The Wednesday Hodgepodge #68

I hope you are all having a good week. It's Wednesday, which means it's time to join in with the Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce who blogs at From This Side of the Pond! Each week there are 6 questions, we answer and then link up. Simple!

1. I saw a meme on Instagram that went like this-'The movie Dirty Dancing came out in 1987 and was set in 1963, so if remade in 2026 it would be set in 2002. Now I need a little lie down in a dark room for a while." Time is crazy isn't it? So...what were you up to in the year 2002?

2002 was a massive year for me and I spent most of it pregnant! It was the year I became a mother! Becky, my eldest was born in September! The last six weeks of my pregnancy were terrible. I suffered from sciatica and my feet and legs swelled up really badly, so I spent a lot of time sitting in bed. I went for a routine check-up with my midwife on the Thursday before Becky's due date the following Wednesday. The midwife was a bit concerned that Becky's heartbeat was too fast and also said she might be breech. By the time I got to the hospital for a scan, her heartbeat was fine but yes, she was breech. The doctors said I needed a c-section and Becky was born a day early! It all seemed rushed and crazy but all was good and I settled into motherhood!

2. "Me? I'm scared of everything..." What's something that scares you that you'd like to try anyway?

The first thing that came to mind was skydiving! You really can't get much scarier than that. Just the thought of even going up in a tiny plane terrifies me, so throwing myself out of the plane is just a whole other level of terrifying. That said, I know that the adrenaline rush afterwards would be completely unreal. I know I'd need someone with me the whole time encouraging me, holding my hand, telling me that the plane isn't going to crash and I am not going to die but how cool would it be to be able to say that I had jumped out of a plane!

3. Watermelon-yay or nay? Which melon is your favorite-watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew. Of the watermelon food/beverages listed which would you say yes to... watermelon salsa ~ watermelon feta salad ~ watermelon sorbet ~ a watermelon Jolly Rancher ~ a watermelon margarita.

I’m not a big fan of watermelon, it's one of those fruits that I could take or leave. I don’t dislike it but it’s never something I would see in the shops and I think I need to buy it. I haven’t tried any of the things on the list but Jolly Ranchers are a blast from the past! They were a big thing when I was at school but I don't think you can get them over here anymore. I might have tried a watermelon one without realising. If I had to pick one, I think I’d go for the watermelon margarita. I’m always willing to give something a try, especially if it comes with a little bit of alcohol!

My favourite melon is honeydew! When my girls were little, we used to go through two or three a week, especially in the summer because we all loved them so much and they were a healthy snack. They never lasted long in our house! It’s been ages since I last bought one and I hadn’t really thought about it until answering this question. Now I’m sitting here thinking about how nice a big piece of cold, juicy honeydew melon would be. I think I might have to pop one on the shopping list this week.

4. August 12th is National Middle Child Day. Are you a middle child? If not, where do you fall in the birth order in your family of origin? Do you think this has influenced your personality? Elaborate.

I’m the eldest, with a younger brother. Looking back, I do think that has shaped my personality. My parents were definitely stricter with me growing up. I was their first, so they were just figuring it all out as they went, which meant more rules and a lot more worrying. I remember having to be in at 7pm at a certain age while my brother got much more leeway and was allowed out later when he hit that age. At the time, I thought it was the most unfair thing in the world but now that I'm a parent myself I totally get it and I can admit I was way more relaxed with my youngest compared to my eldest too. Being the eldest also came with more responsibility. I had chores and expectations before my brother did and I was always the one who was supposed to set a good example. My brother and I spent a massive chunk of our childhood arguing over literally anything and everything but at the same time, I was protective of him. I could boss him around all day long but if anyone else dared to upset him they had me to answer to!

I think all of that just made me more independent and someone who takes charge. I'm so used to having things expected of me that I tend to just step up and handle responsibility rather than waiting around for someone else to do it and I can also be a bit bossy which I'm sure my brother would be very happy to say!

5. Would you rather talk to everyone at a crowded party for a short time, or have a significant conversation with two people? Explain.

I’ve been blogging for years and I connect with so many people online but in real life I’m not really a people person. I have a few close friends and I’m very happy chatting away to people I know but put me in a room full of people I hardly know and tell me to make small talk and I’d probably want to hide in a corner! I think I’d rather have a really good conversation with two friends than spend a whole evening going around a crowded party trying to make small talk with twenty different people.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I am looking forward to the end of this week. It's Stu's birthday and as much as we don't have anything planned, we have lots of things that we might do and we're going to decide on the day. He has a few days off work and we are going to make the most of that time with maybe a day out.

Share Our Lives - Favourite current music!

It's that time of the month again to share some of my life and join in with the other Share Our Lives bloggers. This month the prompt is: Favourite current music.

I’ve realised something about myself over the years. I am not a music person in the way other people are music people. I don’t go hunting for new releases and I can’t tell you what’s number one in the charts unless the girls are playing it loudly but music still plays a big part in my life.

I always say I’m not into new music, which is mostly true. I do technically know current music thanks to TikTok but only the good bit, the catchy 30 seconds that everyone dances to or mouths at the camera. Most of the time I don't know who sings it or what the song is even called.

When I’m cleaning, cooking or doing anything around the house, music is happening and when it goes on it’s always the same stuff. My girls like to remind me that my music is old. My happy place is cheesy 90s pop. Proper sing it like you mean it pop, the kind of songs that come on and make you feel happy! Then there’s the rock side of my music taste, which feels very serious compared to pop but still ends up being equally dramatic. Classic rock is what I love. Bon Jovi is basically a household staple. Guns N’ Roses also make regular appearances, especially when I’m feeling a bit grumpy or need motivation and then there’s Meat Loaf. He was an absolute legend! I do dip into rock from the early 2000's like My Chemical Romance, Green Day and Limp Bizkit. A while ago, my youngest said she had found this great group but I probably wouldn't like them because of their bad language. She played me a Limp Bizkit song that I sang along to. That was a proud parenting moment for me which really shouldn't have been but the look on her face was priceless.

The songs from musicals have a big place in my heart too. You have to sing them loudly and I usually do when I am in the kitchen making tea. My family find it hilarious. I'll be halfway through cooking and suddenly realise I've got an audience watching me put on my own little performance. Then there are the big power ballads. If I've got a ton of housework to get through, I'll usually be listening to Celine Dion or Whitney Houston singing and dancing along. Folding clothes, mopping floors and hoovering is much more fun with good music.

I'm quite happy listening to the music I've always loved and I probably always will be. I think I always go back to the same music because it's comfortable and familiar. So many of the songs remind me of different times in my life, I don't feel like I have to keep up with every new artist or know what's in the charts.

What's your favourite music at the moment?

I am linking up with:

Adrienne from Mom Life with Adrienne.

Dara from Not In Jersey.

Jen from Show me & Sweet tea.

Joanne from Slices of Life.

Our weekly meal plan! 10th - 16th August! #MealPlanningMonday

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Ours was a good one. Nothing exciting happened apart from me thinking the shower was broken with water coming out of the bottom but it turns out the shower head was blocked with limescale. The girls were doing their own thing with friends, so it was quite at home. I am getting used to having two adult daughters who have their own lives, plans and people to see. I spent most of Saturday catching up on the housework that I didn't do during the week. Being full of cold and feeling sorry for myself, cleaning wasn't a priority. Saturday was a catch-up day with tidying, cleaning and doing the washing. Sunday was much more relaxed. I started watching the Lindsay Clancy trial on YouTube after seeing so much about it on TikTok. I had seen lots of people talking about the husband and things that apparently weren't adding up so I decided I wanted to watch the trial for myself rather than just relying on short clips popping up on my TikTok feed. It is interesting but also such a sad, sad case.

Last week's meal plan went really well. We ate just about everything that was on the plan, which I am taking as a win because I had no interest in cooking for most of the week. Stu did the cooking on Monday, which was a massive help as I just couldn't be bothered and for the rest of the week we just muddled through.

This week is going to be a little busy, we have a few things going on. Stu has a couple of days off work, Ellie has a couple of appointments and at the end of the week, it is Stu's birthday! I love this time of year, it's Stu's and the girls birthdays over the space of three and a half weeks. It's busy but a lot of fun!

On the menu this week we have:

Monday - A fry up!

We're starting the week with a proper fry-up. On the plate will be sausages, bacon, mushrooms, black pudding, hash browns, baked beans, tomatoes and toast! It is one of those meals that works at pretty much any time of the day. We could have it for breakfast, lunch or tea and nobody would complain.

Tuesday - Meat-Free sloppy joes with potato salad!

Tuesday is one of our favourite meals and it is something we originally used to get from Gousto. Meat-free sloppy joes with potato salad. I remember the first time we had the meat-free mince. I was very curious about it because I'd never really used it before. I am pretty sure I didn't even tell my family it was meat-free until after they had eaten it. I thought I would see whether they noticed and they didn't! lol The sloppy joes are really tasty and messy, which is all part of the fun.

Wednesday - A help yourself evening!

Wednesday is going to be one of those nights where I have no plans. Everyone can help themselves to whatever they fancy and use up bits from the fridge, freezer and cupboards. We always seem to have random bits of food hanging around. Half a packet of something, a few potatoes, some cheese, leftover meat, something in the freezer that I bought ages ago and forgot about. This is the night to use things up.

Thursday - Ham, eggs and home made chips!

I have a couple of joints of gammon in the freezer so they are coming out for Thursday and Friday. I'll boil the gammon and we'll have it with fried eggs and homemade chips. It's such a simple meal but it is so good and homemade chips are always worth the effort!

Friday - Ham salad!

We'll be using the leftover ham with a salad. Lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, beetroot, sweetcorn and some new potatoes. I'll probably end up adding anything else I find in the fridge too.

Saturday - Pizza of some sort!

I haven't decided exactly what we're having yet. It might be homemade pizza or it might be fresh ready-made ones from the supermarket. It will depend on how much time I have and what everyone fancies.

Sunday - Stu's birthday!

We sort of have plans, but nothing is definite yet. We have talked about a few things we could do but we'll see what happens. Whatever we end up doing, I know it will involve something nice to eat!

What are you eating this week?

A photo every day for a year! 2nd - 8th August Week 32 of #Project365

Happy Sunday!! I hope you've all had a lovely week and are enjoying your weekend. I am glad to say I am well and truly over the cold that I have had. We all seem to have finally got over it and thankfully, it seems to have passed Ellie right by! Phew! I was getting a bit fed up with feeling rubbish and on Friday was at that stage where I thought I was better but felt exhausted after just walking to my dad's. Now I feel full of energy and I'm raring to go!

I was writing this yesterday, it's 11:10 and I feel like I have had a day of it already! lol. I had some good news about a family thing. Don't worry, it was nothing bad, quite the opposite. I will share more about it when things are a little more definite, because I don't want to say too much and then have to say that didn't happen but it's good news and it really put a smile on my face. Then I went to go in the shower and there was water coming out of the bottom of it. So I did the usual thing of ringing my dad and asking for help. Thankfully, he came round, took the shower head off and suddenly it was working perfectly again. It turns out the shower head was filled with limescale! That stuff tortures us here, the kettle and washing machine are always filling up with it and the drains outside too. My dad only knew what the problem was because he had the exact same thing happen to his shower a few months ago. The water couldn't get through the shower head properly, so it was finding another way out. I then had to sort Ellie's hair because she didn't have time for a shower before she went out. Thank goodness for dry shampoo because it has saved us more than once! I am hoping for a nice relaxed afternoon but I sure do have a lot to talk about with Stu when he rings at lunchtime. lol

Now for a photo every day!

214/365 2nd August

Just a little ice cream and I emphasise the word little! I am sure these used to be bigger. I know everything seems smaller these days but I really don't remember Twister Minis being quite so mini. This was purely for medicinal reasons. I was full of cold and obviously, ice cream is a well-known treatment for these things. hehehe The second one I had later in the day was more for enjoyment though.

215/365 3rd August

Whenever I look at the sunflowers in my garden, they make me happy. I stop almost every day just to look at them and snap a photo. The bees don't seem to get bored with them either, they are always buzzing around them!

216/365 4th August

On Tuesday, Becky and I needed a little pick-me-up, so we had Costa Coffee delivered, although no coffee was actually ordered. I had a mango and passion fruit cooler, a bacon roll and a lemon muffin and Becky had mac and cheese and some sort of frappe. I can't remember exactly what was in her drink but it looked nice! It was exactly what we needed.

217/365 5th August

I got up to Negan's first episode on The Walking Dead! (I am rewatching it). If you have watched The Walking Dead, you will probably know exactly which episode I mean and if you haven't, I won't spoil it for you! When I first watched it, I hated Negan but over time he has grown on me and he is now one of my favourite characters. Obviously, that doesn't include the bits where he is doing awful things with his baseball bat but as a character, he is brilliant.

218/365 6th August

This is what the sky looked like for most of Wednesday. It looked like it could chuck it down at any moment but it didn't. We had about 20 drops of rain and I only know that because when I went to put some rubbish out, I noticed it on the wheelie bin. There were just enough drops to make me think that we were going to get some rain but no, there wasn't any more. Hmmf.

219/365 7th August

Football! Middlesbrough, my old hometown team versus Wrexham, the team that Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) own. It ended 1-0 to Middlesbrough, which I was happy with. They are through to the next round of the EFL Cup and it was a good way to start the new football season.

220/365 8th August

I have a tomato that I grew in my garden! Just one though. All the rest are still green but this one finally decided it was ready, so I picked it, washed it and ate it straight away. Delicious! There is something really satisfying about eating something that you have grown yourself, even if it is only one tomato.

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