Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Falling for the Hodgepodge

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! Everyone is welcome to play along, just answer the questions on your own blog, then add your link to the party. Here are my answers to this week's questions-


I love a trip to the apple orchard this time of year. A sunny day, bright blue skies, wide open spaces, and trees loaded with apples. 

We can pretty much get any kind of fruit we want year round in the year 2014, but I rarely eat an apple in the summer.  There are so many wonderful local summer fruits available I tend to save my apple eating for the fall and winter months.  

Do I say y'all? Y'all already know the answer to that. 


A falling out is defined as a fight leading to separation. I'm not a fighter, so a falling out would be a very rare thing. I suppose I have something in mind that might fall under the loose heading of a 'falling out', but it's all water under the bridge now. 


Free Fallin' by Tom Petty. I won't go into the whys, but suffice it to say when I hear this song I am catapulted back to the days where my then teen age daughters would sit on the floor in our UK house, in a cozy little space tucked behind the stairs, and Daughter1 would play this song on her guitar, and Daughter2 would sing along.  The memory of music is a powerful thing. 


Is it awful to say housework? Because when I look around my house I'm thinking right now that answer works. A summer filled with lots of coming and going does not mesh well with daily dusting and vacuuming. 

Plus planning a wedding is way more fun than wiping baseboards, which is another reason I'm playing a little catch up around here now. 


We haven't seen a lot of movies this summer, or come to think of it, any movies. I think the last movie that fell short of my expectation was American Hustle. So much hype, and I thought it was just eh. 

As far as books go, I did not love Gone Girl like so many apparently did. Again it was uber-hyped, and people who read it before me gave it rave reviews, so I was expecting to love it. I will say though, as I was reading I commented to a friend that I thought it might make a better movie than a book, and voila-the movie opens this weekend. I'll probably wait until it's available for rent to see it though. 

I recently made a chicken dish that I won't make again. It was given several stars on a recipe site I follow, so I expected great flavor, but hubs and I both thought it was blah. 


I think and say it often about Daughter2 and myself. She and I look alike, we're both endearingly clumsy (I think it's endearing anyway), and we share a similar stubborn streak, which I will add is maybe not always as endearing as our lack of coordination-ha! 


In spite of our kitchen sink woes, yesterday was a pretty nice day. 

As is today. 

It's fall, y'all! And the weather is making me supremely happy. 

The plumber is here as I type, and apparently the clog in the pipe is not near the kitchen sink, which means this will not be a quick fix. Whoever built our house apparently held the philosophy of why run a little pipe when you can run a lot?  

Still, the weather y'all! It's hard to be irritated on a day like today, and I trust the plumber to figure out the sink mess because that's why they make the big bucks.  

Do they make big bucks? 

Sometimes it seems so, but when you've got a sink you can't unclog yourself it's all relative, right?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of apple picking...hubs and I declared it fall and trekked out to a nearby orchard on Saturday. This is earlier than we normally go, but we were home for a change and the weather was cooperating, so off we went. I prefer apple picking in October because it's cooler and the leaves are turning, but it was still an enjoyable day.  

The scenery is gorgeous around this particular orchard, and now I have an enormous bag of apples waiting to be made into sauce, a Thanksgiving pie, and who knows what else.  Did I mention I love fall? Y'all?


  1. My mouth is puckering right now...thinking of those delicious, tart, juicy...fresh off the tree, apples!!

    Yum. Nothing like Fall and you have me thinking about making some caramel apples even.

    Hope that plumbing job is fixed and all's well "y'all"!!

  2. I forgot about letting housework fall to the wayside. Happens a lot at my house where quilting (or honestly, almost anything) is more fun than housework. ;-)

  3. Fall is the best time to eat an apple! What kind did you pick?
    I did not like American Hustle either.
    Hope your sink gets fixed soon, that would be a serious bother!
    Our week weatherwise has been almost perfect so far. God is a wonderful Maker.

  4. I would love to go apple picking, but most of the places are up in north Georgia about an hour or so from here. Maybe next month, we can make it happen. Sorry to hear about your plumbing issues...that's always stressful to deal with. Hope it resolves soon!

  5. Our town was known for the apple orchards, and when hub and I built our first house we built across from an apple orchard. I just loved the smell and the beauty of all the apple trees. Now, no longer an apple orchard but a subdivision-:( Enjoy the apple orchard as often as you can.

  6. I can't get over how you manage to come up with these questions week after week, Joyce! Thanks for the Hodgepodge. It's always fun. Fall and apples always go together for me - until this year, when our sweet, faithful old MacIntosh tree bore not a single apple, due to last year's horrid winter.

  7. Visiting an apple orchard is on my 'Bucket List'. For now, I'll settle for the two small apple trees planted near our garden. Two apples are growing there, just waiting to be picked :)

  8. I have heard mostly negative things about the book Gone Girl, so I've decided not to read it. I really have no idea what it's about at this point, but there's so much good stuff out there to read,that I'd rather not waste my time on a book that I'll likely not enjoy. Have a lovely day!

  9. Going to an apple orchard sounds wonderful. Apples are one of my favorite fruits and I would enjoy getting the chance to pick my own. Sounds fun. The kitchen sink deal...not so much.

  10. I love the apples fresh from the orchard. Used to make lots of applesauce and pies. Not so much these days. Y'all have a good day!

  11. I'm totally loving this fall weather too. I love having the windows open in the house. Your apples look delicious. We may have to hit an orchard real soon or go to Country Applefest which is going on in our town this weekend.

  12. What beautiful apples! And, I could say housework as well. I'm having a hard time getting motivated to really clean since we're on our way out of this house. Shame on me, but it's the truth. And, sure hope the plumber gets to the "bottom" of your sink issues. Ugh!

  13. Oh it would be housework for me too. When I think of ALL the years it was one of my top priorities! Whatever was I thinking? lol We were going to go to an apple orchard while we were at Mel's, but the rain kept us from it. I'd have loved to see the boys picking apples! Enjoy your day!

  14. I had to stop watching American Hustle halfway through because I just couldn't get into it.

  15. Glad you got your apples. I hope to go soon to get ours. Free Fallin' in a great song! I just ordered the Soundtrack from American Hustle. I won't buy the movie. I enjoyed it at the show but don't need to see it again. Hope your plummer gets it all worked out for you. Yes they get the big bucks but when you need them they can be awesome!

  16. I love the way you kickoff fall with apples! I guess early Sept is the best time around here for apple picking, but I was just researching areas to go! Have a great week!!

  17. I am waiting for a plumber as I write this! Mine is for a good reason though - ice maker line on a new refrigerator 😄 Happy fall!

  18. Those apples look so yummy! =) I'm with you on the lagging housework. I must get to my fall cleaning soon. Great hodgepodge this week! Thank you for all you do.

  19. Those apples look delicious. My daughter works at an Apple Orchard and she said that by the end of the day last Sunday they had to turn people away because almost all of the apples were gone already! Crazy.

  20. I loved reading your answers today. Nothing says autumn more than apples. My #3 daughter is the same. I call her my "mini-me".
    Hope you have a great day.

  21. I don't guess I've ever picked apples! That'd be a fun outing.

  22. My grandparents owned an apple orchard and my family lived on the property until I was 7. When I think about apples, I instantly think about my grandpa! He was so proud of his apples. Orchards are gorgeous all year round - you should see them with snow on them. Sweeeeeeet!

  23. Going to an apple orchard to pick my own apples sounds like a wonderful Fall treat. Those apples you bagged up are beautiful. Do apple orchards typically grow all the same type apple trees or do they do a variety? Also, how will you keep them fresh until Thanksgiving?
    I've never heard the song you chose and I notice that someone else mentioned that song.
    Housework seems to be the thing we are all falling behind in. Nice to know in in with the "in crowd."

  24. Apples (& pumpkins) say fall to me! We just went to the orchard on Sunday & got a BUSHEL of apples. We've made 3 pies in 3 days! I'm ready for a crisp now! LOL I didn't care for Gone Girl either...& I think I'm one of the few that wasn't gung-ho about the Hunger Games series either. Housework will be there another day...and another day...

  25. Oh how I would love to go apple picking! We don't have that sort of thing around here. We have a pumpkin patch though! Maybe I'll do that this year. I'm pretty sure anything is more fun than wiping baseboards. LOL The time is getting closer! Are y'all ready????

  26. Great questions, sorry about last week, I had forgotten. This weeks HP will be up tomorrow/Thursday. Blessings

  27. A trip to the orchard would be heavenly! That's the one thing I really miss, living in Florida. Good, fresh apples. Ahhhhhh....

  28. I have never been to an apple orchard, but it sounds like such a northeastern and fall thing to do. That goes on my bucket list! So sorry about the plumbing issues. That is never fun!

  29. Hi! I am a new reader, one of the blogs that does the hodgepodge led me to you. I am also a new blogger myself, and I was wondering if it was alright if i used your hodgepodge questions on my blog? Thanks so much,