Lemony Hodgepodge

Addy’s first lemonade stand in August of 2020.

It’s time again for Wednesday Hodgepodge with thanks to Jo From This Side of the Pond.

1.What was the best (or one of the best) summers of your life? Tell us why. 

The best summer of my life was in 1963. The summer of that year I responded to God’s call on my life. I repented of my sins and believed and put my faith on the Lord Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for my sins and began following my LORD and Savior. Why is this the best? Jesus is my guarantor of a future with the Triune God in heaven. I have been saved from the wrath of God, saved from Hell. Now I am a child of God and His love is over me. I was given eternal life and everything I need on this earth to grow in obedience and the knowledge of the one who saved me. Jesus is way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Him.

Repentance is agreeing with God that you are sinful, confessing your sins to Him, and making a conscious choice to turn from sin and pursue Christ and obedience to Him. It isn’t enough to believe facts about Christ. Even Satan and his demons believe in the true God, but they don’t love and obey Him. True saving faith always responds in obedience.

2. When you have a trip coming up do you make a list and check it twice to ensure you don’t forget anything? Or are you a ‘throw whatever you can think of into the suitcase at the last minute’ kind of packer?nd 

Lists, lists, and more lists. Sometimes I do throw in some last minute items!

When returning from a trip do you unpack immediately or leave the suitcase right where it lands? 

It depends. If I’m suffering from jet-lag it could take a day or two for the unpacking and laundering.

3. What’s your favorite food or beverage made with lemons? Is that a flavor you enjoy? 

Lemon curd is a favorite on a scone or in a pastry.

A Kensington Dream for a drink. It has a half a lemon squeezed in it.

I do enjoy lemon flavor.

4. When was the last time you had to make lemonade out of lemons, figuratively speaking I mean? 

This was a tough one for my memory bank. When we were in the condo for a couple years in Southern California, I wanted to make a calzone for the first time. I did not have a rolling pin as they were both back in our home in Washington State. We did have a muddler and I ended up being able to use that to roll out the dough!

5. Did you like school growing up? Why or why not? 

I did like school growing up. I remember that ‘feeling’ in September when school was just about to start. I can remember holding a book early on and loving the fact that I could read the words on the page. I had some wonderful teachers who encouraged me in their kindness to enjoy school. Mrs. Nicklaus, Mr. Demar, Mrs. Sawyer, My senior American Government teachers, Henke, Simon and Sciandra. Mr. Sciandra signed my annual with this sentiment; “I certainly have enjoyed having a swell Christian in class. Best wishes for your future. “

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I captured a few shots of the northern light show on Monday night but it wasn’t nearly as dramatic as this one I captured back in May of 2024. The cool thing I saw on Monday night was a shooting star! It’s been ages since I’ve seen one of those.

Have a good end of the week everyone!

Not Blushing Hodgepodge

1. This time last year where were you?

On June 23rd of 2019 we were driving to church for our first summer service. Don’t know what we did the rest of that day.

2. In honor of National Pink Day (June 23rd) tell us your favorite pink food or beverage. Was it on the menu at your house yesterday?

Kensington Dream

In a shaker over ice add juice of 1/2 a lemon, 2 oz. Creme de Cassis, 1 oz. each Brandy and Amaretto. Shake well and pour into Goblet. Add about 4 oz. of champagne. Enjoy but don’t drink and drive! There’s a reason this drink is called “Dream”.

I’m taking the liberty to say this is a pink drink and it is my favorite and I’m enjoying one right now while I type out my answers for the “podge”.

Do you like to wear the color pink?

Yes, I do enjoy wearing pink. (fuschia)

Me and my sisters.

If we came to visit would we find this color in your home decor?

You would see some pink but only in dishes or figurines or fresh flowers and some pink in the play room, like this pink kitchen.

Blush-fuschia-salmon-raspberry-your favorite shade of pink?

I think I’ll go with Blush.

3. Stop and smell the roses, looking through rose colored glasses, a rose by any other name, not all moonlight and roses, no rose without a thorn…which rosy saying currently fits your life in some way? Explain.

no rose without a thorn…

To enjoy something pleasant like our acreage means we have to work hard to keep weeds under control and especially in the Spring and Summer we have to do a lot of mowing and weed wacking and weed pulling.

4. Are you a ‘reader’?

Yes.

Do you tend to read lighter books in the summer months?

I haven’t been reading any light books lately. When we take road trips we enjoy listening to books on CD, usually murder mysteries.

Do you have a summer reading list?

Not a list. The books I’m reading right now are the Bible,  a compilation of works by Spurgeon, a commentary on 1 Corinthians, Strange Fire by John MacArthur.

If so, give us a title or two.

For lighter reading I love going back to some Children’s Classics like Narnia books by C.S. Lewis, The Wind in the Willows, and Anne of Green Gables.

5. Share with us one rose and one thorn from your weekend.

The rose was having time with our grandchildren and honoring Fathers. The thorn was the evil narrative going on in our nation.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

We have lots of Columbine that we did not plant and they come up every year with no help from us. They are always a great surprise. 

Thank you to Joyce who comes up with the questions for us to answer.

Round Robin Photo Challenge ~ Bottled Up!

Here’s what Karen originally had to say about this topic:

Bottled Up – Show us a bottle. Is it glass or plastic? Is it old? Is there a message inside? Will the contents give you a buzz, or help you fight a cold? You decide!

Maybe it’s not the bottle that matters, but the label. Kim of Nekked Lizard Adventures suggests this variant:

Your favorite wine label (or other favorite beverage)

Carly‘s suggestion focuses on what’s inside the bottle:
Quench My Thirst – Take a photograph of your favorite beverage, in an artistic light. Include a recipe if you have created a completely unique drink.
So there you go! Photograph a bottle or other drinking vessel, its label, and/or whatever liquid refreshment is inside. Make it artsy, make it fun, make it send us running to the fridge or the supermarket, or even the liquor store. It’s up to you! Just be sure to follow the usual guidelines:

A Favorite for the man of the house.

A Washington State Wine that is mighty fine…

Chateau Ste Michelle 2005 Canoe Ridge Estates Merlot

A twist on Sangria from California!

To see more Round Robin Photo Challenge click here!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Ruby Tuesday ~ Kensington Dream

This post isn’t all for the birds…

I’m including a recipe for a signature Ruby Drink that Dear watched a bartender in South Kensington (outside of London) make and has recreated for us in the U.S.A. This isn’t an everyday drink but a once in a while drink that has some good flavors and quite a kick! And well it’s Ruby!!

Kensington Dream

In a shaker over ice add juice of 1/2 a lemon, 2 oz. Creme de Cassis, 1 oz. each Brandy and Amaretto. Shake well and pour into Goblet. Add about 4 oz. of champagne. Enjoy and don’t drink and drive!

For more Ruby Posts click on over to Maryt at Work of a Poet

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I posted on my blog from 2007-2015 hostage and replaced them with big black and grey boxes with threats. So discouraging…as I’m slowly trying to clean up thousands of posts!