A Super Duper Hodgepodge

Joining Joyce and other bloggers for

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your summer so far? Why?
(1=eh and 10=best summer ever)

I would rate it a 6!  Not the best but not the worst by a long shot.  Why?
Downer?  Cervical surgery
Upper?  Surgery went great; pain free; spent three weeks recuperating with my family.
Downer?  Spending six weeks in a confining, suffocating neck brace 24/7.
Upper?  My healing went without a hitch and the x-ray looked great to the doc.
Downer?  Pretty confined during that six week period.
Upper?  It was too hot to be outside anyway.
Downer?  Couldn't drive.
Upper?  Am now able to drive my new car and planning upcoming day trips.
Super Dupper Upper?  My daughter and her girls are coming this weekend for a few days.  Yippee!

2. July 26th is National Aunts and Uncles Day. Did you have many aunts and uncles growing up? Were you especially close to any one or maybe all of them? Are you an aunt? (or uncle for the men who join here on Wednesdays) Share a favorite memory relating to one of your own aunts or uncles or relating to a niece or nephew who call you Aunt (or Uncle).

This is my aunt Thyra.  She was several years older than my mother and played a very important role in my mother's life growing up, therefore ours as well.  She was the most elegant, and classy lady I knew growing up.  She and her husband were educators, she a teacher and he a principle.  He was also a member of the state legislature.  Aunt Thyra had what to me at that time was a magnificent wardrobe which was housed in the very first walk-in closet I had ever seen.  She cultivated my interests in fashion and decorating by letting me play pretend in her closet and in her large well decor'd living room.  These are all wonderful memories that helped shape my future tastes.  But, the best memory was when she asked me, a high school senior to chauffeur her on a road trip in her new yellow 1962 Chrysler Imperial that looked just like this.

I thought I had died and gone to heaven, but I mostly treasure the one-on-one time with her.

Yes, I am an aunt to five big, successful nephews.  They each know their Aunt Bibby loves them very much.

3. What's your favorite food dipped in chocolate? What's your favorite food dipped in cheese?

I think anything is better dipped in chocolate!  Favorite dipped in cheese would be Nachos.

4. When were you last astonished by something? Explain.

I am astonished every time I hear of an attack by someone who is willing to kill innocent people and themselves be killed, because they believe it is their right to do so.

5. Surf board, paddle board, ironing board, Pinterest board, score board, clip board, bulletin board...which board have you most recently encountered?

Ironing board and Pinterest board.

6. What's your favorite story from scripture? Why that story?

How do you choose just one?  It would be a toss up between two - the story of Ruth because it shows first of all God's unfailing faithfulness to His people and that He has a perfect plan for each of us.  The other is the story of the prodigal son.  It is such a beautiful picture of God's unconditional love and that He draws us to Himself even though we aren't worthy of such love and salvation.

7. If you were to travel from the east coast to the west coast in your own country, which five cities would you most want to see?

I am not drawn to cities but to the landscape so I will have to ponder this a bit.
I would start in New Hampshire and go to Boston, New York City, down to Roanoke, WV, then across the country to Denver then Seattle.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

We had baby Mockingbirds on our front porch for a couple weeks.  They have made a mess for sure, but they have been so much fun to watch.  I was able to stand inside my front door and capture these pictures.

These are the babies waiting for Mom to come with food.

 She did show up with a berry and made this little one very happy.

 I loved watching them groom.  They were quite the contortionists.

This little one had called and called and finally heard her mom coming.  It was so much fun to catch her looking for her and finally, there she was.

Today, they were gone, so I guess they passed all the flying tests and it was time to move on.