Duke's Mixture 09.19.2026

 

Ladybugs, welcome and thank you for stopping by to visit.  I am trying very, very hard to get around to visit all the blogs I follow more regularly.  Have put a reminder on my phone that says "Feedly" from 6:30-7:30, which is the app I use to read all the posts.  I can just go to Feedly and from there click on everyone's blogs rather than looking up each blog on my own.  

And I am hoping to blog a little more often but we will see how that pans out.  Every time I say that, technology throws a wrench into the works.  

One of my favorite bloggers is Joyce at http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com .  She hosts the weekly Hodgepodge series and linkup.  Each Sunday, Joyce shares the hodgepodge questions for the week and on Wednesdays everyone links up their responses.  The questions are always fun and thoughtful.  And I always kick myself for not taking a few minutes to write up my answers.  Going to make it a blogging goal to participate at least once a month.  

Hodgepodge 09.16.2026

1. How do you define beauty? I have read a number of these responses on other folks' blogs.  Safe to say we all agree that real beauty in people goes beyond what we see on the outside. I think for someone to be beautiful they have to have a radiance, a shine, a sparkle to them...a warmth, approachability.  They have to be true to themselves and genuine around everyone with whom they interact.  There's something in the eyes, in the smile of the truly beautiful.  The glow of a kind and true heart.

As far as beauty in the world goes, I think there is a lot of manmade beauty but it is constructed.  Does that make sense?  It is manufactured.  And in my eyes, the most beautiful people and things are natural. 

2. Have you ever taken a trip by train? If so where did you go and what did you think of the experience? If not do you have any desire to do so? Where would you like to go? (You might find inspiration here-The Best Train Trips in The World)

I have taken several trips by train.  The first one was when I was 6 years-old and traveling with my parents and little sister from Boston to New York for the 1964 World's Fair.  I think I can remember the trip in small flickers of memories.  There was a man, an employee of the train, going up and down the aisles selling sandwiches.  I had my first sandwich ever - ham and cheese - on that train.  

Have also traveled by train from Oklahoma City to Ft. Worth, about a 3 hour ride. From Paris to Nice, France which was twice that long.  And from London to Edinburgh, a 4-hour jaunt across some truly beautiful (see question 1) landscape.  

Last Christmas, my El Paso daughter and family, PC and I enjoyed a train ride on the Polar Express in Durango, Colorado.  It was an absolutely magical delight.

3. Shell shocked, bombshell, bandshell, shellacking, in a nutshell, walking on eggshells...choose one and tell us why you chose it, or how it relates to your life in some way currently.

I'll take walking on eggshells, please.  Most of my adult life I have been tiptoeing on eggshells for one reason or another.  At work.  At home.  Long distance with my parents.  Now with my adult children, at times.  Even with PC.  Currently, he is recovering from hip surgery and I am walking on eggshells trying to balance being helpful and being annoying.  

4. Tacos, pistachios, oysters, clams, eggs...your favorite food on the list that comes in/with a shell? 

Hmmm.  Tacos, I guess, would come in first.  I like fried oysters and clams, too, but never get them.  And fluffy scrambled eggs are pretty terrific.  For that matter, I like pistachios, too.  There is very little I don't like.

5. Are birthdays a big deal in your house? Is your own birthday a big deal in some way? Elaborate. 

Birthdays were a pretty big deal in my house when my daughters were young.  They were born 2 years and 1 day apart.  So we had 2 days of celebrations.  And they received presents on each other's days.  

We still try to get together for their July birthdays, usually at the beach.  This year's birthday celebration was in Pensacola.  Our first time to vacation in Florida all together.  And these days we are also celebrating Brennyn's first-born baby, Cadence, who also has her in July.  I had this banner made for a birthday celebration at our house the July after Lucia was born in 03.2016.  

    

My birthday is less an event these days.  Actually, it should be a big event to celebrate another birthday once you reach a certain age.  But I don't like being the center of attention very much.  Sweet messages and phone calls and maybe a German chocolate cake are all the celebration I need.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  On Wednesday, as I mentioned in my response to question #3, PC had hip replacement surgery.  He spent that night in the hospital but was discharged before noon the next day.  He has done so well!!  But Paul is reluctant to take pain medication so isn't sleeping as well as he should.  I am hoping to persuade him to take his meds tonight so he can have a solid night's sleep.  Thankful that he is well on the road to recovery and that doing some of our favorite activities together like hiking is back in our future. I took this photo about 4 hours after his surgery.  Isn't it just crazy that he is walking already?  Praise the Lord.

Share Our Lives

Two of my favorite bloggers have teamed up to host the Share Our Lives series along with 2 of their blogging buddies.  The Share Our Lives ladies are Dara from https://notinjersey.com and Joann from https://www.myslicesoflife.com , Adrienne at https://www.momlifewithadrienne.com and Jen who blogs at https://showmeandsweettea.com.  They share different aspects of their lives every second Monday of the month.  

No, it isn't the second Monday of the month as I am typing this.  It is, however, the third Saturday of September.  But the link up is still open and I have always wanted to join these ladies so I am going to be typing my response to this month's query - things I with I'd known - as fast as I can.

Things I Wish I'd Known

I read Dara and Joann's posts before writing my own.  Dara wrote about having spent a good deal of time worrying about things that really didn't matter much in the grand scheme of things.  I have certainly done my share of that - to include being self conscious about the size of my bottom and my nose and doing what I could to keep kids in class from seeing either.  Backing out of a room when I could get away with doing that and sitting with my hands on either side of my nose so no one could see my profile.  Like doing either of those things were better and less attention-getting than just acting like a 'normal' person.

Here are a few other things I wish I'd known:

• there was very little chance I would get lock jaw after sneaking to shave my legs (below I was allowed to) with my mother's slightly rusty razor.  That nick on my shin bled like a stuck pig (as the expression goes) so there was little chance for tetanus to set in.  But I worried myself sick all night until I finally confessed to my mom what I had done the next day.
• I was never really heavy.  Certainly not enough to explain having anorexia.  Although, anorexia is often as much about puberty and not wanting your changing adolescent body to develop as it is about weight issues.  
• my house didn't have to be perfectly organized and clean all the time when my girls were little.  And it wasn't. But I worked very hard to try to achieve clean and organized even when they were out of reach.
• making core memories with my girls was more important than a spotless house.  I was always too busy cleaning and trying to make ends meet.  Wish I had known that setting aside a little time to be carefree with them would have meant so much.
• that you can kiss a lot of frogs without marrying every one of them.
• someday your Prince Charming will come along.  But until he does, you can do hard things all by yourself.

Well, if I don't hurry, I am not going to get to link up with the Share Our Lives ladies.  Haven't proofread this post very well as I have had one eye on "Call the Midwives."  But going to call it a post and click on publish anyway.

Your Turn

How would you answer the questions above?  Have you ridden on a train or felt like you were walking on eggshells?  

Today has been a better day for PC pain-wise and I think it will only get better from here.  So thankful.

Have a peaceful Sunday, my friends.  Thank you for stopping by to spend a few minutes here with me.  I appreciate your friendship.  

Hugs and kisses,