10 on the 10th - Spilling Some Summer Tea

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

On the 10th of each month, Marsha In the Middle asks ten questions for us to answer in as much or little detail as we wish. The summer theme continues in August as we look at some questions about how we spend our summers. Reminds me a little of some essays I wrote at the very beginning of a new school year when I was growing up . . . but hopefully with much less pressure!

Tell us about your favorite summer vacation. Now tell us about a vacation gone wrong!

As I've said before, I am incapable of picking just one favorite of anything! I narrowed my choices by trying to think of vacations that were actually IN the summer, because as a family we usually took our big family trip in the fall. So one favorite that was actually in the summer was our family vacation to Atlantic Canada about ten years ago. We drove up through the New England states, and wished we'd had time to spend in Boston, but it was interesting just driving through. We stayed with friends in New Brunswick for several days and had a lot of fun with them and seeing their local sights. We also drove out to Nova Scotia and once again it would have been nice to have more time there, but we got to see it. We spent a few days on Prince Edward Island where we visited a friend of mine, went to an airshow that featured both the Blue Angels and the Snowbirds, and visited a Green Gables provincial park. Big highlights of our stay in New Brunswick were visiting the Bay of Fundy and going on a tall ships whale watching cruise!

I can't remember any complete and total disasters, but it's always miserable when someone gets sick while on vacation, and that's happened to us a few times. Or car trouble, ugh. We've also had that happen a few times. Once while in Massanutten, Virginia, we had something go wrong with our van (I can't remember what), but basically wasted a day trying to find a place to get it fixed and hope we weren't getting fleeced. On that same trip, I managed to sprain my ankle while we were hiking, which also put a damper on my enjoyment. It was still a fun vacation but a big repair bill and a bandaged foot were not fun.

Kids weren't having fun on this hike anyway. LOL

Fatter than usual ankle. *sigh*

Share an activity from your summers as a kid, but now you wouldn't even consider trying it.

The first thing I thought of was riding bikes. My brother and I rode our bikes everywhere all the time at home, and I remember renting or borrowing bikes at a favorite campground and riding around too. Now, I got over my appreciation for bike riding decades ago and haven't owned a bike as an adult. I don't like exercise bikes either, I'd way rather be on a treadmill or elliptical. But I can't say I wouldn't even consider it. The last couple years I wouldn't consider it, but now that I have a working knee, I'd be open to it, and in fact I was thinking that a bicycle for two would be something pretty fun on vacation.

Is there something you love to wear in the summer, but would never wear in the colder months?

I have a couple of sleeveless dresses that are so comfortable during the summer heat, but would never wear when the temperature dips.

Spill the tea! What summer beverage do you need to make it through the day? What beverage wouldn't grace your table ever during the summer?

Water! Always water! But I also love sweet tea, lemonade, limeade, and especially margaritas. I can't think of a beverage that I would ban during summer, but unless I'm camping I can't think why I'd drink hot chocolate in the summer.

When you were a kid, was there something you did that kids today would think was a complete waste of time? Is there something kids do today that you find a lost cause?

Nothing specific comes to mind, except perhaps "playing school". One of my best friends and I both wanted to be teachers when we grew up so when we got together we always took turns pretending to be the teacher and student. I am pretty sure my kids would think that was LAME. 

I don't know if there's anything kids do today that I think is a complete waste of time, but it bothers me that such a huge chunk of modern kids' time is spent on screens. It's not a total lost cause, but I think it's probably way out of balance and too many hours spent. At least some of those hours would be better spent playing outside somehow or being with people and without screens.

Share a summer movie you watch as often as you can. What summer movie do you wish had never been filmed?

I'm not much of a movie watcher, so I think I'll skip this one. 

Tell us about your current favorite summer song. Now tell us about a song that instantly takes you back to your childhood.

Remember what I said at the beginning about choosing favorites? Applies here too. Some top picks on my playlist right now are "My Favorite Part" by PEABOD, "Stay" by Saint Nomad, "Bottom of the Barrel" by Rusty Shipp, and all things Twenty One Pilots. Some worship music is on the favorite list too.

The song that takes me right back to childhood is You Are My Sunshine. That was one my aunts sang to me when I was little and I sang it to my babies too.

Time to spill the tea again! Are you a bikini type person? Or do you only dip your toe in the waters in a one-piece?

No bikinis for me! I don't think I've ever worn a bikini, even as a teenager. Rather than a one-piece though, for many years I've preferred a mix & match of a tank and swim skirt or shorts. I'm sure there's no photo of me in my swimsuit―and even if there was, I wouldn't share it!―but it's similar to this one:

Share a favorite summer recipe you love to fix over and over again. Now what recipe did you try one summer and will never attempt again.

Summer is for grilling so that's what we go to again and again. We've done smoked bacon-wrapped meatloaf a few times and it changed my opinion about meatloaf. I made the meatloaf with half ground beef and half ground pork sausage, and put a bacon weave on the top of it. Cooked in a smoker with a glaze of barbecue sauce on top. Yummy!

We tried doing smoked cabbage on the grill a few years ago. Cut out the center portion of the cabbage and fill it with chopped bacon and onions and barbecue sauce if I remember correctly. It was okay, but at the end of the day it was still cabbage, and I do not like cabbage and even the bacon and barbecue sauce couldn't change my mind.

What is your absolute favorite summer smell? What summer smell makes you want to vomit?

Favorite summer smells, hmm. How about flowers―like when you walk into a garden and are just surrounded by scents like honeysuckle and lilac. Just "green and growing" smells in general are lovely and so summery. Raspberries are a smell that makes me think of summer too. 

Okay, garbage always smells so much worse when it's hot outside. Horrible.

What a way to end! With a nasty smell. So I'll have to a couple summery photos here so I'll feel better about wrapping up this post.

What are your answers to a couple of these summery questions? Leave a comment and let me know!

This post will be linked at Marsha In the Middle for the August Edition of 10 on the 10th.

 Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email. 

 ©2006-2023 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. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 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.