Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Wednesday Hodgepodge - Volume 518

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.

From this Side of the Pond

1. Next Sunday is Grandparent's Day. Share a favorite memory, photo, recipe, or something you learned from a grandparent.


This is my maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Pennington Turner (the younger generation all called her Ninny), shown here strolling along the Blackpool promenade with her sister, Georgina (Auntie Georgie).  Ninny lived independently for most of her life, only moving in with us and later with my mum's sister in the last few months of her life.  She loved to go on outings such as these, and I have quite a few photos of her in a gathering outside a seaside hotel or standing in front of the bus that would take her and her fellow pensioners off on a new adventure.

2. What's a quote from a book (besides The Bible) that has stayed with you? 


How I wish I'd paid more attention to this when I was younger.

3. What's your number one food pet peeve?

Jars that have lids that are almost impossible to open.  I have one of those gripper arthritis-aide things but sometimes even that doesn't do the trick 

4. What's one thing about you that is still the same as it was when you were young? 

I have my original hair color!  There were times when I threatened to reach for the bleach, tired of "RED!" or "Carrot Top" but I'm glad I didn't.  I've seen a lot of hairdressers in our 30+ years of traveling from one side of the Pacific and across the United States, and inevitably the first question they ask is if my hair is my natural color.  I'm happy that the red is fading to gold and the grey is coming in as silver.  It's a nice combination.

5. September is National Preparedness Month...does your family have an emergency plan? Do you have some sort of preparedness kit you keep on hand? If so, tell us one thing that's kept there. 

Ugh, we need both especially in "the big one is coming" Pacific Northwest.  I have a rough one in my head and lists saved with all the necessary items for a kit, but I haven't quite gotten around to putting it together.  This Grab-and-go Bag graphic from PreparedBC.ca is a good place to start.  I do have all of our important documents in one place so I could grab that if I needed to.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Speaking of hairdressers, I have a new one and one of the first questions she asked me was "Where are you from?"  Ugh, that's such a tough one.  I was born in Germany, and my biological mother was German.  My adoptive parents (I was adopted at birth) are Sylvia, a British national and Herb, an American soldier.  Before I was ten, I'd been back and forth across the Atlantic four times (Germany --> Boston--> Norway --> San Francisco --> Belgium, ending up in my high school years in England.  At that point, my family moved to California which is where I lived the longest (12 years).  I live now in Washington, having trekked back and forth across the United States four times with my Navy husband and we are now making our retirement home here.  I have a little family in the UK (Mum's side) and a few relatives in California (Dad's side), but I don't have what many of you have or have had like a hometown, friends from early childhood to high school who lived in the same neighborhood, or a high school prom and subsequent reunions.  I do have, however, friends all over the world through our travels and many adventures and experiences that I wouldn't trade for anything.  So, I may not be able to be specific about where I am from, but I hope my story will interest you.

16 comments:

  1. What a lovely photo of your Grandmother and her sister. I have been to Blackpool quite a few times and it was such a great seaside town.
    Ahhh! I am with you with the jars! I am sure they've changed them over the years and they are more difficult to open!
    That is so cool that you still have your original hair colour, it's beautiful! I couldn't tell you my hair colour as I have been dying it for so long! lol
    Wow! You have had quite the life and have travelled so much.

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    1. Thank you. Ninny loved her outings, I wonder if retirement homes still do things like that for their residents.

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  2. That is a great quote and I agree about opening jars! The graphic of an emergency bag is a great reference to have. What an interesting background you have. Have a good day!

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    1. It doesn't seem like many Hodgepodgers have an emergency kit. Many seem to see the need but haven't gotten around to making one yet (like me!).

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  3. My hubs is a redhead but is all gray now, which makes him look blonde. So unfair lol! Friends all around the world is a wonderful thing to claim too! Enjoy your day!

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    1. Thanks for hosting the Hodgepodge, Joyce! It's such fun to read everyone's answers.

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  4. A very interesting story for sure about where you're from! Your pet peeve about food is a good one. I did not think of that (I knew there were other pet peeves but I was kind of blanking!). The Hamlet quote is a good one. Have a great day!

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    1. I was blanking on the peeve too but there are so many great answers in the Hodgepodge today.

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  5. I sure enjoyed your random thought. I think it is so fun to know about blogging friends and family history. Good for you for not ever changing your hair color. I wish I had not but my hair at the time was very thin and the highlights seemed to give me body. Thanks for posting the example of a good emergency bag. this is great.

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    1. Thank you. It is fun to get to know blog friends!

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  6. I loved hearing about your family history! I didn't know you were adopted or from German heritage. The quote from Shakespeare is so good, and I also wish I had followed it more in my younger years.

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  7. What a sweet photo of your grandmother. That's amazing about your hair color. Your history was interesting to read. Thank you for sharing it with us. I like your perspective about it all. Happy September to you.

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    1. Happy September to you too! I posted a comment on your Hodgepodge, but I don't see it. Do you have a spam or awaiting moderation folder where it might be? I have had some issues lately posting to blogs that use Wordpress.

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  8. Yes! Some jars are SO HARD to open. That graphic for a grab and go back is a good one... except they say you need 1 gallon of water per person per day for a minimum of 3 days and I can't think of a single "bag" that would hold 3 gallons of water plus all those other items listed.

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    1. Yes, water would never fit in a bag or backpack. We have jugs ready to go and cycle them often, so they are always fresh.

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