Just Plain Hodgepodge

 Hodgepodge





*What gives you goosebumps?

Music sometimes.  Cold weather!


* Halloween-are you a lover or a hater? Okay, that sounds harsh…Halloween-yay or nay?

Not so big on it, really.  I have a few decorations around that will come down immediately.  I like to hand out candy.  Don't go to halloween parties, I think they're dumb.  Mostly, I have memories from when I was a kid.  Making the "homemade" costumes and running from door to door with friends ~ aka the Laukkas.

* Can you respect someone you do not trust, and can you trust someone you do not respect?
No I don't see how you could really.  They are pretty hooked together.  I definately can NOT respect someone I do not trust.
 *Apples or oranges? Yes, you have to choose.

Oh man thats a tuffy. (ha)  I guess I would pick apple over orange because they're easier to eat.  But, I do love a juicy orange.  Just had to put that in.

* What is something you wish was in your town? (shop, restaurant, attraction, etc)
Olga's Kitchen.



*What non-food item is in your refrigerator or freezer?

A bottle of vanilla spray cologne.


* Are you at all superstitious?

Nope.

A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Sunday we decided to take the fam to the pumpkin patch.  We started with breakfast at OCB.  Then proceeded to Spicer's Apple Orchard in Fenton.  What a beautiful day.  Everyone else thought so too.  The guys had fun, they really seemed to enjoy it.  They played in the "corn" box.  Saw the animals.  Went on a train ride and then a tractor hay ride out to the pumpkin patch.  RJ would only go to the pumpkins that had green on them.  He would walk up to them and then sit up on top of them.  So cute.  We did not buy any cider, doughnuts, or apples because the lines were toooo long.  Ran into one of the teachers from LCA, she has two little ones now.  Good too see her.  I only have one pic. so far, but I will upload more when I get them.  ~ I forgot the camera.  :(

In Search OF

the perfect cup to keep coffee hot.  I have tried:

metal travel cup
plastic
plastic insulated
ceramic mug
glass mug

None of the above seem to really be able to keep the coffee hot longer than say, 15 minutes.  Then you have to warm it back up in the microwave.  I've been wanting to try the new double ceramic cups.  So, yesterday I splurged and bought one at Kohl's.  If that doesn't work I will have to try something else.  I know there are several different kinds of the double ceramic.  Perhaps the $20 cup from L.L. Beans.

A Very Mini-mini 1/2 Day Vaca

I was supposed to go out to some jobs on Friday, but we decided to scratch that and take a mini vaca.  First stop was the Parshalville Cider Mill in Parshallville, near Fenton.  It is a historic site in MI.  I got hot cider and a doughnut.  Next stop was the Spicer Orchard.  A sign posted said that they used to have orchards at Haggerty Rd. in Northville.  I'm thinking maybe this is where we went to get apples and cider as kids.?  Anyway, they had wine tasting, so I tasted a few real sweet fruit wines.  Didn't buy any. :(  But I did buy some kettle korn.  Yumm!  Then we went on to Brighton and ate at a nice little Bistro.  Almost got killed going around in circles's on those darn round-a-bouts!  Then I remembered a quaint little shop in Dixboro, so we decided to venture out and see if it was still there.  Indeed, we were rewarded for the venture.  It it still there, a little general store that was all decked out in Halloween decorations.  We decided we would like to go back for their Christmas decorations!!  Back to Brighton to the Barnes & Noble for some hot beverages and a couple hours of reading and relaxing.  Finished up the day with dinner at Olga's Kitchen.  Yum-O!

Ancestry Dot Com

I had some "free time" ? last night so I decided to get back into my genealogy research.  I realized I had some cool records that I had found on my "genealogy trip" that I went on last spring to the Ft. Wayne Library.  I had found  some kind of registration cards, census records, US depart. of Labor Manifest, all for my paternal grandfather, Robert J. Russell. So last night I dug around and found his Naturalization record, then I found out the ship he sailed from Ireland and have an actual copy of the Passenger List.  I found out that he sailed on the ship Columbia from Londonderry Ireland which left on 25, September, 1920.  The ship arrived on 5 October, 1920 in New York, New York.  So I thought wow, that must have  been Ellis Island.  So I looked up the record for Ellis Island and found out that is where the ship landed.  Pretty exciting stuff.

Fall, Fall, Falling

I love Fall, but it seems to quickly it's been here and gone.  I havn't even been able to have a minute to take some new pictures.  These are pictures from last year.  sigh.  Now the wind is kicking up and we are expecting rain.  Next look, the leaves will be all gone.  sigh.  We are going to send a box of leaves to our little friend in Fla. who doesn't get to see the leaves change colors.  I think she'll get a big kick out of that.    Brace yourselves one and all for the onslaught of colder weather.  Hmmm, please wb and give me a few of the nicer aspects of cooler weather.  PLEASE!

Books That I Would One Day Like to Write!

I have some great ideas for some books I would like to write.  Here they are in no particular order:

• The role of siblings, Sibling interaction, or sibling rilvary etc.. even among adults
• My experiences at Living Science
• Kids and the funny things they say
• I raised a baby wallaby( or maybe that would just be a chapter in the LS book above)
• Recipe book, probably for diabetics or just healthy eating, but tastes good

Way Back When-sday Hodgepodge

Way Back When-sday Hodgepodge

1. What’s your favorite meal to serve on a chilly autumn evening?

Probably spaghetti, white chicken chili (which everyone loves) or maybe soup.


2. Are you a creature of habit? Explain.

I would say mostly.  Other people would say definately.  It's more a matter of:  I like everything done my way.  I  like things to fit inside my own little box.


 3. What food product (no longer readily available) do you remember and miss from days gone by?
I can't really think of anything specific.  Like give me an example here.

4. What’s something you’ve lost that you’ve never been able to find? Any theories as to what happened?

I'd have to say my sanity.  I can't seem to find it anywhere.  I'm not really sure what happened to it.  Life happened to it.  LOL  I hate to lose things.  Oh yeah and my temper.  It's gone.  I lost it.

5. Zoo~circus~ carnival…your favorite?



The ZOO for sure.  Don't really care for the circus or carnivals.  Love the zoo.  Can't wait to take the boys!


6. What song makes you feel instantly happy?

Many many songs.  I love music!!   Too many to list.  sorry.


7. To what extent are you an argumentative person?

Ha, what word means "more than extremely?"  I was born to argue I think.

Some Things I Love About Fall

• Colorful landscapes and trees.
• Carmel Apples
• Cider and doughnuts from the Cider Mill
• Sunny - warm days
• Clear crisp nights
• Taking a Fall trip
• Great sleeping weather with the window cracked open
• Pumpkin spice latte
• Taking a walk on a beautiful clear day
• Warm spicy cider w/ a cinnamon stick
• The smell of burning leaves

• kicking through a pile of leaves

October

October's Bright Blue Weather


by Helen Hunt Jackson



O sun and skies and clouds of June

And flowers of June together,

Ye cannot rival for one hour

October's bright blue weather;



When loud the bumblebee makes haste,

Belated, thriftless vagrant,

And goldenrod is dying fast,

And lanes with grapes are fragrant;



When gentians roll their fringes tight,

To save them for the morning,

And chestnuts fall from satin burs

Without a sound of warning;



When on the ground red apples lie

In piles like jewels shining,

And redder still on old stone walls

Are leaves of woodbine twining;



When all the lovely wayside things

Their white-winged seeds are sowing,

And in the fields, still green and fair,

Late aftermaths are growing;



When springs run low, and on the brooks

In idle, golden freighting,

Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush

Of woods, for winter waiting;



When comrades seek sweet country haunt

By twos and twos together,

And count like misers hour by hour

October's bright blue weather.



O sun and skies and flowers of June,

Count all your boasts together,

Love loveth best of all the year

October's bright blue weather.