p><b><i><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2023/10/a-cup-of-pumpkin-spice-hodgepodge.html">Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.</a></i></b></p><p></p></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-34618034340693264502023-09-06T10:07:00.004-05:002023-09-06T10:09:26.929-05:00Booking My Wednesday Hodgepodge<div class="from-this-side-of-the-pond-button" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin: 0px auto; width: 273px;"><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #6e698f; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="From this Side of the Pond" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="273" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. It's National Read A Book Day...whatcha' reading? What's a book you <i>want</i> to read? </b></span><div><b><br /></b></div><div>What I'm reading: an older biography of British-Canadian painter Arthur Lismer. Slightly dated in style, as you might expect, but very interesting, especially about which artists influenced him (Constable, Van Gogh), and also his first impressions of Canada just before WWI.</div><div><br /></div><div>Something I want to read? The Good Thief, by Leo Furey.<br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. Which is better...having high expectations or low expectations? Explain why. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, I suppose if you wander into an unknown restaurant, say, and the seats are worn and the menus are old-fashioned, you might not have great expectations for the meal, but they could still serve you the best bowl of soup you'd had in years, and a nice tasty BLT. But you could also have been told what a great place it was, and that's the day you get the grumpy waitress and they burn the toast. Maybe "medium expectations" are safer.</span></p><p>How about when it comes to books? What if people you like have told you that it's a great book, and you try several times and you either give up or you do read the book and you still hate it? I just finished one like that, and I'm having to come to terms with the fact that I am just never going to be an [insert author] reader.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>3. Serenity is________________________. </b></span></p><p>Expecting that the restaurant pie will be better than the burned sandwich.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. What's the most interesting thing in your purse or pocket right now? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I just looked and found a partly-used bookstore gift card I had forgotten about. At least I think it's still only partly used. I have high expectations of this.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. What helps you calm down? </b></span></p><p>Familiar CDs. Bible verses. Lake water, sand and pebbles.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Insert your own random thought here. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I just learned a new word, <i>habitus</i>, from Alan Jacobs' website.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Ancora imparo. </i>Always something to learn.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2023/09/a-bookish-hodgepodge.html"><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.</i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span></a></p></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-6969337825824117752023-08-24T07:45:00.000-05:002023-08-24T07:45:11.721-05:00From the archives: The Thing That Lives in Your Brain<p> <b><i>First posted August 2006. Slightly edited.</i></b></p><blockquote>We realise that there is an act of knowing to be performed; that no one can know without this act, that it must be self-performed, that it is as agreeable and natural to the average child or man as singing is to the song thrush, that "to know" is indeed a natural function. Yet we hear of the incuria which prevails in most schools, while there before us are the young consumed with the desire to know, can we but find out what they want to know and how they require to be taught. (Charlotte Mason, <i>Philosophy of Education</i>, p. 52)</blockquote>We recently watched an episode from this past season's Dr. Who. In the classic sci fi tradition (as in, didn't we just see another episode like this about sucking up peoples' brains, and hasn't just about every sci fi show ever made plus The Exorcist used this idea?), the episode features an entity living in a little girl's head, using her brain (so that she sometimes talks in a REALLY WEIRD VOICE), and sucking up other human beings for its own purposes.<br /><br />This particular entity happens to be sustained on love and companionship--LOTS of companionship (in fact, in its natural state it has millions or billions of siblings). The problem is that it's inhaling companionship in the form of people, at an ever-increasing rate (by the end of the show, it has sucked up an entire Olympic stadium full of spectators and has plans for the rest of the world). Of course in the end (SPOILER), it finds its proper companions and joins them inside a little egg-sized spaceship, leaving the little girl free of the REALLY WEIRD VOICE.<br /><br />There is a point to telling you about this (and it's not meant as an advertisement for the show). We each have such an entity inside our physical brains (or somewhere in there): it's our mind, and it's sustained on knowledge. In its healthy state, it desires, craves knowledge; other things cannot properly be substituted. Knowledge, not information, and there's a difference: information is short term, spit back out again or forgotten, made up of facts without "informing ideas." Knowledge is long-term, swallowed, digested, processed, used. It's like when you say in French "Je connais," which is different from "Je sais." They both mean "I know," but they are different kinds of knowing. "Je sais" is used for a fact, like "I know it's raining out," but "Je connais" is used in "I know you."<br /><br />If the food is available, the entity will suck it up in whatever quantities are available (even Olympic-sized). It will do whatever it can to find its proper food AND YOU CAN'T STOP IT. BWA HA HA HA.<br /><br />Well, you can. Unfortunately.<br /><br />There is a cure for knowledge-hunger. Just like vinegar smashed up the <a href="https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Slitheen_family">Slitheens</a>, if you can get hold of some <b>Incuria</b> it's quite easy to stop the knowledge-hungry mind.<blockquote><blockquote>I can touch here on no more than two potent means of creating <b>incuria</b> in a class. One is the talky-talky of the teacher. We all know how we are bored by the person in private life who explains and expounds. What reason have we to suppose that children are not equally bored? They try to tell us that they are by wandering eyes, inanimate features, fidgetting hands and feet, by every means at their disposal; and the kindly souls among us think that they want to play or to be out of doors. But they have no use for play except at proper intervals. What they want is knowledge conveyed in literary form and the talk of the facile teacher leaves them cold. Another soothing potion is little suspected of producing mental lethargy. We pride ourselves upon going over and over the same ground 'until the children know it'; the monotony is deadly. (<i>Philosophy of Education</i>, p. 53)</blockquote></blockquote><b>Incuria</b> is related to the idea "not curious" and it's properly translated "carelessness," but in this sense, it means a lack of appetite for knowledge. Not caring about it. Someone who's incurious is apathetic, unobservant, careless. <div><blockquote>"What would you like to eat? I don’t care. Some lovely cream of wheat? I don’t care. Don’t sit backwards on your chair. I don’t care. Or pour syrup on your hair. I don’t care." (Maurice Sendak, <i>Pierre</i>)</blockquote>Where do you get enough <b>Incuria</b> to stop the appetite for knowledge? You can start by offering lots of TV and computer time; provide lots of dull school lectures; and most of all, spread the idea that knowledge is Dull and Irrelevant and that anything contained in a book of over 100 pages isn't worth the trouble. You can make the entity go away or at least not bother you much.<br /><br />But please don't.<blockquote>But what if all were for all, if the great hope of Comenius––"All knowledge for all men"––were in process of taking shape? This is what we have established in many thousands of cases, even in those of dull and backward children....we are so made that only those ideas and arguments which we go over are we able to retain. Desultory reading or hearing is entertaining and refreshing, but is only educative here and there as our attention is strongly arrested. Further, we not only retain but realise, understand, what we thus go over. Each incident stands out, every phrase acquires new force, each link in the argument is riveted, in fact we have performed THE ACT OF KNOWING, and that which we have read, or heard, becomes a part of ourselves, it is assimilated after the due rejection of waste matter. Like those famous men of old we have found out "knowledge meet for the people" and to our surprise it is the best knowledge conveyed in the best form that they demand. Is it possible that hitherto we have all been like those other teachers of the past who were chidden because they had taken away the key of knowledge, not entering in themselves and hindering those who would enter in? (<i>Philosophy of Education</i>, pp. 291-292, emphasis hers)</blockquote></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-34516899020477379442023-08-24T07:34:00.009-05:002023-08-24T07:35:43.479-05:00From the archives: The Homeschooler Supply Chain<p> <b><i>First posted August 2009.</i></b></p><p><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">You know you're a homeschooler when...</span></i></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">your back-to-school supplies consist of four plastic magazine holders, eight pieces of posterboard, a roll of clear sticky plastic, a set of foam dominoes, Beaver Ed's Brain Busters Nature Card Game, Beaver Ed's Kids' Quiz: Human Body, three sketch books, ten pencils, two hundred file cards, two packs of Velcro dots, one pack of reinforcements, two sets of Scrapbook Kit Alphabet and Word Stickers, and four vinyl erasers.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">All from Dollarama.</span></span></p>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-85426024877993240352023-08-24T07:31:00.001-05:002023-08-24T07:31:16.888-05:00From the archives: Passion for Learning, Part One<b><i>First posted August 2013. Edited slightly to correct links.</i></b><br />
<p> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HpOBJY1gfYE/Uhti6DcqLZI/AAAAAAAAFvQ/mUapue4Rai4/s1600/DSCF0013.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HpOBJY1gfYE/Uhti6DcqLZI/AAAAAAAAFvQ/mUapue4Rai4/s200/DSCF0013.JPG" width="200" /></a></p>When I think of passion in learning, I think of <a href="https://morningtimeformoms.com/">Cindy Rollins' </a>Ordo Amoris blog. "Passion" is not a recommended word to search for, generally, but if you limit the search to Cindy's blog, you get snippets such as "So that is what valor looks like but even more so that is how valor is memorialized, with <em>passion</em> not malaise" and "I just have a <em>passion</em> for literacy (reading and cultural)" and "I am <em>passionate</em> about the *idea* of living in a republic that followed our Constitution." A shared passion for living and learning is definitely a good thing, and Cindy is one of its vocal and valued homeschooling proponents.<br /><br />As a longtime homeschooling parent, and a pursuer of Charlotte Mason's philosophy, I would like to say that a passion for learning is something we just don't have a problem with around here. But it wouldn't be entirely true...or at least not if "passion for learning" equals "passion for schoolwork." Almost-seventh-grader Lydia loves to read, but mostly the books of her own choosing, not the "assigned" ones. She likes to write, but again, not so much when it's assigned work. I've seen this pattern emerge with the older girls, too: "out of class" time is separate from "school." If they feel that "their time," when lessons are done, is honestly "their time," then they seem to feel that they also have to differentiate their own reading, writing and other activities from assigned "schoolwork." I've never heard any of them begging for more math homework. This question of ownership--and therefore passion, or lack thereof--has been a source of frustration (on my part, it doesn't seem to bother them!) for almost two decades. Some readaloud books have blurred the line between "this is school" and "just Mom and me reading," but in general, that's the way it works, or doesn't work.<div><br />The funny thing is that some, most even, of what we do in school...even the difficult stuff, even if it's "coerced" or at least teacher-decided, has been very successful. The Squirrelings have enjoyed <i>Great Expectations</i> and <i>Silas Marner</i>, and I'm pretty sure that <i>Ivanhoe</i> will also be a successful readaloud later in the year. They are good readers, and, when they want to, they can put words together pretty well too. (Ponytails' work in public-school English class has earned her praise and high marks, in both ninth and tenth grades.) But I hardly ever see one of them browsing for more Dickens or George Eliot or Scott; the Apprentice did read Jane Austen on her own, but that was the exception. Lydia's current personal reading consists of <i>Harry Potter</i> and the Cornelia Funke <i>Inkheart</i> books.<br /><br />Some homeschoolers (or teachers) might suggest that the way to get older students to engage with learning would be to leave the curriculum up to them. If it's put on their plate, it comes from outside, isn't personally meaningful; if they've chosen it, they'll be interested. I would say yes, to a point; I do give options wherever practical. But, thinking of Charlotte Mason's quip about expecting people to make their own boots, it's even less consistent with our family's homeschool practice to let the kids decide if they're even going to wear shoes. So to speak.<br /><br />Since we follow, more or less, the AmblesideOnline Curriculum, it's already pretty much decided: Year Seven follows Year Six and is followed by Year Eight. This year is Lydia's Year Seven, and, within reason, I'm expecting her to take on the work that's given in that outline. Promoting engagement by completely freeing up the curriculum is not an option for us. It's not in tune with Charlotte Mason, it's not what I'm comfortable with, and it's not even (really) what our kids expect.<br /><br />So how else do we find delight, engagement, passion, without expecting too much (or too little) of 21st-century, somewhat-distracted kids, and without turning them into prigs about learning?<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tMdlJ70NUaU/UhueyQDjZsI/AAAAAAAAFvg/9Rgo0-yZ7a8/s1600/muppettreasureisland.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tMdlJ70NUaU/UhueyQDjZsI/AAAAAAAAFvg/9Rgo0-yZ7a8/s1600/muppettreasureisland.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> (<i>"Mr Samuel Arrow, a wonderful man who... used to get us up from our beds </i><i>before dawn for a good flossing.")</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><i>More (and a book review) in <a href="http://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/2013/08/countdown-to-school-pedagogical-passion_27.html">Part Two</a>. </i><i>Make sure to come back, especially if you think I'm too hard on my kids. Because you might be right.</i></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-58210810162666453352023-08-23T17:26:00.002-05:002023-08-24T07:21:56.446-05:00A Reminiscent Wednesday Hodgepodge<div class="from-this-side-of-the-pond-button" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin: 0px auto; width: 273px;"><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #6e698f; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="From this Side of the Pond" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="273" /></a></div><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">1. What's your earliest memory?</span></b><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Hanging out with my grandparents.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj92OktG4WAA-7ef7Sevr1jd-XHzPOaf8EVrVZ8p6S5c-fPf4aqzuvkwL6vRJjy22jLoea6Mpw4E9b3tKNOQom4XML_WCkstq8ak8aza8tiCNH59vSdpVrVsL0d08dkw9zSILwRsc0k3_aHd-UVm3MNbBGLsbDNApO6Sr95KHd9sv655psV4Fz6rQ/s610/photo0755.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="610" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj92OktG4WAA-7ef7Sevr1jd-XHzPOaf8EVrVZ8p6S5c-fPf4aqzuvkwL6vRJjy22jLoea6Mpw4E9b3tKNOQom4XML_WCkstq8ak8aza8tiCNH59vSdpVrVsL0d08dkw9zSILwRsc0k3_aHd-UVm3MNbBGLsbDNApO6Sr95KHd9sv655psV4Fz6rQ/s320/photo0755.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. What's something about you today that the old you would find surprising? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The me holding the cookies? Probably everything, including the fact that I'm now as old as my grandmother was then.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">3. Do you like to fish? Are you a fish eater? Favorite fish (to eat)? Favorite way to prepare fish? </span></b></p><p>I fished only once in my life, and it's not something I want to reminisce over. Preparing fish: "Spread battered fish fingers on cookie sheet and bake until crispy." I am not an adventurous fish cooker.<br /></p><p><a href="https://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/2017/02/wednesday-hodgepodge-it-takes-more-than.html">See also this "fishy" Hodgepodge from a few years ago.</a></p><p><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">4. What's your biggest first world problem? </span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Without getting too personal, serious, and outside the scope of a Wednesday Hodgepodge?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Telemarketers.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">5. What one word would you use to describe your year thus far? </span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Reminiscent.</span></p><p>Going to the flea market every couple of weeks will do that to you.</p><p><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">6. Insert your own random thought here. </span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm starting to see the end in sight for a project that has covered most of this year, and which accounts for a good deal of its reminiscent character. I'm not even sure what <i>not</i> having to have it actively in my mind will feel like. But everything has its right time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;">Two nights before, my mother had snapped off a thread, looked at the quilt in surprise, and said, "I think it's finished. How can it be finished?"...She stood up and laid it out on the big kitchen table. There they were, all those orderly, geometric patterns of our past... (Lois Lowry, <i>A Summer to Die</i>)</span></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2023/08/somethings-fishy-in-hodgepodge.html">Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.</a></i></b></span></p></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-91489586821206895442023-08-16T11:29:00.001-05:002023-08-16T11:30:27.123-05:00Wednesday Hodgepodge: Get Me Down From Here<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. What motivates you to work hard?</b></span></p><p>If Socrates asked that question, he would probably keep asking it no matter what you answered. Why? "Because I need something to do." "Because I like to see things get done." "Because I don't want people to think I'm lazy." "Because I want to help support our household." Why? "Because I want to keep learning to do things better." "Because I want to feel like I'm a little bit successful." Why? "Because I want to be of some use in the world." Why? "God gave me a job to do, so I'm doing it."</p><p><b style="font-family: inherit;">2. It's been said <i>"Ignorance is bliss"</i>...is it? </b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">No way.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>“Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.” Charles Spurgeon</i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>3.Would you rather be stuck on a broken elevator or a broken ski lift? Explain. Have you ever actually been stuck on either? Of the common fears listed here what's your #1-</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>heights-enclosed spaces-snakes-public speaking-the dark-flying</b></span></i></p><p style="text-align: left;">Neither. But the ski lift would be worse. And yes, I have been stopped on one long enough to make me very nervous.</p><p style="text-align: left;">And you forgot to include mice.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. What's something you like about the town or city where you live? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The free summer music festivals.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. Life is too short to_________________________________. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm not sure of the answer to that. I think one person's "doesn't matter" is another person's "really important." I personally have never spent time individually decorating sugar cookies, for example, other than sticking chocolate chips or raisins on gingerbread people for eyes. But I met a woman recently who said that she decorated cookies every single weekend for years because her grandchildren would come to have tea parties with her, so there you go.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Insert your own random thought here. </b></span></p><p>Do you want to see <a href="https://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/p/nebulous-fall-clothes-2023.html">my nebulous fall wardrobe</a>? Some people might think that putting that much time into thinking about what one wears definitely falls in the "life is too short to" category. But for me, thinking it out ahead of time makes it easier, because I know I have what I need.</p><p><b><i><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2023/08/a-fearless-hodgepodge.html">Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.</a></i></b></p>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-61910604657769817632023-08-12T14:23:00.004-05:002023-08-12T14:23:54.143-05:00"Nebulous" (Fall Clothes 2023)<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWB-n-PHCWS_OGauYrW5m7u8tDoadmhRKXcbdtaPpUraLCnCjHHUp3Q09SpJPMT-lmnDpvW0p38NTLGITLbCS3ym3qzMXnyefZ2aTiixMPfmqBtTdvtg4d-eI5oUDh6Cj_pAdOlzCgNPguU-pmEGwgvAGqm_s5XB96Rxm2JC88TCO0gaDwJWTH8Q/s2469/IMG_20230805_132426_DRO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1959" data-original-width="2469" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWB-n-PHCWS_OGauYrW5m7u8tDoadmhRKXcbdtaPpUraLCnCjHHUp3Q09SpJPMT-lmnDpvW0p38NTLGITLbCS3ym3qzMXnyefZ2aTiixMPfmqBtTdvtg4d-eI5oUDh6Cj_pAdOlzCgNPguU-pmEGwgvAGqm_s5XB96Rxm2JC88TCO0gaDwJWTH8Q/s320/IMG_20230805_132426_DRO.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>"Snow Fantasy," by Lawren Harris (1917)</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span>This fall's wardrobe is going in a direction I didn't expect.. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span>No, I haven't taken on an </span><a href="https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2015/09/business-casual-start-with-art-festival.html/">office job</a><span>, or a </span><a href="https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2018/03/revisiting-start-with-art-edith-and.html/">hostessing position with a great clothing allowance</a><span>. My life is very casual, and much as I like looking at blazers and dresses, I need to stay realistic. Working at home days are casual. Running around days are casual. Even church is casual. </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">I've also had some changing thoughts about colour. Most years, my summer colour has been navy blue, and then in the fall I switch to grey, teal, and burgundy. This means, though, that if I thrift cool-weather clothes in navy, they tend not to get worn. But why not navy this fall, for a change? I'm a bit greyed out on grey.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGXoPCPSKjyG0yvDvzL0k5jIutI-M83VlGapVctsmk-eoJshPkE5bRBoFyPgujMVSZaQsKBOW-PzXDeofLGdZfbENa2mTBa3bTkjudJzM1fq2cwWBbSng3bG6_2K8v5cfd6b2IZJ_csREKe6fuM-rg-aWubg5xdCQfkWInA1GGvAyeZTidu_rEhg/s1832/20230810_160635.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1832" data-original-width="1464" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGXoPCPSKjyG0yvDvzL0k5jIutI-M83VlGapVctsmk-eoJshPkE5bRBoFyPgujMVSZaQsKBOW-PzXDeofLGdZfbENa2mTBa3bTkjudJzM1fq2cwWBbSng3bG6_2K8v5cfd6b2IZJ_csREKe6fuM-rg-aWubg5xdCQfkWInA1GGvAyeZTidu_rEhg/s320/20230810_160635.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Bead bracelets found here and there</i></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">While browsing through <a href="https://www.theviviennefiles.com/">Vivienne Files</a> posts, I came across the (imagined) story of a photographer who spends the fall at an observatory. <a href="https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2022/08/start-with-nature-the-spinning-pulsar-of-the-crab-nebula.html/">This is the first post about her</a>; <a href="https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2022/09/adding-clothes-and-accessories-start-with-nature-the-spinning-pulsar-of-the-crab-nebula.html/">this is the second</a>. Her (very casual) wardrobe is based on a photograph of "The Spinning Pulsar of the Crab Nebula," and includes navy plus bright pink, sky blue, and purple accents. Many of her clothing items match what is already in my closet (including the neglected navy things), and a couple of thrift store trips have rounded things out.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/p/nebulous-fall-clothes-2023.html">You can read the rest of the post here.</a></i></b></p></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-725013396913517642023-08-02T12:32:00.008-05:002023-08-02T12:41:27.996-05:00Hello August (Wednesday Hodgepodge)<b>1. Hello August. What's one thing you're looking forward to this month? </b><div><b><br /></b></div><div> I'm looking forward to not having anything in particular to have to look forward to.<br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. What are you doing to beat the heat right now? If you live in the southern hemisphere are you enjoying cooler temps or counting the days until summer? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">We drove to Kincardine on Lake Huron yesterday, although it wasn't terribly hot.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFV3PBILhm-AY7vjxLb6N7j143A_Ug_kLnT9qMx5neb5CeNebxzCJ7ejaYuTxA9LqVFKB2OyiNOO2Wzd6Tn1cLMAyPatJ26jJqddQxCcq1Bpw0BD43N_PkJBvzbzOIVSxh3a46FWG9EYZX5oY0oRB72yVqr5aACbzibyuBC-ZUUiCFSNxYzqDCA/s2577/20230801_180034.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2222" data-original-width="2577" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFV3PBILhm-AY7vjxLb6N7j143A_Ug_kLnT9qMx5neb5CeNebxzCJ7ejaYuTxA9LqVFKB2OyiNOO2Wzd6Tn1cLMAyPatJ26jJqddQxCcq1Bpw0BD43N_PkJBvzbzOIVSxh3a46FWG9EYZX5oY0oRB72yVqr5aACbzibyuBC-ZUUiCFSNxYzqDCA/s320/20230801_180034.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p><span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b style="background-color: transparent;">
3. How do you see the world? </b></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">"Our capabilities seldom match our aspirations, and we are often woefully unprepared. To this extent, </span><span style="background-color: white;">we are all Assistant Pig-Keepers</span><span style="background-color: white;"> at heart." (Lloyd Alexander, <i>The Book of Three</i>)</span></span></p><p><span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">And also</span></span></p><p><span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; outline: none;">"Simplicity, happiness and expansion come from the outpouring of a human heart upon that which is altogether worthy." (Charlotte Mason, <i>Parents and Children</i>)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. What food product do you think is better store bought than home made? How about something you refuse to buy because it is so much <i>better</i> homemade? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Better store bought: Cheerios. Peanut butter. Cabbage rolls made fresh at the European deli, because I'm not going to bother making two cabbage rolls.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Better homemade: Brownies, even if you have to make them in the microwave because it's hot out.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyVbQ6Pf659PR4QyRjOdp76uFPaBS5sNFD7nK-XcBvEOsNPUPnwmFvCME4XU2SugCTSTCspdnML11fhC1OGsPGTS1Y8RgmI_fu1SAWwUvW95vxTIZD1HW9h_TU9DCeOEKHHkenxw3R4ZbrSM76ydUMu9sa_65ucCZeIy8oc9y1rtMI2wdK5hvZ9g/s1665/20230503_155651.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1611" data-original-width="1665" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyVbQ6Pf659PR4QyRjOdp76uFPaBS5sNFD7nK-XcBvEOsNPUPnwmFvCME4XU2SugCTSTCspdnML11fhC1OGsPGTS1Y8RgmI_fu1SAWwUvW95vxTIZD1HW9h_TU9DCeOEKHHkenxw3R4ZbrSM76ydUMu9sa_65ucCZeIy8oc9y1rtMI2wdK5hvZ9g/s320/20230503_155651.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">5. Are you easy to get along with? </span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">As easy as most Assistant Pig-Keepers, and possibly more so than some. Especially if we have brownies around.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Insert your own random thought here. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">A couple of weeks ago (between me remembering to post Hodgepodge responses and then forgetting again), my husband and I went to a free jazz festival in our town. One of the musicians referred to the events (or non-events) of the past few years, and said that it was hard for jazz musicians to function while distanced from each other, because community is where this kind of music lives.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">And I thought that could apply to many other things in life as well.</span></p><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2023/08/hodgepodge-homemade.html">Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.</a></span></i></b></div></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-45141983755368772422023-07-12T13:43:00.004-05:002023-07-12T13:45:18.791-05:00Wednesday Hodgepodge: The Pleasures of Today (or Yesterday)<p><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span></p><p style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></p><div class="from-this-side-of-the-pond-button" style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; margin: 0px auto; width: 273px;"><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #6e698f; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="From this Side of the Pond" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="273" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. Is your life simple? Elaborate. </b></span><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Oh dear. Is anybody's? I mean, to make your life perfectly simple, you'd probably have to walk away from legitimate challenges and responsibilities. I have never been a fan of the song "Gentle on My Mind."</div><div><br /></div><div>But by "simple," do you mean not terribly overstressed and overworked and overwrought, able to enjoy simple things? Well, yes, my husband and I keep working on that. Homemade pizza and all the rest of it.<br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. What simple pleasure are you are currently enjoying? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Right now, this minute? Sunshine coming in through the loft window, the last of the microwave brownies, and the swish of a thrifted silk maxi dress which I decided to wear around the house today since I have no special other place to wear it to.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>3. Travel by plane or go on a cruise? walk or ride a bike? swim or ski? ocean or mountains? </b></span></p><p>Top choice out of all of those: walking. But I would travel by plane if it landed me somewhere interesting.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. What's the last thing you bought online that you really loved? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do books for the Kindle app count? I haven't bought much else online lately.</span></p><p>Now if you asked me about flea markets, I might have a longer answer.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. What’s your '<i>back in my day we__________' </i>story? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I go "back in my day we" way too much as it is, especially at flea markets and antique barns.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">This morning I was thinking about a camping trip with my grandparents and my little sister in a very old travel trailer, when I was maybe five years old. I don't think we can have gone too far or been away too long, because I'm pretty sure my parents weren't there, so maybe it was just for a weekend. Anyway, my grandpa was worried that the two children were going to fall out of the quite-high bed in the trailer, so he scrounged around for a big flat board (because he always had that sort of thing around, it was like magic). He wedged it against the bunk and penned us in for the night. My grandma, as always, thought he was overdoing the worry thing, and said so; but that was just the way he tried to take care of things, and I still appreciate the thought (even if we had to be penned in like puppies).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Insert your own random thought here. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, that last one was pretty random.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Since the theme here seems be enjoying the simple things, here's a summer lemonade recipe I learned years ago from Amy Dacyczyn's <i>Tightwad Gazette</i>: 4 cups water, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup bottled lemon juice. Blend with a big spoon. You can halve it, double it, or whatever you need to do with it to make the right amount. It can also accommodate a bit of leftover canned pineapple juice or random things like that.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2023/07/simply-hodgepodge.html">Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond</a></b></span></p></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-16519299168619630492023-06-14T17:49:00.011-05:002023-06-14T19:53:45.010-05:00Wednesday Hodgepodge: Blame it On My Youth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #6e698f; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="From this Side of the Pond" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="273" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. What does productivity look like to you? </b></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I guess that depends on what species you are. A productive little ant or bee isn't the same as a human. Having been self-employed for the last dozen or so years, my husband and I are still trying to figure out what the right pace of things is to stay productive but not burn out. I think, whatever you're doing, you have to get a sense of the time something will take. If you know that you want to have a project done by the end of the month, then "being productive" means getting a certain piece of it finished each week, and you might even be able to break that down to getting a certain amount done each day. But since real life isn't always like that, and since some projects just go better in spurts, you might work really hard for three days, then take the next two off. And that's still productive.</span></span></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. What was your fondest (or <i>one</i> of your fondest) memory of High School? </b></span></p><p>Graduation.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>3. What did you do the summer after High School? </b></span></p><p>I had gotten a first-year scholarship to university, so I somehow took that to mean that I could afford to spend the summer not making any money. Paying jobs for teenagers were a bit scarce right then anyway, so it wasn't a terrible idea.</p><p>So. The first half of the summer, I volunteered at a camp up north. Most of the time I worked in the kitchen, but towards the end I did one-on-one support for a couple of campers with special needs. </p><p>Then I went to a social justice "work camp" in Toronto, with a group of young adults coming from several different countries. I didn't really know what to expect. At all. Which is probably a good thing because if I had, I might not have gone. Part of the time I did clerical work for a conference and met my first Macintosh computer. In between that, I went to a couple of protests, learned some Italian, and saw Paul Gross (a now-famous Canadian actor) performing Romeo and Juliet in the park. We also went up to the Canadian version of The Farm for a few days, and learned to make giant blocks of tofu.</p><p>Well, you did ask.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. June 14th is National Strawberry Shortcake Day...are you a fan, and if so will you celebrate? How do you make yours? Have you been strawberry picking? If so what do you do with all those berries?</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">We had some strawberries last night to celebrate a friend's birthday. But really, that's about it, we just eat them.<b> </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. What's something you always splurge on? </b></span></p><p>Good cocoa.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>6. Insert your own random thought here. </b></span></p><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We had a couple of bananas going soft, so I suggested to my husband that we make <a href="https://smittenkitchen.com/2014/03/double-chocolate-banana-bread/">Smitten Kitchen's double chocolate banana bread</a> together. I melted the half cup of butter in the microwave and left it in there, thinking I would pull it out when my husband, doing the wet ingredients, asked (as I was sure he would) "where's the butter you're supposed to put in now?" But he somehow missed that in the list, and I was doing the dry ingredients and didn't notice what went in the bowl.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So, the three mini loaves went into the oven without any extra fat at all. I didn't find the bowl of melted butter until half an hour later.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="outline: none;" /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now, I've had extremely low-fat health food cafe muffins (not usually by choice), and they're usually either very tough or very crumbly, or both. <span style="outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;">This is the weird thing: this banana bread actually baked fine. I think there must have been enough high-fat ingredients even without the butter (see #5, plus there were the chocolate chips), plus enough moist things like the bananas, to make up for the oversight. It's not like I'd do it again on purpose, but I think we will probably at least cut down on the butter next time.</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="outline: none;" /></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway, it's nice to know in case you're either very forgetful or just out of butter.</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2023/06/splurging-on-hodgepodge.html">Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond</a></b></span></span></span></div>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10926562.post-77850836577264132972023-05-10T21:00:00.003-05:002023-05-10T21:01:45.307-05:00Wednesday Hodgepodge: Toffee and Coffee<div class="from-this-side-of-the-pond-button" style="margin: 0px auto; width: 273px;"><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><b><img alt="From this Side of the Pond" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNGI3xwxjTg/WVmWedFfZaI/AAAAAAAAPAA/lsgY_VeWUnU4Y7mezjBvT7KgxwvT_GslgCLcBGAs/s1600/hodgepodge-button.png" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: none; box-shadow: transparent 0px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="273" /></b></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>1. Of kings and queens...</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'll pass on this round.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>2. What are you the uncrowned queen of?</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Finding weird things at rummage sales. And then finding ways to use them.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi57BRh1zg95a161ZUiWRf6P4hat22zZnP08XVM5dUrE5xUpk7E8QK0uVXj2ZHcezpn7abvnXGsi-FPwmI70Ym2aV8Ux-b2IGH_G1GcRLNjvaLEkt6Ak9fIqCStwEXN3OdroISvvHZg-wJ9wkjB_ztqpVXPMGBGA69D2i7ujkNLyh6hqkXGG1U/s2317/IMG_20230506_130019_217.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2317" data-original-width="2317" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi57BRh1zg95a161ZUiWRf6P4hat22zZnP08XVM5dUrE5xUpk7E8QK0uVXj2ZHcezpn7abvnXGsi-FPwmI70Ym2aV8Ux-b2IGH_G1GcRLNjvaLEkt6Ak9fIqCStwEXN3OdroISvvHZg-wJ9wkjB_ztqpVXPMGBGA69D2i7ujkNLyh6hqkXGG1U/s320/IMG_20230506_130019_217.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcCnuzWACs10o2EXcfymAMD-s4GpVXXi04ZKYexLSxff43fpArXa2kGW0DEY9dUVfokJED4sQYPsxyDQUOy0RYE0bqAUWlIfls9JLiIZObB98HyztyFnuzgH-3C8LapBwuT6BSVkP9I02YQeQ9Fmpkyr5h72v-UJISQ08xKoiPejtge-vfBkw/s2332/IMG_20230507_150055_922.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2332" data-original-width="2332" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcCnuzWACs10o2EXcfymAMD-s4GpVXXi04ZKYexLSxff43fpArXa2kGW0DEY9dUVfokJED4sQYPsxyDQUOy0RYE0bqAUWlIfls9JLiIZObB98HyztyFnuzgH-3C8LapBwuT6BSVkP9I02YQeQ9Fmpkyr5h72v-UJISQ08xKoiPejtge-vfBkw/s320/IMG_20230507_150055_922.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcztp3JJhwv6Pu8M89U1_mpuxgHH7LzYE4-sKLzk0ZFgSKvG_1a-EVYawA8MZal-qFCuEqznXciDLH-U5FVgMyjboDVv8wcPXsAR9UWhMEAVxkeJi9hgO3FaJdEM7yp-qfUwbAsniBH4-zy6NgtHIFhBLtoUh-B-SlFomCcKAvGfmWvk3x6c8/s2448/IMG_20230507_150757_328.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcztp3JJhwv6Pu8M89U1_mpuxgHH7LzYE4-sKLzk0ZFgSKvG_1a-EVYawA8MZal-qFCuEqznXciDLH-U5FVgMyjboDVv8wcPXsAR9UWhMEAVxkeJi9hgO3FaJdEM7yp-qfUwbAsniBH4-zy6NgtHIFhBLtoUh-B-SlFomCcKAvGfmWvk3x6c8/s320/IMG_20230507_150757_328.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-family: inherit;">3. In a box of chocolates which one do you usually go for? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anything except the hard toffees.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>4. Something learned at your mother's knee?</b></span></p><p>Paste food colouring works better than liquid.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">You have to be extra careful cutting out the tabs on paper doll clothes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Don't play on the railroad tracks. (I did not learn that by experience, just by a song she taught us. But it was a good idea since we lived near some railroad tracks.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>5. 'Like mother, like daughter'...in what way is this saying true for you? </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">The same saying that Giant Tiger puts on its funny coffee packaging: add hot water to make instant human.</span></p><p><b style="font-family: inherit;"><i><a href="http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2023/05/hodgepodge-is-king.html">Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.</a></i></b></p>Mama Squirrelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06941211100125966917noreply@blogger.com2