Wednesday Hodgepodge - Words and Thoughts

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!

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

1.  August is National Golf month . . . do you play? Do you enjoy following golf? Have you ever been to a professional tournament?

 

I do not play . . . unless mini-golf counts, and I don't think it does. I have never followed golf at all or attended a tournament of any kind. I like a good round of mini-golf occasionally but I'm not very good! 

 

2. Astronaut Jim Lovell of Apollo 13 fame passed away this past Thursday. Are you interested in outer space and what's happening today in terms of space exploration? If space travel become common in your lifetime would you go? How do you personally relate to the idea of exploring something vast and mysterious . . . does the idea excite you, intimidate you, or something else?

I'm interested in classical astronomy and stargazing, but not very interested in space exploration. To be honest, it seems like a colossal expense with not a whole lot of practical benefit. I would not want to travel into space even if became possible and a "touristy" thing to do. Probably my mindset on space exploration sounds terribly medieval to some, but I feel like we're not really meant to travel beyond earth's atmosphere. How do I feel about exploring something vast and mysterious like space? Not excited. Maybe intimidated? More uneasy or apprehensive. 

 

 3. Describe your communication style in three words.

 Wordy. Honest. Diplomatic.

True to form, I can't leave it at just three and need to explain! I talk a lot and I also tend to be wordy when I write. I often worry that I am dominating a conversation or that I'm interrupting, so most of my adult life I've been trying to figure out the balance. I do say what I really think and I have firm opinions about a lot of things, and I like to frame it as being honest, but it also can be much too direct and blunt, so I've worked hard at developing tact and diplomacy in my communication. Making myself wait before responding, and then wait a little more and choose words carefully. In situations where my saying too much or being too blunt would not be helpful, I have to try to use my vocabulary wisely and sometimes sparingly so I can be truthful but also be kind and wise even in difficult conversations.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ . . .  ~Ephesians 4:14 

4. Do you have a favorite cookbook? A favorite celebrity chef? Do you watch any cooking shows on TV?

 I have a small collection of cookbooks that I can't give up. I have several in the Company's Coming series. I have a couple of favorite recipes in a couple of church fundraiser cookbooks. I have a cookbook specifically for cast iron cooking. I have two cookbooks I'd consider my favorites - the first one because I use it a lot (or used to, I don't quite as much any more), and the second because it's all about comfort food and memories. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois has been my go-to for all things bread-related. So good! And I'm so attached to my copy of the Mennonite Treasury because it's got those good recipes that remind me of my Grandma and aunties.

 

These days most of my recipes are from the internet, so my most used "cookbook" is my collection of recipes on the Plan To Eat website and app, because it's just so easy to use and doesn't take up as much room as all the cookbooks! (Disclosure: The link and the button contain my affiliate link, which means you'll get a 20% discount if you use it, and I'll get a small commission for the referral.)

I guess my favorite celebrity chef might be Guy Fieri. We used to watch Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives regularly and even made plans to visit a couple of the places he featured. I also used to watch Emeril sometimes, and we really liked Alton Brown's shows. But it's been awhile since I followed any of those shows. I found Chopped and Cutthroat Kitchen entertaining, and I really liked The Great British Bake-off.

 5.  As a child did you have any back to school traditions? If so, did you carry on those same traditions with your own children? Do you have any back to school traditions you've started on your own?

 I don't remember any back to school traditions from my childhood, although I suppose we must have had at least a couple of little things. So no, I didn't carry on the traditions as far as I know! We homeschooled, so one thing I did was get First Day photos of the kids (when they cooperated), and for a few years we made a big deal of getting donuts on the first day of school, though I'm not sure why. I also chose a School Scripture every year. I think this is the final School Scripture post I did on my Homeschool Coffee Break blog: School Scripture 2022-2023, which was my daughter's last year of university and the year we moved. It's got a summary of most of the School Scriptures we used over the years.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I've dropped a couple of links to my homeschool blog in here, and I don't update that very often any more. I don't quite know what to do with it. I don't want to abandon it, but I'm also not homeschooling any more, so it's a puzzle. Anyway, I did post photos and a bit about our recent trip to Fallingwater there, so I'm glad I dusted things off a little before adding the other links to the Classical Astronomy and School Scripture posts, so it will look slightly lived-in if you decide to visit! Here's the Fallingwater post link: A Fallingwater PhotoJournal

 

And as always, when I talk about links, I mention the Wednesday Quotes link-up. The current theme is "Spirituality" and you can find it here: WQ - Spiritual Life. The next theme, coming August 20th, is "Writing Letters". A new Everyday Images photo link-up will drop tomorrow (Thursday) with a new set of prompts.

I've shared a lot of words and thoughts today - what are your thoughts on any of these questions? Leave a comment and let me know!

I'm sharing in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

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

 ©2006-2025 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.