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NOTHING says I love you more than a spam gift pack!  Run, don't walk to Costco...or not!

Wednesday Hodgepodge - Volume 640

 Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge!  Here are this week's questions, which you should answer on your own blog and then pop over to Joyce's blog (click on the graphic for the link) Wednesday to add your link to the party.

 

1. What's something recent that had you 'tickled pink'? 

I suppose it would be our recent trip to London.  Almost everything worked out as I had planned, the only things that didn't work were that there just weren't enough hours in the day to see and do everything!  I was 'tickled pink' that Vic had such a great time.  Honestly, sometimes he's like a kid in a candy store and I love to see his enthusiasm for exploring something new or for posing for a photo for me!

He's such a good sport!

2. A bed of roses, everything's coming up roses, every rose has its thorn, stop and smell the roses, rose-colored glasses, a rose among thorns...which rosy expression might currently be applied to your life in some way? 

I feel like life is a bed of roses right now.  I'd say we live a pretty charmed life and I am very thankful.

3. What makes you feel loved and appreciated?

Kindness and simple gestures. 

4. A box of chocolates or a bouquet of fresh flowers-what's your pleasure? Any special plans for Valentine's Day? 

A box of Godiva chocolates.

We're off to the Pacific coast for a combined Valentine/my birthday/our anniversary celebration - this is Haystack Rock, a monolithic rock adjacent to the beach and accessible by foot at low tide. The Haystack Rock tide pools are home to many intertidal animals, including starfish, sea anemone, crabs, chitons, limpets, and sea slugs. The rock is also a nesting site for many sea birds, including terns and puffins.  I wonder what we will see.

5. Share a favorite quote, scripture, or song lyric relating to love. 

(Everything I do) I do it for you - Bryan Adams.  It was the song played when our boss announced our engagement at a company Christmas party.

Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Memories of our first Valentine's Day - Vic flew off to a neighboring island for work while I picked up the photos from a photo shoot I had done for a Valentine's gift for him.  It was the first of many Valentine's Days we spent apart courtesy of the Navy!

Share Our Lives - February 2026

 

Getting a late start here this morning so I thought I'd link up with Share Our Lives and this month's Binge Worthy Shows.

I'm a huge fan of historical fiction especially the World War I to World War II era so it will be no surprise when you see the shows that top my list.

Downton Abbey is my all-time favorite, the series and the movies.  I binged all three movies on our flight home from London in December!  I am so excited to be going to Highclere Castle soon!

In a similar vein is Upstairs, Downstairs, the original from 1971, and a newer version from 2010.  I really wanted to see if I could find 165 Eaton Place in London, but it was a case of not enough hours to see and do everything!

Along the lines of a series that focuses on one family and their associated drama is A Place to Call Home.  Vic and I binged through this during a snowstorm in Virginia.  Thankfully we still had power to watch TV!

Most of my favorite binge-worthy shows are on PBS.  I love having PBS Passport so I can tune in any time - All Creatures Great and Small, The Durrells in Corfu, Call the Midwife, Sanditon, Victoria, Mr. Selfridge, The Paradise.  Some can now be found on other streaming services like Netflix or Amazon.

I'm rewatching Outlander in preparation for the final season coming in March.

And a close second to Downton Abbey would have to be The Crown.

Join us in March, the 2nd Tuesday of the month, for Grocery List Frequent Buys.

Friday Favorites - Valentine's Day

 

Just over a week to go and I received a Williams Sonoma reward in the mail, so I thought I'd take a look at all things heart on their website.  Here are my favorites.

Emile Henry Ruffle Heart Dish

It comes in pink as well and makes a really unique charcuterie dish

Heart Tableware - I love the long tray with the arrow picks

Le Creuset Shallow Heart Oven - perfect for a one pot dish that you can take straight to the table

Cast iron heart-shaped muffin tin

Marble heart cheese board

For a cheese board

Or a candy board

I really liked the heart-shaped skillet in this I Heart You crate but wouldn't really have a use for the other items so I popped over to the Lodge website and found this one below...

They also had this one...

...which was unfortunately already sold out

But there was this cute Hershey's Kiss-shaped skillet which would be perfect for a Valentine pizookie

Around the 'Net

On the eve of the Winter Olympics, the Yarnbombers of Menston in West Yorkshire have come up with this gem of a postbox topper, so creative.

Go Team GB!

Wednesday Hodgepodge - Volume 639

 Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge!  Here are this week's questions, which you should answer on your own blog and then pop over to Joyce's blog (click on the graphic for the link) Wednesday to add your link to the party.

 

1. The Winter Olympics kick off on Friday, February 6th...on a scale of 1-10 how excited are you? (1= eh and 10=watching every event all day every day). What's your favorite Winter Olympic sporting event? 

I'd say I'm about a 7.  I love the Winter Olympics and from the snaps I've seen, the parade of nations in their winter garb is going to be amazing - watch out for Mongolia!  It's hard to pick a favorite but I'll say curling tops the list.

2. In other sporting news, the Superbowl (American football's championship game) will be played on Sunday, February 8th. So tell us...what's your superpower?

We are a family divided this Superbowl.

We're faux fans of the Seahawks (I say faux because we're not really interested in football, but we support our local team) and Sophia is a die-hard Patriots fan.

My superpower is the ability to spot something that is not where it belongs.  I subscribe to "A place for everything and everything in its place" and I can instantly spot something out of place.

3. Are you a romantic? 

Yes, I love all things romance - flowers, chocolates, date nights, and love stories in film or books.

4. Blue cheese-yay or nay? How about feta? If you said yes to one or both, what's a dish you like that calls for one of these? 

Yes, blue cheese dressing for buffalo wings and feta on a Greek salad.

5. What's more important - doing what you love or loving what you do? 

I think it's loving what you do.  If you're unhappy at work or at home or with a certain group of people, make a change.  Life is too short to be unhappy.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Do you have Kanopy at your local library?  Kanopy is a streaming platform offering thousands of films, documentaries, and educational videos for free through public and academic libraries. Explore classic cinema, indie films, and award-winning content with your library card.  There's been a lot of blog posts lately about audiobook services at public libraries, but our library just launched Kanopy.  With the cost of streaming services going up and up, it's nice to have this free option for viewing.

London 2025 - The Haul

 

Apart from lots of reuseable shopping bags (they are so pretty), and souvenir guidebooks from each of the major historic sites, my main haul was ornaments.  I have so many British-themed ornaments, it was time to give them their own tree (thank you, Tanya, for the inspiration).  There were so many beautiful ornaments in the stores and at the historic sites and by far the nicest ones were the felted and beaded ornaments that were quite flat and easy to pack.  I passed on the ball and glass ornaments for fear that they wouldn't make it home although I couldn't resist the shopping bags from Fortnum & Mason, Selfridge's, and Harrods.  I wrapped them very carefully to make sure they made it home.  The Costa Coffee tart is less fragile.

Here's a peak at all things felted and beaded and this holiday season, I'll share the tree.  I'm still working on some souvenir tea tins that I picked up at World Market.  I am going to have Vic drill a hole in the top of each tin lid so I can hang them.

The vendor tinkertailor.com is the manufacturer for many of the felted ornaments and I wish that they sold retail on their website and not just wholesale.  They do have a Public Enquiry section on the site so perhaps I'll give it a try to see if I can get one of the festive crackers that I missed at the Buckingham Palace Shop.