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Prepared for the Hodgepodge

Happy Wednesday, friends! For those of us stateside, how wonderful was the long weekend?! Sundays just hit differently when you know you don’t have to report for work the next day.

Anyhoo, it’s time for me to share my answers to the questions that Joyce collected for us this week.

Thank you for visiting, and I look forward to reciprocating!

1. Next Sunday is Grandparent’s Day. Share a favorite memory, photo, recipe, or something you learned from a grandparent. 

I didn’t grow up around my grandparents. One set lived in Canada, and the other set were from France. I saw them twice that I can remember.

My stepdad’s mom lived in North Carolina. My sister and I spent a couple of weeks with her one summer. She was a very sweet, southern lady. That summer, she taught us how to cross-stitch after taking us to Walmart to find something to keep us occupied. I think that is what ignited a love for fiber arts. I spent many an hour making beautiful cross stitch pieces, and later expanded my crafting skills to knitting.

2. What’s a quote from a book (besides The Bible) that has stayed with you? 

My hero has always been Corrie ten Boom. I began reading her books when I was a child. The Hiding Place quickly became a favorite of mine. In fact, it is one of a very few books I’ve carried with me all of these years.

The broken spine is evidence of a much-loved book.

The following passage is from this book. The part in red is what has reverberated in my brain ever since I first read it.

And so seated next to my father in the train compartment, I suddenly asked, “Father, what is sexsin?”
He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case off the floor and set it on the floor.
“Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?” he said.
I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.
“It’s too heavy,” I said.
“Yes,” he said, “and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger, you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.

Corrie was blessed to have an incredibly wise father here on earth.

3. What’s your number one food pet peeve? 

I despise wasting food. I will eat leftovers for days and will take leftovers home from a restaurant as well. I find it appalling to see how much food is wasted in our country.

4. What’s one thing about you that is still the same as it was when you were young? 

I still love to read – so much. I used to pretend I was asleep on Saturday mornings when, in fact, I was buried under the covers reading a beloved book. Early favorites included A Wrinkle in Time, Nancy Drew books, and the Sweet Valley High series.

I still appreciate the telling of a story that makes me forget where I am – that drowns out the noise from a world that has lost its ever loving mind.

5. September is National Preparedness Month…does your family have an emergency plan? Do you have some sort of preparedness kit you keep on hand? If so, tell us one thing that’s kept there. 

When we lived in Florida, I always had things ready for a hasty getaway during hurricane season. Thank goodness I was prepped because I had to make a run for it a mere four hours before we got hit by Hurricane Michael in 2018. We took a direct hit from this Cat 5 storm, and the aftermath was devastating.

I always kept bottled water, canned goods, candles, lighters, and matches packed. I had a small safe that held important papers, and I kept a suitcase packed with a couple of outfits.

I don’t have an emergency kit now that I live in Alabama. I need to get a weather radio, and I would love to install a whole-house generator because we have some pretty icky storms that come through.

6. My Random Thought

Speaking of reading . . .

Here are the books I finished in August.

I’m a tough critic. It takes an incredible book to earn five ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me. The Room in the Attic had great pacing that seamlessly alternated between two timelines. I checked out the Kindle version of this book through Prime Reading on Amazon.

Have a great week, y’all!