From This Side of the Pond

A Little Of This And A Little Of That

2026-06-29T00:30:00.000-04:00

Good Monday morning friends. It's a big week in the US of A and we're excited to celebrate all that is wonderful about life in America. I honestly don't want to hear any complaining right now. I'm 1000% over the fault finding that has become the noise in our heads and our news feeds for far too long now. Look up. Turn off the talking heads and invite the neighbors for a cookout instead.

Is America perfect? No. But she's full of natural beauty, big hearted people, a culture that's as varied as the miles are long, and freedom in abundance. May God bless our nation on her birthday and always.

Joining Holly (Pink Lady Blog) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books) today for their Hello Monday link up. Recapping the weekend and doing a bit of a June flower photo dump too. Here we go-

June was nice. We had summer temps and plenty of sunshine. Friday was lovely and hubs and I sipped coffee on the deck before tackling the dinner prep. We had friends coming over later and hubs was grilling ribs.

I got busy making a blueberry pie.

The blueberries were the biggest I've ever seen and so sweet. I struggled a little with the crust and had to make it twice, but all's well that ends well. I make my momma's recipe which has a whipped cream topping instead of a second crust and I prefer that to the double crust.

Do you use pie weights when you bake a crust? I usually forget I have them but this time I remembered and they helped.

It was yummy!

Friends arrived around six and we had a lovely relaxed evening sitting outside, listening to the sound of the waterfall, catching up, and eating a wonderful meal. They didn't leave until almost midnight and it was my favorite kind of Friday night.

Saturday we had nothin'. What a feeling. We drank coffee in our pjs and chatted on the porch until Daughter1 called asking if they could come over and swim in the pool for a while.

We peeled ourselves off the porch and changed into swim suits to meet them at the clubhouse a little before noon. We took the little red car because it's fun. The noodles took up the entire 'back seat' so I rode with my bag on my lap but it's literally .02 of a mile so no biggie.

There was a family having a birthday party when we arrived but they wrapped up soon after we got there and the pool was mostly ours. The weather and the water were perfect and we packed up and made it back to the house just before the skies let loose with crazy rain and thunder.

We ate leftover ribs for a late lunch at almost 3 PM so I told hubs he could have pie for dinner.

We popped over to our next door neighbor's house to check out their big patio project that's underway and while there I snapped a picture of their hydrangea. I want one in this deep purple color.

My hydrangeas are blooming too...limelights-

and the pink diamond too-

We spent the rest of the day watching World Cup and I finished a terrific book I'll talk about when I share my recent reads on Thursday. I can't remember the last time I indulged in more than an hour of reading.

A goldfinch has started hanging out on one of our hummingbird feeders.

Yes, I'm in my bird watching era. There's a heron who grabs his breakfast on our shoreline pretty much every day and I'm amazed by these creatures.

Sunday morning we went to church, then came home for a brunchy lunch of scrambled eggs and fried potatoes made with left overs from the frig. We discovered Father of the Bride was on tv so we settled in to watch (it's one of our favorites), and hubs had a nap while I blogged and finished a second book.

So chill. So necessary.

Now bring on the stars and the stripes and the fireworks and all the gratitude for living in this land I love.

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 660

2026-06-28T00:30:00.000-04:00

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday July 1st to share answers with the universe. See you there!

1. What do you love most about your country?

2. Your favorite patriotic song?

3. Red, white, or blue? Stars or stripes? Something you own besides a US flag with some combination of those colors or decorations as part of its design?

4. What's one thing you want more of this summer: fun, rest, adventure, connection, quiet, or confidence? Elaborate.

5. What was your ultimate, go-to summer activity when you were a kid? Do you still do any version of that today? If you answered yes, does participating in this activity as an adult make you feel like a kid?

6. Insert your own random thought here.

A Few Days With My Favorites

2026-06-26T00:00:00.000-04:00

Hello friends. It's Friday. Yay!

We're retired so I'm not sure why the fact that Friday's here is still so exciting, but it is.

I'm going to recap the past few days which definitely falls under the heading of favorite things, and I'm also going to try to meet the Everyday Image photo prompts at the same time. Mine might land a bit out of order (and I may have missed a couple) but I think that still counts.

My daughters very rarely post their children's faces online so I have to get creative with my blog pics. I take plenty of their faces for our own enjoyment, and all you need to know is they're the cutest humans on planet earth.

The most recent prompts Kym (A Fresh Cup Of Coffee) posted were-

wildflowers, water, neighborhood spot (quarterly), nature, adventure, favorite, twilight

We've had our Tennessee grands and their momma here this week and the local grands spent most of the week with us too, so lots of noisy fun was had by all. My favorite thing is having all the cousins together. There's a six year age gap between the oldest and the youngest and plenty of personality to go round.

Daughter2's hubs had an out of town work commitment all week, so she brought her two sweeties, plus her big puppy to the lake for a few days. They arrived around lunchtime Monday and their Carolina cousins were in the driveway shouting their welcome. Did you hear them? I feel like you might have heard them.

We had lunch then hit the lake. The lily pad is a great thing if you have little ones around open water. Everyone wears a life jacket or some other type of Coast Guard approved device at Nana and Pawpaws, and they all know they aren't allowed on the dock without one. The oldest (aka the mancub) asked me recently how old he has to be before that rule doesn't apply and I randomly said 18 ha! Maybe?

Anyway the lily pad is great fun and they all love playing sea monster or alligator where hubs shakes it and tries to grab their feet and they try not to fall off. You can literally stand on the lily pad which makes it especially great for the smallest grands.

Daughter1 took her kids home for dinner, and I'd made cold shrimp with cocktail sauce, cucumber and tomato salad, and crock pot chicken for dinner. Easy peasy is the name of the game with a houseful.

After Daughter2's kiddos were tucked in she and I watched the second to last epsiode of last season's The Great British Baking Show. It's only taken us three months but we were determined to finish it up while she was in town. We watched the finale Tuesday night and were happy with the outcome.

Tuesday was a beach and boat day. Let me just say here that getting five kids under the age of 8 into life vests, sun tan lotion applied, toys, drinks, snacks, towels, and floats all safely on board the boat is not for the faint of heart. Oh, and four adults too. Can't forget the adults.

The weather was fantastic and we had the best day. All the grands wanted a turn as co-captain so half drove us out to the island and the other half motored us home.

~adventure~

~wildflowers~

~favorite~

This particular island has a nice long beach and everyone swam and dug in the sand and collected shells and explored the local habitat.

I wonder if this is our beaver's handiwork or one of his buddies?

~nature~

We had lunch at home, the littlest cousin had a nap and everyone else rested until we were ready for round two, which was a trip to the neighborhood pool. It's literally about ten houses up from mine, but we still took two cars, several bags, and a trunk full of noodles because go big or go home, right?

~neighborhood spot~ ~water~

We pretty much had the pool to ourselves which was so nice. Our pool is never jam packed because we have a lake in our backyard. Also, we definitely sound like more people than we actually are.

Once home the kids watched a show while Daughter2 picked her pup up from doggie day care and hubs and I got dinner going. My son-in-law arrived in time to eat with us, and hubs grilled brats, we had corn on the cob, slaw, and a big veggie tray.

Then it was time for birthday presents and ice cream cake celebrating the newly minted four year old. His birthday was the week before but we wanted a family celebration at the lake.

The cousins went home and the two staying here got so excited when our sprinklers popped up. Whoohoo! Ran through in their clothes like it was the best day of their lives. We'd been boating, swimming in the crystal clear lake, and playing in a huge pool but nothing could top running through those sprinklers in their clothes. Life's simple pleasures are usually the best.

Wednesday hubs played golf with some friends. It was good lol. He's the king of fun and his back needed a rest. To answer your question, yes. Golf is less taxing on the back than slinging five kids in the air and on and off your shoulders into a pool.

We girls plus their kids hung out in the lake for a while, then everyone changed clothes and the sisters took all the kids to Daughter1's house for lunch while Nana stayed home with the dogs and made sauce for dinner.

Nana may have also sat on the porch in the quiet for a quick minute too. Just sayin'.

The oldest two boys had piano lessons late afternoon so their momma took them to that and Daughter2 and I took the three youngest back to the pool.

I told you grand parenting wasn't for weaklings.

After piano lessons the boys moved on to baseball practice, but their dad took over there so daughter1 and her little miss could have dinner with us.

Which brings us to Thursday morning. Hubs had a work meeting so we girls took the kids to our neighborhood playground to play for a while before lunch, and then daughter2 and her crew got on the road to head home. Boo.

~everything's an adventure when you're two~

I did laundry and managed to get three sets of sheets washed, dried, and back on the beds, along with two loads of towels, then hit the grocery store to grab a few things I needed for company coming on Friday night, picked up dry cleaning and two library books that were on hold and then back home to put away the 'kid gear'-stepstools, a small table and chairs, the toybox, toys and games, books and more.

For the record...it's all worth it.

Linking today with Kym for Everyday Images

and

Friday Favorites with Erika at A Little Bit of Everything) and Andrea (Momfessionals)

Sum-Sum-Summertime Hodgepodge

2026-06-24T03:30:00.000-04:00

Welcome to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Grab your shades and your pool noodle and jump on in! Be sure to add your link at the end of my post, and don't forget to leave a comment for your neighbors there. Here we go-

1. Summer's here! In the northern hemisphere anyway. If you're in the southern hemisphere substitute winter for the word summer. What do you love most about summer? What's your biggest summer pet peeve?

What do I love most about summer?

Evening daylight that stretches past 8 PM, then turns a golden hue which somehow makes you feel like anything is possible.

My biggest pet peeve?

I dislike being hit in the face with 100% humidity when I open the door at 6 AM. I like cooler (or at least reasonable) temps in the morning and want the day to warm up gradually. That doesn't usually happen in in the summers here.

2. What song always reminds you of summer?

I have a whole summer playlist of favorites but beach music tops the list. If I hear beach music I think summer and one of my favorites is Summertime's Calling Me by The Catalinas. We all love that song in our house.

There's a lot of country music on my summer playlist. Kenny Chesney's Anything But Mine is probably my favorite song of his and definitely a summer favorite.

3. What's something you remember about your childhood summers? Do you think kids today get to enjoy summer the way you did as a child? Elaborate.

There were all the simple pleasures of childhood like riding our bikes to the swim club, big games of neighborhood hide and seek, chasing fireflies in our backyard, homemade ice cream, family picnics with family friends, Barbies with my sister under the big tree out back, etc.

Mostly though, when I think of childhood summers, I remember less the specific moments and more the feeling of freedom that surrounded them. The idea that there was nowhere I needed to be, and the way time felt so spacious and carefree. That carefree feeling is linked to childhood in my mind, and somehow I think we as children sensed it and so we savored it all the more.

That's me in the yellow top and the blue keds with my two best friends coloring on our porch on a sunny summer day. I can feel the freedom from here.

Do kids get to enjoy summer the way I did as a child?

I think so, if parents help make it so. I see my grandchildren enjoying a carefree summer in much the same way I did. They spend their days outside, swimming, playing games in their backyard, riding bikes, staying up a little later than normal and enjoying family time and time with their friends. They're not carrying adult sized problems and worrying about much more than being a kid.

4. We celebrate Fathers Day on June 21st. Do you favor your dad in looks or temperament? Tell us something about your dad. Or your husband as a dad. Or a son/son-in-law as a dad. Or your grandpa.

My sisters and I were always told we favored my dad in looks, while my brother looked more like our mom. I think we're all four a combination of both parents.

If I had to describe my dad in a single word it would be solid. He was a hard worker, a man of deep faith, someone who lived with integrity. While he wasn't a big talker we all knew we were loved and we could count on him.

I think I wanted that same quality in a husband and I have it. My hubs is solid. And so are my sons-in-law. They're all excellent providers, strong in the ways that count, faithful, and they love their families well.

My hubs is not a man of few words though lol. I'm glad.

5. Let's wrap up with a summer this or that-

flip flops or sandals~sandals
beach or pool~beach
watermelon or peaches~watermelon
shorts or sundress~shorts
iced coffee or ice cold lemonade~lemonade
amusement park or water park~water park for sure...this is the only question I didn't want to answer with 'both'

6. Insert your own random thought here.

This post is a lot of words and almost no pictures. Grands are in the house this week and I'm enjoying having our tiny cousin crew all together.

Filling The Summer Sand Pail

2026-06-22T00:30:00.000-04:00

Good Monday morning friends and hello summer. We had a nice weekend, pretty low key with a visit to my mama, a trip to Costco, a day of puppy sitting for my daughter's new dog, lots of World Cup viewing, Sunday morning church and then grandkids home from holiday coming over Sunday afternoon for a swim in the lake.

And according to hubs I had a seriously good nap on the lower patio couch which is so super comfy you cannot help but sink into sleep there.

It's not Father's Day unless Dad cooks his own dinner, right? We grilled a pork tenderloin Saturday night and we love to make fried rice on the griddle with the leftovers. So good!

Since spring has officially come to a close I'm going to look back at my bucket list and see how I did. It would be better if I glanced at it a little more often than I actually have this season, but c'est la vie.

I used to make lengthy lists, but the summer I fractured my ankle I realized most of that summer's very long list was not going to happen and now I make lists that feel more manageable. Here's what my spring list looked like-

Help Mom move-✔️

Meet some bloggers irl ✔️ This was fun and I wrote about it here-Weekend ReKap

Easter! with treats for the grands ✔️

plan a special something for D1's birthday ✔️( ish) -Daughter1's birthday landed on a Sunday at the end of a weekend filled with the baseball all-star tournament her son was playing in, so whooohoo! Baseball's special, right? I did make her an angel food cake topped with strawberries and whipped cream which is her favorite so that counts.

About that attic (again and still)✔️-hubs and I made a significant dent in the attic organization and while it's not completely perfect it is vastly improved. More importantly hubs isn't bringing it up on a regular basis anymore so even he is pretty happy with our efforts.

laundry room (ditto) X-this will stay on the to-do list because I didn't get to it this spring. It's not a huge task, but I need to buy a couple of organizational bits and bobs before I pull everything out of the cabinets and I haven't gotten round to doing that yet. YET!

buy spring dresses for the grandgirls ✔️-you don't have to tell me twice lol. I bought each grandgirl an Easter dress and a fun spring dress and I could have bought at least a dozen more but I kept myself in check. The struggle is real.

host a Derby party X- as it happened my mom moved into her new space Derby weekend so we had to bow out of hosting. Instead I spent that Friday with my sisters helping mom get settled, then had the five grandkids plus an 8-week old puppy here overnight on Saturday. Life y'all. Gotta live it.

shop a Farmer's Market X-still have lots of opportunity to make this happen so it's going back on the list for summer

visit a garden ✔️-hubs and I walked the Botanical Garden trail in Highlands NC while on our anniversary overnight getaway. It was lovely.

celebrate sweet baby J's birthday ✔️-the cousin crew is together this week and we're having a lakeside family birthday celebration for our favorite 4-year old. He celebrated in Tennessee with a friends party but since they were coming here the next week we decided to have a cousin bash too.

make a spring dessert ✔️-these strawberry lemon bars were super delish.

They're made with fresh strawberries, fresh strawberry puree, and freshly squeezed lemon juice. So good!

plan/celebrate an anniversary overnight ✔️-I wrote about it here (The Other Highlands).

visit a restaurant new to us ✔️-we dined in a restaurant I'd never been to on our anniversary and loved every bite, loved the attention to detail, and loved the wonderful service. We also tried a fun BBQ restaurant whose grill master won last summer's season of Bobby Flay's BBQ Brawl. Really good!

Well, look at me go. Set the bar low and it's easy to hop over ha! There were some enjoyable spring activities on this list and checking things off felt like fun, not pressure, which is the way I want my bucket list to feel.

Now onward to summer. I don't include activities like swimming and boating and BBQs with friends because it's summer on the lake and those things happen whether I write them down or not.

Do you have a few things you don't want to miss this summer? What's on your list?

Linking with Holly and Sarah today for their Hello Monday hop

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 659

2026-06-21T07:45:36.700-04:00

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then hop back here on Wednesday (June 24th) to add your link to the party. See you there!

2. What song always reminds you of summer?

3. What's something you remember about your childhood summers? Do you think kids today get to enjoy summer the way you did as a child? Elaborate.

4. We celebrate Fathers Day on June 21st. Do you favor your dad in looks or temperament? Tell us something about your dad. Or your husband as a dad. Or a son/son-in-law as a dad. Or your grandpa.

5. Let's wrap up with a summer this or that-

flip flops or sandals
beach or pool
watermelon or peaches
shorts or sundress
iced coffee or ice cold lemonade
amusement park or water park

6. Insert your own random thought here.

A Day In The Life-June

2026-06-18T00:01:00.000-04:00

Welcome to our Day In The Life link up. If you've posted about a typical day where you live add your link at the end of my post, then hop over and say hi to your neighbors there. Day In The Life posts only please and thank you.

I love reading these posts and think they harken back to the early days of blogging, and even social media, where you got to know people through their writing and felt connected through the ordinary moments of life. We're bringing it back today.

I chose June 1st because just because. Mostly because it occurred to me the night before and I have to set some alarms to remember to snap pictures throughout the day. Here we go-

Monday, June 1, 2026

Rise and shine, today at 6:36 am. I didn't set an alarm and am often up far earlier, but on this day it was 6:36.

Start the coffee (I always set it up the night before) and feed the little brown dog. Mondays are trash day here so the pup likes to accompany hubs outside when he hauls the bins to the curb. We don't put them out the night before because bears love a good trash can meal.

I'm glad when hubs is home to do the lugging, because the bins are heavy and our driveway has a slight incline so it's not my favorite task.

Once this is done I pour coffee and settle in to my comfy space on the upstairs deck. I read my Bible, write in my prayer journal, browse emails, check to see if there are Tiny Beans updates, and play my word games to keep my brain working. Tiny Beans is a photo sharing site my girls both use to share pics of the grands. It's by invitation only and it's nice because aunts, uncles, and great-grandparents can all see the pics there.

The first cup of coffee is my favorite.

Hubs sits with me and does similar activities, although he doesn't play the word games like I do.

Today we notice something yellow on the curb beside the lower garage so we walk down to investigate. From the deck it looks like, for lack of a better descriptor, dog vomit.

Whadda ya know? I snapped a pic and my trusty plant identifier told me it is a fungus appropriately named-dog vomit slime mold. It's also sometimes known as scrambled egg slime and it's common after a lot of rain. We had a gully washer here all day every day over the Memorial Day weekend so this makes sense. Fortunately it disappears as the ground dries out.

You didn't know this was going to be educational, did you?

Anyway, I couldn't linger with my morning coffee as long as I normally do because I had a facial booked at 9 AM, and it's almost an hour drive so I needed to get moving.

There are places I could go much closer to home, but I love everything about the experience in this particular spa and I love the girl I see there. Now that my mom lives in that general direction I'll combine the trek with a visit to her, or I'll stop at Costco or Trader Joe's which are also very nearby the salon.

I go with a clean face, but I did shower, outside of course because that's the law here once winter ends, plus the view cannot be beat. Then I put on my comfy yoga pants, ate a small carton of yogurt, and was on my way.

The facial lasted an hour (pure bliss) and then I headed one town over to see my mama.

When I arrived she was in a chair yoga class and when that wrapped up she was going for some p.t. I tagged along and it was fun to see what all she does with the therapist. She cracked a joke too and we all laughed. After therapy we went outside and sat for a bit, then back to her room.

Pay no attention to my shiny face. I had a facial and am still sans makeup.

I walked with her to lunch then got on the road to head home. I grabbed a box of chick-fil-a nuggets and a diet lemonade for the ride back to the lake because I was starving.

Once home I spent some time on the deck working on my blog.

It rained a little and I love sitting outside listening to it fall. I move the deck pots out from under cover for some free watering.

Daughter2 facetimed and I spent 57 minutes talking to her which is always a treat. Her kids were resting so we actually got to talk.

Continue to ignore my still shiny face and my slightly oily hair. Shower number 2 is coming up because hubs and I had signed up for a wine dinner that evening.

This was not our normal monthly wine dinner, but one the owner of the wine shop had put together. The wines were French and the winemaker was there to do the presentation.

They had the most amazing charcuterie board as a starter, and then short ribs followed by creme brulee for dessert. The food was yummy.

Course I neglected to snap a pic of hubs and I, but in true to me fashion I did get one of the sky when we were walking back to our car. The sunset was a beauty.

I tried to snap a picture as we drove across the bridge coming home, but didn't fare too well.

We were home about 9:30 and headed to bed soon after.

Now. Was this day typical? Sort of. There's truly no such thing as a typical day here. Every day is a little different than the one before, but on this day there was a lot of driving which feels accurate, at least for the past couple of months. There wasn't any cooking which is not typical, but there was porch time, a catch up with a daughter, blog time, a fun meal out, and that facial, the benefit of which cannot be overstated.

This was fun. I look forward to reading about your day and will plan another link up sometime late fall. Thanks for joining the party here today!

Hodgepodge Fever

2026-06-17T03:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Here we go-

1. June 17th, 1994 was the day of the infamous O.J. Simpson car chase. What were you doing in 1994? I'm guessing somebody is going to tell me they weren't born yet but that's part of the fun of the Hodgepodge. Lots of generations are represented here.

What a crazy day that was. Watching the super slow police chase of a former NFL standout. So sad for those families and all that was revealed after.

In June of 1994 we were settling in to our new home in Maryland, having closed on our house there at the very end of May. Daughter1 had celebrated her 6th birthday a little bit early, with her NJ friends just before we moved and Daughter2 was not quite four.

And now let's pause and give these neon track suits on tiny people their due. When my girls see photos of themselves in this sort of 'fashion' they always ask, 'But why were we wearing track suits?'

Good question. I guess they were all the rage, they came in pretty colors, and they were comfy. Also swishy. Not a single natural fiber to be found but they do look awfully cute.

2. What's your favorite summer salad that isn't the traditional tossed green lettuce kind of salad? Do you like fresh fruit in a salad (other than in a fruit salad of course)?

I love all salads, but one of my favorites is a Caprese-red ripe tomatoes, sliced mozzarella, and fresh basil topped with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a splash of balsamic.

I like fruit in salads and often add Craisins to a regular tossed salad. There's a salad I make that we all love that calls for apple and pear. I like a watermelon and feta salad, a spinach and strawberry salad, and a peach and burrata salad too.

3. Is chivalry dead? Should it be?

Is chivalry dead? Not quite.

Should it be? I vote no. I mean technically it might be dead because I think the original definition of the word applied to a knight's code of conduct, and there aren't many knights around in 2026. The word has taken on a more commonly used meaning in modern times, and 'typically refers to an honorable and polite way of behaving, especially by men toward women' (Websters).

If that's the definition we're using then it's not dead in my house and I'm grateful. My hubs is considerate, opens doors, brings the car to the curb when it's raining, holds the umbrella, carries heavy luggage and bags, kills creepy crawlies, investigates strange noises, and brews me afternoon tea. I appreciate these gestures.

Am I helpless? Not at all. But I love feeling cared for and cherished and I'm glad there are areas of life I can trust he'll take care of and manage. I don't think men and women were designed to serve the same roles within marriage and I appreciate our different giftings.

4. Would you rather spend a week of your summer vacation in Hawaii or Alaska? Have you ever been to either? Are they two places you really would like to see? How do you feel about 'Hawaiian pizza' aka pineapple on a pizza? Have you ever eaten Baked Alaska?

Hawaii I think.

Maybe it's in my DNA?

I've never been to Alaska, and it's become a really popular tourist destination it seems. I'm sure I'd enjoy a trip there, but it's never been high on my bucket list. I'd rather have sun, sand, and the sea or ancient cities and beautiful architecture.

As far as the 'state foods' go...I won't order a Hawaiian pizza, but will eat it if that's what the group wants. I don't hate it, but there are far better pizzas out there than one topped with pineapple.

I've never had Baked Alaska but would love to try it.

5. World Cup play is happening now...are you interested? Watching any matches? Did you or your children play soccer/futbol? There are eleven US cities hosting matches-

-Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York with the stadium in NJ, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle

along with three cities in Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey)

and two in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver)-

You get free tickets to one of these matches. Which city do you choose? Tell us why.

We're watching. I love the patriotism on display by all the countries represented. I love that everyone is singing their nation's National Anthem with hands on their hearts. I love the enthusiasm for American culture that's had a light shone upon it thanks to the visiting spectators from around the world. I like the matches best where someone scores -ha!

I never played soccer and my girls played only when they were very young. There were other sports/dance they'd rather be doing.

If I have to pick a city from that list I guess maybe Toronto, mostly because I've never been. Also, I have a friend who lives not far from there, and I've heard it's a foodie city which appeals to me.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

A quick reminder I'm hosting A Day In The Life linkup tomorrow-June 18th for anyone interested in playing along.

If you need details you'll find them in my random thought here (Nom de Hodgepodge). Feel free to screen shot the graphic. See you there!

There Is A Young Cowboy...

2026-06-16T00:30:00.000-04:00

A letter today for the birthday boy, which is a blog tradition on From This Side of the Pond.

Dear Sweet Baby J-

Today you are four.

You've been a joy and delight since the day you were born and we only love you more with every passing year. There's so much to love about you but since you're turning four Nana is going to tell four things-

~You're curious. Which is why we know to keep an eye on you lol. You want to know how things work and you like to take things apart to figure that out (the lock on the back fence gate and your bedroom lamp are two that come to mind).

You want to know how they might go back together too, and you're quick and intuitive about such things. When momma asked recently what you want to be when you grow up you said a construction worker. You like to build and use your hands and you're good at that like your Daddy.

~You're sweet. Hence your blog name. You love your little sister and she adores and looks up to you. Sometimes she tries your patience, but mostly you are a wonderful, loving, protective big brother and that makes Nana's heart so happy.

You love your momma, but you're a Daddy's boy too, and when asked what your favorite part of vacation was this year you said, ' hanging out with Daddy'.

~You have a big imagination. Huge. You love to pretend and you love others to join in the make believe game too. Your little boy big brain is always working and we love watching you grow and discover new things every day.

~You're adorable. How old will you be when I'm not allowed to use that word to describe you? I don't know, but I think at four it's still okay. You have a twinkle in your eye and when you're happy and excited about something you squeeze your hands together and jump for joy. Your bright blue eyes, your infectious smile, your joie de vivre draws everyone in.

You love your cousins, 'your boys' as you call the two oldest and your extra special co-conspirator Little Miss who is your same age, who bosses you only a little even though you're three months older, and who you have the best and most serious conversations with whenever you're together. We all would love to be flies on the wall when you two put your heads together. I pray you're always the best of friends.

Your cousins live near Nana and Pawpaw now, and we're excited for a cousin party at the lake to celebrate your special day. There will be swimming, fishing, boating, s'mores and your favorite thing-balloons.

There will be birthday hugs and laughter and a whole lotta love because there always is when you're around. Happy birthday sweet baby J. Being your Nana is one of my favorite things and always know I love you deep and wide.

xoxo

Nana

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

Linking with Joanne today for Talking About It Tuesdays

Note: I'm hosting a Day In The Life link up here on Thursday (6/18)...feel free to join the party

Hey Monday

2026-06-15T00:30:00.000-04:00

A quick reminder I'm hosting a Day In The Life linkup for anyone interested on Thursday, June 18

Good Monday morning friends. How was your weekend? Ours was a scorcher filled with fun, family, and livin' the lake life. I'm linking as usual with Holly and Sarah for their weekend recap hop, and here's how ours looked-

My younger sister was in town with her hubs and son for the weekend. Well, nearby anyway. They're here mainly to visit my mama, so staying with my older sister who lives about an hour from me. They had plans to come to the lake for dinner so I spent Friday morning baking dessert, making an appetizer for Saturday's activities which are unrelated to Friday night's activities, and getting the house ready.

Speaking of dessert...

pre-glaze

This recipe is a keeper. Everyone loved them. They're a strawberry lemon blondie made with fresh strawberries and freshly squeezed lemon juice.

The strawberry glaze is made with pureed strawberries and it absolutely takes an already yummy bar to the next level. The glaze is sweet but the bars are not overly so and they're scrumptious.

Family arrived here about 4 and my sister and her hubs and son immediately jumped in the lake. It was hot and humid with temps in the 90's so the water was welcome. I sat up on the porch with my other sister and we caught up. It was a fun and relaxed afternoon and evening.

Hubs grilled wings, hot wings and teriyaki both, and they were delicious. I'd made a big pan of baked ziti on Thursday, and I love this recipe. I tweak it a little, but mostly prepare as written. I wanted something I could make ahead so I could hang with my family. The ziti just needed to be baked and then I added a salad and garlic bread to the meal.

After dinner we went for a boat ride.

It was still steamy but there was a nice breeze as we were cruising.

The sky was so pretty, and as they pulled out of the driveway to head home the sunset did its thing.

Saturday morning hubs and I sipped coffee on the deck and watched a lot of videos of Europeans visiting America for the first time and absolutely loving it. The messaging they get from their home country's news isn't matching up with the beauty, the wonder, and the kindness found in America, particularly the south and the heartland which is where many of these travelers are visiting. What they're seeing with their own eyes and experiencing in their interactions with people is giving them a new narrative and I am here for it.

There's a portion of Americans who could learn something from them, but I guess I won't get on my soapbox today.

We were invited on Saturday to celebrate a friend's retirement with a ginormous lake float party. They were serving BBQ, but everyone was asked to bring something based on the first initial of their last name which meant an appetizer for us. I made pickled shrimp which is always a hit.

Friends picked us up on our dock and we motored over to join 100 of our closest friends for an afternoon of floating, great music and delicious food.

Fanciest port-a-potty ever-

The band was fantastic. Seriously so good playing a mix of 70's-80's and 90's music.

It was a scorcher too so hanging out in the water was perfect.

Sunday we went to church, then came home and had lunch and a rainstorm.

I spent the afternoon catching up on my blog and resting up for Sunday evening when our Vacation Bible School would kick off. I'm doing preschool and kindergarten crafts so it should be fun chaos. VBS always is.

If you recapped your weekend hop over and add your link to the party.

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 658

2026-06-14T00:30:00.000-04:00

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday (June 17th) to share your answers. See you there!

2. What's your favorite summer salad that isn't the traditional tossed green lettuce kind of salad? Do you like fresh fruit in a salad (other than in a fruit salad of course)?

3. Is chivalry dead? Should it be?

5. World Cup play is happening now...are you interested? Watching any matches? Did you or your children play soccer/futbol? There are eleven US cities hosting matches-

-Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York with the stadium in NJ, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle

along with three cities in Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey)

and two in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver)-

You get free tickets to one of these matches. Which city do you choose? Tell us why.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Everyday Images

2026-06-11T22:07:56.040-04:00

I enjoy the Everyday Images link up hosted by Kym (Another Cup Of Coffee) and thought I might try to make some of my recent random photos fit the prompts. Bloggers tend to snap a lot of pictures and a prompt like this one is a nice place to set them down.

Kym posts new prompts every two weeks and the most current are-

flag, simple and/or complicated, at home, Wednesday weather,

doorway, movement, and branched

Well flag is an easy one because I'm adding patriotic decor in spots around the house and several feature flag motifs-

This is on my coffee table, a little vignette that's fun and festive. I chose poppies because they make me think of soldiers and sacrifice. The pop of red in a little blue floral vase is so pretty. These are artificial poppies, but look so real. I ordered them from a company called Luv Sola Flowers which I think is out of California. The stems have some bend to them which made arranging easy.

Love my 'smells like freedom candle' too. What does freedom smell like? For some reason I immediately think of freshly mown green grass, which is not the scent of this candle, but that's the first thing I thought of. The label on the bottom says gun powder, but I had to check so I don't think it's obvious.

Since we're talking flags I also bought hand soap for my powder room and some disposable towels, both with red, white, and blue flag designs on them.

Simple and/or complicated-

I spent Thursday afternoon cooking. I made dinner to take to a friend as part of a meal train (pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, and glazed carrots), then made a big pan of ziti to have ready to go for Friday night's dinner when my two sisters, my brother-in-law, and my nephew will be at the lake.

And I made hubs and I a big cobb salad for our Thursday dinner. I'll make a dessert tomorrow but it felt simpler to devote an afternoon to the bigger cooking as opposed to spreading it out over a couple of days.

Hubs is grilling wings Friday too but that's his department and he's got it covered.

at home-

I'm writing this post at 8 PM on Thursday and this is the first I've sat down today. Maybe all week?

Here's the sofa on our upper deck which is pretty much my favorite place to sit and it's currently on point with my patriotic theme. Happy birthday America!

Wednesday weather-

Hmm. I take a picture almost every morning, but did not snap one on Wednesday. It was drizzling when we got up, we had thunder at one point, humidity, clouds and then a very pretty sunset. We had gone to dinner with some neighbors and I attempted to take a photo of the pastel skies from their driveway.

Doorway-

I didn't have anything that fit this particular prompt so I scrolled back through my camera roll and found a photo I took back in March that I never posted. Yes, of course that counts. You make your own blog rules, right?

I took this when I was visiting my daughter2 in Tennessee and we shopped in the prettiest little store. Even the doors were beautiful-

Movement -

Well the beaver family has returned. Not the original beaver family because ahem, they're goners, but maybe one of their offspring?

He's movin' alright. Moving is good though because we do not want him stopping and staying a while.

We started seeing one good sized beaver swimming from the back of the cove towards the channel, which means he swims under our dock bridge. You have to get up very early to see him (which we do) and he is busy. As a beaver. Ha! That saying has merit y'all. We watched him one morning swim across our cove and under a neighbors dock all while carrying a large branch with the leaves still on it. Crazy! But kind of interesting too.

On Tuesday he had a friend with him. Oh boy.

We don't want him/them setting up house on our property so we're doing what we can to deter them . I don't think I'll elaborate.

Also, I wrote back in 2020 about the beaver who ate his way through our hillside landscaping and if you've never seen one you might think they're cute, but I'm here to tell you they are not actually cute. One reason we put in the waterfall was to save the hillside and the beavers have not come up the hill since so it's working.

branched-

This one feels like a challenge. Technically they're under some branches-

These two deer were in my neighbor's front yard the other day. They were not bothered by me at all.

Happy weekend everyone!

A Rosy Hodgepodge

2026-06-10T04:30:00.000-04:00

Welcome to this week' s edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Here we go...

1. How would you define 'the good life'?

This is a hard question to answer, but in a nutshell I'd say the good life is knowing my purpose, having loving relationships, enjoying good health, a strong and growing faith, and the things I need.

It's the feeling of contentment that comes from being grounded in those things.

2. What's the most used app on your phone (and are you proud of that)?

I checked my phone to confirm, but my most used app is Notes. I jot all sorts of things I want to remember there, and have headings like local sites, books, shows, blog ideas, restaurants, travel tips, quotes and more. I also have a note where I drop song titles in my efforts to create a top 100 playlist. I'm getting there.

Am I proud of it? I wouldn't say I'm proud because how often I use an app doesn't feel like something that engenders pride. That being said, I'm not embarrassed either, which feels like a distinct possibility with some of the apps out there.

3. 'Every rose has it's thorn', 'everything's coming up roses', 'looking through rose-colored glasses', 'it's no bed of roses' or 'stop and smell the roses'...which rose idiom best relates to something in your life currently. Explain.

When I look at the June calendar I see a little dot on every day of the month, but two. Some of the dots mark appointments, some mark events happening on a given day, some mean houseguests are coming and/or going, and all that to say it's a busy month. Good busy, but busy nonetheless. I want to make sure I take time to 'stop and smell the roses' and I will.

4. How do you feel about floral flavorings in food or drink (rose, hibiscus, elderflower, lavender)?

Not a fan, particularly of anything with rose flavoring added. I don't mind elderflower if it's not too heavy.

5. Over the course of your life what have you probably spent more time pondering than anything else?

What does God want me to do, and am I doing it?

This question shapes how I view my purpose, how I spend my time and resources, how I make decisions, and how I relate to others in my role as daughter, friend, parent, grandparent, and a partner to my husband in marriage. There is no area of my life left untouched when I ask this question.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Tuesday was Primary Day in the Palmetto State. Do you vote in the primaries? When you vote do you research the candidates or go in blind and make your best guess?

I open the sample ballot and then I make hubs and I little cheat sheets to take with us. If there are questions on a ballot I like to read those ahead of time. We're electing a new governor this year, and a senator, and then some state/local offices too and I want to know who I'm voting for.

Someone running for state representative knocked on our door the other day and we looked him up because we were impressed by his effort.

The Other Highlands

2026-06-09T00:30:00.000-04:00

Hubs and I celebrate 42 years of married life this month so whoohoo! Go us! June is busy here so we sometimes celebrate early or sometimes late, but we always mark the day in some way. It matters.

Everyone has their own story, but in ours I can look back and see how going the distance (so to speak) has been a series of decisions, choices, moments that might feel small but when strung together add up to something big. I see marriage as a daily thing, as opposed to a one time stand-at-the-altar thing. It's daily effort. Daily intention. Daily commitment.

Also a tremendous joy and blessing and more than a little bit sanctifying.

Also we need Jesus who keeps the train on the track when it threatens to derail.

This year we decided to celebrate early since I'll be helping with preschool crafts in VBS on our actual date. Our third grandson was born on our anniversary and we're going to celebrate him at the lake this year with a cousin party the week after, and Father's Day is thrown in there somewhere too.We know we have to be intentional or the day will come and go without fanfare.

Which is okay too but, I like a little fanfare.

We live on a lake surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains. There are loads of charming mountain towns within an easy drive from us, most about an hour or just over but our favorite is a little town on the NC line called Highlands.

There's a famous hotel in Highlands called The Old Edwards Inn and they have a restaurant called Madisons which is also well known. Hubs has been there once for a work party, but I've wanted to try it since we moved here and an anniversary seemed like a great reason to make that happen.

We didn't stay at Old Edwards because we brought the little brown dog with us. He's old and hasn't been feeling great lately so we booked a dog friendly hotel instead. We stayed in a place called Park On Main and if you're traveling to Highlands with your pet I highly recommend.

The hotel is on the main drag so walking distance to all the cute shops and venues, and they've thought of absolutely everything in terms of staying with a pet.

There was a dog bed, towel, and bowls in the room all ready for him, treats in the lobby, and of course dog decor done in a fun way. The lobby is filled with dog portraits. We had a little balcony that looked out to the back side of the hotel and the manager told us the people who'd stayed in our room before us saw a bear wander down the street there two days in a row.

We had no such luck, but I was watching.

We drove up to Highlands on Thursday and it was a picture perfect day weather wise. Our plan was to do a non-strenuous hike (partly the dog and partly my stupid ankle), then have lunch at our favorite lunch spot there (The Wild Thyme), then meander, take a nap, relax in the garden of the wine bar which was conveniently across the street from our hotel, and walk to Old Edwards for a late dinner (8 PM, and yes, that's late for me).

We made the hour drive up and over the mountain from the lake to the town and went straight to the trailhead for Sunset Rock. Or Sunrise Rock depending on which direction you go. We opted for the sunset side, although it was mid-morning.

It's a gravel trail with a very gradual incline that opens up to a beautiful view of the mountains and some of the town below.

We hung out on the rock for a short while before trekking back down, and then crossing the street to stop in the Nature Center there.

We've come to Highlands several times but I had no idea this was even here.

There's a botanical garden just behind the center with all sorts of walking trails, a bog, a small lake, so many blooming beauties including my favorite, the lily pad-

There were lots of butterflies and even a snapping turtle who smiled for the camera-

We walked all the way around the lake, mostly on a boardwalk path but also through some rooty woods and then got back in the car and parked in town.

We wanted to dine outside since we had the LBD with us so we opted for our favorite lunch spot-The Wild Thyme Gourmet. The food here is so good and we sat under a very very RED umbrella which made our orders bright.

A glass of French rosé? Yes please.

Followed by a cup of the most delicious, delicately spiced gazpacho and then a roasted veggie sandwich for me and crab cakes for the hubs.

We had ice cream from Kilwins which is just across the square for dessert. Georgia peach for hubs and toasted coconut with chocolate covered coconut bits mixed in for me. If coconut ice cream is on a menu I will almost always go for that.

We wandered down the main street, went in a couple of shops, then drove the truck down to the hotel to check in.

As I said we loved our room, how immaculate the whole place was, not to mention cute, and all the little touches. If you happen to have a Tesla they have covered charging stations in their garage. We don't but several of my neighbors do, and some read here.

Late afternoon we walked across the street to the cute wine bar set amongst the trees there. Friends of ours at the lake know the owners so we introduced ourselves and chatted with them briefly, then sat in the Adirondacks and relaxed.

Did I mention the weather was perfection? Bright blue skies and temps in the 70's.

Afterwards we went back to our hotel for a little siesta. I needed to be awake to go to dinner at 8, which not gonna lie is often closer to my bed time than my meal time.

We walked the four blocks down to Madisons and arrived a few minutes early so were sent upstairs to The Hummingbird Bar to wait with a beverage. The service was top notch and really made an impression. I had my traditional anniversary drink-a champagne cocktail and it was yummy.

Dinner was a treat. Hubs had let them know it was our anniversary and there were camelia petals scattered on our table. The chef sent out a sample of their pimento cheese with spicy buttermilk crackers to start, and I have already gone on the hunt for this cracker recipe. So good!! I found a copycat here (Copycat Old Edwards Inn Buttermilk Crackers) so I'll let you know how that goes.

We ordered our entrees and a server came by and set down a dish of their blue crab dip. We told him it wasn't ours so he moved on and then our server came over with the blue crab dip and a card.

Turns our our friends (same ones who know the wine shop owners) had called the restaurant and ordered it for us. What a sweet and thoughtful surprise! Not to mention delicious. Truly made our night and I want to pay that forward someday.

Our meals came, I had the red grouper special with brown butter cauliflower and hubs had a NY strip with broccolini. We didn't have dessert but our server brought out a sweet small serving of a shortbread topped with a raspberry mousse and we did not say no to that. He decorated the plate himself.

We walked back to our hotel and called it a night.

Friday morning we enjoyed the continental breakfast included with our reservation then got on the road home. We could have stayed and done some shopping but hubs is mid-home sale for a client and there was some work being done at the buyers new house he wanted to check on. The clients are out of state and he's on top of things for them.

We were home by 11 and I unpacked, started some laundry, then planted myself on the outdoor couch to blog and soak up the lake view.

Cheers to 42 and love that endures!

Linking today with Joanne (Slices of Life) for Talking About It Tuesdays

The Weekend

2026-06-08T00:30:00.000-04:00

Good Monday morning friends. How was your weekend? Ours was really nice and I hope yours was too. We celebrated our anniversary on Thursday, which is a little bit early but when your calendar looks like ours you grab the blank space and go for it. I'm going to write a separate post about that and just talk about the weekend today.

Our anniversary celebration involved an out of town overnight but we were home by 11 Friday morning. I unpacked, started some laundry, and then sat on the porch and spent some time blogging. At some point hubs needed to pick up something from Daughter1's house and I tagged along for a ride in the MG.

Once home we got ready for a neighborhood get together poolside and I made an appetizer to take along. I did not take a single picture but it's a yummy recipe. A friend shared it with me, and it's easy and delicious. A water cracker topped with whipped cream cheese, smoked salmon, chopped hard boiled egg, chopped red onion, capers, and cracked pepper. We had a nice time catching up with neighbors and the food is always good.

Saturday morning hubs and I took our coffee down to the lake and enjoyed the view.

The dock guys finally came to do the staining (the weather created multiple delays) so hubs moved the boat to the neighbor's dock in case there was any mess. There was not and it looks almost new.

The mancub made the All-Star team and they had a full weekend of games on tap. Game one was Thursday night and we missed that as we were away, but we made it to the first game on Saturday and it was fun to see him play.

It was hot so after game number one hubs and I took Little Miss and Max back to our house to bake their momma a birthday cake, and the Mancub and his parents stayed to play the second game.

We had lunch on the porch then got to baking. Their momma loves angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream on her birthday, but explaining a-why there's a hole in the middle of the cake, b-why there's no icing, c-why there's no sprinkles, and d-why we have to wait until tomorrow to eat it, was a whole conversation.

It looks tastier with the whipped cream and berries, but someone forgot to snap a picture. Oops.

They colored pictures for their mom and we watched a movie. Everyone was worn out from all the baseball, the heat, and the going going going so it was nice to chill for a while.

Their parents picked them up then I made another appetizer to take to a neighbor's house that evening. We were invited with another couple to watch game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals, and it was a fun night. The host said bring a very light and easy appetizer so that's what I did. I had a jar of blueberry lemon thyme jam I'd bought when I was at my Daughter2's in Tennessee a couple of months ago, and poured it over a brick of cream cheese with crackers and pita chips for dipping. It's sooo good!

My team didn't make the finals, but it was an exciting game nonetheless, with two overtime periods, and we didn't get home until after midnight.

Sunday morning we went to church, then popped home for a quick lunch before taking the cake and the berries and the whipped cream, and the candles, and the gift over to Daughter1's house to celebrate the birthday girl.

Okay so she's a few years older than this now, but whatever. Mommas gonna mom especially when a birthday rolls around.

She had a lot of help opening her gifts and everyone loved the cake. We didn't stay too long because they were hosting a pizza party for the baseball team and we were pooped. We came home and I took care of some paperwork that needed taking care of for Monday, then worked on my blog and relaxed.

We had an easy pizza dinner too, then watched a really sweet older movie I'd never seen-The Magic of Belle Isle. If you've never seen it I recommend.

And that was pretty much the weekend. If you've chatted about yours on the blog today, hop over to add your link with Holly and Sarah.

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 657

2026-06-07T00:30:00.000-04:00

Here are the questions to this week' s Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then hop back here on Wednesday (June 10th) to add your link to the party. See you there!

1. How would you define 'the good life'?

2. What's the most used app on your phone (and are you proud of that)?

4. How do you feel about floral flavorings in food or drink (rose, hibiscus, elderflower, lavender)?

5. Over the course of your life what have you probably spent more time pondering than anything else?

6. Insert your own random thought here.

A Rather Nice Hodgepodge

2026-06-03T04:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to June and this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Here we go-

1.What's something you find extremely difficult that most people would say is simple?

Directions. As in how to get from A-B and where in the world am I lol. I have absolutely no sense of direction. On the one hand I'm thankful for GPS, but it also makes me a little lazy. I quite often rely on it, and don't worry too much about finding my way.

Also, if you're telling me how to get somewhere don't give me any of that east west nonsense. Is there a McDonalds on the corner or a Texaco? I need a landmark. Sometimes when we're hiking and I'm unsure of which way to go hubs will say something insane like, 'How can you not know where you are??? You know where the sun is in the sky.' Huh??

2. "And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow fast in movies I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer."

~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Does the season of summer make you feel this way? Elaborate.

September is when this feeling hits for me. Years of living life by the school calendar is likely the reason why, but September always feels like a fresh start. Technically September is the end of summer, although I tend to think of it more as the beginning of autumn.

3. Pickles. Love 'em or no thank you? What's your favorite type of pickle? What's something you eat that definitely needs a pickle added?

I love them in all forms and I love cucumbers before they become pickles too. My favorite is probably a crisp dill pickle, but I also love bread and butter pickles.

Something I eat that needs a pickle added? A burger needs a dill pickle slice, tuna salad needs some chopped pickle, a hot dog needs pickle relish, and while not a requirement I do like pickle on a deli sandwich.

4. Tis the season...do you know any June brides? Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? What's your favorite movie wedding?

I'm a June bride...

We don't have any weddings on our June calendar, but we do have a July wedding this year. It will be red, white, and HOT, but lots of fun too. I love a wedding.

My favorite movie wedding?

Maria and the Captain in The Sound of Music ranks right up there, but I also love the wedding scene in Crazy Rich Asians.

5. June 1st is/was National Say Something Nice Day...say something nice here.

I think the Hodgepodge is one of the nicest little corners of the Internet. Thanks for playing along each week!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Since we're talking nice...

A neighbor brought me some of her gorgeous hydrangeas. They're even prettier in person. We have hydrangeas in our yard too, but they're just starting to bloom, and none in this color. So pretty!!

A reminder I'm hosting A Day In The Life link up here on Thursday, June 18th. If you don't know what that is check out last week's Hodgepodge random thought for details.

Hello Monday On Tuesday

2026-06-02T00:30:00.000-04:00

Hi friends. It's June. Can you believe it? May was choc-a-block full and June will be the same. We have a daughter's birthday, a grandson's birthday, an anniversary, Father's Day, a week with daughter2 and her littles at the lake, Vacation Bible School, various appointments, my brother and sister-in-law in town for a visit, two wine dinners, and whew. It will be fun.

Now if only the weather would get the message.

I didn't get my weekend recap written as we had company Sunday evening, then I had an appointment that required me to leave the house before 8 AM on Monday so here it is almost 3 PM and I'm finally sitting down to blog.

Backing up to Thursday because it feels like the start of the weekend. I volunteer from about 9-1 every Thursday, then went to run a quick errand for a friend before heading to the salon for a mani/pedi. So nice. Hubs and I had already decided we'd go out for dinner which added to the enjoyment of the salon treatment.

I got home and changed and we went to the local distillery for dinner and to hear some live music. I ordered a brisket sandwich and it was delicious but super rich. I only ate half and hubs helped with the rest. After we ate we went outside to hear a local band play.

We ran into some friends there who introduced us to a couple they were with, neighbors of theirs, and in the course of chatting we discovered they're friends with some of our very best lifelong friends. We snapped a picture and texted our friends who live far from here and in the moment it all felt like such a small world.

Friday hubs had an appointment to get his haircut in the nearby city and we decided to make a day of it. I tagged along so we could visit my mom afterwards, and we had the most delicious lunch in between these two events. We ate downtown at a small seafood restaurant where I could have ordered one of everything on the menu.

We opted for a half order of their famous cheddar hushpuppies-

A sampling of their fish dip which was so good I could have eaten as an entree...

A half dozen oysters from different east coast waters with varying salinity...

And then a lobster roll for good measure...

We got the Maine roll (cold) as opposed to the Connecticut roll (warm), but this place does both. We were full but we did get an order of their banana pudding to go so we could take that to my momma. She loved it.

We left downtown and headed to her residence next, which is about 20 minutes from the city. We had a nice time chatting outside and hubs had her laughing which makes me smile too. These lilies in bloom in the garden there were beautiful.

We made a couple of stops on the way home to drop off and pick up various things so didn't get home until about 4:30. We relaxed that evening and skipped dinner since we were still full from lunch.

Saturday I ran to the store first thing to get a few last minute party items and hubs ran to the rock place to get filler for a spot beside the patio. I'm sure the place has a name but he bought two buckets of rocks there so I call it the rock shop. We were both home by 11 and then headed out to watch the boys play in a travel baseball game about 40 minutes from here.

This is how it went down-

We drove forty minutes to a very nice sports field complex. I mean really nice.

We paid $20 to get in. Yes. $10 per adult. Does anyone else think that's a lot? And y'all. There were hundreds of cars coming and going all day long as there were games played by kids of different ages on multiple fields. I wonder if there are families with a child playing where only one parent attends the three day tournament because they can't afford the entry fee?

My daughter says probably not because these travel teams are a different level and parents are spending crazy sums on the bats and other gear so paying the $10 to get on the field is nothing. I saw a meme where a mom said 'here I am wearing the same bra I've owned since 2018 while my 8- year old is on the field with a $500 bat'. Ha! But also kinda true.

I will stop now because I sound old, plus the facilities are super nice so the money it seems is at least going back into that community. Also, most people don't have a husband who hits the snack bar and spends another $50 on junk food. Not naming names, but it does happen. ahem.

We came home and worked on getting everything ready for the next day's festivities.

I cleaned bathrooms and hubs got the outdoor dining furniture wiped down and back in place, the grill set up, the cornhole boards out, etc.

Saturday night he prepped the pork butt and shoulder. Somehow I bought one of each which I didn't think was a huge deal, because they weighed about the same, but apparently it was a bit of a deal because one had a bone and one didn't and blah blah blah.

It was all delicious.

Hubs put them on the green egg sometime between 11 and midnight on Saturday and they smoked happily all night long. There's nothing like the scent of BBQ with your morning coffee.

I'm not joking.

The weather on Sunday was nuts. It looked like it was going to pour rain all day but it never rained a drop. It was chilly. Then it was warm, then chilly again. But not raining so we'll take it.

We had BBQ with beans and slaw and then all the other yummy sides plus two desserts people brought.

We played cornhole and fun fact-we've owned boards for ten years and I still am not great at this game.

Here we are trying to do math. If you play cornhole you get it. It's all friendly and we had a great time chatting, eating, tossing the bean bags, and celebrating the start of summer.

Also, this turtle lives here now. What should we name him?

Linking today with Holly and Sarah's yesterday hop Hello Monday and Joanne's

Talking About It Tuesday

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 656

2026-05-31T00:30:00.000-04:00

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Hop back here on Wednesday (June 3rd) to share answers with the world wide webbers. See you there!

1.What's something you find extremely difficult that most people would say is simple?

~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Does the season of summer make you feel this way? Elaborate.

3. Pickles. Love 'em or no thank you? What's your favorite type of pickle? What's something you eat that definitely needs a pickle added?

4. Tis the season...do you know any June brides? Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? What's your favorite movie wedding?

5. June 1st is/was National Say Something Nice Day...say something nice here.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Nom de Hodgepodge

2026-05-27T03:30:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the last Hodgepodge in this merry month of May. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Here we go-

1. Do you like your name? Are you named after someone (grandparent, etc)? If you have children how did you choose their names?

I don't have a strong opinion about my name. I don't dislike it, and can't really imagine anything different. That's who I've always been so yes, I guess I do like it. I'm not named after anyone.

When we found out we were expecting daughter1 hubs and I immediately settled on her name. We were less sure of a boy's name, but no matter, because we were both certain baby was a girl and we were right. We just loved the name, both first and middle, and it suits her.

There was just one other girl with her same name in her preschool and kindergarten class, but then all the way up through university we didn't know another. Fast forward to present day and we have three in our church besides her so maybe it's more of a SC thing? We still love it.

Daughter2 has a name that belonged to one of hubs grandmothers and also one of my great grandmothers which is nice. The name definitely suits her. We gave her hubs other grandmother's name as a middle, and I knew and loved that grandmother so was happy to pass it on.

My grandchildren have a combination of family names and names their parent's loved. They are all more traditional which I love. One has his dad and granddads' first name and then our surname as his middle. One has my dad's name as his middle. One has my mother's maiden name as his middle. Both grandgirls share middle names with their mommas which is sweet.

2. A piece of red velvet cake, a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a slice of blueberry pie? You can only have one...which will you choose? If you could pick any red, white, or blue dessert other than those listed here, what would you choose?

I'll have the blueberry pie please. That's a favorite and I make at least one every summer. Hubs birthday is early September and I sometimes make him a blueberry pie instead of a cake for his birthday dessert.

If I were picking something not listed it would be angel food cake topped with strawberries. Red and white. I'll make one of these soon as my daughter1 requests this for her birthday dessert every year and she has one coming up soon.

Fun fact...she has a son turning the age she is in this photo but we won't time travel down that rabbit hole today.

3. What's a job you'd like to try for just one day?

I'd like to check groceries at the supermarket for a day. I can't really explain why this appeals to me, but it's a job I think I'd enjoy. I like grocery shopping and am nosy about what people have in their carts. I'm also picky about the bagging-just ask my hubs.

4. Any patriotic decor in your home currently or coming up this summer?

I've put out some patriotic decor because it's a big year for America and I want to celebrate that. I needed new cushions for my upper deck and went with a patriotic theme. I bought hand towels for the guest bath, patriotic soaps, and I've ordered a candle for my coffee table with a patriotic label.

I mentioned my front door wreath in Monday's post, and I have a patriotic door mat there too. Of course the dock is decked out with a flag and a patriotic wind sock and in general the lake is full of flags flying and people celebrating the freedoms we enjoy.

I'd post pictures of my new pillows, but it's been raining cats and dogs since Friday so we have the outdoor furniture covered and the pillows tucked away. They'll be out all summer so I'm sure they'll turn up on the blog eventually.

5. It's the end of May, so let's exercise our brains. Sum up your month with an acrostic using the word MAY. We can do it!!

Moved my momma early May

All the blooming beauty added brightness to the month

Yearning for sunshine as we turn the page to June

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I'd kind of forgotten I wanted to host another Day In The Life link up for anyone who'd like to join the fun. New season, new routines.

Unless you're retired then it's same old same old. Ha! I kid.

Anyway, let's say June 18th. It's a Thursday. Choose a day to keep track of that falls between now and the link up, then hop back here to add your post to the party. If you don't know what I'm talking about here's the 411-

Pick a day and give us the play by play of your life on that day. Some bloggers do their posts by the hour, some by chunks of time, whatever works for you. Most people add photos but that's up to you. If you're like me you need to set the timer on your phone to remind you to take pictures but again, you can do your post in whatever way you like.

I wrote one back in November you can read if you want an idea of how mine looks-A Day In The Life, Autumn 2025

These posts are fun to read and I feel like they're great connectors. Hope to see you there!

The Tender Middle

2026-05-26T00:30:00.000-04:00

Linking today's post with Talking About It Tuesdays hosted by Joanne

We've recently moved my mom south, out of my sister's home in PA where she's lived for the past six years, and into an assisted living facility. Safety is paramount when you're in your ninth decade and that was the tipping point for all of us in making this hard decision. By all of us I mean myself and my three siblings. We've had a loose plan knowing this might someday become necessary but not going to lie, reality hits harder than you might imagine.

I'm not going to talk too much about the process because every family has to do what's right for them. I will just say my younger sister did her homework and knew all the questions to ask. We looked at many places in two different states and between the four of us saw each one in person.

There are so many factors to consider coupled with a lot of emotion, so if a move like this is on your radar start visiting and collecting information now. Just know that nowhere is perfect and settling in takes time. For everyone.

I have a mishmash of thoughts I want to put into writing but the mishmash is real. Hubs has asked me a number of times this month, 'What are you thinking? I can see the wheels turning."

Turning but not really getting anywhere.

So what am I thinking?

I'm thinking about how difficult it is to reach a point in life where your decisions are not your own. Not where you live or if you drive or sometimes even what you eat.

I'm thinking about how every member of a family has feelings about how best to meet the needs of an elderly parent and how emotions run high where love, sadness, and exhaustion coexist. I'm thinking about how much grace is required in those moments. Grace given, and also grace accepted.

How sometimes we have to do hard things we wish we didn't have to do.

How giving an elderly parent as much independence as they can safely handle is a good thing, but knowing when too much is too much is maybe the more important thing.

I think about everything our parents once did for us, and how that memory helps us now do for them.

How often we frustrated them, tested their patience, wanted our own way, didn't want to be told what to do because we were certain we knew best. Suddenly that gets flipped on its head and now you're the one digging deep for patience and a gentle tone. The one trying to give in a little whenever giving in is possible.

How you learn the parent you've known all your life is still there inside the person who now needs a walker and some help remembering the life they lived.

There is also, somewhere in the middle of all this thinking, the unsettling realization that one day you might be that person too. The one needing all the things you're now being asked to give.

How you will likely buck and dig in your heels because you still feel like yourself, an independent capable person who cannot imagine being anything but.

Except now you kind of can.

And it's a little bit frightening.

I think about the term sandwich generation and how apt that moniker is. I'm the filling and sometimes I feel squished.

And sometimes completely overwhelmed with love for those doing the squishing.

I think about how I don't have the energy I had even a decade ago, yet I still have opinions and wisdom and things I want to contribute. I still want to matter. Everyone does.

I think about how time shrinks and expands at the same time and how I want my children to have big beautiful lives, but not forget mine as it gradually but naturally will grow smaller.

Mostly I think about how God holds each one of our lives in the palm of His hand. How He knows the number of our days from beginning to end, and how He walks beside us through every season we encounter.

We are never forgotten.

Never unseen.

We are known and loved by the One who made us.

Rainy Days And Monday (also Friday Saturday Sunday)

2026-05-25T00:30:00.000-04:00

Hello friends and happy Memorial Day. I’m especially grateful today for the men and women who've given their lives in service to our country, and the freedoms we enjoy because of them. It's good to pause and remember.

Our weekend was, in a word, drenched. Wow. It rained here. A lot. The whole weekend in fact. We're in a bit of a drought situation so it's good I think, although not sure we needed it all to come down in a single weekend. Hubs and I just embraced the forced relaxation, because no way were any outdoor projects happening, no fun cookouts, no sunset boat rides. You'd need sun for that.

We cancelled our Netflix subscription about a year ago, but my daughter2 and I wanted to finish watching the Great British Baking Show we started when I visited her in March, plus I wanted to see Remarkably Bright Creatures, so I resubscribed and we spent the weekend catching up on all the shows we've missed.

This post is gonna be a little bit 'here's what I watched on TV' the past three days, but whatever. An alternate title might be 'what I didn't cook this weekend' but I'll let you decide.

Thursday we went out for sushi and I had the spiciest spicy tuna roll ever. We came home and watched the octopus movie which we both enjoyed. I read the book quite a while back but hubs didn't know the story. I appreciate a movie that follows the book plot.

Friday morning we went out to breakfast at a new-to-us spot. I had their french toast which was delish. We stopped at Daughter1's house on the way home because she had the new bow ready to go for my front door wreath. These bows are somewhat pricey online, so we buy the ribbon at Hobby Lobby and she works her diy magic to make one that's pretty for half the price.

She made me one in the fall, then a second I've had up since Valentine's Day, and now a patriotic summer design which I love.

We wandered through her garden while we were there, and it's thriving. I'm looking forward to her sharing the harvest.

Friday night we watched The Woman In Cabin 10, another book I'd read a while back that was turned into a movie, and the movie reminded me how annoying I found the book.

Saturday we woke up to more rain, a ridiculous amount in fact, the kind that spills out of your gutter and causes even the turtles to run for cover.

Hubs had been fighting a cough for a couple of days so I decided to make a pot of chicken soup, which is good for whatever ails you. I don't normally make chicken soup in May, but the gray skies and cooler temps made it sound inviting.

We started watching Season 3 of The Diplomat, which is so good! We binged a few episodes until we could no longer stay awake, and finished it Sunday afternoon because...it was still raining.

We went to church Sunday morning and it felt good to leave the house. My son-in-law had taken the two boys to watch the Braves play in Atlanta so hubs and I took daughter1 and her little miss to brunch after church ended. Since you're tracking all the things I didn't cook you should know I had Eggs Benedict.

Hubs and I finished The Diplomat and since there was a break in the rain (not the gray skies) late afternoon, we decided to take iced coffees down to the dock and see what we could see. There were a few boaters out, but it was breezy and we didn't stay long.

We had a frozen pizza for dinner. Whoohoo! What a weekend!

shhh...don't tell anyone but I kinda loved it.

Linking with Holly (Pink Lady) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books) today for their weekend recap blog hop.

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 655

2026-05-24T00:30:00.000-04:00

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday (May 27th) to add your link to the party. See you there!

1. Do you like your name? Are you named after someone (grandparent, etc)? If you have children how did you choose their names?

3. What's a job you'd like to try for just one day?

4. Any patriotic decor in your home currently or coming up this summer?

5. It's the end of May, so let's exercise our brains. Sum up your month with an acrostic using the word MAY. We can do it!!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

An Uncomplicated Hodgepodge

2026-05-20T03:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions, add your link at the end of my post, then go say hi to your neighbor there.

1. What do you make more complicated than it needs to be?

Perhaps a better question would be what DON'T I complicate? I know there are a number of shortcuts my girls have shown me on the computer/phone that I still do 'the long way' aka the less simple way, because old habits die hard.

2. What impresses you?

humility, courage, bold faith, quiet acts of generosity, and the sunrise

on a less serious note-raw musical talent and the Rockettes kick line

3. On a scale of 1-10 how picky of an eater are you? (1=extremely and 10=not at all) If you had to eat a meal made entirely of one color what color would you choose?

How picky am I? I'm a 10. Not picky at all.

There's almost nothing I won't eat. In fact the only thing that comes to mind is liver and I think my dislike of that goes back to my childhood. My mom would occasionally make liver and onions for dinner and I could not handle the smell at all. I do like liver pates which are nothing like liver and onions.

My girls, their spouses, and my grands are not picky eaters either, which is really nice when it comes to meal planning.

If I had to eat a meal made entirely of one color I'd probably opt for red-

apples, cherries, strawberries, watermelon, red peppers, red potatoes, tomatoes, red onions, beets, red meat...I think I could cover all the food groups if I chose red, but I'd definitely miss the greens.

I'd like a Christmas plate please-red and green.

4. What does balance in life mean to you? Does your life currently feel 'balanced'?

Hmmm...I'm not sure life can be in balance every minute of every day. I think we're always making adjustments both large and small, to keep life on an even keel. For me balance means I have an overall sense of well being (physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally). Sometimes I need more physical activity to regain my balance, sometimes more quiet space, coffee with a friend, or a good cry.

Do I currently feel balanced?

Not exactly, but like I said in my answer to the first part of this question, I'm always tweaking things and this season is no different. I mean I'm not tipping over but one side of the boat is a bit heavier than it should be and I'm working to level out.

5. If you could travel the world for a year what would be your first destination?

I think I'd start in New Zealand because it's so far from my current location and that's a place I'd like to see. I could work my way this direction without a lot of backtracking.

Sounds good to me...when do we leave?

6. Insert your own random thought here.

'And I'm proud to be on this peaceful piece of property, I'm on sacred ground and I'm in the best of company...

And I'm thankful for those thankful for the things I've done, I can rest in peace, I'm one of the chosen ones...

I made it to Arlington...'
~from Arlington written by Jeremy Spillman and Dave Turnbull

This weekend we pause to honor and remember those who gave all.
Let's be grateful.

A Weekend Recap From The Porch

2026-05-18T00:00:00.000-04:00

The weekends go by fast, don't they? We like to say every day is the weekend in retirement, but lately not so much. Hubs and I declared Saturday a no-hurry have fun day and although I had to remind him of the no-hurry bit a couple of times, he eventually relaxed and we had a really nice day. A day date if you will.

Remember when I was counting those here? I'm still counting, just not posting all of them on the blog.

Backing up to Friday...

Hubs of course had a dozen projects going so he spent most of the day power washing the dock and bridge. We've hired the staining out this year because that is a back breaking job and some years we pay to have it done. They're supposed to be coming on Monday so he wanted it squeaky clean first.

Power washing the dock is also back breaking so he earned the rest.

I took care of some paperwork and cleaned bathrooms, then went to play Mah Jong. Not back breaking, but it can sometimes strain the brain.

Daughter1's hubs was attending an out of town medical thing last week so she and the kids came over Friday evening for a slumber party. The puppy too, because where they go the puppy goes. He desperately wants to play with the Little Brown Dog, but the LBD is not having any part of it. He lets him know too, but they'll get used to each other.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous all weekend long, so we sat outside and played and talked, and hubs grilled burgers for dinner. Little Miss went to bed on the early side and the rest of us snuggled on the couch and watched Hook. Nana might have missed the entire middle of the film due to an unplanned nap, but I'd seen it before so no biggie. That's life in the third act. You fall asleep before the six year olds.

Actually that has always been me, never a night owl. Does staying awake past 8:30 qualify one as a night owl?

After some early Saturday morning fishing for the Mancub and Pawpaw, the party goers had breakfast then went on their way. Hubs and I jumped in the car for a drive one state over. We had a lunch destination in mind, then planned to piddle around in some of the shops nearby.

At our wine dinner this month one of the couples we sat with told us they'd been to a great BBQ place in the little town of Dillard Georgia. I live in the Palmetto State, but the GA border is right down the road.

We don't often go out for BBQ because hubs makes a mean pulled pork here at home, but the pitmaster at the Blue Hound in Dillard won Season 6 (July 2025) of the Bobby Flay BBQ Brawl and we thought we should taste it for ourselves.

The drive over was just under an hour, and it's my favorite kind of BBQ place. A small building that sits on the literal side of the road beside a gas station, smoke billowing out of the smokehouse, and already a long line at 11:15 AM.

I got the brisket sandwich with a brocoli salad instead of chips and hubs had the brisket plate with collards and slaw. He meant to order banana pudding, but forgot. We did get two jars of their rubs to try at home.

We sat at a picnic table outside and enjoyed every bite. Afterwards we browsed a couple of shops just a few hundred yards away, then headed towards Clayton, which is a cute little mountain town we love.

We passed this shop on the way to the restaurant and the name forced us to make a stop there on the way out-

They actually had some nice pieces of furniture and then the usual assortment of 'stuff', but we just looked before heading on to Clayton. Which was hopping on a sunny Saturday! Once we got parked we walked to a little shop called White Birch Provisions for a coffee. I think I might like to stay in the White Birch Inn sometime as it looks cute. We browsed the shops on the main drag, but didn't buy anything.

On the way out of Clayton we popped in to the local distillery there so hubs could get a bottle of their bourbon. I hadn't been in the place in a couple of years and they've expanded quite a bit which was nice to see.

We made the hour-ish drive home and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening on the lower level porch. I had a small nap (my sleep tank has been fumes the past month) and we listened to music, read, and chatted. Neither of us were very hungry so hubs ate the leftover burger and sides from Friday's dinner and I had a fried egg sandwich. Sometimes that is exactly what I'm craving.

Sunday morning kitchen sink view.

We went to church, then made an exceedingly and unnecessarily long stop at Tractor Supply for a piece of rope for the outdoor shower mirror (the one we had finally broke) and then had lunch on the porch. After lunch hubs trimmed tree branches or some such nonsense and guess where I was?

If you said the porch you wouldn't be wrong. It's great to be back in ~~almost~~ summer mode.

Linking today with Holly and Sarah for their regular Monday morning weekend recap party.