Hodge Podge Wednesday

1. How did you welcome the month of July, and tell us one fun thing you did to celebrate the 4th. (or the weekend for any non-USA residents playing along today)

July just slipped right in without much fanfare...  I would ahve to say low key is our attitude about   summer...  the weather has been uncooperative...  either rainy or  too hot and humid to   enjoy the outdoors..

  My main thoughts have been  with my daughter's family as they are moving from a condo into  their new home with their precious wee ones.

 To stay relevant we here  have been updating  our home   which always gives us a lift of spirit..the  sales have  aided us in  making  this possible... tomorrow we expect a lovely package from Amazon  filled with   items hubs has  purchased off of my wishlist  for my birthday coming up on Friday!

For the holiday our church  choir  has been  practicing for several weeks on  a  wonderfully uplifting patriotic  program..

Hubs and I both  enjoyed singing in this so much...  The church then provided a  great' family '

  picnic which had to be held inside because of the rain!

 But it was  great fun and  as close to family as  we  had this year!

Our local fireworks were rained out this year,  but the neighborhood  certainly  revelled  more than usual which was  rather nice.... otherwise... we called our daughter  on the phone and  enjoyed hearing  how they celebrated  in their new community.... For me the Fourth has always been a huge family affair... but  now that we have no family living near us  or living ...   it seems like  it is easier to just  take  the Fourth as it comes...

2. Right now...what's your favorite red thing? white thing? blue thing?

I had to think  about the red...  and then just as I took another  bite of my  lovely fruited yogurt /granola  breakfast hubs makes for me each morning with my coffee  I  realized it had to be strawberries he cuts up in  the mix.... yum!  I love strawberries!!!

The white for now would be the cool very light cotton capris I bought specially to wear on Sunday... it seems I have to buy a new pair of white capris every year... I must be a messy person.. hehehe.
This has been a very blue summer as that is the color we are using in the bedroom redo..Yesterday I created a beautiful silk arrangement..

Now I see  that one last thing that needs to be  accomplished  until we   hear that the shutters are ready for installation... my wedding  portrait is  hiding there  waiting to be hung  above that chair...  the walls in that corner are too bare..Hubs, my dear painter,  detests  messing with his precious  freshly painted walls!!!

3. Wave the white flag, raise a red flag, fly your freak flag...which 'flag' have you flown most recently? Explain.

Well,  today  it would probably be the red flag...daughter  was so excited about the  expansively nice  architechural sandbox that was  in the back yard of their  new house...  so yesterday  she was planning   a playday with some    best friend's  children    and as she was getting it  ready for  the kids  to  perhaps  play there,  when she removed the cover..  there was a snake....  not a great  welcome to their first  day to play in the yard.. then  I raised the red flag when I found this article and sent it to her... plus  I have to say I was really hoping that  snakes were a bit foreign to  the NE states!

4. According to Cond Nast Traveler these are the seven best places to visit in July-

a boat safari in Botswanna's Okavango Delta, Riviera Maya mexico (it's whale shark season and apparently you can swim with them), Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, Pamploma Sapin, St. Petersburg Russia, the Fuji Rock Festival at Mount Naeba Japan, the Salzburg Festival in Salzburg Austria

If time and money weren't factors would you want to see any/all of these? Which would you most like to see and why? 

For us it would definitely be Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons...

5. Grilled cheese, pimento cheese, or mac and cheese...your favorite from the cheesy treats listed? 

I love grilled cheese sandwiches,  especially made in a George Foreman  grill... that with a  nice bowl of tomato soup... at least that is how mama made them.. 

6. What makes you sweat?

Well, at first I was going to say, I hate to sweat  so I rarely exert myself to sweat... hehehe,   I  rather glow...   but then after  perusing Joyce's answers  that kind of sweating is  a bit different...I would sweat math exams in high school,  I never had a great grasp of  algebra..just average in that subject. I sweat   the anticipating of going across really scary bridges.. like the ones across the Hudson  on our way north...

This bridge is  old,  very narrow lanes   that are always in bad repair, and   there is absolutely no shoulder  ...  just narrow  lanes ...and it is rather long!

I'm so glad the old bridge in Charleston SC. has been replaced..

7. Your favorite movie with a 'patriotic' theme of some sort? 

As grisly was it was  , yet,  the Revolutionary War was a war  of great sacrifce and  loss.. the The Patriot   is a great favorite...Historian that I am  I  get more tingly  about more historical  films...  like the part where  Mel picked up the flag waving it to rally the troops to victory!

Hubs  would always pick  more modern films like  Saving Private Ryan,, Band of Brothers, and the Longest Day... I just  dont get tingly with those!!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

One of my very favorite  patriots    was my  granddad...  Born in 1895 in rural Sw Virginia  to dairy farmers  he  rushed to  fight in WWI at a tender age in France...  a  rare adventure for a young country boy.  After the war   he returned home, built  a  beautiful farm house  with his bare hands and the tools his father taught him to use..  and  proposed to  his neighbor Pauline who was 9 years his junior when he was 26.  Together  they  grew his dairy farm and raised  6 daughters.. They  knew through  faith, hard work, and  perseverance  their dreams  could become fruition.He    was a great historian,   debater, and a very wise man  who loved God, country and family! He  drew his  huge family around him every Fourth   to celebrate and enjoy the fruits of his labor...  I remember, well, the delectable fried chicken,  fresh  picked   corn on the cob,   tomatoes,  pickles,  and  other  delcious offerings on the huige  laden table...  Grandma always made his and everyone's favorite  Chocolate sheet cake... with homemade ice cream..  Those were the celebrations I  love to savor in memory...