From This Side of the Pond Questions

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 285 Posted: 24 Oct 2016 09:01 PM PDT First things first...there will not be a Hodgepodge next week because whoohoo! I'm moving! It's only been 13+ months since we got started, but it looks like moving day is finally here. I will do my best to post a Hodgepodge the week after, but that may be dependent on the Internet fairies. I will post something so you'll know, but for now plan on no Hodgepodge Wednesday Nov 2nd, hopefully a Hodgepodge on Nov. 9th, and definitely a Hodgepodge on Nov. 16th. This week though, there is a Hodgepodge and here are the questions. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to share answers with all your friends and neighbors. 1. Besides your very own house, describe a place where you feel most 'at home'?  That would be my BF's house. I love her family and they love me. I go there and feel pampered. I can regenerate my soul. I totally relax. When there is a family gathering for something I am included. Even in family photos. I love her grandchildren as they were my own. To them I am Grandma Trudy. 2. When did you last 'hit a home run' with something? Explain.  Just this past weekend I had a homerun. It was the annual trip my BF (she doesn't like her name used. But, from now on she will be RLL) and I make to Duluth. We spend the night Friday. We shop til we drop. And eat til we can not eat anymore. We laugh (loudly), enjoy our time together, We are silly and stop along the way so I can take photos. We had a fabulous time and are already planning next year's time. 3. Tell us about something you love in your house or kitchen that is 'homemade'.  In my living room and in the hallway. In the living room is the entertainment center. The top is filled with photographs of family and friends. I have always liked the look of a grand piano that I have seen in movies that has lots of photographs on in. I don't have the piano but I do have a flat surface. In the hallway I have a gallery wall oh photos the cats we have had the privilege of caring for over the years. Many of these photos are of the feral cats that lived here. They are all precious. 4. 'A man's home is his castle'...which of the world's ten most captivating castles (according to The Travel Channel) would you most like to visit and why- Mont Saint-Michel (France), Edinburgh Castle (Scotland), Neuschwanstein Castle (Germany), Glamis Castle (Scotland), Windsor Castle (England), Chateu de Chambord (France), Hampton Court Palace (England), Prague Castle (Prague), St. Michael's Mount (England), and Leeds Castle (England) I guess I would say Windsor Castle. I would love to have Tea with the Queen and to have her show me around. 5. What's a recent or upcoming plan or project that's required you do a little homework before getting started? Did the homework cause you to abandon your plan or adjust it in some way? I have always wanted to have a dollhouse. My cousin was going to design and build one for me. I have decided I don't have a large enough free space to have a doll house. I will eventually have something of a similar nature, because I love miniatures, just not a 1/2 scale house. Sigh. 6. In your opinion, is homework an unnecessary evil or a valuable practice? Should schools be done with homework? Why or why not? ' I understand the need for additional work outside the classroom. Truly I do. However, when the child comes home with work that they need help with, and the parent isn't up on the latest "new" math that is a problem. I don't agree with the premise that for every year in school there is 1/2  hour of homework. The school district where we live tried to implement that theory, it didn't last long. The child has spent all day in the classroom and needs some down time.  7. Share a favorite memory of your childhood hometown.  I like remembering how safe it felt. It is a suburb of Minneapolis right on it's border. But, it always had a small town feel to it. Even today if feels like going to a small town. It has a main street where the businesses are .  The town/city had a summer festival (don't they all?) it was always the weekend after the 4th of July. It is called Whiz Bang Days. It was such fun sitting on the curb of main street anticipating the start of the parade. Later in the weekend finding the perfect spot to watch the fireworks. ANd through it all being without a parent and being safe. Or being able to walk to the movie theater with a friend or cousin for a Saturday afternoon movie. I gave more than one example.  8. Insert your own random thought here.  Instead of a thought I am going to show of a couple of recent photos I have taken.