Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Falling For the 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!


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

1.  Fall officially rolls into the Northern Hemisphere on Monday (9/22) . . . what's your favorite thing about fall?
 
Toss-up . . . the colorful leaves or the weather. I think fall is my favorite season so it's hard to choose just one thing about it that is a clear favorite. Obviously the changing colors are a highlight. Fall weather is so good, especially very early in the fall when the days are still warm and often sunny, but it's refreshingly brisk in the morning and cool overnight. I love a bit of fog. I even like rain and thunderstorms - within reason! Days on end of gloomy weather make me depressed, and obviously storm damage and flooding isn't good. But the bright blue skies, combination of crisp and gently warm temperatures, and an occasional foggy morning or light shower - yes, please!





2. What's one thing on your real or proverbial autumn bucket list?

One thing I have on this year's list is to have friends over for a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner. We seldom have company here other than family, and it does take a bit of planning to host a dinner party of any kind with a small kitchen and dining area, but I'm hoping to make it happen. 

 3. Apples, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and cranberries are some of the top fall foods. Which one is your favorite and how do you like it prepared? Any on the list you don't eat? Which one have you had most recently?

 Sweet potatoes are my favorite from this list because I like them in pretty much any preparation! My favorite is a sweet potato casserole with a crushed nut topping. Close second is a baked loaded sweet potato. The only one on the list I don't care for is butternut squash. It's okay, but I wouldn't choose it and almost never make it myself. Most recently I had a loaded baked sweet potato.

4. 'Fall is proof that change is beautiful' is a popular sentiment. Would you agree or no? Elaborate.

 I think change CAN be beautiful, but it's not a given. Not all change is beautiful or good. So I'd say fall is an example of changes that are beautiful. 

 

5.  Is there a spot near you where people go to see the leaves change color? Will you try to leaf peep somewhere this fall? Lonely Planet lists the following ten places as the best for leaf peeping . . . of those listed which would you most like to visit?

Stowe, Vermont ~ Shenandoah National Park, Virginia ~ Columbia River Gorge, Oregon ~ Zion National Park, Utah ~ Tennessee/North Carolina border ~ West Virginia ~ Northwestern Wyoming ~ Wisconsin Northwoods ~ Northern Nevada ~ Ozark Highlands Scenic Byway, Arkansas
 
 I suspect there are a lot of good places to see some great fall colors nearby, but I haven't found a local spot that everyone rates highly. Just a few days ago I was checking when the peak colors are expected in my area, and saw that Cuyahoga State Park is supposed to be a great place to see peak colors so maybe we'll get a chance to head out there one weekend soon. 

I've been to Shenandoah, the Columbia River Gorge, and West Virginia in the fall and the colors are beautiful! We drove through Tennessee and North Carolina in late summer one year and I can just imagine the colors would be great there too. So there or the Ozark Highlands would be the places I'd most like to visit. Might as well go someplace new, right? 
 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I've been meaning to restock the color-depositing hair conditioner I use, and finally got around to it yesterday but they've changed the product line a bit and my favorite color isn't currently available in a daily conditioner. I did order the deep conditioning hair mask, which is meant to use every week or two so I guess I'll have to use it more often. I currently do that only every couple months at best, which is why I kept putting off my restock. 

Maybe I should make a promise to myself to deep condition my hair more often? That's my segue to remind you about the current Wednesday Quotes theme of "Making and Keeping Promises. You can find the link-up here: WQ - Keeping Promises Stop by and share a few thoughts and quotes! I'm getting the new Everyday Images photo link-up ready to go and succeeded in challenging myself with a couple of the prompts! Come by tomorrow (or any time in the next two weeks) and link up a photo post.

What's your favorite aspect of fall, or your favorite season? Leave a comment and let me know!



From this Side of the Pond

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Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

18 comments:

  1. I missed the most recent everyday images but will work on getting to the next one. I hope you're able to host Canadian Thanksgiving. That sounds like fun and who doesn't love Thanksgiving dinner? My favorite! Have a great day!

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    1. I hope Canadian thanksgiving works out for some kind of celebration. I always look forward to it. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  2. It is so hard to chose the best thing about this season, I love it all! What beautiful photos!
    How great to have friends coming for Thanksgiving dinner! Good luck, I hope it happens.

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    1. I had a really hard time choosing just ONE best thing! Thanks for the well wishes, and for stopping by to comment!

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  3. I hope you are able to celebrate the Canadian Thanksgiving. :-)
    I would like the USA Thanksgiving to be earlier, I like the idea of Thanksgiving in October.
    I enjoyed your photos.
    Carla

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    1. I think that may be the one drawback of the date for the American Thanksgiving - it just morphs right into Christmas season and doesn't get enough time of its own. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  4. Ahh, what beautiful fall scenes you have shared. That is a great idea to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with some folks this year. Hope it works out. Sometimes our Thanksgiving time seems so close to Christmas! Happy Fall to you!

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    1. I hope our Canadian Thanksgiving plans work out! I agree that Thanksgiving and Christmas just seem so close together. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Fall to you!

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  5. my niece used to live in Canada when she was at vet school on PEI. She did Canadian Thanksgiving but she said it's NOTHING like our Plymouth Thanksgiving :) ((I live in NYS but hubby is from south shore Boston/Plymouth Co and his great times 8 grandpa came over on the Mayflower so thanksgiving is HUGE with his side of the family.
    I enjoyed your answers. I love change!!

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    1. That's so neat about your husband's Mayflower heritage! I don't know much about how Atlantic Canada does Thanksgiving - quite possible it's differnt from where I grew up. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  6. Yes I love those early fall days when the skies look SO BLUE and the air is crisp but still warms up nicely by afternoon. So funny that I make butternut squash almost weekly and yet hardly ever think of preparing sweet potatoes (though I do like them!).

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    1. Yes, why is it the sky seems especially blue in September and October? I love it!! thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  7. I agree with you so much on question one and four! Is there a state park called Cuyahoga? There is a national park of that name. I have tentative plans to make it that way soon. I've heard it's very pretty and I look forward to seeing it. You've seen some great places!

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    1. Oh, maybe it is a national park and I got it mixed up? There are a lot of state parks in Ohio! Either way, I hope we can make it up there sometime in the next couple weeks! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  8. The Ozarks isn't too far from me, I didn't know it's a good place to see leaves!

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    1. I've been "near" the Ozarks for decades and still haven't been there! I really want to go! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  9. Fall weather is so good! I wish we had more color change…but Texas hasn’t gotten that memo as of yet. :) Your friend gathering sounds lovely and I hope you can make that happen. Hope you're having a great week!

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    1. Today was just perfect weather - mid 70s and sunny. Love it! Thanks, I hope the Thanksgiving with friends idea works this year! Appreciate you stopping by and commenting!

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I love comments! Keep the conversation going over a virtual cup of coffee.