Wednesday Hodgepodge

Time to link up with this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge! And I can even have the button on this post that you can click on to get to Joyce's blog to join in and read others answers to these questions. Why is it a unique thing that I have the button? I have finally gotten a new laptop. My old one pooped out four months ago. Here's to  blog posts with embedded links and have formatting and pictures and everything! Woohoo!

 

1. This is the last Hodgepodge in April. Share something you learned this month. 

I am learning how to use this new laptop and a new camera. I tend to go slow on those types of things because too much technology in this brain does not work.

2.  It's National Poetry Month, and we all know you can't escape an April Hodgepodge without a little poetry. Keeping the first line as is, change the rest of the wording in this familiar rhyme to make it your own - 'Hickory Dickory Dock...

Hickory Dickory Dock
My poor little brain is locked
I can not think
To write a poem
My brain does not work that way 

(Oh gosh that is soooo sad.)

3. What were one or two rules in the home you grew up in? Growing up, did you feel your parents were strict? Looking back do you still see it that way? 

We couldn't play the piano when someone was watching TV. We were supposed to turn off the lights in our rooms and comb our hair before we came to the dinner table. Napkins went on our laps and we always used a spoon in a bowl. Those are all pretty minor rules, but are what popped to mind when I read the question.
I would say my parents were strict, but I don't think it was oppressive. They were parents who were parents. Parents who loved us and taught us how to respect authority.  

4. Tell us about a kitchen or cooking disaster or mishap you've experienced. Do you have many from which to choose? 

A couple of weeks ago we had some really good friends from college days visit. I decided to make some hot fudge to go over our ice cream and brownies and in my true fashion I didn't follow the recipe exactly and it turned out in a globby (as in one giant glob) chocolate mass. It tasted just fine, but then I left the hot fudge in the pan on the stove-top and did not turn off the burner. An hour or so later Hubby realized he could smell burning chocolate. Sigh. It only took a day and a half of soaking and scraping and soaking and scraping and soaking and scraping to get the pan clean. 

And, yes, after almost 32 years of marriage I have my fair share of kitchen disasters to choose from.

5. Plant a kiss, plant doubt, plant a tree, plant yourself somewhere...which on the list have you most recently planted? 
Absolutely I've planted a kiss most recently. Just one benefit of being married. Grin.

 

6. What's your most worn item of clothing this time of year? Are you tired of it? 

I can't think of a particular piece of clothing I wear a lot except whatever pair of jeans are feeling the most comfortable that week.
At each change of season, I seem to all of a sudden decide that either I hate all my clothes or I don't have any to choose from (which really isn't true). And then I go shopping and realize that I don't like many of the clothes our there. I really need clothing designers to stop making the neckline so low and to use such thin fabrics that you can't see all the details that are supposed to be hidden under the clothing,

7. I'm wrapping up the A-Z Blog Challenge this month and our Hodgepodge lands on letter W. What's one word beginning with W that describes you in some way? How about a word to describe your home, also beginning with W?
 Me: Witty. I love humor and I love sarcasm. (Hopefully not mean sarcasm.) I have noticed myself being (what I consider) more witty lately and that makes me happy. That means I am feeling a lot more comfortable with the people we hang around with.
Our Home: Warm and Welcoming. At least that is what we are striving for. 

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

My son and daughter-in-law came for a five day visit a couple of weeks ago. It was their first time to South Carolina and we had a blast showing them our favorite places. We went to Charleston for a couple of days to see the ocean and experience some southern history.

Here's the two of them taking a Charleston Harbor selfie. (Can you see her tiny baby-bump?)  The dude to the right is my hubby.

Charleston

There have been many places in the Southeast I have wanted to visit for a long time and since we now live in the Southeast, this is the perfect time to take advantage of that!

Memorial Day weekend we hopped into our car, hit the road and a mere three hours later we were in Charleston, SC! That is a little mind-boggling for this Midwest girl. We are wanting to take advantage of being able to travel in a part of the country we haven't seen much of.

We started the weekend by having pizza with a high school friend of Hubby's. He actually lives in the Chicago area, but was visiting his daughter who lives in the Charleston area. It's always good to see him and his wife. I was determined to take a picture of them, but I stupidly managed to talk myself out of it. I seem to always feel awkward when we are with friends to ask them for a picture.

Here's a crazy thing: We met Hubby's friend in a town that is the same as our last name, only spelled differently by one letter. Our hotel was in a town that has the same name as the town where my hubby went to high school in Iowa. Funny.

Saturday morning we decided to tour a plantation called Middleton Place just outside of Charleston. 

The property was beautiful. This house, built in 1755, was one of three that were there at one time. This is the only one that survived both the Civil War and the 1886 earthquake.

I was enchanted with the huge live oak trees that were dripping with Spanish moss. 

Just beautiful!

The "wildlife" was enchanting as well.

I am also enthralled with peacocks. The male peacock is a stunning creature. God has some crazy imagination to create this creature. I have a book from my childhood called Suki and the Invisible Peacock. It was one of my favorite books. I think of it whenever I see a peacock.

After some yummy seafood for lunch, we headed off for a boat tour of the harbor.

We often will take a tour of a new city to learn more about the history and layout of the place. This boat tour was a disappointment. The guide spent the majority of the 90 minutes talking about pirates. While I understand there were pirates in the area, it would have been more interesting to hear about what we were seeing along the shorelines and even more about Fort Sumter and the Civil War.

I didn't get very many good pictures, but here are a few:

Fort Sumter

Saturday evening was another time I wished I would get over my stupid awkwardness about taking picture of people we are with. We had supper at the home of some friends we met while we lived in Singapore. We hadn't seen each other for 15 years. It was fun to be in their house and see some familiar artwork and pieces of furniture. Us expats sure seem to like to buy the same types of things! Linda and I were in a number of Bible studies together over the two years we were in Singapore together. Since she had already lived there three years before we arrived, she had a lot of tips and knew where the good shopping places were. I learned so much from her. Butch enjoyed talking with our kids at church and especially teasing our daughter. It was a very enjoyable evening. I hope we can see each other more whenever we go back to Charleston.

Our Sunday morning carriage ride around the old part of Charleston redeemed the horrible harbor cruise. Our tour guide was very informative and we learned so much about the area.

Sunday's lunch was on the waterfront. The scenery and the food were both fantastic. 

I had a soft shell crab BLT. I am a huge fan of crab but had never had soft shell crab. I've heard people rave about it so when it was on the menu, I ordered it. I was not disappointed. It was soooo yummy!

 
As we worked our way around Charleston on foot on Monday, we came across this very old cemetery.