Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Lemon Yellow Hodgepodge




A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes! In keeping with the theme, I'm enjoying a lemony-limey beverage today!



Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1.  Do your goals and dreams energize or exhaust you? Elaborate.
 
Neither? Or I guess it depends on what else is going on in my life as I think about the goals. The goal and dream of getting new furniture and decorating my house is energizing . . . until I get frustrated trying to find the item I want at a price I'm willing to pay. Then it can be discouraging and perhaps exhausting as I wonder how long it will take to find what I want or to get pictures up on the walls or the kitchen sorted or whatever it may be. Kind of similar situation in the goal to lose weight and get healthier - energizing as long as things are generally going well, but exhausting when it feels like I've been working at it and doing the right things and the number of the scale doesn't budge. 
 
2. July 23rd is national lemon day. Are you a fan of this flavor? What's a favorite dish or beverage you enjoy that calls for lemons?

Oh I do like lemon flavor! Lemonade is delicious and so are desserts like lemon bars. Lemon is used in a lot of Greek dishes that I like, and I always ask for lemon quarters to squeeze onto my fish and chips. A favorite dish is chicken lemon orzo soup, and a favorite beverage is raspberry lemonade. 

Hubby and I shared a "fresh squeezed lemonade" when we went to the concert and fireworks on July 4th. We paid way too much for it and I said we would need to keep the cup and reuse it to get our money's worth. So I have to include a photo of it, since it fits! 

 


3. "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" . . . is this something you're pretty good at managing? Have you had to do this recently? If so tell us about it.

 Yes, I think I'm pretty good at making the best of situations. I tend to be easy-going and roll with whatever is thrown at me, and to be optimistic most of the time. If I do complain, it's usually in a funny way to try and find the humor in the situation and to not take myself too seriously. In a way, I guess my husband and I have tried to make the best of things as he's been dealing with the kidney stone. We joke about it, and try to see the bright side of it - like some shorter work days for him, for example. 

4.  Something you love that is lemon yellow in color?

 Other than actual lemons, I guess . . . hmmm. I love some flowers that are yellow - especially yellow tulips and black-eyed susans. Coffee Crisp wrappers. This serving bowl, and this Frank Lloyd Wright design mug (on the left), which I picked out especially because I loved the yellow inside.





5.  How would you describe your attention to detail?

 Inconsistent. Sometimes I don't pay attention at all and other times I'm hyper-focused and get stuck on something because I'm obsessing over a small detail that's actually not terribly important. And the majority of the time I'm somewhere in the middle, paying attention to the details on the things I deem important and interesting, and pay less attention to things I don't find as interesting. 


6. Insert your own random thought here.

When answering question two, I thought of this fun fact about me: as much as I like lemon flavor, I really dislike lemon in my water, and either tell restaurants to not put a lemon in my water, or immediately take the slice out and give it to my husband. I also do not want lemon in my iced tea.

I'm late posting again. I'm in that weird spiral where I keep thinking I'm almost caught up with things, and then I get behind again. Hubby has surgery tomorrow (Thursday) to remove the kidney stone, which means I get to sleep a little later than usual before taking him to the hospital, so I'm not sure whether it will be a day to do some catching up on blogs and other (arguably more important) things at my desk, or a day to catch up on some sleep.  

How do you feel about lemons and lemony things? Leave a comment and let me know!



From this Side of the Pond

I host the Wednesday Quotes link-up every other Wednesday. Stop by and share a few thoughts and quotes on the current topic here: WQ - Sunrise. I host the Everyday Images photo link-up every other Thursday. And find the Scripture and a Snapshot link-up here every Sunday.



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Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

WQ - Sunrise




Life was not intended to be simply a round of work, no matter how interesting and important that work may be. A moment's pause to watch the glory of a sunrise or a sunset is soul-satisfying, while a bird's song will set the steps to music all day long. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder




By the time this article is posted, the sunrise here will be over. I hope you saw it today. And I hope you'll pause with me for a moment to reflect on what a wonderful gift it is to see a new sunrise each morning.


This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls. ~John Muir

Let the name of the LORD be praised,
both now and forevermore.
From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the LORD is to be praised.
~Psalm 113:2-3~


In the twilight of the morning, all life silently waits for the sunrise. ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan


Nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise. At no other time have I so sharp an understanding of what God means to do with me as in these hours of dawn. ~George Washington Carver


How interesting that Carver felt he understood his purpose better when he spent time outdoors watching the sun rise. There is something so hushed and beautiful about watching a sunrise somewhere in nature, and I think it does spark in us an appreciation of the eternal, and maybe a desire to do something worthwhile with the day ahead. May it also inspire us to want to know the Creator of the sunrise.

 Believe in God like you believe in the sunrise. Not because you can see it, but because you can see all it touches. ~C.S. Lewis


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Wednesday Quotes is a bi-weekly opportunity for bloggers to share their writing, poetry, photos, or stories inspired by our theme. We've chosen the themes as a starting point for your creativity, and the only requirement is that your post include at least one related quote. Feel free to combine or "double-dip" with other writing or photo challenges as well. Of course, we'd appreciate a link back to us, if you'd be so kind. Add your link and please visit others and leave a comment! The link is open for two weeks.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Thanks to Marsha at Always Write for introducing us to the Wednesday Quotes challenge, and for passing the hosting duties along so we can continue sharing great quotes! Wednesday Quotes is co-hosted by Kym at A Fresh Cup of Coffee and Sadje at Keep It Alive


Quoting reminds me there are other people in the world besides only me. 
And other thoughts besides mine, and other ways of thinking. 
~Gregory Maguire~

Wednesday Quotes 2026 Themes

January 7 - Resolutions
January 21 - Motivation
February 4 - Eating Out/Restaurants
February 18 - Being Responsible
March 4 - Libraries
March 18 - Perseverance
April 1 - Simplicity
April 15 - Conquering Fear
April 29 - Making a Difference
May 13 - Family Ties
May 27 - Courage
June 10 - Teachers/Mentors
June 24 - Connecting with Nature
July 8 - Milestones
July 22 - Sunrise
August 5 - Patience
August 19 - Taking a Break/Rest
September 2 - Learning from Mistakes
September 16 - Best Friends
September 30 - Elegance
October 14 - Reaching Goals
October 28 - Dreams/Nightmares
November 11 - Integrity
November 25 - Generosity
December 9 - Beauty in Nature
December 23 - True Love


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 ©2006-2026 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. 

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

The Flower Hour - The Floral Alphabet Continued


We continue with the Floral ABCs . . .

Gardenia

Hydrangea

Hard to believe, but there was a time when I didn't care for hydrangeas. When I started seeing all the different colors and varieties, I changed my mind. The white ones pictured above grew at my house in Maryland. They are pretty basic, but they are definitely pretty! The last couple years I've enjoyed seeing the interesting color varieties of hydrangeas available at the garden center, and maybe now that I have a house where we can plant something, we'll add one or more of these to the yard.






Hydrangeas are even pretty once they fade and the leaves have dropped, at least in my opinion.


For the letter I, I turned to the Latin name. This is Ipomoea, commonly called Morning Glory.







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 ©2006-2026 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Sunday, July 19, 2026

Sunday Stills - Farm Animals


This week the Sunday Stills prompt turns our attention to animals found on a zoo or farm. Pretty much any animal might be found in a zoo, I guess, and I have always enjoyed visits to the zoo. But I'm focusing on a few farm animals today.

I've never owned a horse, and it's been years since I went riding, but in my opinion, there are few animals as beautiful as horses.


These horses and their donkey companion belonged to our neighbors in Maryland, and were pretty friendly. Usually it made me feel so fortunate to look out over my backyard and see horses or other farm animals grazing peacefully.


And when the weather was not so good, we marvelled that animals were generally okay out there! They had a nice barn to take shelter in whenever they wanted to!



This beautiful team was giving wagon rides at Christmastime and I was so glad to get this photo. I wish I'd got their names.


Sort of straddling the fence between farm and zoo animals are bison. While they once roamed freely in the wild, their numbers were greatly reduced and thanks to zoos, wildlife preserves, breeding programs and more, the American bison has been recovering. Like beef cattle, they are raised on farms and ranches for their meat. Bison are semi-wild and can't be domesticated to the same extent that cattle are, and the ranches require heavy duty corrals and equipment to safely handle these powerful animals. About 200,000 bison are raised on privately owned ranches for their meat. Many wildlife preserves also have bison roaming on open ranges, and it is breathtaking to see just a small herd of them and imagine what it was like to see a prairie covered with herds of hundreds or thousands!

I have seen bison out west but don't have photos of those. This fellow was at the Columbus Zoo . . .


. . . and these are at the Batelle Darby Creek Metro Park in Galloway, Ohio (just southwest of Columbus).




Back to somewhat more traditional farm animals . . . cattle. Where we lived in Maryland, we were surrounded by dairy farms and quite a few of our friends were farmers. Peaceful scenes like this were part of the everyday drives in the area.


They were our neighbors, and most were quite friendly.





These calves were neighbors at the other end of the road.




I don't remember whether these were neighbors or not!


These oxen were not our neighbors, but I was impressed with their patient strength when we watched them work at a farm museum in Geneseo, New York, many years ago. Very handsome!


And I leave you with this darling little guy who was at Timbuk Farms (greenhouse and garden center) this past Christmas season.






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 ©2006-2026 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.