Blogging over here today

Catching up on AnneWrites. It's been awhile.

Wednesday Hodgepodge: May's First Day

 

1. Mayday! Mayday!...when was the last time (or a recent time) you literally or figuratively needed to call for help? Elaborate. 

Watching Question Period in Canadian Parliament yesterday.

2. May Day...when was the last time you danced? Do you have a lot of baskets? What's something you keep in a basket? What's your favorite purple flower? 

Baskets: yes, I think we have quite a few of them, mostly on the small side, mostly yardsaled and thrifted. Some are holding things like bread, pens, dishtowels, and a begonia; others are just sitting on their own.

The flower: that's easy, violets.

3. What's something you may do this month? 

I'm still figuring it out.

4. Do you like eggplant? Quick topic changes lol? If you said yes in answer to the eggplant question how do you like yours prepared? Of the following purple foods, which one is your favorite...plums, purple carrots, purple asparagus, eggplant, acai berries, blackberries, purple cauliflower, elderberries, purple potatoes, or passion fruit? 

I haven't eaten any of those things in forever, except for plums (last summer) and purple potatoes when they pop up in a bag from the Little Potato Co. (but I can't say they're really my favourite, I feel like I'm eating something dyed for April Fool's).

How about some purple grapes in the fall instead? 

5. The calendar turns on Hodgepodge Day...

"Then you have to remember to be thankful; but in May one simply can't help being thankful that they are alive, if for nothing else."-L.M. Montgomery

Tell us one thing you're thankful for today. 

A car that has got us places for seven years.

Artists who do those mysterious things with paint and pencils and stained glass and pottery.

Bleak House by Charles Dickens, the first book in a set of Dickens that my father-in-law gave us. I just finished. Next (alphabetically) would be David Copperfield, but I've already read that so I guess we move on to Dombey & Son.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I'm reading about English/Canadian artist (and art teacher) Arthur Lismer. One funny thing about him was that he came from a very ordinary, conservative, straitlaced background, and even as a famous artist he had a very ordinary kind of family and work life. He was also on the spot for the 1917 Halifax explosion and recorded it in drawings, which is a reminder that sometimes God asks us to remember and learn from our stories of pain as well as the good times.

In her 1977 book A Border of Beauty: Arthur Lismer's Pen and Pencil, Marjorie Lismer Bridges remembered the experience of camping with her father:

"In about two hours, whenever he finished a sketch, Dad reappeared and made a camp fire. The meal varied according to our supplies--eggs, beans, bacon. Occasionally someone would give us a freshly caught fish, but my father was no fisherman. Even if we were having cold sandwiches he still made a fire and boiled water for coffee. It was not so much that he loved coffee, but that he enjoyed building a fire."

She also wrote:

“[My father’s] restless pencil was constantly in his hand. He never went anywhere without drawing material in his pocket. Whenever he sketched he usually had a group of people watching over his shoulder, but this never seemed to bother him, and he would carry on a conversation as he worked…[While waiting for meals] he spent the time drawing on menu cards, table napkins, placemats—anything that came to hand. To my mother’s horror, he would even draw on the plates, and then quickly wipe them off with a table napkin when she protested. In any ship or hotel dining room the drawings would be snatched up by the waiters and the diners. Some were even taken back to the chef in the kitchen. There must be Lismer drawings in every corner of the British Commonwealth and the U.S.A. Wherever he was, he illustrated the daily activities, or an item on the menu, or the group at the next table. He never seemed to stop drawing. If he was writing a report he doodled in the margins. If he was reading a paperback book he drew in the blank spaces. He also illustrated his personal letters and his crossword puzzle books…”

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

Hodgepodge with ModPodge

 

1. What's a skill you think everyone should have? 

Everyone everywhere? That's pretty broad. I could say something basic like "reading," but there are people in places and circumstances where even that's an n/a.

Can I say that I think it would be a good thing if more people (not everyone) had better reading skills, and not just what Mortimer Adler called the basic "I'm literate" skill, but the levelling-up skills that allow us to catch not just the words but the ideas that are thrown at us in a text?

2. Do you have a special place or organizational system for gift wrapping? Do you still buy 'real' cards to send for birthdays, anniversaries, get-well, etc? 

Gift wrapping--I have one bin to collect ALL the used gift bags, tags, pieces of recycled tissue paper, etc., so that's "wrapping central." I don't buy new wrap very often, maybe for Christmas sometimes. I also don't buy buy individual cards very often because they're super-expensive. But I do make cards, or at least improve plainer ones that have come in a pack or from a thrift store. (Sometimes with Modpodge.)

Grab bag of bits and pieces. Somebody had started painting the wooden shapes and then quit.

I used the shapes, the tape, and the floral cutouts to "juice up" some otherwise blah cards for Easter.

3. It's National Banana Day...are you a fan? What's your favorite thing to make with bananas or, if you're not a cook, your favorite thing to eat that contains banana? 

Around here, probably banana bread. We keep finding it for half price at the supermarket, so it's hard to say no to that.

4. Do you believe in second chances? Elaborate. 

A second chance for...what, a career or something? Sure.

Maybe not so much for a hairstylist who shears you the wrong way.

5. What is your idea of fun? 

Realizing that the secondhand bookstore you're checking out also has a second floor.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

It's Fashion Revolution Week, that time when we ask "who made my clothes?" Or when we at least try to do some good for the fashionary planet. 

My contribution is creative thrifting. A couple of days ago I found this scarf for a couple of dollars, that was kind of calling my name.

I pulled out some (also thrifted) spring/summer clothes and had a floor-modelling session.

I love the way the scarf seems to work with everything else; that's when you know something was a good buy.

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

Tossing the Wednesday Hodgepodge Salad

 

1. What's a talent you wish you had? 

My husband's skill with electronics. Still Mr. Fixit after all these years.

I do know how to make chocolate chip cookies.

2. In one word, what's your state of mind right now? 

My mind this afternoon is a salad of 1830's U.S. history, decluttering the hall closet, Canadian politics, a writing project that's due soon, and the potato soup that's cooking in the slow cooker.

3. What's the next major purchase you need to make? Will it happen this month? This year? 

These days just getting a load of groceries qualifies as major.

4. Tuesday (April 2nd) was National PB and J Day...did you celebrate? Is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich something you eat weekly or more? What's your favorite kind of jelly? 

PBJ is more of a once in a while thing than weekly; no special kind of jelly required.

5. Are you easily intimidated? Who or what intimidates you?

Television remotes.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Easter candy from the Eurofoods store.

A podcast I participated in.

And a mostly-thrifted Easter outfit. I was not sure at first how these vintage stripes were going to work with my other clothes, but actually they fit in quite well.

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

A Day of Resurrection Rejoicing

Start With a Notebook (Spring/Summer Clothes)

 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.

I posed the book against a few favourite things.

A couple of scarves...

A bit of makeup...

A new pair of glasses. I thought I could see how this would work.

And here's the story...

It's Global Recycling Day, she reads online. She is curious enough to go and check out the website.

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. 

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. 

Read the rest of the post here.

Wednesday Hodge-Pi-dge

 

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? 

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.)

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. 

2. What makes a house a home? 

Something you choose yourself, that makes you smile when you see it.

3. Your current favorite green thing? 

A green plant that came in a gift basket two years ago and has outlived all its basket-mates.

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? 

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.

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.

5. What song is a good soundtrack for your life right now? 

This Good Day, by Fernando Ortega.

If rain clouds come
Or the cold winds blow
You're the one who goes before me
And in my heart I know

That this good day, it is a gift from You
The world is turning in its place
Because You made it to
I lift my voice to sing a song of praise
On this good day.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

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.

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.

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

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Midway There

 

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

No snow.

Until today.

And where we live, that's pretty unusual.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sun-dried tomatoes

Mushrooms

Italian sausage

Black olives

Extra cheese

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

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

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

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Things That Matter, Or Not

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Describe the view from your window. 

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

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

5. Do you have a favorite brand? Explain.

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

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

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

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

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

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

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

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Books, More Books

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

1. Something you've waited for recently? 

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

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

Dig holes in the sand.

Look for books at the library.

Listen to tunes on my little record player.

3. Something you learned from a grandparent? 

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

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

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

5. February is the perfect month to ______________________.

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

(photo from an earlier blog-a-versary)

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

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

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

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

Betty Bunny Hops Again

 

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

    Betty Bunny’s Wardrobe Inspirations

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

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

For the rest of this post, click here.

The O Christmas Tea Hodgepodge

 

1. Did you do more talking or more listening yesterday? Was it by choice or by necessity? 

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.

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? 

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.

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 'all the tea in China'? 

Anything involving the phrase "athletic challenge." 

4. What's something most people seem to love but is not 'your cup of tea'? 

Sushi.

5. How does your family celebrate New Year's Eve? 

When our kids were younger, we used to do theme parties with them. 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.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

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.

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

Crank it Up for the Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

1. What's one fun thing on your December calendar? 

Having a dessert party with our church group.

2. Sherwin William's Color of the Year for 2024 is Upward, described as 'a hint of silver lining', 'a breezy blissful blue' (see sample here). Benjamin Moore's Color of the Year for 2024 is Blue Nova, where 'violet and blue come together in a sumptuous hue'. (see sample here) Valspar's Color of the Year for 2024 is Renew Blue, a balanced blue with a touch of grayed sea -green' (see sample here). 

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? 

Blue in my closet: yes, sure, fine.

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. 

3. Do you struggle with 'the seasonal blues'? What are some things you do to try to beat the blues? 

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.

Turn on the star light in our living room window.

4. Blue jeans...love 'em or no? How many pair do you own? Are you married to a particular brand? 

I have two pairs, both thrifted. One pair are Levis, one are a brand nobody's ever heard of. 

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. 

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.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Instead of random thoughts, random shots?

New-to-me bookcase to hold art and poetry books

Advent wreath

Hand-crank coffee grinder we just bought

Euro-groceries for Christmas

Three-dollar box of iffy Christmas stuff from the thrift store

This is what was actually in the box

And these are the candle rings and candles on our dinner table, looking quite festive and not at all blue.

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