Wednesday Hodgepodge on Thursday...I'm Late! I'm Late!

 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 644
I'm late! I'm late! To a very important date! But as they say, "better late than never!"  I kept reading everyone else's answers to these questions and was thinking, I should do this, but I got too busy and ran out of time yesterday...and so I noticed that others were still posting today, so I decided, "why not?"  So here we go...

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then hop back here Wednesday (March 11th) to add your link to the party. See you there!

1. Are you a naturally trusting person? Is trust built on logic or 'gut instinct'? Does everyone deserve a second chance? Elaborate.

I think I am a naturally trusting person...but I've learned over the years through trial and error that not everyone can be trusted, even those who come with sweet words and tell you they "want to be your best friend".  After many years in the ministry as a Pastor's Wife, I am sad to say that there were those who pretended to be my best friend who ended up being much like the one in our theme..."Et tu, Brute?" ...Brutus, who betrayed and assassinated Julius Caesar.  I'm afraid it has made me a bit more cautious about the friends I pick.  However, yes, people do deserve a 2nd chance, if they are truly sorry and ask for forgiveness...

 We probably all know "The Lord's Prayer", but I wonder how many know the verses immediately following it... Matthew 6 :14-15

"9 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: 

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, 

your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses,

 neither will your Father forgive your trespasses"

 So, yes, I do believe people deserve a 2nd chance, unless the offense is something truly grievous. We can forgive, but that doesn't necessarily mean we let them come back to hurt us again.


2. 'Beware the Ides of March'...March 15th on the ancient Roman calendar, these words were made famous by William Shakespeare in his play Julius Caesar. Caesar was assassinated on March 15th 44 B.C. Have you read any Shakespeare? If so, do you have a favorite? Have you ever been to Rome?

No, I've never been to Rome. And yes, we read MacBeth in our 12th grade English class. I remember it well, because I got to read the part of Lady MacBeth, and I read out loud her famous quote, "Out, damned spot!"  And because curse words were forbidden to say in our school, I got a lot of  "Ooooh, Pam, you said a bad word!" kind of comments from the rest of the class, until the teacher had to tell them to hush, since I was just reading the assigned passage after all!! LOL.

3. Do you like a Caesar salad? If given the choice between a garden/house salad or Caesar which do you order? Anchovies or no? What's your favorite salad dressing?

Caesar salads are okay, if that's the only choice. But I prefer a garden/house salad, no anchovies, and at a restaurant I usually get honey mustard, unless they have an interesting house dressing. At home I use Marie's Cole Slaw dressing on my salads. It is a creamy kind of sweet and sour dressing with celery seeds in it, and it's great on regular salads as well as coleslaw.  

4. Where do you typically work (or blog if that's easier) at home? Do you have a dedicated home office space? Are you happy with that space?

If you've known me long, you know that my designated office space is my "Room With A View", which I talk about frequently. Rather than talk about it, let me show you some pictures from this room where I work at my desk with a desktop computer.

These are some photographs I took at our last home in the Ocala National Forest:

And this is the "sign" that started the theme of my blog, "Closed Doors, Open Windows".

This is the little tea towel that gave me the name for my room, "Room With a View", and it was actually a gift from one of my blogging friends when she and her husband visited our home for the first time!

Moving clockwise around the room, this is my little bookshelf with all kinds of gift books, devotionals, miscellaneous cookbooks, Audubon bird books, etc., and a picture on top of "My Three Sons", when they were much younger and before they all went their separate ways in life...

The china cabinet belonged to my husband's grandmother, and the rocking chair was a gift from a friend, who said she found it alongside the road put out for trash!

This china hutch was built by our son Benton, and the bottom section holds a lot of office supplies and other miscellaneous stuff, like games.

The Hoosier cupboard also belonged to my husband's grandmother,  and I restored it to the original wood after stripping a multitude of layers of paint off of it... A true labor or love!

One my favorite little tea towels...A gift from my sister...

And this is my 2nd childhood corner...Pamela's Victorian Cottage, which you've most likely heard about already...and the shelf unit above was built by my son Benton. The Buster Brown Tea Set belonged to my Aunt Margie, and then to my mother, and then to me! The little white tea set belonged to my paternal grandmother.

So there you have the whole room...my "designated office space", which is so much more, as you can see. It's my favorite room of the house.

5. Snow drops, daffodils, lenten roses, crocus, hyacinth, or early tulips...what's your favorite early Spring flower?

I'm sure I would love them all, but they don't grow here in Florida. I wish daffodils did, because my sister's 80th birthday is coming up on April 5th, and the family tradition started by my mother when we lived in Pennsylvania was to put a little vase of daffodils in the center hole of an angel food cake for my sister's birthday cake. We've always tried to find live daffodils for her cake every year, but it's not always easy to do, so I often have to resort to using artificial ones. I am on the look out for a pot of real ones now, but they have to last until her birthday! (no easy feat, trust me!). OH, it's also her husband's birthday on the same day! This picture was 10 years ago, when I actually found some real daffodils:

6. Insert your own random thought here.

This is Blackie, our indoor/outdoor porch kitty. This is what he was doing while I was working on this post this morning...he found a little box to sit in, and he was quite happy for a few minutes.

Psalm 89:1-2

I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.”

Monday Night Sunset and More...

I looked outside and could see that there was a beautiful sunset, but it wasn't showing up well from our house,  so I told the hubby to "hurry up and get dressed and let's take a ride over to the boat ramp at Lake Ida really quick before the sunset gets totally down and we miss it."  I think he grabbed his pants and shoes and wallet and keys faster than I've seen him move in a long time.  We drove the back roads from our house to that neighborhood, less than one mile, and we got there just in time to see the last of the colors slipping quickly down behind the trees. Thankfully there was still enough beauty visible to be worth the trip.  This is what we saw:

Jeremiah 32:17 "Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You."

Then I heard the honking of some Canada Geese, and was thrilled to see they were there on the lake, preparing for take-off:

(Yes, there were a couple of people sitting on the dock, fishing. I apologized for interrupting their peaceful evening. They didn't seem to mind.)

As you can imagine,  I was pretty excited to be able to witness this beautiful sight...not just a sunset, but the geese taking off in flight, heading off to their nighttime resting place, wherever that may be on the other side of the lake somewhere.

I watched until I couldn't really see them any more, and the sun was almost totally down, so it was time to head back home.

It was a trip worth taking, and I'm so glad hubby was willing to humor me in such a hurry! 

We've missed seeing the Canada Geese on our own Still Waters Pond this year, thanks to the lack of rain and the fact that the pond is totally dry. I am thankful to know that they still have plenty of places around where they can swim and fish and build their nests. Life goes on...just not on our pond this year. I am still not too sure if our Sand Hill Crane couple is building a nest on the pond or not.  They do land on the pond every day and go around behind the island where they nested last year, but I can't get around there to check because I'd have to cross over the new neighbor's yard to get there and see if there's a nest.  We will just have to wait and see if they present us with any new baby "colts" in the next month.  The cranes are not as dependent on having a full pond upon which to build their nest, but the fact that there is no water makes them more vulnerable to predators who can walk across the dry pond to get to their eggs or new babies...so that makes it a little more precarious for them. Like I said, time will tell. We will definitely be watching.

On another note, I keep trying to get a picture of Blackie with Lily Grace...but Blackie isn't really all that interested in sweet little girls dressed up for Valentine's Day.  

That, plus the fact that he really doesn't like to have his picture taken at all makes it difficult to get a good photo when he's on the move.    Oh well, we tried, Lily!

Maybe next time!

Tomorrow (Tuesday) will be a busy day, so I probably won't have much time for visiting/reading/commenting. Hubby and I both have fasting blood tests first thing in the morning, and then we will go out to breakfast to "break the fast".  After that there is a Celebration of Life at our church at noon, with a reception to follow.  Sadly this is for a dear lady who was very sick with COPD complications for a long time, and she was quite ready for Jesus to take her home.  She is greatly missed...a former children's Sunday School teacher for many years, and also she was very active in our women's ministries.  She leaves behind a husband and adult children and grandchildren.

We have another dear lady in the local Hospice house right now. I went to visit her and her husband on Saturday. She was not responsive at all, but I do believe she could hear and I hope she knew I was there. This dear lady is the one who crocheted a beautiful shawl/cape for me while she was actually doing chemo! (the story is HERE). She has been battling cancer for about 2 & 1/2 years, and a stronger woman than her I do not believe I've ever known.  She truly has fought a hard battle, and was so determined to keep fighting, but it appears that her battle is almost over, and soon she will be able to say with the Apostle Paul: 

2 Timothy 4:7-8 NIV

" 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 

8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, 

the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, 

but also to all who have longed for his appearing."

I am truly going to miss her smiling face and determined spirit.

Tuesday night is choir practice, and we've started working on our Easter Cantata, so that takes some extra work and energy in addition to our regular music that we prepare for each Sunday.  It's hard to believe Easter will be here before we know it. I believe Ash Wednesday is next Wednesday, February 18th, so that is the beginning of Lent.

Of course, this weekend is Valentine's Day, and then hubby's birthday is on Monday, the 16th, but we will celebrate with our kids on Sunday afternoon.  I am trying to convince him to go look at a new recliner (for him). His is in pretty bad shape and it's time to replace it.  The kids have already told me that they will chip in to help cover the cost as their birthday gift to him.  He doesn't know that yet, but I may have to tell him so he will be more willing to go shopping for the chair.  Hopefully we will do that this week, but it probably will have to be ordered and so most likely it won't be delivered until next week.

I guess that about sums it up for now.  I will check in with you all as soon as I am able.

Psalm 89:1-2 NIV

"1 I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;

with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known

through all generations.

2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever,

that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself."