Wednesday Hodgepodge. 20th January

It's HodgePodge time again. I must be on a roll, I think this is the third one of these I have done!

The Wednesday Hodgepodge is brought to us courtesy of Joyce at 

 From this side of the pond Pop over there to see other posts and if you want to join in add the link to your Hodgepodge blog post to the Linky List at the end of Joyce's post and don’t forget to visit at least your neighbours on the list. Have fun.

1. Speaking of skating...when did you last 'skate on thin ice', 'skate over the details', 'encounter a cheapskate', or just plain skate?

It is at least 15 years since I last went skating. Where we used to live there was an ice rink just a mile or so away and we occasionally took our children. Not often as it was too expensive with 5 children. We went there for birthday treats and the like. I am not bad, I can stay upright! As a child I used to enjoy roller skating. Do you remember the metal skates, the ones that had the wing nut in the middle to adjust the size and they fitted over your shoes? I had those. No plastic boot styles for us.

2.  What would you say is the biggest problem of people your age?

Staying fit and healthy. I think when you get to your middle and later years you can't take things for granted the way you did when you were younger. The body no longer deals with excess so well! If you want to live to a good age then you have to get serious about taking care of yourself. That is my main concern. I suspect that for a lot of people the problem is more about money. Will they ever have enough to retire? How will they manage? Retirement is a big issue for many. My OH retired from teaching back in July last year and so far we are doing fine, with every aspect! We haven't got on each others nerves, too much…….Yet!

3. What's your favourite accessory? Is it something you wear every day, often, or only on special occasions?

Well if we are talking every day then it has to be my rings and my earrings. I have 4 rings that I never take off. My engagement ring, wedding ring, eternity ring and another ring which OH got me on our 30^th wedding anniversary. All 4 are permanent fixtures. The earrings are gold, creole, hoops and were my Mum's. Another accessory I like but don't wear daily are scarves. I have a fair size collection.

4.  January 20th is National Cheese Lover's Day Are you a lover of cheese? What's your favourite dish made with cheese? Last thing you ate that contained some kind of cheese?

Who comes up with all these “days”? It is so random. I don't dislike cheese but I am not a big lover. I like soft cheeses more than harder ones. Brie is my favourite. I prefer milder cheese to strong cheese. My OH likes strong Cheddar but that is a bit much for me. I hate blue cheese and don't get me started on Parmesan which I think smells like sick!

I do like homemade lasagne which we have really cheesy. Last time I had cheese was one day last week when we had homemade courgette (zucchini) soup with a dollop of soft cream cheese stirred in.

5. What's something guaranteed to make you roll your eyes?

Middle aged women in leggings and cropped tops with their belly on show, hanging over the top! Saw one just the other day and it was gross. Don't get me wrong, I am not totally against this mode of dress but there is a time and place and it isn't a look that I feel is appropriate in the local supermarket. I also think you need to have the body for it. I do come down on the side of “if you’ve got it, why not flaunt it”? On the other hand if you haven't “got it” best keep it hidden! I haven't “got it”! 

6. Your favourite book series?

As a child I was a massive bookworm and devoured everything I could get my hands on. This continued through my teenage years and into adulthood. Recently, not so much. I read every day but short articles, not often whole books. Something I intend to remedy this year. Consequently I can't think of a recent favourite series. When I was a child, I loved all of Enid Blyton's books and my favourite series was the Mallory Towers books. The ones about the antics of girls at a boarding school. Then of course there was the Famous Five series and the Secret Seven. I LOVED those books.

7. Why did you choose your profession?

I have never had a profession unless you count housewife and Mum which actually in my opinion equals any profession you care to name. When I was doing my final year at school, I wanted to be a nursery nurse. I wanted to do the NNEB course at college. My parents and the head teacher of my school had other ideas. Back in those days any kind of nursing was for girls who were less academic. The less clever girls. The head and my parents thought that I was capable of more. I didn't want more.

Long story short, I left school and got a job. Initially for a few months just as a supermarket cashier. Then I got work as a clerical assistant at Her Majesty's Land Registry. I loved that job and worked my way up to clerical officer and then executive officer. Then I got married and moved away and a year later the first of my children arrived. Since then I have had various jobs for short periods, ranging from office work, shop work, waitressing and even cleaning. My last job was as an exams officer and invigilator in my OH's school. I haven't worked for about 10 years now. I have been very lucky, that I have never HAD to work. It has always just been for a bit of extra money, not to pay bills. No, we are not wealthy, we have just learnt to manage our money very well.

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

I really must get off the internet and go get on with the ironing!

JILLY

Wednesday Hodgepodge 13-01-2016

Going to have a go at joining in the Hodge Podge again.

Wednesday's Hodgepodge is brought to us courtesy of Joyce at 

 From this side of the pond

Pop over there to see other posts and if you want to join in add the link to your Hodgepodge blog post to the Linky List at the end of Joyce's post and don’t forget to visit at least your neighbours on the list.

Have fun

1. Share one thing that really makes your day.

Blue sky and preferably sun. Not much chance of that happening here any time soon. 

2. Lots of these kinds of lists out there, but one found here says the fifteen most colourful places on earth are: Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy~Burano, Italy~Havana, Cuba~Rio de Janiero, Brazil~Chefchaouen, Morocco~Balat, Istanbul, Turkey~Menton, France~Jodhpur, India~La Baca, Buenos Aires, Argentina~Guanajuato, Mexico~Capetown, South Africa~Valparaiso, Chile~Wroclaw, Poland~San Francisco, California~and Pelourhino, Salvador, Brazil.  
Of those listed which would you most like to see up close and in person? Of all the places you've seen or travelled in your own life, what would you say was one of the most colourful?

That depends on what you mean by colourful? Does that actually refer to colours or colourful as in what goes on there? I have been to France and to San Francisco. France can be very colourful in summer when there are fields and fields full of giant sunflowers. San Francisco is colourful in its eclectic mix of people and cultures.

3."Everything you want is on the other side of fear." Jack Canfield  In general, would you agree or disagree with that statement? Why? 
I think in certain circumstances it can be true. Sometimes you need to conquer your fears and if you can then the end result will be positive. However, I pretty much have everything I need right now so I have to disagree.

4. Imagine you're stranded on a desert island and dessert appears...what do you hope it is? Do you ever struggle to remember which spelling is desert and which is dessert?

I know how to spell both words and do not get confused over them.  I would choose Malteser cheesecake with a dollop of double cream and a dollop of clotted cream! I LOVE my cream!

5. What song almost always makes you cry?
I am really not mush into music But the Vera Lynn song “we'll meet again” was sung at both of my parents funerals and I can't hear it or even think about it with out being totally wretched. Tears running down my face right now!

6. January is National Soup Month.  Everything from soup to nuts, in the soup,thick as pea soup, souped up...which saying most recently applies to your life in some way? Explain. Who on earth comes up with these “months” Why soup month? How totally bizarre. I have never heard of any of those expressions and they don't sound like they would be relevant to my life at all.  
7. Write a two word note to your younger self. What does it say?

Be happy.  

8. Insert your own random thought here. They keep saying that it is going to get colder towards the end of the month. They forecast snow today but we haven't seen any. I HATE winter. Roll on spring.

Wednesday Hodgepodge 16/12/15

OK, so this is the first time I have been here at my blog in an absolute age. I have been inspired to restart the blogging habit by my cousin Wendy who has been doing really well after quite a break. I was talking to her recently and she suggested that a good way to get back into it is to take part in some memes or challenges. As I always read her Wednesday HodgePodge, I thought this would be as good a one as any to start with.

So here goes, I'm taking the plunge.

Wednesday's Hodgepodge is brought to us courtesy of Joyce at 

 From this side of the pond

 Thank you Joyce.

Pop over there to see other posts and if you want to join in add the link to your Hodgepodge blog post to the Linky List at the end of Joyce's post and don’t forget to visit at least your neighbours on the list.

Have fun!

1. What's your biggest 'first world' problem? Hmm, I think we have a fair few problems in the “first world”. Probably my biggest bugbear is the sheer pace of life. It seems that everything is done at break neck speed. Nobody it seems wants to slow down or to take a break. We are all so frantically busy. But are we really? I would like to go back in time to when things were slower, to an age where we all had time for each other. Time to care. Time to stop and smell the roses.

 2.  Each year Time Magazine names a 'Person of the Year', someone who has 'for better or worse...done the most to influence the events of the year.' It was recently announced they've named Angela Merkel Person of the Year for 2015. You can read more about this year's selection here. Your thoughts? If you were in charge, who would you declare Person of the Year? 

Well, I guess I can see the logic of why she was chosen. I don't really know if she is right or wrong regarding the migrants, but there are certainly many who will be thankful to her for the rest of their lives. For me, I would probably choose a person who is not in the public eye. A person who works tirelessly with little recognition. There are a great many of them out there.

3. Do you have a nativity set in your home? If so share its history and how you display the pieces.
We used to have one when our children were little but it wasn't very nice. It was made of horrid, hard plastic and we threw it out when we moved house 4 years ago. We haven't replaced it as we are not religious.

4.  Do you make an extra effort to give back in some way during the holiday season? How do you encourage those who need encouragement this time of year?

To be honest, I don’t think I make any extra effort. Over the last 5 or 6 years I have realised more and more just how lucky and privileged I am. That has led me to be much more conscious of others. I try very hard, every single day, to “give back” in what ever way I can. It is a bit like new years resolutions for me; why do you have to wait until new year to change something? Why not start now. Same principle, I don't need it to be Christmas to “give back”.

 5. Who is your favourite person to shop for? Why?  I am not much of a shopper and I really dislike the shops at this time of year because they are so crowded and noisy. I find Christmas shopping a chore as I never know what to buy for people. That said, I have recently rediscovered the joys of shopping for clothes for myself. I have lost a lot of weight this year and that makes it all so much easier. I look halfway decent in things now and I have even tried new things that I wouldn’t previously have even glanced at.

 6. What's the last delicious thing you ate?   

We are lucky as most of our food is pretty good. We did have a fabulous rib eye steak on Saturday served with a king prawn sauce and all cooked by my husband. Bonus!

 7. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is to drink a few glasses of the red stuff and keep smiling!

 8. Insert your own random thought here. Last year was the first Christmas without my Dad. It was still lovely but a little sad. This year I am looking forward to it much more. I do really enjoy seeing all of our family although it does get somewhat loud and chaotic!